Telford Narrow Gauge Show

July 16^th. 2006

I did not visit this show last year due to other commitments so I was pleasantly surprised to fond it had grown a bit. It is held at the Moat House Hotel at Telford and is probably one of the smartest venues on the calendar. It is to find from the motorway and there is plenty of free parking.

Entrance fee was a modest four pounds and although some of the more familiar faces on the show circuit were missing there was still a good selection  of stalls to extract money from your hands. Leading this charge were Back to bay 6 and Martins Models.

Instead of being accompanied by the Boss (Jason) I was under the control of the Chancellor of the home exchequer (my wife Shirley). So I thought my spending would be carefully scrutinized. She had however fallen in love with a horse drawn dray she had seen the previous day at Back to bay6’s shop at Ironbridge. So once that was ordered the handbag was opened for the duration.

Tuxcraft and their ever increasing range of concrete models is always a stand to check out. A good mooch about in their tubs at the back of the stand always produces some goodies.

Modeltown is another stand that is always worth a look. Their range of budget priced figures is second to none. Some new character has to be added to the Dorchester Railway. They have a good selection of buildings as well.

On a bit of an economy drive was Graham and his “G on a String” stand.

Thanks to his demonstration of a scratch build water tower I have made one myself. He also had a children’s operated railway. I think this is a must for shows because all too many of our layouts have do not touch on them (I know it is necessary) but we need to fire the imagination of the youngsters to keep this hobby going.

A good selection of layouts, books and videos added to what was a well presented show. The attendance was small when I got there at opening time but increased well as the morning went on. There was the added bonus of the 009 exhibiting as well. If only I could get all there scenery in my garden it would be perfect.

Catering was limited unless you used the hotel restaurant but the Hope Hospice  ladies did a wicked line in  home made cakes and drinks were available.

No sightings of Gscalemad members although I and Shirley were proudly wearing our Gscale Mad polo shirts. Perhaps they saw us coming!

If you wanted to round off the day nicely you could have taken the free bus to the model steam fair nearby.

This is a personal view by rambling roger