KevinWalsh Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I actually made it to the show this year after the last 3 year's plans for attendance being kibboshed. What a great show, wonderful variety of scales/periods/regions and a very decent selection of traders. It was good to catch up with some old faces (Colin W), some very familiar faces (Keith and Mark on Gouttieres - they are members of the same club as me) and of course the dangerous duo (Eldavo and Phil H of this parish). Hopefully I'll make a return next year for more of the quality that Tonbridge draw together for a show. edited for missing words Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 No I did not claim any expenses for Hobbs Warren. Space required 10 x 7 and not in any circumstances upstairs. This was made clear from the outset and was obviously totally ignored. I severely injured my back in the 2011 season lugging the layout ( built like brick whatsit) and 40 plus 0 gauge loco's up stairs (The are damned heavy) which caused me to have to let other exhibitions down. I have never had such excruciating pain and it is not going to happen again. The injury occurred partly because we were offered help to carry it, come home time no one to be seen despite a number of requests. No I did not wait to see if arrangements could be made because I do not find my conditions for attending with the layout being totally ignored funny or forgivable. I have been on the exhibition circuit including exhibition manager for more than 30 years and have noticed a growing tendency to disbelieve the info given ie 10 x 7 operating space (but the layout is only 7' 6) so the space is cut down, or there is a pillar in it. I ask for that space because we need it for stock tables and operating space. Terry Cooke HOBBS WARREN Terry, first of all I can sympathise with you, as I to suffer from back injuries. As to what was put on the information sheet you submitted, I cannot question that, as I have not seen the paperwork. What I can say is that as you have said that you have been involved as an exhibition manager, you can understand the problems the club were facing last week with weather problems, traders & layouts being forced to withdraw because of illness, work commitments & travel problems. This was our exhibition manager's first exhibition as manager, & I cannot remember having so many problems in the run up to a show. Not giving us an opportunity to sort the problem out has left a bad feeling in the club, we are very grateful to the layout owners & their operators who travel to us to exhibit and we do try to sort out any problems that they may have. I will discuss with the exhibition manager on Thursday at the club the situation, so that it is something that he can make sure this doesn't happen again in the future, and I would like to draw a line under this now, as the problem, like the show is now in the past. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 I actually made it to the show this year after the last 3 year's plans for attendance being kibboshed. What a great show, wonderful variety of scales/periods/regions and a very decent selection of traders. It was good to catch up with some old faces (Colin W), some very familiar faces (Keith and Mark on Gouttieres - they are members of the same club as me) and of course the dangerous duo (Eldavo and Phil H of this parish). Hopefully I'll make a return next year for more of the quality that Tonbridge draw together for a show. edited for missing words Good to see you on Saturday Kevin, glad you enjoyed the show Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
51E Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Any pictures. I didn't make it along which is a shame. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 Any pictures. I didn't make it along which is a shame. I will see if any of our members managed to take some, unless any RM Webbers that attended took some. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeTrice Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 It was only when I got home and looked at the guide that I realised I missed one of the halls. Sadly I don't recall any signs pointing to more exhibits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 It was only when I got home and looked at the guide that I realised I missed one of the halls. Sadly I don't recall any signs pointing to more exhibits. Hi Mike, Which hall did you miss, or was it up in the Riverside suite? More signage is something that we are going to look at for future shows, as we kept being asked where the other halls were. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulr1949 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 A bit of time at last to put finger to keyboard, thanks for the hospitality at the show. Very enjoyable. I didn't get much of a look round as Trezeath was misbehaving a bit (1. All points fail to operate; 2. [5 mins later] all points operating again; 3. [a bit later] all points fail to operate again; 5 [5 mins later] 2 points in the loco shed area start working again; 6 [a few mins later] said 2 points stopped operating again (and refused to work for the rest of the day) and all the others started working again OK. Weird or not?!?!?) My only comments would be that it got very warm in the Medway Hall during the afternoon, which *may* have had some bearing on things and that the aisles in said Medway suite were a little narrow. And the Saturday afternoon hailstorm only lasted 10 mins (thankfully!