The BMF held its very first Bike Show South West at the Royal Bath and West Showground at Shepton Mallet, Somerset in June 2008 and England XIV decided we should have a stand and make a presence at the event. Our only difficulty was that it came one week after our first Rally - the KART Rally, so it was a little hectic!

I made sure we were booked in and then went after volunteers to help me over the weekend. Very quickly Pete Lambourn put his name forward for both days and Steve Pearce volunteered for the saturday whilst Greg Miller the sunday. Covered! Now all we needed was a stand and Andy Blackwell came forward with an offer of a large Gazeebo. Sorted.

Pete rode to my house on the Friday so that we could get up very early as we needed to be on site at 8am and be ready for business at 9am. I did say to Pete at what speed was he happy to do on the motorway before setting off with a full car load. We passed the Glastonbury Festival site on the way - that was less than a week away. We met Steve at the entrance - turning up on his new old Royal Enfield and waited for Andy who was kindly driving across to deliver the gazeebo before going on a late shift.

Pete, Arf and Mark from NABD

We must have presented a funny site, reading instructions and trying to put up this double sized gazeebo! Not to worry, between the three of us it was soon up and we moved our gear in and the kettle was on .... queue Trev and his crew mate Ron who were on Glastonbury & BMF duties. So they stayed for tea before going back on patrol. Steve's bike was really th epull to the stand - everyone walking by stopped to take a look - never mind Pete's BMW! We were soon tucking into breakfast rolls - well the bacon smell was wafting in the air! In the main arena, stunt rider Steve Colley was giving a demonstration on trials bikes - very entertaining - he can certainly handle them. We saw our friends from the NABD who had a stand just around the corner from us, so we spent some time visiting each other.

Hyabusa

The cowshed area of the showground was devoted to trade stands and there was plenty to see as well as Best in Show bikes on display. What could not be missed were the Goldwing trikes (one with trailer) and the custom Hyabusa. Superb craftmanship. Soon it was time to close down and discretion being the better part of valour - we decided to take down the gazeebo rather than risk damage leaving it up.

Sunday saw us being joined by Greg riding with us from Weston-super-Mare and meeting Steve who was waiting for us on the site. We soon had the gazeebo up in super quick time and before we could blink, the kettle was on and Pete with Steve, dispatched for breakfast baps. Now a competition for you - Spot the difference between the two photo's below to see what happened next ....

Yes, whilst the boys were away, a huge gust of wind pulled the gazeebo out of the ground and tried to take it way. Unfortunately, it was badly damaged during this, with the guy rope being ripped off and the poles bent. Greg and I quickly took the cover off aas the wind continued to take it away. When Pete and Steve returned with the baps, they were stunned and though we were moving it! No boys, we didn't do it for fun! Sorry Andy for the gazeebo's damage. No consolation, I know, but lots of the other stands were damaged or lost to the wind muc to the amusement of some!

Steve Colley Stunt Rider

What to do? Well, the only thing we could - have out coffee and tea, pack up and go around the show ourselves! We saw Steve Colley to his show on a dry surface and it is good.I managed to buy a set of tools - which seems to happen at every show and a belt buckle - now THAT was different.

Well, without the stand, once we had seen the who show, we decided to leave for home and with thoughts of returning again next year ... only with better weather .. PLEASE!

John Cooke