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War & Peace Revival 2014 - If you no longer attend why not?


LarryH57

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We did ask for our concerns to be listened to and nobody gave a d#m or came to talk just petty official's strutting there stuff in front of there mates whose command of the English language left a lot to be disired

Did you speak to Rex?

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Asked twice, no show as predicted, interesting vehicles, good company, friends old and new, organisation and management disappointing, but there was the cafe just up the road with good food at affordable prices served quickly by efficient friendly staff in some way helped lift the whole W&PR experience

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I had a great show, just a shame I was so busy talking to people that I hardly got chance to see any of it. I'd also like to apologise to anyone that got held up behind the Cromwell while we loaded it onto the trailer on sunday but 15 mins wasn't too bad and at least we didn't get stuck.

 

rick

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I had a great show, just a shame I was so busy talking to people that I hardly got chance to see any of it. I'd also like to apologise to anyone that got held up behind the Cromwell while we loaded it onto the trailer on sunday but 15 mins wasn't too bad and at least we didn't get stuck.

 

rick

 

Yes Rick it was great to have you with us this year pleased you enjoyed it. I do have to say the marshals who we were involed with were great, very helpfull nothing was to much trouble for them a great show for me.

 

Al

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the loading of tanks on their transport is one of the things i enjoy watching.

on the sunday eve i asked if me and my brothers could fire some rounds with the blankfire guns i got, it got radioed through to Rex and no was the answer, it just stands on mutual respect and how you treat the marshals even when they have a rough day.

i had contact with my dad and brothers, we go again the next year, roll on 2015.

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We had this very conversation in the group I was with during the week, I love W&P and WPR, for me it's a combination of the hobby I love and catching up with some really great friends once a year, there are probably many in the same situation and for that reason there will no doubt always be a 'hardcore' base that will attend pretty much no matter what... I certainly lump myself in with that.

 

That aside, I do feel there is a certain lack of atmosphere at Folkestone that Beltring had, the site's shape (the loop so to speak) means that day visitors have to embark on a considerable trek to work the site with little or no option other than to continue round the whole race course, whereas at Beltring the paths and layout were such that one could dip in and out of the various fields making the walk as long or short as required (great for tired children believe me!). Then of course at Beltring there was the unsurpassable viewing hill for the arena... what better spot to enjoy a cold drink, rest your feet or have a spot of lunch whilst being thoroughly entertained by the various goings-on.

 

From there, the living history was contained in an area but before Witham's had their way by taking over one end, it was a large area but concentrated the LH encampments. I feel this enhanced the experience, they do seem comparatively diluted and spread out at Folkestone.

 

Again from the arena at Beltring it was only a few yards to the trade stalls. All this meant that anything could be accessed easily without too much slogging cross country, Folkestone seems so much more spread out, a visit to Kitchener's field didn't even feature on my week.

 

It also seemed there was a noticeable lack of heavy armour this year, we came to the conclusion that if the arena isn't that exciting to drive with space to get up speed and undulations and bomb-holes to tackle and 'show off', there is little else to tempt their owners to the show, thinking of what must be massive running costs for these beasts, without this encouragement they're not going to return. They have an undisputable draw to the public and without them the interest will wane.

 

There are plenty of completely justified comments on the vastly improved showers and toilet facilities at Folkestone, and I agree fully with them, but since these are mobile facilities I cannot understand why on earth these could not have been implemented sooner at Beltring after the years of complaints.

 

Whatever the various pros and cons though, For me it's not the site that will drive me away, It's the good company that keeps me there... no matter where, but if they stop going and do more local shows so shall I.

 

I can't see everyone being as tolerant though.

 

Hi there,

 

Just to let you know, the Arena is longer at folkestone and plenty of space to get up speed in armour !

 

Also we had 2 large holes and bumps dug by those nice guys in the Cat and the Grader, its a pleasure watching them working, in fact a T34 and a Scammell both got stuck in the one nearest to Gammons Bar and impromtu recovery for the crowd was an additional benefit.

 

By the way the Bus probably wont be there next year, but we will see.

