The War & Peace Revival 2013 Review

[LarryH57]

Interesting comments and all valid. With regard to the state of the toilets one of the causes is lack of personal hygiene when camping out, which inevitably leads to diarrhoea. When at home we wash our hands far more in the kitchen and after going to the toilet than we do when living out of the back of our MVs or camping in a hot and dusty tent. So standards start to go down hill and with scores of people in front of the afflicted in the toilet queue, its no wonder they miss the target when they finally get in. So I'm told there were 14,000 campers(?) at WPR and if true it comes as no surprise that many people fell foul to this type of illness. If there are any inventors among us then to improve the toilets they need to design one made entirely of galvanised steel with a non-slip mesh floor, allowing spills to drain away in to an enormous under floor sump. to keep them sweet these toilets would then be closed regularly for a few minutes and hosed out completely and sprayed with disinfectant. The sump and other waste would then be pumped out. This could be done mechanically or by a willing volunteer wearing suitable protective kit! Enough said on that. Regarding the ditches these were annoying in the LH field and Rex needs to make some exit and entry points to avoid the dead ends and get more visitors seeing all the displays. As for the Arena I agree it was hard to watch the action without a bank. I was rather hoping the site owners would rather have the place used for events and so the white fences could go and the Arena be moved nearer the stands. If not the WPR will need to build a scaffold stand for the event which is not cheap. One other point concerning the Arena; I know that posts need to be in place to mark out a safety zone but did they all need to have a safety notice taped to them and red and white tape used to mark the side of the Arena exit? Could these not be marked out in other ways like false walls or something natural in appearance so as not to spoil photographs? Also could the vans and other vehicles on the far side of the Arena be moved out too please? Do the organisers know that people love to take photos with as little clutter in the background as possible?. Lastly for vehicle owners who cannot stay for a week and arrive say on Thursday or Friday, is there any way that they could move their vehicle so that it is not left among the white vans and caravans in the far off fields, so that it may be seen and appreciated by the public? As it was this year my MV may as well not have been there at all. And for that matter why is WPR always on BEFORE the UK summer holidays. If it started a week later I would be there for the week but as it stands I can't be guaranteed by the school that they will be given special leave, so at present I can only commit to the last few days of the show.

[Marmite!!]

Feedback will have few results if not sent directly to the oganisers, may be members could consider sending them directly to Rex rex@warandpeace.uk.com as well as posting on the forum.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Marmite!!
typo

[Jack]

I enjoyed the week.

 

But for me, I felt it was suffering with an identity crisis. I am not too sure how much bigger the site is or isn't but it felt like a world cup stadium that was half full. But it seemed to have a great festival feel and ambience to it which was really pleasent. May be W&P should have had 'festival' on the end of it as opposed to 'revival'. I never got to catch up with many chums as the mv's were so far away.

 

I was impressed with the security team/company who were there. As a trader, they were just so helpful and couldn't do enough for you - they seemed to have a real professional edge about them. And I like that - makes you feel relaxed and in safe hands.

 

I did enjoy the week but that's because I have a positive mindset - and I had to put that to the test on way too many times. The loos and facilities is simply 100% outrageous. There actually is no excuse for it at all. None. If the UK is lucky enough to hold the worlds premier event like this then we, as a hobby, should be embarrassed. Do we really want to show the rest of the world how we do things here in the UK - or don't we?! Folks spend £000's on restoring peices of our history. There are so many clever and determined people out there looking after our history just to be faced with mess of the facilities - to me it shows lack of respect and contempt.

 

Some of those who were with me in the bar of Friday will remember it as the night of the '£4.40' - that's how much is was for ONE pint of Fosters. Folks, that's £32.50 a gallon. I am embarrased by that and furious. Embarrassed because I was stupid enough to pay it. The barman seemed really embarrased to take my money. I have never paid that for a pint, not even in London - this is Fosters we are talking about here, not a premium lager. Fosters is around £50 for a 72 pint barrel. I will never spend that again. Certain elements seriously need double checking if W&P want to be seen as the worlds premier event. Some lesson could be taken from the Great Dorset Steam Fair - over 600 acres and nailing it year on year.

 

All of the above really isn't hard to fix.

