On a windy and chilly May afternoon the MCN HOC Exhibition Team headed to Peterborough for the last Festival to be held on this East of England Show Ground as it is becoming a housing development The van, trailers, camper van and caravan were quickly parked and gazebos erected – being securely fixed to combat the wind and then, in survival mode, the tents and teepee were neatly corralled in the middle! Bikes were parked and the team then waited – drinking copious cups of tea and coffee for the arrival of Jim’s two (Hailwood and Redman) replica bikes which were placed in the final spaces. An entertaining evening was spent having a beer at the onsite bar and catching up on the news.
Saturday dawned chilly and windy after what had been a chilly night in the tents (those of a less sturdy nature having abandoned the encampment for nearby hotels). After bacon butties from Annee and Mary and coffee, the stand was completed and a steady flow of visitors arrived, admired the range and chatted with 12 joining the Club and a large number be cajoled into buying regalia by Jenny! It was one attendee’s birthday so ‘Happy Birthday’ was sung tunefully (?) whilst he enjoyed a cake! 6pm arrived and the evening was again spent enjoying a few drinks and the gang were joined by two of the Royial British Legion Riders who had been customers earlier in the day (think they mainly came back for some more of Jenny’s buns!)
Everyone opened their eyes to a brighter start on Sunday with the day getting warmer and warmer throughout. Sarah arrived, having slept in the car overnight, with more regalia and, again, the stand was very busy but more people looking than joining and buying. Lots of info given out and lots of laughter ensued and then the weekend was topped off with one of Jim’s two replica bikes winning ‘Best in Show’ with Trophy and Rosette presented by MCN! Congratulations Jim! All in all an excellent Show and it transpired that the Festival of Motorcycling is being planned for next year and new venues are being approached. In all over both days 15 new members were signed and nearly £800 worth of regalia sold!
A big ‘thank you’ to all the Team, who came, worked hard, showed their bikes on the stand and had fun – couldn’t have done it without you!
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Erica Gassor
