Gentlemen,
The following email was sent to me about the above rally and I thought you might like a read. I apologise for his language he has had I believe a spoilt weekend.
Martin P
---------------------------------------------------------- Hi Martin,
Paul Worbey has made it very clear - if you aint steam you aint coming in. We will just put you out the back with the rest!!! It was just like the Ferero Rocher ad on telly, where the unwanted guest is guided through the party - and then out of the back door!!
Arrived Friday PM, asked at the booking in office if we were in the usual place to be told no we were in the back field. I jokingly said oh so you've chucked us out this year. Didn't realise how true my joke was. Went looking round the back field, couldn't find any engines or see any one, so I thought we must have been in the other field where we were a couple of years ago. Still no sign of any engines until I saw someone I knew and he told us where we were.
Went into the back field and finally found the engines. I wasn't impressed and had decided I wasn't going to bother unloading. Then found the next problem there wasn't any where to camp anyway! So many non steam exhibits in such a small field. People were leaving in droves... I saw Worbey and headed over to say where can I park, but a tractor exhibitor got to him before me. He was told if he didn't like it he could f*ck off and none of them would be there next year. I didn't bother to ask him, parked up on a horrendous slope and had a free weekend. Couldn't have exhibited anyway as there was no room on the front row and the back row was on such a steep slope there was no way you could have got the engines level. One guy had a go and had let his engine in so low he couldn't get the starting handle to go through a full turn - it hit on the ground!!! Even if you did go on the back row the hill was so steep it was difficult to walk on so no spectators went there anyway. Quite a few people didn't unload or just left anyway.
So much for ? running the engine line up - he was nowhere to be seen most of the time! Less said about that the better!!
Other than that had a good weekend just looking round with no worries about having to get back to an engine. Had a drive round on John Slater's steamer.
Probably wont get an entry form next year as a complaint petition was drawn up an I made sure I signed it very prominently. Hopefully it will get to the right person but I doubt if it will be of any use.
What did you think to the rally?
-- When replying use snipped-for-privacy@btopenworld.com