Rallies 2023?

[G6Tanuki]

I notice with some sadness that the Harwell rally - usually in February - will not be taking place this year, neither will the Spring boot-sale/meet organized by the Andover club.

No announcement yet as to whether the Frome rally [cancelled in 2022 due to Covid] will be happening this year.

I fear this is a trend.

[Restoration73]

Perhaps not

https://wiltshirespc.org/wp/g3vre/rally/

[G6Tanuki]

That would be good!

[hamid_1]

The strange thing is that on the Harwell rally page, it still says "We hope to be back in 2023" yet on the main page it says the rally will not be taking place in February (the usual date). Are they planning something for later in the year? I guess not, I reckon they probably forgot to update the web page though there is a club radio flea market on the 5th Feb. Perhaps they're having that instead of a public radio rally.

I can understand that organising these events takes time and money. Costs have gone up. It can be a risk if not enough people show up and the rally makes a loss.

On the positive side, some rallies did go ahead last year. It looks like the DDRC Bootsale and the McMichael Rally in Reading will be on again in 2023. I hope to visit them again too.

[Jonster]

No news on the RadioFairs rally at Kempton park either.

[Phil__G]

I'm a bit out of touch, does Drayton Manor still host a rally?

[Bazz4CQJ]

Originally Posted by Phil__G

I'm a bit out of touch, does Drayton Manor still host a rally?

I don't think so. The greatest loss of all was the Elvaston Castle Rally (just outside Derby) -easily my favourite rally, but probably ended ~10 years ago?

B

[greenstar]

Dates seem a little chaotic still. Wythall was the first of the year for me, Usually has been in March. There is no mention of it on their website, or on RSGB, and I remember looking last year as I was eager after Covid ... and I find now it had happened. In previous years it was listed. I will email the club and ask.

[Restoration73]

I was told Kempton had ended. But CATS Bazaar returned last year and there were
many bargains to be had;
http://catsradio.org.uk/bazaar

[SiriusHardware]

Blackpool seems to be back this year:

https://narsa.org.uk/?page_id=2807

Family matters allowing, I will be going to that one.

[greenstar]

I have heard back from Chris from Wythall RC. Has not run for a couple of years, and will not happen in 2023. A decision about 2024 will be made later in the year.

Looks like the excellent Dunstable Downs boot sale will happen in May 2023 though, date to yet be announced.

[HamishBoxer]

Elvaston Castle rally I thought was long gone? It was seriously good in the day.

[David G4EBT]

The 2023 list so far:

www.g4rga.org.uk/All.html

First one listed:

January 2023:

29 January 2023 - Lincoln Shortwave Club Winter Rally
Festival Hall, Caistor Rd, Market Rasen. Lincs. LN8 3HT.
Open 09:30/10:00. Entry £2 Talkin. Bacon butties and refreshments
will be available on the site.
Contact/Table bookings: Graham, contact@m1dhv.co.uk
or Steve, G6TVP/M5ZZZ, 07777-699069, m5zzz@outlook.com

Hope that helps.

[David G4EBT]

Originally Posted by HamishBoxer

Elvaston Castle rally I thought was long gone? It was seriously good in the day.

Late 1980s as I recall.

I used to have a table there, going right back to the late 1960s, and went to the last one.
At the time I lived in Sheffield, and left there in 1991.

It always had a nice family atmosphere with lots for children to do, but in the end, the cost of the site, the marquees, the dependence on the weather, made it too much of a risk for the Club to stand. With radio clubs having dwindling numbers of aging members, it became harder to get people involved in organising and staffing such major events.

I remember when self-build PCs were all the rage. (Who would bother nowadays?).

Lots of old timers used to whinge about it being a computer rally - not a radio rally.

Ho hum.

Happy days, evocative of the poem 'A Shropshire Lad':

"Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again".

A.E. Houseman.

[HamishBoxer]

Love the poem! It must have been 70's when I was last there and the pain was queueing in that lane, I used say to them, charge on the way out.

I used to come home exhausted trying to see everything!

[Aub]

I last went to the Elvaston Castle rally in 2006. I think it ended not long after. Something to do with the cost of insurance is what I read somewhere. It was a brilliant rally though. The only ones I can think of that are still going in the Midlands are the NVCF, the was, but now moving to the Sports Connexion near Coventry and the Rugby Transmitting Society rally at Princethorpe College, in August. Perhaps there are others. I'll consult David's list.

Cheers
Aub

[Dave Moll]

Originally Posted by SiriusHardware

Blackpool seems to be back this year:

https://narsa.org.uk/?page_id=2807

Family matters allowing, I will be going to that one.

Where can I find details of where this is, cost etc? There seems to be a shortage of information on the narsa web site.

edit: OK, I've found the address on the form for booking a table

[SiriusHardware]

It's held in a large hotel (The Norbreck Castle hotel) which looks (if you squint) like a mock castle with drainpipes crawling all over the exterior walls. It's one of those buildings which, once you've seen it, you can never un-see it no matter how much you might wish to. The information is actually there under the 'Directions' tab on the web page I linked to in #10.

External appearances notwithstanding, it is quite a spacious venue inside, and there is plenty of free parking by the roadside running north from the hotel if you don't mind a bit of a walk. If you need to park in the hotel car park itself (which you might, as a 'trader'), I suggest you enquire further because the hotel introduced ANPR monitored parking a couple of years ago - don't know if that is still the case now.

[defender]

Just don't stay in the hotel

[Sinewave]

Most of the Rallies which I usually attend are not even listed as being on, or are and listed as cancelled. This includes Harwell which hasn't been on for three years now. Andover have also cancelled, I don't know why.

I can't even see Sonning as being listed, but it will be taking place, so maybe the listings are unusually behind?