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Overall I enjoyed it though spending eight days in a dust bowl with no shade was a little trying, absolutely everything uniforms, field telephones, Kubel, the inside of the tent, bedding kitchen and food covered in thick dust. Glenn and Gregg selected the pitch because of its proximity to the arena and the amount of vehicles we have to field, sound thinking but not a success. That pitch would have been just as much of a nightmare had it rained as it would have turned into a quagmire, I think next year we need to get into the tree line for sanity and a little comfort.
I felt that the arena was poorly laid out from just about everybody's point of view, particularly the public, it was however the only place the dust worked, it looked amazing with the vehicles moving, like eastern Ukraine in 43!! The village should have been set at right angles to the public and deeper into the space to afford a complete view of scenario. The one way road needs to be re routed around the back of the arena between the Grandstand and the crowd line so that it does not shut every time there is an event. That led to huge traffic snarl-ups and also was the reason for so few arena events!
Facilities, this is always a difficult one at an event on this scale, the loos near our pitch were, for the most part, clean and functioning. I do know that Rex had a big problem coordinating the toilet issue having four separate contractors, Plumbing, Gas, Waste and Cleaning. None of them seemed to grasp the fact that things were happening before Wednesday, despite the fact that traders were there from the previous week and the rest of us from at least the Friday before. On the catering I the restaurant's in the Grandstand were truly ghastly, I found the little Kebab stall near the Grandstand, it was great value for money all freshly cooked and a little godsend as was the Yorkshire pudding stall by the big red bus! Yes the beer tent was outrageous but the big red bus nearer the fun fair was nearly a pound cheaper.
I visited Sainsbury's in Hythe (three miles from the site) on an almost daily basis as well as the services at the M20 for fuel. This was done in camo with no insignia visible and no crusher or holster. The staff and public were pleased to see us and very helpful, they were also keen to know how we were finding the new site, I also discovered that they had laid on extra staff for the week!
The show will only improve, Rex has a five year lease and needs to make it work. Despite the moaners and gloom merchants W&P will continue and we will all continue to come. It is the biggest militaria fair in the UK by a long way, oh you can go to Europe Manheim in October is great for vehicle parts, but no good for re-enactors, living history and the like. Love it or hate it W&P will continue with or without you.
My final thought - Rex please cut the number of bloody land rovers by three quarters!
Andy
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Always keep the boot of destiny aimed at the arse of anticipation!
Last edited by Sturmschar on Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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and now also the end of my canopy handling days 
i will still have to pay , or i park in the public car park walk with all the gear each day though the main gates 
not a good situation to be in , i await to see what's going to happen on this £30 charge from the show organizers before 100% saying yes or no this year , shame as was really looking forwards to it 
