 | Home > Events > 2013 Eastnor Castle Show - 24th and 25th August 2013 |
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| rustandoil Member Since: 08 Sep 2012 Location: Cotswolds Posts: 736   
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Off to Eastnor in the next few minutes, hoping for a good day out.
Having said that we attend a number of shows throughout the year (not only Land Rovers) and i must say the whole show scene is changing, it all seems to have become stale, may well try to visit events (maybe some races) rather than shows next year. |
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25th Aug 2013 7:47am |
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| Sphere Member Since: 26 Apr 2013 Location: Midlands Posts: 725  
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I went to eastnor yesterday and thought it quite good. Ok it's local so would go anyway and maybe this is a reason.
I think they need to attract some more of the big boys there and agree needs a little more thought in organisation but after billing thought it was a lot better with less tat that billing seamed to have. I would say the setting is ideal and if they could get the big hitters there would be a great show. |
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25th Aug 2013 9:00am |
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| RobKeay Member Since: 19 Jul 2009 Location: Stafford Posts: 1579 
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Should have gone to the dunsfold collection. It was brilliant. No rubbish just land rovers and talks on landrovers.
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25th Aug 2013 9:25am |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748 
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I last went to Billing a couple of years ago and decided it was a complete waste of my fuel. A handful of decent trader stands but mostly stands selling junk & tat. Think I gave it an hour and then left for home.
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25th Aug 2013 8:36pm |
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| JWL Member Since: 26 Oct 2011 Location: Hereford Posts: 3443 
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I must admit to being very pleasantly surprised today at Eastnor. I know it's my local show and there was a lot of local visitors but for a social day out it was good. From a traders point of view it wouldn't have been the best but there were people leaving with the odd box of goodies under their arms. This year seemed to be a lot more compact and not so spread around, walking round, the club stands were not out on a limb and it felt part of the whole experience.
My 12 year old had a great time, there was a few Ewoks that are part of Land Rover Experience, a part that allows 11 to 17 year olds driving experiences under controlled conditions. The best part was it was free! He had a good 15 minutes driving round a simple course which will give him more inclination to pester me to let him have a go in mine  as he would have preferred it to have been in a Defender but an auto Ewok with dual controls is a far better idea especially when someone else is providing it 
Yes there was a twist off in the ring, somehow I missed that but it kept some happy. There was the Bowyer winch class......the usual club parades and a winch challenge which was a new thing. This looks different, park a few motors around the ring to act as anchor points, have the contestant park in one spot and then the object is to pull a railway sleeper around a set course of bollards. Where the contestant is parked is way too far away for the winch rope to reach so extensions have to be used, the direction of pull is constantly changing so a lot of thought and re-rigging takes place. This looks to have some potential as an attraction but like all ring displays it will be the personality of the one with the microphone that will make or break it, plus the sound system
As I said before, I was pleasantly surprised and as a paying customer through the gate, allthough £12 on the day I suppose is a going rate, didn't feel cheated. What was nice was to see some of the Dunsfold Collection in amongst the Land Rover stand and around the show. |
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25th Aug 2013 10:02pm |
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| JWL Member Since: 26 Oct 2011 Location: Hereford Posts: 3443
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I will say though that most of the people I spoke to today were not going to be going to Peterborough mainly due to camping costs and the basic fact of travelling from our side of the country. Travelling north to south on the Welsh borders consists of one main road, to get across the country can be a pain, the M50 gets you across a bit but that's it. If you're south there's the M4, up a bit there's the M54 but with all of them you still have to go up or down the country before you can get across if you use the motorways otherwise you're driving through towns and villages which are subject to all types of traffic conditions.
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25th Aug 2013 10:13pm |
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| rustandoil Member Since: 08 Sep 2012 Location: Cotswolds Posts: 736
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We arrived mid morning and our initial thoughts were that the show was very small and we would be heading home not long after lunch! but this turned out not to be the case as we were still there at gone 5pm
 in the end helping pack up a friends trade stand and camping stuff and bringing back one of his trailers, saving him a trip, got home about 7pm. All in all a pretty good day.
The show itself although small was good, a few more traders would have made a difference, great to see support from Land Rover experience 
Making the arena interesting is always going to be difficult, the winching demo was good and showed that thought has to be put into the rigging, but it was too slow to keep us watching for very long..... 
A far better layout than last year, with visitor parking nice and close, there seemed to be plenty of toilets facilities and food outlets. Eastnor has to be one of the best venues for a Land Rover show, looking forward to the next one. |
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26th Aug 2013 7:08am |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3782  
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12000 miles away!!!.......Pics?
Cheers, Pickles. |
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26th Aug 2013 9:24am |
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| adafish Member Since: 30 Mar 2009 Location: atherstone Posts: 1381 
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Well I went.........Was'nt working this weekend tho for Tim ( family break ), but really enjoyed it. The weather was kind to us if a bit windy, it only rained at night,usually just after we'd finished sitting round the campfire. Like folk have mentioned there wasn't many traders there but still a good selection. I think its the venue itself is bang on, Mark and the team ran it very well. The Marshalls were helpful and friendly even the security was good, walking around checking on the campers. No incidents from what I heard, apart from the muppets next to us that decided to light a Chinese Lantern at 1.30 in the morning. I was just on my way back from the loo's, when I noticed a red glow from by my tent. Low and behold a couple of grown men with their 2 teenage lads trying to get the the lantern up in the air. I asked what you trying to do....." set the castle on fire " was their reply....mine was something of dis-belief. Luckily a couple of security quards spotted it to and had them put it out and confiscated the rest off them........
I've been going Eastnor Castle since the early 70's , when my dad was a member of the MROC, camping/caravanning , trialling and all that, many happy memories from them days. This weekend was the 1st time i'd even been inside the Castle itself. Well worth a visit if you are that way...the grounds also , with little bits of the old G4 selections course around n about..... Now looking forward to Petebog13, and a busy show........ Ada Putting Dreams on Drives at JLR Solihull.. |
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26th Aug 2013 5:28pm |
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