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeTrice Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Hi Mike, Which hall did you miss, or was it up in the Riverside suite? More signage is something that we are going to look at for future shows, as we kept being asked where the other halls were. Colin I only visited the Main Hall missing the Medway Hall completely Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 I only visited the Main Hall missing the Medway Hall completely Mike, I suspect that if you didn't find the Medway Hall, then you also missed the displays in the Riverside suite as the stairs to go up to the Riverside Suite are directly opposite the entrance to the Medway Hall. As I said earlier,more signage is something we are looking into, but we did have laminated signs up directing people round, but suspect that they 'blended' in with the other notices the Angel Centre had up. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 It was quite clear in the exhibition programme - which was given out free - that there were the two halls, upstairs and the long thin bit outside the Medway hall - so there shouldn't be any problems if people read the programme. What I would have done different, if it was me, would be to have a few small areas with some chairs dotted around. I know that this takes up valuable layout/stand space but I woudl have appreciated somewhere to sit for 5 minutes, just to browse the programme, review purchases, make sure I'd seen what I wanted to, etc. Given a few drop-outs, perhaps this might have been something to consider rather than a table with a piece of paper on it saying such-and-such had pulled out? In the end, needing a sit-down (due to medical reasons) I actually ended up going outside and sitting on one of the benches outside for 5 minutes before going back in and continuing. Personally I find the "upstairs" a bit of a waste as it's a lot of effort for very little reward. Not a comment on whatever layouts/stands may be up there of course, but for the hassle of fighting your way up the stairs (particularly if you are not that mobile) I won't bother another year unless there is something I really, really want to see. Out of interest, what is your "minimum standard" for gangways and access? There were a few places things where I felt quite 'cramped'. I noticed, certainly in the main hall, layouts in the middle and traders round the outside. I wonder whether mixing this up a bit might help to alleviate some of the 'crowding' around some of the popular layouts? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetmorgan Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Sadly I was not able to attend saturdays show for the first time because of the weather but I would like to add some suggestions/ideas. Firtsly although I've been living in nearby Edenbridge for the last 7-odd years I've often not been able to attend the shows as I've been busy for most of Saturday at work or other jobs so my only free day really is Sunday. I know a lot of other people work on Saturdays, or do their shopping and other things on Saturdays so like me only have Sunday free...what are the possibilities of having the show over the whole weekend or just on the Sunday? The other thing is that the show is on in the middle of the month, I don't know about many of the other members here who attend the show but my wages get paid in on the 25th of the month and I would suspect anyone else who is in employment gets their money around the same time, so on the date of the show, the 15th or so I have very little money, if any. I could probably attend the show but have no spending money for any of the trade stands. Whilst attending the show is money well spent...if the trade stands are making less money for the number of people attending they may decide to make their money elsewhere and consider the show not worth the travelling costs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted February 18, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 18, 2014 It was quite clear in the exhibition programme - which was given out free - that there were the two halls, upstairs and the long thin bit outside the Medway hall - so there shouldn't be any problems if people read the programme. What I would have done different, if it was me, would be to have a few small areas with some chairs dotted around. I know that this takes up valuable layout/stand space but I woudl have appreciated somewhere to sit for 5 minutes, just to browse the programme, review purchases, make sure I'd seen what I wanted to, etc. Given a few drop-outs, perhaps this might have been something to consider rather than a table with a piece of paper on it saying such-and-such had pulled out? In the end, needing a sit-down (due to medical reasons) I actually ended up going outside and sitting on one of the benches outside for 5 minutes before going back in and continuing. I have seen chairs put out at a number of shows where traders/ exhibitors haven't made it. In all cases the chairs were used a lot but just have to be careful that visitors don't start taking the chairs for their little ones to stand on as you then end up with chairs scattered all over the place in the way of others viewing layouts. Also another issue is that some venues don't have a large supply of chairs. We have enjoyed visiting / exhibiting at the Tonbridge show over the years. its a very good