Here I go.....
Lots of good points here which have slithered a little around and about the central topic.
Before Beltring John Blackman asked Simon and I what we wanted to do at the show for the mag coverage. I am a Beltring junky. I have a ball. So, I was happy to do a 'diary' piece plus the usual mishmash of Barnes pix. Simon is passionate about British MVs. I walked around a lot of the site with him (he goes off for hours by himself) and he was lamenting times when more British vehicles appeared at the show. He reflected on the inbalance caused by the large number of WW2 US stuff. But surely this just mirrors real life?
The British parade was a washout. We were pleased to see the vehicles who did appear. Simon probably had his photographer/enthusiast hat on when he wrote how sad it was no more vehicles came out. He owns an MW and a QLR and lives on the IoW- he knows about the costs of running them.
It surely IS a shame we don't see more emphasis on, for want of a better word, action, from British vehicles at the event. But.....
To Beltring itself.
I've only been attending since 1998. I was a punter til 2001 when I started getting a press pass and now I am on the "Press Team". This means I spend my day snapping all and sundry from dawn til dusk (and after) and the pix are selected for the show website. I make my own selection for CMV and yet more may well end up on the forum if I ever get some free time.
I agree with Lee about the costs - a lot, but by no means everyone, treat the event as a bit of a holiday - if not their actual summer hols. It amazes me, but it is so. I can see the point about paying to get your vehicle in tandem with the public paying to come in and see you. I don't have access to the accounts, profits and costs of the event. None of my beeswax; but the old adage about voting with your feet (or bar treads) applies. The show gets bigger.
People do not go for all kinds of reasons. The money, the geography, the politics and to be honest - dislike of strutting pillocks in stormtrooper outfits, drunks, slobs, tea-leafs - the lot. Wittman wannabes aside, it is a microcosm of modern Britain. You cannot like all of it, but hey - we're here for the duration.
I enjoy visiting smaller shows and always like to do something different - best encompassed by Operation Bolero in June. It was fantastic. I can say no more.
In the end we've been given the right to choose whether we go to Beltring or not. I choose to go. Owners can park up and sip tea or rumble around dodging the REOs and Landies. It's a matter of choice. You pays your money....
To British lorries. I agree Dunkirk is a false flag. The stuff left was predominantly old or requisition kit. They did leave new stuff in abundance - but the mighty British motor industry replaced it. The British did have American kit - but look out for the Bedfords, Austins, Morris-Commercials, Leylands, AECs, Fords, Albions and Thorneycrofts. They could only come from one place. Attend just about any classic commercial show and you will see a lorry - sometimes several, which used to be WD. Thousands more were simply run into the ground. These owners are not tempted to turn their pretty trucks back in to WD pattern. Britain was not awash with American lorries gifted by the Marshall Plan that now re-appear from Bolero to Beltring. What a shame.
I can extend this debate a little. I've decided to get rid of my Iltis. My wife wants me to get a jeep and my son wants a Champ. The US V British debate will never end. Being a punter first and foremost, I just want to see the lot...and the reality is there are very few events where you can do that - which just about brings us back to the beginning....
MB