 

One of the highlights was the guy in the Kebab trailer :wow: and seeing Stefano everyday who invited me to Italy and then spent the week telling me how crazy Italians are........:help::sweat:

[Stefano]

One of the highlights was the guy in the Kebab trailer :wow: and seeing Stefano everyday who invited me to Italy and then spent the week telling me how crazy Italians are........:help::sweat:

 

........and of course the gentle art of saying no......

It was great to see you

[paul_bish]

Well we all got back on Monday after 11 days on site.

 

Overall I think it was good with the usual teething problems

 

Good Points:

Weather though nothing to do with the organisers

The amount of peopler there as visitors, we were at the outer edge of the living history field and had a lot of traffic

The bar on top of the victorian grandstand, great breeze, cold beer, chesterfields and a good view

All the vintage stall and hairdressers, made my wife and friends very happy

Good amount of traders

I like the one way system but bit odd going through arena

Tea Rooms were nice though not sure they enjoyed me and my rather hot team taking up space

 

Bad Points

The ditches in the living history field, really needs some bridges

The whole place could do with some "you are here" type maps

Seemed less living history folks there, maybe as I could be bothered with the ditch system so gave up on a few journeys. Maybe I missed folks

Very rough ground in camping areas but I know this is being ploughed, levelled and planted

Lack of water in showers a few times but fixed and ours were cleaned. The system was a bit like Le Mans with someone at each "Toilet City" as Rex called them cleaning them

 

I will feed these direct to the team as well.

[N.O.S.]

I used the space behind Jack's tent stand to dump a variety of storage boxes before a bulk transfer to the car park (big thanks, Jack!). I did end up at the receiving end of one of his throw-away quips, namely "You sure you haven't got a storage box obsession, Tony?".

 

Been thinking about that ever since, and you know what? I think I might have developed a storage box obsession......

 

Thanks Jack.

[Jack]

I used the space behind Jack's tent stand to dump a variety of storage boxes before a bulk transfer to the car park (big thanks, Jack!). I did end up at the receiving end of one of his throw-away quips, namely "You sure you haven't got a storage box obsession, Tony?".

 

Been thinking about that ever since, and you know what? I think I might have developed a storage box obsession......

 

Thanks Jack.

 

Tony - you had more boxes than the trade stand next to me who was selling boxes!:wow:

 

- hope you bought Mrs N.O.S. some flowers :angel:

[N.O.S.]

Er - I bought her a box.....

[Jack]

........and of course the gentle art of saying no......

It was great to see you

 

Yeah I remember - NO is the answer when a woman asks you to marry them, NOOOOOOOOOOO

[Stefano]

 

Edited July 24, 2013 by Stefano

[Great War truck]

The problem with the toilets could easily be fixed. You need to have someone on the door to ensure that customers are following basic hygiene standards:

 

[rosie]

The problem with the toilets could easily be fixed. You need to have someone on the door to ensure that customers are following basic hygiene standards:

 

 

More toilets? Both ideas would add to the show teams budget. I don't know the answer though. The toilets at Overlord are cleaned several times a day and there ate several blocks spread about the site. Ok I am totally aware that the W&P site is far bigger then the Overlord site but at the end of the day going to the toilet is a basic human need.

Maybe we can set up an HMVF show toilet providing service?!!!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[fv1609]

Well I didn't have to queue up for this one :-D

 

[Tony B]

A friend of mine has just sent me her opinion.:-D

[N.O.S.]

Here is one sure way to resolve the whole ablutions issue........

 

[N.O.S.]

How about we now flush the toilets issue away for another year, and move on to have a look at some of the more MV-related aspects of W&P?

 

Here's a nicely executed piece of cab art - it sure is a great bit of CCKW graffiti.

 

[Degsy]

How about we now flush the toilets issue away for another year, and move on to have a look at some of the more MV-related aspects of W&P?

 

Here's a nicely executed piece of cab art - it sure is a great bit of CCKW graffiti.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]79577[/ATTACH]

 

Would look better on a Reo Tony, that term wasn't used during WW2.

[Tugger]

Would look better on a Reo Tony, that term wasn't used during WW2.

And since 'Deuce' is a 'two of' card, it doesn't really work either;)

[hickjc]

In my opinion if War and Peace wants to remain the premier and not just the biggest military vehicle show then they have got some serious thinking to do.

