North and South Show

Stroud

24^th.and 25^th. June 2006

This show now in its second year is set in the most beautiful parkland in Stroud which even houses its own little sit on railway.

I could not resist a ride. I had to have a child accompanying me so I took Jason!

There was plenty of free parking and the entry fee was a modest four pounds. Although you seem to have to go on a circular tour to actually get to the exhibition hall it was well worth it.

Perhaps one of the attractions of the show was Garden Rail’s Tag Gorton or not depending on your point of view. Although my highlight was, once again, that wonderful Walt’s railway. I never tire seeing this layout as you can always find something new on it.

This show has a good mixture of trade stands like  Bay Models, Back to Bay 6, Chalk Garden, Garden Railway Centres, and Martins Models who offer a mixture of merchandise.

Lineside Delights (could not resist purchasing their large station kit for conversion into a hotel), Model Town’s wonderful little characters, J.A. replicas, Tuxcraft with their ever increasing range of concrete models. I especially liked the thatched cottage, were among some of the more specialized stands.

Other stands included 16mm NG Modellers, Tony Green Steam

Models, I.P. Engineering, Imp Models, ABC Models, NDR Carriage Works, Binnie Engineering, Atropos, and  Blackham Transfers for some finishing touches.

Christopher Awdry with Thomas the Tank, John Sutton Books and some very good value DVDs from Daves Railway Videos.

The layouts included John Strip, Martins Models andPendle Ground Tapioca  in Gscale. Rhydypenderyn, Mendip Vale, Timpdon Lake, Ttrarrag Shed and Leigh Valley in 16mm.

The only thing missing were the visitors. I went on the Sunday but I understand that attendance was a little disappointing on the Saturday as well. Attendance was up on last year however.

So hopefully the organisers and traders will continue to support this show.

My only real criticism of the show is the very poor catering service, as last year it was painfully slow and clearly had no organisation to it. It cannot take more than half an hour to produce a bacon baguette when there were only a handful of customers in the café. I accept that this not the fault of the organisers but of the leisure centre management but it does need addressing because if you travel some distance to attend a show you do need some refreshment without hassle.

Overall the show is well worth a visit but do not rely on the catering.

This is a personal view by rambling roger.