Evesham (UK) "Ash for Cash" August 2020

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I can't imagine that too many members are familiar with this little Regional event.....'usually about 30 dealers at best, pasting tables'n'tarps (no glass display cabinets, Air Con....or roof!).....but today's is/was a special one....IT HAPPENED!!!! (and technically still is until 2.00pm today). There must've been well over 100 dealers...and no cr@ppy kids toys and sweet stalls....all selling great stuff. And it was VERY professionally managed re Covid, Tracing etc...and all out in the beautiful Sunday morning sun shine too! Helmets, Camo, blades, ordinance, badges, vehicle bits....and conversations, catch-ups, stories, laughs..... Dealers from all over the place too.....not just the usual suspects....folk had driven up at the crack of dawn from Folkestone whilst others had stayed over locally.

Just when we were all thinking that the outdoor Fairs were dead this year the guys in Evesham pulled it out the bag. Thanks to everyone who had anything to do with it....it felt great to be back!!

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Come on Ade... you can do better than this, back it up with some photographic evidence!

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I’ll dig a couple out for you....or send them in an email...no one else gives a FF anyway.. 🙂

[HARRY THE MOLE]

You should have said that it was Evesham's 'Nazi Helmet Collectors' first ever Covid party bash, that would have attracted some comments!

I could just picture it... rows of tables with M35, M40, and M42 helmets all lined up and socially distanced on the tables... the local PC Plod's fighting to keep the hysterical massed crowds of TR helmet lovers behind the rope barriers as they fight to get a glimpse of a rare and never before seen pattern of camouflage.

You missed a golden opportunity Ade.

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Here you go Steve, these 2 pics were taken 1.5 hours before opening to the public...the 2 mile road filled up on both sides and doubled-up on one side onto the grass. As you may notice, there's not one glass tower with Crushers or Stahlhelms in sight....indeed, there's no carpet, roof, Youtube film crews filming so-called experts, Dealer lanyards, or bright ceiling lights.....PERFECT!

It was great to be outside and amongst "stuff"...loads and loads of greased, smelly, rusty, olive drab and khaki STUFF!

The first shot shows a re-enactment of the classic end to the Battle of the Bulge movie :-).....who can forget that timeless Robert Shaw speech...."Panzer commander to base....that'll get you the head, the tail, the whole damn thing"....




...it might not have been a 2 mile road.....;-)

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Business looks brisk... I've not been to an arms fair since the end of February. The Liverpool arms fair should have been on a few weeks back, but it got cancelled at the last minute. There will be no fairs until next year up here, us Northerner's seem to be hit more by the virus than the posher south!

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..perhaps us posh southerners (Midlands actually) don’t need walls, roofs, cafes.....we’re happy to rough-it outside :-)

Seriously, I think the outdoor element was key to this one.....and the weather was kind (whilst we were there at least)...plus distancing, record-keeping for T&T etc.....

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Midlander's are in-betweeners... not quite good enough for the southerner's, and almost good enough to mix with Northerner's...

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....remember the pics were taken BEFORE public entry...they were socially-distancing-queueing around the car park....

[HARRY THE MOLE]

What is the actual location? I can see a few Nissan huts and a watch tower.