 

The site layout does not seem to lend itself to people seeing the majority on a walk round, I imagine most people just walked around the race track only seeing a small number of the vehicles on display. That is not to say that by that point a member of the public might not have said they had seen enough, but that is not fair on people who have been stuck in the back end of beyond and will no doubt have made just as much effort to get there as anyone else.

 

The site is big and that's not a bad thing but the fact there were pitches taking up acres of space and then only two vehicle on display is frankly ridiculous, this need to be monitored by somebody.

 

I think it is almost impossible to please everybody so I wont go on but here is my one suggestion that was inspired by the fact that I was walking somewhere up on the top of the site and spotted a Mack truck with what appeared to be a long tom. My instant thought was who the hell is even going to know that thing is here never mind get to see it! It should have been down the the entrance or something!

 

So I think that somewhere near the main event/arena/stalls they should have a large display area, properly roped off, for which a member of the W&P team then invites certain select vehicles to display in the area for the day or half day, they could perhaps choose a different type of vehicle each day, or a different war. Then the public and exhibitors would get to see some of the best of the vehicles in the show all in one area at the same time, it would also be great if owners could stick around for half a day to talk to the public about their vehicle. This is only an idea but I personally think it has some potential, and a nice touch for those who are lucky enough to be asked to display their vehicle in the 'VIP' area. It could maybe run with the awards some how, so the three finalist in each category invited to display or something along those lines.

 

For me personally, and I should add I collect WW2 stuff, the Victory show is probably the premier military vehicle show at the moment and W&P has some catching up to do.

 

Hickjc

[fv1609]

somewhere up on the top of the site and spotted a Mack truck with what appeared to be a long tom.

 

I'm afraid I have no idea what either of those two things are. The trouble is people will have quite divergent ideas as to what they like & want to see & what should be in a prestige position. For example the only things I photographed were a Humber 1-Ton, a brown jerrican for water, a WW1 latrine & a blue rotor arm for a FFR Land Rover. I think people would be dismayed if some of those things were lined up at the entrance :-D

 

I think the answer lies in numerous ditch crossing points marked well with signs & on the map. Together with some hop on - hop off transport. This works well at Great Dorset Steam Fair.

 

We only really got visits from the public on Sat & Sun because they had to park some distance away & were taken by bus to the exhibitors entrance so had to walk past some of our exhibits to get to the rest of the show. On the other days the public saturated the stalls & very few had the determination to get far afield that was not help by the frustration ditches that couldn't be crossed.

 

I can't help but feel that the fair (that has little relevance to the event) occupied an unduly prestigious position that could be used perhaps as suggested by some of the prize winners.

 

I must say I thought the idea of the green camping within the white fencing worked well.

[Marmite!!]

 

I must say I thought the idea of the green camping within the white fencing worked well.

 

The NLBA's camp...

[fv1609]

The NLBA's camp...

 

Sorry Lee I don't see the relevance to your comment. I'm not concerned with NLBA or their camping arrangements.

 

I was just saying that the camping enclosed within the white fence boundary was by & large green which was the organisers were aspiring to.

[Marmite!!]

Sorry Lee I don't see the relevance to your comment. I'm not concerned with NLBA or their camping arrangements.

 

I was just saying that the camping enclosed within the white fence boundary was by & large green which was the organisers were aspiring to.

 

I was pointing out that was the NLBA's display that's all Clive...

[gas 44]

Sorry Lee I don't see the relevance to your comment. I'm not concerned with NLBA or their camping arrangements.

 

I was just saying that the camping enclosed within the white fence boundary was by & large green which was the organisers were aspiring to.

 

Whilst i like and agree with "green camping" IF the increase use of caravans and motorhomes was frowned upon or even stopped then the show would really need to consider upping the amount of toilets and showers. just think if there were 500 "plastic" campers then thats at least 1000 people less using the already inadequate toilets/showers.

[gritineye]

I think it is almost impossible to please everybody so I wont go on but here is my one suggestion that was inspired by the fact that I was walking somewhere up on the top of the site and spotted a Mack truck with what appeared to be a long tom. My instant thought was who the hell is even going to know that thing is here never mind get to see it! It should have been down the the entrance or something! Hickjc

 

The Mack and Long Tom were in that area because the group that accompanied the owner had quite a few civilian vehicles and tents. In the old 'Americas field' this would have been OK, but as Kitchener's field was already full of dust and tumble weed a week before the show when they were staking a claim, they opted for camping where you spotted them.