Mel B Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 Just got back this afternoon, good show but got fed up of being rained on today! Most of Friday and Saturday was fairly clear with some very hot spells but we did have rain each day to a greater or lesser extent. We enjoyed pottering about the stalls, there seemed to be more than ever this year. The only thing I didn't particularly like was one saleman giving a couple the blurb about a new van and saying that they could carry a grandchild as the single rear seat had a seatbelt, good you might say, but not when you learn that it was a sidewards facing seat with a lapbelt!!! When will the silly sods learn!?? I can't remember which van it was as I saw so many but it was one of the newer imports to this country. Anyway, to the point, - Clive - was it you I saw hurtling back into the camping area on Saturday at about 2.20 pm on your little monkey bike??? If not you've got a double!! I assume you were trying to get back in time to make yourself presentable for the "meet the team" bit at 3.00 pm! Unfortunately we couldn't be there as our canoe needed a wetting at nearby Ferry Meadows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 I see - avoiding us again, were you? Wetting a boat - a likely story, indeed. I also overheard my favourite sales spiel yet again - along the lines of 'this 20 watt solar panel will keep your batteries fully charged, even during the arctic winter . . .' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 Hi Mel, Probably! We took both monkeys and on Saturday went to the Nene Valley railway and had a ride on a steam traim. Didn,t intend to ignore anybody. Sorry. The Press area is not cordonned off ! Visitors are very welcome and its close to the action. Newbury in 3 weeks and we shall be there.????? In the "meet the team" bit I did indeed speak to someone who was being guided towards a 20 watt panel by a sales man. My advice after listening to his camping style was to perhaps invest in a bigger leisure battery or a matched pair as he wanted to slightly expand his wild camping time capability. If he had wanted to keep his starter battery topped up during winter lay up then perhaps the 20 watt panel might have done but this was not his requirement. With a modern alarm system running during winter a 20 watt panel is still a tad small to keep up with it! Regards Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 I was at a show where salesman was tryin g to flog a 10watt ( or something like that ) panel to a couple who wanted it to run a cool box for their tent. His spiel went along the lines of 'At 10 watts this is twice the power your 5amp cool box needs' , I made the mistake of poking my nose in with some advice, even the couple being 'conned' didn't apriciate it and I saw later they had purchased one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigrem Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 We went to show at the same time we usually go on a Thursday, once through the entrance gate we were split into two lines, which I assume was to relieve the congestion on the main road. However our line was sent on a holding pattern aroung a part of the site, before joining the original line, but now 1.5 hours further back! In fact it took us 1.5 hours to reach Peterborough and 2 hours from the gate to our pitch. Did anyone else have the same diesel burning experience? Was it due to a different layout, or different organisation. Enjoyed the show but would seriously consider not bothering if thats going to be the pattern. I understand the problems associated with the York show because of the weather conditions but nothing of that sort was obvious at Peterborough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted April 24, 2006 Author Share Posted April 24, 2006 The weather was good most of the time but on Sunday it took a distinct turn trying to go back to 'winter', freezing cold, very overcast and then bucketed it down just after lunch and didn't look much like it was going to stop. Nothing like the torrents that York had endured the days before their show started but it was getting rather soggy at Peterborough and as our batteries were getting a bit low we decided to call it quits. We arrived on Thursday and expected to be queing for a while but whizzed straight in to the right - we had pre-booked and arrived at about 11.30 am before the 2.00 pm mayhem I assume. We then spent most of the afternoon nattering, walking the dogs and watching some weird 'camper' contraptions coming and going, as well as some accessories not necessarily meant for motorhomes like the plastic garden storage seat box that someone was using as a back box - cheap and you can use it as a seat on site! Oh, we did get a bit concerned with one vehicle that had what looked liked a 'coffin' strapped to his rear rack made out of diamond aluminium (you know the stuff they use for industrial stair treads etc). We wondered if that was where he kept the Mrs! Mel E - we were definitely 'wetting' the canoe - we went for a paddle with our 2 dogs around the larger of the lakes at Ferry Meadows whilst the sailing competition was going on followed by a walk round the wildlife lake. We had a lovely couple of hours pottering around and not a bit of alcohol was touched but my husband did his best to try to get an ice-cream! One other observation - what is it with Autotrail owners that they think they must put bits and pieces related to 'Indians' (as in the Cowboy types) on their vehicles? Dangling feathers, transfers of squaws, teepees, tomahawks etc adorn quite a few 'vans - the one parked next to us was having some transfers put on it on Saturday tea-time and it gathered a crowd of onlookers, bit like watching paint dry but it kept them happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Blow it!, I want some big feathers and a headress to put on ours! All joking apart there does seem to be a lot of Autotrails on the roads of late. They must be doing something right! We came Thursday afternoon and drove directly in after accepting our wrist bands from the Kamp Kommandants. (Bl..dy nuisance when you try and wash!) We went out on the bikes Friday morning and motorhomes were queue,d well back down the roads. But an hour or two later the queue was gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Mel B - they're now called 'Native Americans'. And you're more likely to find them in court reclaiming their ancestral lands than wearing head dress!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docted Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 Arrived Friday no waiting to get in, but heard tales of people cooking meal while waiting to get in on Thursday. What can you say about the weather ? Its Britain its spring nuff said. Did anybody else commit suicide on Sunday night and go to the "entertainment". There was a youngish lady who did her best to make me regurugitate dinner. That apart great show thoroughly enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 Show was ok but the shop still hasn't worked out how many Daily Mails to order. Same problem last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxy Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 Mel You leave my feathers alone, I may be sad but they don`t half tickle me. Couldn`t make it to Peterborough due to picking up my spanking new Auto Trail, hope you all had a good time :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Foxy, Will you bring your Autotrail to Newbury so we can have a look? Ta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 We had no problems getting the Daily Mail from the site shop as late as 11.00. The show with the problem shop last year was Malvern. Which shop did you use? C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxy Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Sorry Clive, I will be in Prague. was it my van you wanted to see or my feathers (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 I wanted to see if your feathers could tickle my fancy. Enjoy Prague. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.