Jed the dog

what a fantastic record of the event...the people..the places...the vehicles...and no sign of the 21st century !!!! having a job to find the right adjectives..".jolly good show all round" sums up the event in the Forties venacular.

looks like a great event , like the DR section photos. Need to plan a visit another year. Thanks for posting the pics.

Well overdue...thoughts and thanks from the organisers,.Ed Abbott and Clive Stevens. Firstly profound thanks to all the entrants from far and wide,and to those who tried and didnt quite make it. The event was a great success due to the variety and quality of all the vehicles entered. Over the 2 days we covered over 100 miles with 50 vehicles each day...thats 5000 vehicle miles with a minimum of breakdowns..fine testimony to the standard of preparation. Secondly, thanks to the landowners and Forestry Commission for access to their land, i had to promise we would not trash their land....or gate posts etc...i met alot of nice people on my travels ,and some not so nice. A inordinate amount of time was spent organising access... Thirdly, thanks to our better halves Christine and Suzannne who looked after us during the stresses and strains of organising Bolero and maning the BBQ,s Fourthly...thanks to all the museums that made us welcome,with great exhibits , food and drink..No thanks to "Food is sloooow " at Horham who assured me several times that they could deliver 80 meals in 50 minutes.....no reflection on the excellent Horham Hospital Museum.... Fifth...a round of applause to the HMVF site for creating awareness before and after the event.The quality and quantity of photos from the event is fantastic,,some of the photographers could even go professional....don,t forget to try 200 film sometimes though... Sixth, thanks to Neil Stevens for the Bolero website...http://www.redballexpress.co.uk..for setting the scene prior to the event... Seventh...thanks to Suffolk MVT for supporting the event,manning the Bolero HQ, and parking the display vehicles at the Parham open day. It was a great turn out for the public to admire,,, even if it took 2 hours to organise and execute.... I must not forget to praise Maurice Hammond for his display both off and on the ground at Hardwick..surely one of the highlights of the event ...a true star.. Other Stars of the event were my fellow" Despatch Riders" Peter Brown, Kevin Foster and Paul Fevyer who did such a great job in guiding and sheperding the convoy. These guys and their bikes are probably the best in the buisness.;, the fine British Bikes were all ww2... a bit lost on all you Yank fans...Thanks to the Harley guys to. The event has set the way for Bolero 2...but time will tell., if we can find the money and stamina to go through it again. Pre -event sceptics said you could no longer run big convoys, and i will admit i lost sleep worrying about possible problems. Suffolk Constabulary advised not to have "more than 6 vehicles " in any convoy,but , despite having copies of the routes were never seen during the event . Their advise ran into 3 A4 sheets....However despite the odd hickup the 5000 vehicle miles ran very well...it may have helped that i rode 800 miles over 4 months planning the routes.... Those of you with your Bolero T-Shirts wear them with pride because you earned them... We must not forget to thank the Lotteries people who are not spending all their loot on the Olympics !! It was great that they supported and recognised the broader aims of Bolero to help get Children and Veterans to the event as well as funding other operational costs.. One of our aims was to connect with the sights,sounds and memories of the wartime occupation of rural Suffolk by the US 8th Airforce.I think we succeeded Thanks again to everyone involved in the event, you made it special...!! Ed Abbott / Clive Stevens ps if you have got withdrawal symptoms, read Harry Crosby,s " A wing and a Prayer " incredible account as a navigator at Thorpe Abbotts...available from Amazon etc...i cannot put it down, !!

crackin' stuff...

crackin, photos grommit.