show. That then brings the usual catch 22 problem with popular shows - they get very crowded. Ian Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 It was quite clear in the exhibition programme - which was given out free - that there were the two halls, upstairs and the long thin bit outside the Medway hall - so there shouldn't be any problems if people read the programme. What I would have done different, if it was me, would be to have a few small areas with some chairs dotted around. I know that this takes up valuable layout/stand space but I woudl have appreciated somewhere to sit for 5 minutes, just to browse the programme, review purchases, make sure I'd seen what I wanted to, etc. Given a few drop-outs, perhaps this might have been something to consider rather than a table with a piece of paper on it saying such-and-such had pulled out? In the end, needing a sit-down (due to medical reasons) I actually ended up going outside and sitting on one of the benches outside for 5 minutes before going back in and continuing. Personally I find the "upstairs" a bit of a waste as it's a lot of effort for very little reward. Not a comment on whatever layouts/stands may be up there of course, but for the hassle of fighting your way up the stairs (particularly if you are not that mobile) I won't bother another year unless there is something I really, really want to see. Out of interest, what is your "minimum standard" for gangways and access? There were a few places things where I felt quite 'cramped'. I noticed, certainly in the main hall, layouts in the middle and traders round the outside. I wonder whether mixing this up a bit might help to alleviate some of the 'crowding' around some of the popular layouts? Thank you for your comments. We have used the Riverside Suite for about 8 years now, mainly because we kept being asked about public refreshments and that was the only area with a kitchen available for us to use for the public refreshments & the exhibitors lunches, (these are seperate). The idea to put some layouts/demonstrators up there was so that people could have a sit down, but still have something that they could watch or talk with. We also have our club's test track in that area so that kids can have a play whilst the grown ups can have sit down. We know that this can cause problems with crowding in that area as well though. In regards to the possibility of mixing the aisles in the middle of the halls & on the sides, we keep the layouts in the middle and traders on the outside, as firstly, it makes it easier for us to provide barriers for people to lean on to watch the layouts, some layouts will only attend if barriers are provided, and secondly the traders prefer to be on the outside as walls give them areas they can put stock against, or prevent people from going round their stands. I will mention the problems that have been mentioned on this thread regarding the size of the aisles and see if things can be changed. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Sadly I was not able to attend saturdays show for the first time because of the weather but I would like to add some suggestions/ideas. Firtsly although I've been living in nearby Edenbridge for the last 7-odd years I've often not been able to attend the shows as I've been busy for most of Saturday at work or other jobs so my only free day really is Sunday. I know a lot of other people work on Saturdays, or do their shopping and other things on Saturdays so like me only have Sunday free...what are the possibilities of having the show over the whole weekend or just on the Sunday? The other thing is that the show is on in the middle of the month, I don't know about many of the other members here who attend the show but my wages get paid in on the 25th of the month and I would suspect anyone else who is in employment gets their money around the same time, so on the date of the show, the 15th or so I have very little money, if any. I could probably attend the show but have no spending money for any of the trade stands. Whilst attending the show is money well spent...if the trade stands are making less money for the number of people attending they may decide to make their money elsewhere and consider the show not worth the travelling costs. I would like to say that we are frequently asked as to why we do not do a two day show. This is mainly because our members do not want to have a two day show, although there is nothing to say we won't do one in the future. We did one for our 25th anniversary, but for club members it is not a 2 day show, but a 4 day show, with collecting and returning equipment, I personally have to change a week's leave to the week of the show so that I can guarantee to be in attendance at the show. We also have a number of elderly members and doing a one day show is very tiring for them. Our show is normally held on the third weekend in February, next year the show will be on Saturday 21st February. This weekend was chosen because the former Sutton & Carshalton MRC exhibition in Leatherhead was the following weekend and we didn't want to clash with them and lose people from our attendance. Our traders this weekend said they had a very good day considering what the weather had been doing & in fact we have traders asking to attend, and we can't fit them in. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 I have seen chairs put out at a number of shows where traders/ exhibitors haven't made it. In all cases the chairs were used a lot but just have to be careful that visitors don't start taking the chairs for their little ones to stand on as you then end up with chairs scattered all over the place in the way of others viewing layouts. Also another issue is that some venues don't have a large supply of chairs. We have enjoyed visiting / exhibiting at the Tonbridge show over the years. its a very good show. That then brings the usual catch 22 problem with popular shows - they get very crowded. Ian Ian Thank you Ian, it is always good to hear from people who have exhibited at our show in the past saying how much they enjoy it. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Thank you Ian, it is always good to hear from people who have exhibited at our show in the past saying how much they enjoy it. Colin Certainly I've enjoyed it as a visitor - I think this is my third year - and as it's a relatively local show I would hope that when my layout is finally in an exhibitable state it would be considered of a suitable standard to be shown there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Endacott Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 When Trainwest was in Chippenham we used two halls. The door crew told people as they paid that there were two halls. They also asked people who were leaving if they had seen both halls. Geoff Endacott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetmorgan Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I would like to say that we are frequently asked as to why we do not do a two day show. This is mainly because our members do not want to have a two day show, although there is nothing to say we won't do one in the future. We did one for our 25th anniversary, but for club members it is not a 2 day show, but a 4 day show, with collecting and returning equipment, I personally have to change a week's leave to the week of the show so that I can guarantee to be in attendance at the show. We also have a number of elderly members and doing a one day show is very tiring for them. Our show is normally held on the third weekend in February, next year the show will be on Saturday 21st February. This weekend was chosen because the former Sutton & Carshalton MRC exhibition in Leatherhead was the following weekend and we didn't want to clash with them and lose people from our attendance. Our traders this weekend said they had a very good day considering what the weather had been doing & in fact we have traders asking to attend, and we can't fit them in. Colin Thanks for that Colin I have just read an article in the Edenbridge - Kent & Sussex Courier 14th February, about the future of the show, if the Angel Centre is axed in regeneration plans. So I'll keep my fingers crossed for the future and any problems are sorted out quickly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasatcopthorne Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I must concur with much of what's being said here. I've run the odd show and have always managed to dot little groups of chairs about. When a stand fails to turn up, a notice would be displayed at the ticket desk (before you got into a situation of having to pay) and the resulting space filled with chairs. I missed this year's show but have always though that using the upstairs for layouts was not quite right. A bit out of the way and using up valuable seating space. If anything, put the Societies up there. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Thanks for that Colin I have just read an article in the Edenbridge - Kent & Sussex Courier 14th February, about the future of the show, if the Angel Centre is axed in regeneration plans. So I'll keep my fingers crossed for the future and any problems are sorted out quickly. Yes the proposed rebuilding of the Angel Centre has caused us some concern for the last year, when we first heard about it. In fact at the moment we cannot confirm the venue for next year's show, but hope to be able to in the next couple of weeks. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 Any pictures. I didn't make it along which is a shame. Sorry for the delay in getting these put up. Here are a couple of photo's, still have more to try and edit down to size!! Would like to thank club member John Cavell for taking these pictures and allowing me to post them on here. Bad Aston Felsham Lane The Tonbridge MRC O gauge layout Westerham. We have finally allowed the dust to settle on the show. We had 1326 paying adults through the door, down on previous years, but considering the weather and travel conditions on the Saturday, a great turn out. I would like to thank those RM Webbers who helped relay travel and show information on here, when I couldn't get on. Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakrail Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Thanks Colin for uploading some photos from the show, Felsham Lane is attending my show in Gravesend on Saturday 24th May. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 I really liked Felsham Lane when I saw it at the Tonbridge show Great layout in not much space at all Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinW Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 OK, as promised a few more from the show. Coles Yard Yellow Ridge Uranium Mine Bilton Quay Holm Walmington-on-Sea Hope you enjoy Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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