 

All the best,

 

Andy Mitchell

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Since I travel to the show by train, the new site is a vast improvement from a travel point of view, since there's no longer any need for a shuttle bus, nor (since the site is on the up-line side) the problem of humping heavy radio kit over the Paddock Wood footbridge. :D (Bad for the piggybank though: I now can buy heavier radio kit!):cry:

 

Chris.

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Having mentioned that it would be good to see Sdkfz.Com, Miltracks and French Tank Museum at WPR I noticed in CMV Mag that the Valentine from Saumur came to Normandy, then it wouldn't be so far to come to Kent would it?

Edited by LarryH57
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Having mentioned that it would be good to see Sdkfz.Com, Miltracks and French Tank Museum at WPR KI noticed in CMV Mag that the Valentine from Saumur came to Normandy, then it wouldn't be so far to come to Kent would it?

 

 

Don't know whether you noticed but there was a Valentine at W&PR this year .......... not a French one either. Nice to see it there John !

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Having read through this thread, there are some valid points raised that hopefully may be addressed in the future as well as some ridiculous ones. What people must realise is that it took the IMPS (and later Rex) some twenty years at the Hop Farm to bring the show to the level it was when it was then transferred to Folkestone. The early shows had an arena by the road (opposite the Bluebell pub) and the whole show fitted into what was eventually the stall area of the last shows. It gradually got bigger over the years but it was after 1995 that it grew dramatically. Every year we had complaints and whinges (too big, toilets, arena, etc - just as now) and every year we had problems trying to entice people to take part in arena displays instead of just driving their vehicles around the site as well as behaving in a responsible way. It seems to me that very little has changed. It must be remembered that the show has a dynamic of its own and it hopefully will evolve to suit most people.

I can remember many complaints that the Hop Farm site was too big (as mentioned before, the original show was on the site of the final stall area) but we kept on finding further fields to accommodate the increasing entries i.e. the show site expanded to fit in all the people who wished to exhibit and also that the banks erected by Brent Pollard (then the owner of the Hop Farm) were too steep, too high or cut off the arena from the rest of the show. There were complaints when we had dust or the fields were too muddy, catering was too expensive, etc, etc. In other words, nothing changes.

Rex cannot win but let us support his efforts after only two years at Folkestone. You can help by making sure you get involved with the show, don't just sit around drinking beer with your mates but enter the appropriate arena events to show off your 'green baby' or make sure your display is people friendly so that the public can hopefully understand your hobby. In a previous reply somebody mentioned that only three vehicles took part in the D-day vehicle arena event. True, so we had to commentate on all the D-day vehicles stuck behind the bus on the road through the arena. That gave us quite a variety but why could they not have entered the event instead of just driving around the showground?

Let us hope that next year some of the sensible issues raised will be addressed and everybody will have a good time.

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The point I was trying to make, but not very well, was that WPR could do with some added MV attractions. I mentioned before that it would be good to have some vehicles from the French Armour Museum in Saumur. It was said that this is very unlikely, but as they brought their Valentine to Normandy I don't think the idea is impossible for them to get some interesting French vehicles to Kent. Regarding German vehicles have Sdkfz.com boycotted the show? Also some vehicles seen at Miltracks in Holland have been seen in the UK and many Dutch MV owners attend WPR so why has the number of original WW2 German vehicles gone down? I think it's down to money and as long as the public attend in their thousands nothing will change, well not until MV owners and the public, see nothing new, start to fade away. It would be interesting to see a comparison of numbers through the gates over the last few years.

Edited by LarryH57
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The point I was trying to make, but not very well, was that WPR could do with some added MV attractions. I mentioned before that it would be good to have some vehicles from the French Armour Museum in Saumur. It was said that this is very unlikely, but as they brought their Valentine to Normandy I don't think the idea is impossible for them to get some interesting French vehicles to Kent. Regarding German vehicles have Sdkfz.com boycotted the show? Also some vehicles seen at Miltracks in Holland have been seen in the UK and many Dutch MV owners attend WPR so why has the number of original WW2 German vehicles gone down? I think it's down to money and as long as the public attend in their thousands nothing will change, well not until MV owners and the public, see nothing new, start to fade away. It would be interesting to see a comparison of numbers through the gates over the last few years.

