Another great show this year - the 50th anniversary and what a turnout, I teamed up with Michael in his R4L and we took it handy up through Rathoath, Skryne, Navan, Kells, and Moynalty leaving Rolestowm at approximately 8:10 and parking up at 9::15. Fran in his lovely red Vauxhall Viva were there before us as were Cecil, Niall C, Joe Stevenson, and Tom Flood. But ahead of everybody else were Derek Carroll and Ange, along with Bren Walls and Johnnie White and Jonathan Crothers who camped overnight. Arriving soon after us were Frank Keogh and his "travelling armchair" the Datsun Laurel along with Ken Nolan in the Herald Coupe. We headed off to check out the Autojumble and soon met Tony Keogh who had come in the Camper van and he also had a few bits from some of the stands, it wasn't long before we came across Paddy and Gloria and Kit the dog along with Kevin Fitz who had travelled up to Virginia in the day car, as Paddy now has a 92 Range Rover it suits the "country squire" image of living in Virginia.
Having met Niall and Cecil and coming to the conclusion that more than half the stalls in the Autojumble were rubbish (toys, perfume) or not for us ( a set of spanner's 42 - 50 mm) I went off to explore the rest of the show, first into the Steam Field - engines from all over the country, Wexford, Carlow, Cork, and several from north of the border seeing as how they are reasonably close. Opposite was a section on the art of road making thru the ages and was intrigued to learn of a machine used for compacting crushed stone which used a three stroke engine (no compression stroke) and your senior ganger's uniform seemed to be trousers held up with belt and braces, a waist coat and a bowler hat.
Moving on to the next field there were camper vans as far as the eye could see but the top part of that field was the tractor section- all makes of tractor from bygone era even Porche made tractors in those days, moving swiftly on at the top of that field was the National Farrier competition which saw farriers ( blacksmith's) making horseshoes from straight strips af metal and then using these shoes to put on horses.
Through the gate and into the next field - more steam engines being used as power sources for machinery and a myriad of other attractions, birds of prey, food stalls, arts and crafts, music, dancing, and all the stuff for children- bouncy castles, face painting - nobody should feel left out.
Having arrived at 9:15 I didn't rendezvous with Bren until after 1 pm, by this stage John (Blip) White had gone - hanging from the night before - and Aimee Dave and Bren's grandchildren (Annielee and Daragh) had arrived. Now that I'm a Granda meself all this machinery and noise takes on a new fascination and it's hard not to be nostalgic.
You could fill the forum with photos of the day and still not cover everything and the fact that the committee entrusted the money end of things to Eventbrite meant you could have been laced with €20 for this and €20 for that however what hasn't changed - vintage and classic free in and if you registered for €10 you got complimentary grub
Having taken John's place in Bren's tent I spent the Sunday night in Moynalty- the place was hopping, mostly young ones and the amount of vaping - creating as much smoke as the steam engines ( jeez I must be getting auld !)
Monday morning was a much better day and we decided to take a leisurely route home by Dolly's (half way between Slane and Drogheda) for a late brekkie, arriving home for 1 pm. That was the real shake down of the 6 post refurbishment of the metering unit by Carl (TD Fitchett)
I'll leave you with a great photo of an enamel advertisement spotted in the Autojumble- a bit expensive at €80 !
Replies
Great show as always, myself, Chris, Luke and Luke's future son in law met in Kilcock and headed to Maynalty together arriving shortly after 10am
Yes Trish did meet Luke and FSIL (forgotten his name but I have met him before - shame on me) but the size of the show didn't get to meet yourself and Chris but well done on making it to Gerry's mams removal this afternoon- she was some lady and left some legacy RIP Noreen and condolences to all concerned especially Gerry
Great Report Bren and a Great Show and yes I bought some Junk.
That's the great thing about Moynalty Niall and I have no doubt you have a 'job' for that junk !
I also bought this Bad Boy at 6.30pm just before we left for home I felt sorry for the Seller as it was a Steal after some hard negotiations.
How do I change the Photo to the correct way up🤔
After you add the photo scroll down the message until you see Reply | Edit | Delete (bottom left) - select Edit and a rotate option should appear, and then click submit - that's what worked for me.
Great bit of kit and you seem to have the space for it
Great report Bren . Yes we are turning into a grandparents club
Great to see the younger generation participating- and talking about participating well done on your piece in TRA (TR Action) - the Capri looks well