As far as the weather was concerned, we could not have wished for better. I arrived on Friday afternoon and was able to put up my tent on a balmy summers day. Although to be fair, I had to do it twice since a few of my friends and I had started to put up out tents in the wrong place. Never mind, we met a very friendly and helpful marshall who soon showed us the correct place to be.

Friday night was rather chilly but we warmed ourselves with a hot meal and some drinks as we told tall tales in the Club Tent. Then off to bed.

Saturday started rather overcast but rapidly cleared and the day stayed sunny, bright, dry and warm. More Club members arrived during the day, set up their tents and helped us on the stand. We set out our stand with a range of the Club specials such as T-shirts, badges, sweatshirts, mugs etc and also put up the photoboard. We display the photoboard at all the events we go to and vary the pictures from event-to-event and from day-to-day. This lets us show all the pictures we have and gives people a good insight into the Club and its history.

Saturday night was also quite chilly and was overcome in much the same way as Friday night (hic)

If anything, Sunday was hotter than ever. A dazzling and sparkling day. We had quite a range of bikes and riders arriving on the stand all through the day and among them was the Triumph Speed Triple Hearse that you can see above here. This really IS a hearse and is used at funerals. Father Paul is the rider and conducts the services as he is a genuine clergyman. For more details of his services you can contact him at http://www.motorcyclefunerals.com or call him on 01530-384616.

I managed to get away from the stand for a short while and watched some displays by riders of yesteryear. Among them were the great Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read, Tommy Robb and many others. They were riding some pretty tasty old machinery too. Well worth seeing and very entertaining.

I had a look round the Motor Museum while I was there and that too, was worth a look. It's amazing to see those old machines and to read of the development and the deeds they did.

Unfortunately there were some down sides to this event. For the first time, all the motorcycle clubs were grouped together in one large area under the general heading of 'Club World'. This might have worked except for the distance we all were from the main sales booths and display areas. Anyone looking across the wide space between those stands and the 'Club World' area could be forgiven for thinking it was just a big camp site for exhibitors. So, not nearly as many visitors as we would have liked.

The second problem was simply down to the thoughtless behaviour of just a few people. These were the ones riding all sorts of bikes from cut-down Honda C90's to Wasp trials sidecars and everything in-between, and riding them at dangerously high speed right through the camp area. They seemed to have no regard for men, women or children and I was surprised that the organisers did not take a greater control of these activities.

And finally one oddity. More than one club seemed to be going out of its way to AVOID making new friends and attracting new members. These were the ones who erected fences around their stands and generally hid themselves behind a wall of bikes. One club even had signs displayed saying 'No entry except to members and INVITED guests' I kid you not and the underlining was THEIRS! What on earth were they thinking of?

But don't worry folks, your 59 Club had its usual open-to-all hospitality suite there with free tea, coffee and cold drinks to all members (and most non-members too) and as usual there was bread pudding and cool water melon slices to ease the hunger pangs. There is no way THIS Club is going to turn people away. EVERYONE is welcome.

All too rapidly, Sunday evening arrived and we cleared the site and made our way home. All-in-all, we had a good weekend and we are looking forward to more of the same next year. Now we are going to start getting ready for the meetings at The Ace and Brighton and we hope to see a whole bunch of you at these events. Just keep an eye on the Events Diary page for details. And also remember to send in any suggestions or comments you have about the Club, the web site or any of the events.

Until the next time, Regards and best wishes to you all.

I wish you safe and happy riding.

Webmaster