This year the show was moved a couple of fields further away from the beach. Not that it mattered at all as the space in the new field was perfect especially as the marquee this year was about five times the size of last year. This was able to accommodate virtually all the stands. Some of the smaller stands still had to set up outside but Mark provided gazebo's for these and indeed under one was my friend Darren Ansbro who is a window cleaner but has also recently started to build flow controllers for DIY water fed pole systems. These are no nonsense bits of equipment built to last and at the same time, to be efficient.
We were there early in order to help Darren set up and after this we all had a bacon butty and a cup of tea at the burger van. This was the same one as last year and we recognised the ladies who ran it.
The drive down to the venue for us was a long one. This year we decided to stay in the Travelodge instead of camping. This proved to be the best option because of the weather and my creaky bones.
My son Tristan, along with Darren came along, Tristan doing the lions share of the driving bearing in mind that the trip from Durham to Dorset is about 400 miles.
Once the bacon butties had been devoured and the rain stopped, then the punters began to flood in and I began to film as many of the stands and characters as possible. I have a YouTube channel called MyWagga on which I put anything to do with window cleaning. I was able to film Willie Erken with his amazing Wagtails, Bob Hatt at the Moerman stand with the new Liquidator Squeegee, Peter Fogwill with Aquatap without which I think I would die, Pro Gutter with Danny which we also use in our own business, Facelift and their amazing van system with hi-tech phone control, then came Scott Denning who is now representing Sim pole. I also got to film Mark Munro doing a speed clean timed by the famous Terry Burrows, the current world record holder. I also had a go at this and although I did well, I did not win.
Apparently, the attendance was about double what it was last year so things look good for next year. Mark has suggested though that it should be a two day event in the future. This would give more time for everyone to have a good look round. Not that it took very long to walk round the venue, in fact you could walk round in a matter of minutes- it's just that once you got talking and meeting old friends and new ones, the hours began to slide away pretty rapidly. As for my son and I, well with the filming we did it was even worse and a relaxing day turned into a manic one trying to film as many people as possible. This is where a two day event would turn out to be an advantage to us at least.
Just before leaving Tristan, Darren and I went up into the bar but were dog tired so after one drink we said goodbye to Mark Munro, Willie Erken and Karl Robinson among others. We made the 30 mile drive to the Lodge and bed.
All in all, it was a very successful trip and a lot of good came of it. It is surprising what you can learn and the people you can meet like the famous Terry Burrows and all your old friends. If you can make it next year, I promise you that it will be well worth it.