 

The costs of bringing any vehicle from Saumur would be immense - ferries alone would run into four figures plus road transport costs, etc. - they are not a voluntary organisation. Many years ago at Beltring we got Bovington to bring up the WWl mark V tank. The costs nearly bankrupted us and it didn't increase the footfall at all as far as we could tell. As far as I know there are three main Axis vehicle collections, SdKfz Foundation, Kevin Wheatcroft and Bruce Crompton. All have exhibited vehicles in the past but I believe there have been some disagreements between Rex and the first two and Bruce was there this year but promoting his TV career and the new Fury film with the two tank 'close up' models.

If you studied the crowds by the arena, the main attraction was the battles (or anything that went 'bang') followed by the armour (any armour). Before we introduced battles to the arena events the armour was the main attraction for the public. Note I said public, not enthusiasts. The public want anything that is big or different but would not care what it was and it is the public in the end who pay for the show for us enthusiasts to enjoy.

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We had a really good show despite the mud rain etc..all the marshals that i spoke to were very helpful and friendly.

 

What annoyed me was the lack of tracked vehicles that could not be bothered to enter the arena! probably for fear of getting them muddy no doubt! I was in the arena in my ot-90 as much as i could and even in some that i shouldn't have been in, personally i think the arena was lacking in vehicles most times! Sunday was appalling for vehicle entries as most of the lamers had gone home Saturday! This affected the crowd around the arena alot.. Speaking with the arena marshals on our cold war runs, they were quite impressed with the amount of Russian/E-Bloc vehicles attending all our runs this year and were quite happy for us to stay a little longer going mad and putting on a good show!

I think that marshals or someone should encourage vehicle owners much more to attend all the arena activities to put on a spectacular display for the paying crowds rather than a dreary few vehicles bumberling around the arena a few times! At the end of the day its down to us the vehicle owners/drivers to make this happen and have some fun in the arena!

Rex and his team did a fantastic job this year and it will only get better as they get more organized, thanks for an awesome time guys.

Regards

Nick

ot-90

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regards sunday , it would be good if the show finished at 3, which would give owners time to get home sunday none of this do not pack your camp up till 6 on sunday or u might not be invited back bollocks!

Edited by griff66
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I don't understand the point you are making regarding a national day of remembrance; Saumur are proud of their MVs and take some of them great distances.

 

I know, I'm saying they are likely to put more effort into remembrance and historical commemoration than they do for a bit of fun at a vehicle show. I don't think it's reasonable to assume they'd take a tank to one because they do the other.

Edited by Lauren Child
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I was there on Friday and people were going home even then!

 

As said earlier the fuel costs / distance have killed it for me and many others and the other massive factor is the potential road chaos - If you have a long trip home the last place you want to be on Sunday is Folkestone ! , W&P in Allowing people to camp from the previous Saturday cause there own downfall - if people have been on site 4 days before the show starts then after a week they've seen and done it all by Friday show day, and at the end of the day if as a exhibitor you have to pay to enter your exhibit I think it sort of changes the normal show attendance rules making it more like a holiday and you've paid to be at rather than a show you are making happen and being part of .

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As said earlier the fuel costs / distance have killed it for me and many others and the other massive factor is the potential road chaos - If you have a long trip home the last place you want to be on Sunday is Folkestone ! , W&P in Allowing people to camp from the previous Saturday cause there own downfall - if people have been on site 4 days before the show starts then after a week they've seen and done it all by Friday show day, and at the end of the day if as a exhibitor you have to pay to enter your exhibit I think it sort of changes the normal show attendance rules making it more like a holiday and you've paid to be at rather than a show you are making happen and being part of .

 

I think you have a point thee. We alls aid that next year we will set up the display the weekend before but come back down on the Wednesday and start our show. We are knackered by the time the public gets there!!!

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