Harrogate show

The 7m and 11m levels of our body shop were constructed from flowforge, the thought is never far from your mind that there may be an insecure section. A 7m drop onto concrete would be bad but better than landing on one of 1100 robots or a conveyor. I am sure a February dip in the river was most unwelcome as well as serious injury. It sounds as though it could have been much worse an outcome although what you suffered is plenty bad enough. Has it put you off flowforge floors and catwalks?

Mike

Hi Mike, I was lucky in that the tide was at it's highest and was still water. If the tide was coming in or going out, the result may have been a lot different, as it is a very fast flowing river, however if the tide was completely out, it could possibly have been life changing as the photo below shows. It did not phase me about flowforge floors or catwalks though, but I don't frequent as many now my time is all my own, so don't miss them or the work associated with them.

Regards Nick.

P.S. I was facing that fat steel pillar and inside all that woodwork when my head popped out of the water.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 11/03/2023 12:29:36

May I offer a countervail to some of the rather negative comments regarding the show. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am very pleased that I made the effort to attend. It was spacious and not too overcrowded so I actually got to examine closely and admire some of the superb work that was being exhibited. The fact that it was a combined model engineering and model railway show made for the opportunity to view some of the excellent work of those who choose to work in a different field of the model world. With aircraft and boats on display too the balance was about right IMO. There were enough traders there, as far as I could see, to satisfy every need except one who seemed more interested in conducting prolonged conversations with non-purchasers than actually selling his products. After standing for about 10 minutes waiting for this man to stop his gassing I slung the product down and walked away, I noticed that several other people lost patience too.

I did not go due to the prior bad press and that it is over 200 miles from me.

I have seen photographs of some very good models but I would be interested in knowing which traders attended.

JA

Many Brighton dwellers will know that what happens on the north side of Clayton Hill is very different from ther south side. I've known 23 degrees (F ) of frost at Gatwick mbut nothing in Brighton.

Sometime as you crest the hill the grass verge suddenly goes white with frost.

We've had it pouring one side of Peterborough but dry on the other side.

Howard

I was there from the Thursday morning, setting up the Leeds SMEE stand. And boy, was it cold in that hall with the roller-shutter door wide open as the snow was falling outside! Fortunately on Thursday it was melting as soon as it hit the ground.

I had heard some bad press about Simon Boak, the organiser, but I had no personal experience of that and I was quite prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think he managed to arrange the whole thing in an incredibly short time, and although perhaps some aspects of it could be improved, I take may hat off to the guy for putting his money up and giving us what turned out to be an excellent show.

The weather clearly paid a part in it; it must have given him a lot of worry that the punters would stay away in droves. I was pleasantly surprised how many actually turned up on the Friday, but the local roads weren't too bad. The Showground people had managed to clear the snow from the approach road and car park, too, so my fears that everyone would get stuck on the hill trying to get in were unfounded.

I agree with Chris that combining the model railways with model engineering was a good idea - it would attract more visitors for sure.

With it being very much of an unknown, I imagine some traders might have stayed away due to uncertainties about the success of the event. RDG, for example, were there, but it was noticeable that they only had about half of their "normal" stand - and I can quite understand why they did that. I sincerely hope that all the traders there thought it worth-while attending.

I can't say how the model railway guys got on, but I always find it amazing how rapidly a show like that simply disappears at closing time. It all seemed to be conducted with good humour and with amazing efficiency as folk scurried off with items of varying hugeness and bulkiness. An hour after it closed, there was very little left in Hall 2.

We got a form to fill in for our details for next year - so it looks as if it'll be repeated. I hope to be there if so.

I took the chance - having ensured if I became trapped I wouldl survive, hot drinks, sleeping-bag et al.

Drove from Dorset to the Dales on Thursday, meeting quite a bit of rain at times but no falling snow until near Preston, though the final six miles from Settle to my accommodation was a bit adventurous in the teeth of a blizzard.

After an hour helping our neighbour (a small hotel) clear his forecourt on Friday morning I drove to Harrogate, over Blubberhouses Moor, carefully but with no problems at all; and that in a Renault Kangoo not a LandRover.

.

The show itself?

I enjoyed it, spent the usual, umm, lots, (we've to support our traders!). Both the model railway and the engineering sides.

One trader there had come all the way from my neck of the woods, too. I spotted a Dorset Van Hire vehicle in the exhibitors' car-park, and sure enough, Stuart Models / Bridport Foundry had their stand in place.

By the end (I left about half an hour before closing) the snow was noticeably thinner on the neighbouring park, which had been busy with sledding families in the morning. My drive home on Sunday afternoon was uneventful, on clear roads.

Will I go next year? Yes. This year's was a little bit thin but I had expected that after a few years' hiatus, changes of venues and of course the weather, but with basically Harrogate and Midlands (and I think one on in Norfolk??) now the only national-level shows, I hope it will grow. Given the ease of reaching the venues, perhaps one or two of the "big" traders will come back, too.

There was some stuff on here some months ago about difficulty driving to the Harrogate venue. My return route was over the hills from Skipton, and I did not find it any more problematical than any other town of similar size. I also took the offer of a filling-station in the town, cheaper than any other I saw.

I would though appreciate better sign-posting: the show-ground entrance is not very obvious from the East side.

Oh, and S.O.T., are you still here? I always enjoyed your workshop at Alex Palace!

Nigel, you wrote:

Will I go next year? Yes. This year's was a little bit thin but I had expected that after a few years' hiatus, changes of venues and of course the weather, but with basically Harrogate and Midlands (and I think one on in Norfolk??)

Where in Norfolk please ?

Emgee

Probably thinking of Lowmex

Hi JasonB Lowmex is in Suffolk, but Nigel maybe thinking of the ME day at Forncett Forncett Industrial Steam Museum

Regards Nick.

Well he did put a ? and it is right on the border and has a Norwich post code and is billed as ...MEX

Thank you - yes, my knowledge of the geography of Eastern England is a bit hazy, but Lowestoft was the place I was trying to remember, rather than the name of the exhibition!

A while ago there was talk of an exhibition in the SW, perhaps Exeter, but nothing seems to have come of that.