An early start on the 120 mile run to the LRW Show Eastnor saw me pulling into a lay by on the A49 south of Shrewsbury at about 9.00am to await the arrival of Gareth Davies and Piglet. A rest, a drink and time to enjoy the view before Piglet came trundling in. Our two vehicle convoyette then headed south to Ledbury and the show at Eastnor Castle. A show set in beautiful parkland across the road from the Castle. Unlike last year the organisers were organised and ready for us, a quad escorted us to the EMLRA display area - an area 30x20 metres with the opportunity to extend it in 10 metre modules if we wished!Gareth then waited very patiently while I changed my mind at least a dozen times about the display layout. Final decision made, Piglet was positioned and Carawagon, 9x9 and cam nets set up, gave us time to wait for the rest of the group to arrive. The EMLRA flag fluttering 18 feet above the display gave the “incoming” something to aim for. By dusk on Friday the majority had arrived including Steve with an incendiary indicator switch and later Colin with a Sankey that looked as if it contained a dead elephant - thank goodness it didn't! Apart from the arrival of the dead elephant, late Friday was spent erecting the third prototype Dining Shelter. The sceptics amongst us slowly came to realise that Dave's original idea had merit and even kept the rain off— the shelter that is, not the idea.

Overnight Friday saw us experience a frost - don't forget this is almost mid summer! A number of us were grateful for our Arctic sleeping bags. Saturday saw the public toddling around and the EMLRA members scouring the various stalls for that “must have” item. During Saturday PM three vehicles joined the Clubs Parade in the arena. Sue and Les and their Series I, Alan Bucknell and his Pinkie joined Gareth and Piglet representing EMLRA whilst I did an introduction to the assembled multitude. Saturday evening saw some hardy (some might say foolhardy) EMLRA members challenge the Army Light Infantry recruiting team to a football match. I will spare peoples blushes and not disclose the score - it was very obvious who was the fittest and it wasn't EMLRA. [John, can you check the membership records to see if Wayne Rooney is a member?] Sunday dawned bright and sunny, but it wasn't to last! The rain came in and boy did it rain! Then the sun came out, then it rained, then the sun came out then it rained… Despite the weather there were more visitors wandering around and several families took advantage of the new dining shelter when the heavens opened at regular intervals.

Gareth Davies’ Piglet (Gareth is hiding in the cab) with Anthony Burrows and former Coldstream Guard Ken Pattison playing with the sun roof.

The Club Parade on Sunday afternoon saw Anthony with his 90, Martin with his 110 and Dave with his 88 and Wombat representing EMLRA in the arena with yours truly doing the chat. I hope the show organisers get a bigger arena for next year - it was a bit like a rolling roadblock trundling around the arena. Dave did sterling work ensuring the Wombat barrel missed the Marshals and other Land Rovers whilst delivering the “Oh, isn't it a big one” factor! We had a minor problem later in the day with the organisers putting a blanket ban on vehicle movement until 4.45pm. After a bit of negotiation we had an escorted convoy of 8 vehicles leave the site early via a 3.5 kilometre long woodland track! A good show, considerably less frenetic than some others, with a good selection of vehicles for Joe Public to enjoy. It was good to welcome some “virgin displayers” - I hope we haven't put them off coming again! Many thanks to all who made the show a success. Luke, the Editor of LRW and Evan, the Show Organiser, expressed their thanks to me for the “excellent display” EMLRA put on.

Report: Peter Barratt. Photo: Gary Bean