The LRO Show, Stoneleigh 7-9th September 2001

It's another Billing, only with more space with less in it. Or perhaps the extra space just gives that impression. Oh, and it's run by LRO who, of course, used to do Billing until LRE took it over and made more like the old Billings used to be.

Are you following this? In short, it's big, full of Land Rovers and has concrete roads instead of wall-to-wall mud.

Not the best bit of panoramic stitching together I grant you, but you get the idea - SIII 109 Ambulance, 110 Military Police, SII Lightweight, SI 80", TAC R Fire Tender and SIII Defence Fire Service Lightweight. Not a big turn-out by normal Club standards, but varied.

Hidden by the mob - Alan and his '68 Pinkie
(Alan is the one with the desert hat behind George's right shoulder.
The Pinkie is somewhere behind Alan under the pile of spectators.)

LRO had decided that, after the adverse comments from Billing 2000, the arena would be used to display as many Land Rovers as possible. To this end, the Editor and Features Editor were constantly doing the rounds of the club stands to drum up vehicles on a twice-daily basis. The draw-back to this is that the owners spend in excess of an hour each time hanging around in the arena waiting to be interviewed using a radio mic that didn't. Unlike Spud (see Tilbury 2001), the questions were rather better informed and the pair of them were not adverse to getting into the vehicles in order to describe internal details to the assembled masses. Although this did lead me to being asked what my silver knob* did. What can you say?

Despite the boredom caused by hours and hours of standing in horse s- erm, stuff, EMLRA still managed to pick up an award in the shape of a fine plastic silver cup and a charitable cheque for shed loads for having the best Club Display. Clearly, George's Defensive Position at the front of the stand is having the intended effect.

 
And the winners are... Wayne Davies, George Jackson, Sue Cummings, Mark Buddle. Or George Jackson, Wayne Davies, Mike Allmey, Mark Buddle.
Wayne's teeth courtesy Dick Emerey.

And here are some other bits we probably should forget...

The Boys in Pink:
Alan, Wayne and George prove they know where their tea-towels are.

Out for the Day:
Wayne "Hannibal" Davies dons his best teeth and wonders why no one
will make him a cup of tea.

TAC R meets its match (box) - yes, dreadful joke. Martin Barraclough was delighted
to find the real thing (supplied by Graham Hart) at last.
Graham also led the Grand Parade on the Sunday, beating HUE to pole position.

Report and photos: Mike Allmey

*The silver knob is the map light. So there.