Want or Wish list for P/boro show.

[MDLR]

I have to say that it was a very difficult and long-winded process to find somewhere big enough to put the Show on - the NEC is really the only other place at the moment but they chare a great deal more!

[pauly]

shame its never a more central location like Sheffield or Leeds, really the middle of the country not just the middle of the south.

[sstjc]

Naaa... Lets have it in Kent

[philipy]

Leaving aside Brian's overridingly valid point about size of available venue, it then depends on how you define 'central'.

Speaking purely geographically,
Central between the top of Scotland and Lands End, probably would put it around Leeds/M62 corridor.

Central between Aberystwyth and Yarmouth would give somewhere like Rugby.

Central between the LHS of Northern Ireland and Dover would probably be around Shrewsbury.

Not much commonality there, but doing the same exercise with regards transport links ( road, rail, coach) would give equally varied, but totally different "centrals" I'm sure.

Ok, so look at where would be most central to the highest number of members. I'm not going to wade through the members list to work that out, but my guess would be somewhere in the southern half of the country ( there are some very fine modellers north of Leeds, of course, but they are relatively spread out), which brings us back to Brian's point about venue.

I'm not trying to be contentious or start an argument, just pointing out that there can never be a location that suits everybody and we should be grateful to all those people who voluntarily give up many hours of their own time to organise what we have got.

[andymctractor]

shame its never a more central location like Sheffield or Leeds, really the middle of the country not just the middle of the south.

When Scotland becomes 'independant' the midlands will be in the middle. No I'm not a Scot although my name suggests I might be.  

I always enjoyed the shows at Stoneleigh but we had to put the dog in kennels and stay at least one overnight to get the full day at the show as my wife is also a full member.  Now we can travel across and back in one day.  Wherever the show is located there will be those who perceive they're being short changed.
I'm sure that wherever the show is located the organisers will continue to get similar gripes and complaints except for each venue the complainants will be different.

[Enginehouse]

I have to say that it was a very difficult and long-winded process to find somewhere big enough to put the Show on - the NEC is really the only other place at the moment but they chare a great deal more!

That's the real hub of the problem. However if the main garden railway associations were to get together (ducks to avoid flack) to arrange three major shared one day shows north, south and Mid country it might be a better opportunity for the majority of enthusiasts to visit a show and possibly by spacing the shows evenly across the year make show spending a bit more affordable for the punters. Not only that, the in fighting between the major societies would probably be great fun to watch

[Enginehouse]

I'm not trying to be contentious or start an argument, just pointing out that there can never be a location that suits everybody and we should be grateful to all those people who voluntarily give up many hours of their own time to organise what we have got.

Only too true. Having run four annual shows at Peterborough I heartily agree. It's extremely hard work over many months, requires a good team and it's very hard at times to justify the huge efforts required to make it all run like clockwork.

With regard to Brian's point. Having recently attended the latest annual G-Rail show, two hours drive to the north of Peterborough, the only complaint received from our group was about the facilities at the venue. The show was fine, the organisation satisfactory and the added benefits of the model engineering group facilities nearby at the same location was a real bonus. However due to problems experienced at the venue the previous year, the ladies refused to accompany us this time around. (Some might consider that an advantage of course) sadly the facilities at the venue hadn't improved at all and so we will not be visiting the show or any other event hosted at that particular venue next year.

It's impossible to please everyone. All one can hope for is to try ones best, as I am sure our 16mm association management strive to do.

[andymctractor]

It's impossible to please everyone. All one can hope for is to try ones best, as I am sure our 16mm association management strive to do.

I agree with that. Always a brilliant show -- except when the bacon runs out.

[Soar Valley Light]

I think Phillipy has summed up the situation well. It's an age old problem in many (if not all) national organisations. I now the Hornby Railway Collectors Association suffer similar agonies!

One factor which can also influence venue, and which is every bit as important as any other consideration with a voluntarily organised event, is where the organisers and helpers live. On which subject I would like to add my heartfelt thanks to all those who have planned, arranged, organised, negotiated, co-ordinated and assisted. That people are prepared to give up significant amounts of time which could otherwise be spent on their own modelling for the benefit of the majority is praise worthy indeed.

[laalratty]

 

With regard to Brian's point. Having recently attended the latest annual G-Rail show, two hours drive to the north of Peterborough, the only complaint received from our group was about the facilities at the venue. The show was fine, the organisation satisfactory and the added benefits of the model engineering group facilities nearby at the same location was a real bonus. However due to problems experienced at the venue the previous year, the ladies refused to accompany us this time around. (Some might consider that an advantage of course) sadly the facilities at the venue hadn't improved at all and so we will not be visiting the show or any other event hosted at that particular venue next year.

It's impossible to please everyone. All one can hope for is to try ones best, as I am sure our 16mm association management strive to do.

