Did you go to Showbus 2015?

[jp4712]

I didn't go this year, because of various other commitments - but I'm picking up indications that I made the right decision.

I read on Flickr and a couple of blogs about gridlocked roads, poor directional signs, very poor (and unhelpful) marshalling, buses queuing for hours just to get onto the site, boggy ground (and marshals directing buses onto ground that had already caused trouble for others), deer poo, no free programme for entrants... Was it really that bad?

What I did notice was that on Showbus' own Facebook page last week, there was a long list of adverse comments and on looking there a few minutes ago for another purpose, the whole thread of comments appears to have been deleted. Now bad luck and weather are one thing, but addressing feedback by deleting it doesn't seem constructive (perhaps there were comments that made it inevitable).

The last rally I went to a few weeks ago was the Trans Lancs in Manchester. The weather was great but as I said that's pot-luck; but the marshals seemed to me to be helpful and friendly, the variety of buses was pretty good and there was one patch of soft ground but it was coned off. Rallies have a reputation for being friendly, unfriendly or 'make up your own rally, there's no one around' and Showbus this year seems to have been a combination of the latter two.

Or am I misinformed?

 

[Surreyman]

I didn't go this year, because of various other commitments - but I'm picking up indications that I made the right decision.

I read on Flickr and a couple of blogs about gridlocked roads, poor directional signs, very poor (and unhelpful) marshalling, buses queuing for hours just to get onto the site, boggy ground (and marshals directing buses onto ground that had already caused trouble for others), deer poo, no free programme for entrants... Was it really that bad?

What I did notice was that on Showbus' own Facebook page last week, there was a long list of adverse comments and on looking there a few minutes ago for another purpose, the whole thread of comments appears to have been deleted. Now bad luck and weather are one thing, but addressing feedback by deleting it doesn't seem constructive (perhaps there were comments that made it inevitable).

The last rally I went to a few weeks ago was the Trans Lancs in Manchester. The weather was great but as I said that's pot-luck; but the marshals seemed to me to be helpful and friendly, the variety of buses was pretty good and there was one patch of soft ground but it was coned off. Rallies have a reputation for being friendly, unfriendly or 'make up your own rally, there's no one around' and Showbus this year seems to have been a combination of the latter two.

Or am I misinformed?

I certainly felt that it wasn't as good as Duxford, didn't seem to be as many vehicles (facts could prove me wrong?)
Certainly not as accessible, Duxford is right next to M11 and on the road that leads to the A1M, lots of narrow roads to get to Woburn even though the M1 isn't far away. The M1 was a big turn off for me, roadworks and congestion and I live closer to Woburn than Duxford!
It seemed less well organised than Duxford but that could be down to the organisers still finding their feet, certainly less hard standing.
I was led to believe that the location was more central and friendlier to people coming from the north & west, don't know how the attendance figures compared.
On the positive side, I believe the entrance fee was lower at Woburn, my wife was happy to come along as she could look around the gardens.
Can someone remind me of the reason for the move?

 

[mbonwick]

Duxford refused to host any more - not sure on the reasons, but suspect it's to do with Showbus not really fitting with Duxford's vision of being an aircraft museum.

Obviously the organisers forgot the notorious boggy conditions that forced the move away from Woburn as Showbus location in the early 1990s.

 

[howittpie]

There was a post from showbus that seems to have disappeared that Duxford didn't wish to host it again as it was losing money.

 

[heart-of-wessex]

I thought I read the only reason it was at Woburn was because Duxford already had an event on that weekend and couldn't accomodate them?

 

[Volvodart]

There was a post from showbus that seems to have disappeared that Duxford didn't wish to host it again as it was losing money.

The following is on the Showbus Facebook page I looked at just now:-

Bearing in mind we have moved from Duxford as the event had been losing money

 

[Antman]

I didn't go this year, because of various other commitments - but I'm picking up indications that I made the right decision.

I read on Flickr and a couple of blogs about gridlocked roads, poor directional signs, very poor (and unhelpful) marshalling, buses queuing for hours just to get onto the site, boggy ground (and marshals directing buses onto ground that had already caused trouble for others), deer poo, no free programme for entrants... Was it really that bad?

What I did notice was that on Showbus' own Facebook page last week, there was a long list of adverse comments and on looking there a few minutes ago for another purpose, the whole thread of comments appears to have been deleted. Now bad luck and weather are one thing, but addressing feedback by deleting it doesn't seem constructive (perhaps there were comments that made it inevitable).

The last rally I went to a few weeks ago was the Trans Lancs in Manchester. The weather was great but as I said that's pot-luck; but the marshals seemed to me to be helpful and friendly, the variety of buses was pretty good and there was one patch of soft ground but it was coned off. Rallies have a reputation for being friendly, unfriendly or 'make up your own rally, there's no one around' and Showbus this year seems to have been a combination of the latter two.

Or am I misinformed?

No I don't think you are misinformed, most posts I've read elsewhere describe it as a p*** up in a brewery, glad I didn't bother going. Duxford was a great venue for it