Incidentally, this venue (the Stafford County Showground) is one that I think is overlooked wrongly for the AGM. I'm not saying use the same halls as the G-scale lot (they aren't that great). However, Stafford has a main hall, bigger then the Peterborough Arena, with facilities at least equal. The G-scale society cannot afford this, but also doesn't really need it. I've heard it would be cheaper then Peterborough too, and the outdoor railways in 5 inch, 7 1/4 inch and G and 16mm make it something worth considering to my mind.
The absolute ideal would be to have it on a biannual rota, one year Stafford, the other Peterborough. Everyone then gets a fair bite of the cherry. Is the will there to do that? Who knows, but it certainly hasn't been recently, to the loss of everyone in the West, who seem to miss out on everything good in this country....
Incidentally, I would be happy to help organise any show that it was close enough for me to do this, but Peterborough is impossible for me to attend at the current time, let alone help out.

[MDLR]

The absolute ideal would be to have it on a biannual rota, one year Stafford, the other Peterborough.

The problem is that to get a reasonable price, you have to commit to (say) a 3 consecutive year deal.................... so you can't afford to move around as EVERYONE will charge a higher rate, and there's no guarantee that you'll get the date back!

[SherpaPhil]

we had a 2 & a half hr drive from the Welsh / English boarder went early & arrived at 9 & had a coffee & relaxed ready for the show
but as more & more people are getting into garden railways then a move to the NEC will have to be made ( good or bad ) but i did miss a certain layout that fits in the back of a car but the wagon was great !

[sstjc]

I'd quite like to see that layout as well...

[SherpaPhil]

was missed by a few people that i overheard talking about it

[MDLR]

That's interesting (and gratifying to hear). Peterborough has a policy of not inviting the same layout two years running unless it brings something to the Show - "Anglia Roads" is a case in point, as there aren't that many live steam standard gauge layouts about.

However, FF will be out at Elsecar..........................

[SherpaPhil]

will just have to wait 12 oh so long months then

[PeachBottom]

That's the real hub of the problem. However if the main garden railway associations were to get together (ducks to avoid flack) to arrange three major shared one day shows north, south and Mid country it might be a better opportunity for the majority of enthusiasts to visit a show and possibly by spacing the shows evenly across the year make show spending a bit more affordable for the punters. Not only that, the in fighting between the major societies would probably be great fun to watch

Oh, are you volunteering to do that?  Fantastic!

[PeachBottom]

I think Phillipy has summed up the situation well. It's an age old problem in many (if not all) national organisations. I now the Hornby Railway Collectors Association suffer similar agonies!

One factor which can also influence venue, and which is every bit as important as any other consideration with a voluntarily organised event, is where the organisers and helpers live. On which subject I would like to add my heartfelt thanks to all those who have planned, arranged, organised, negotiated, co-ordinated and assisted. That people are prepared to give up significant amounts of time which could otherwise be spent on their own modelling for the benefit of the majority is praise worthy indeed.

Hmm. Well, myself and the Bulletin Editor are in Lincoln (an hour and a bit), the new Chairman, Treasurer, and Show Coordinator are in MK, The new vice chairman is in Nottingham, One Director lives in Llanfair, one in Portsmouth, and I'm not sure where the last one lives!

[PeachBottom]

The absolute ideal would be to have it on a biannual rota, one year Stafford, the other Peterborough. Everyone then gets a fair bite of the cherry. Is the will there to do that? Who knows, but it certainly hasn't been recently, to the loss of everyone in the West, who seem to miss out on everything good in this country....
Incidentally, I would be happy to help organise any show that it was close enough for me to do this, but Peterborough is impossible for me to attend at the current time, let alone help out.

The problem with doing that (one year here, one year there) is that it takes us at least a year or two to get the routine down pat for a venue so if we tried to alternate years at places it might be rough to organize.  Also, many venues give a discount for booking multiple years in a row, so we would lose that savings if we swapped every other year.  I'm not saying we shouldn't look to Stafford or elsewhere in the future, but I can't see us moving every other year.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we are having 2015 at Peterborough and with this in mind, the board have stored a great deal of show stuff in Peterborough.

I have every sympathy with people that live too far away to go to events.  Having spend most of my life living on the East Coast of the USA and having had to shell out US$400 to fly to California or Washington for conventions, I really DO understand.  But -- there's nothing preventing the people that live farther away from driving down on the friday evening and staying in a hotel overnight so they can make it to the show on Saturday.  Yes, I know this is an added expense, but if you book far enough in advance at a Travelodge or a Premier Inn, you'd probably only pay around £30 or less.  And if Petrol is a concern -- get your local group together and carpool down to it. Our local area group used to do this when the show was at Stoneleigh, and then the costs are shared.  Or book a train ticket well enough in advance (12 weeks gets you the cheapest rates!) and use the shuttle the association provides. OR join up with one of the layouts as the Association pays for their travel expenses (of course, you'd then have to run trains on the layout and might not have as much free time....) Everyone has to pay for travel expenses to the venue, no matter where the location is, but if you share some of the costs (by sharing a room and/or car) at least it's less of a burden.

[sstjc]

I stayed the night before and the night after and only come from deepest Kent. It just made the day that much less stressful. I would definately do this again. Perhaps next year though i'll stay where you lot stayed that had the steam up in the carpark which looked like fun and lend a hand as well.

and just to add the icing on the cake I drove down to Basingstoke for a miniature traction engine rally and now i'm up in Stratford on Avon for a non-steamy visit so another hotel room for the next two nights.

It really is worth making a weekend of it !