The Blues At Alexandra Palace !

This past week I have been involved with my club at an exhibition held at the Ally Pally, The London Model Engineers Exhibition, a show for hobbyists to exhibit their creations and for visiting enthusiasts to ogle in admiration or criticize suspected inaccuracies in the builders interpretation, there was some terrific work there and each example is somebodies pride and joy.

Harrow & Wembley Society of Model Engineers, of whom I am a member, displayed a good cross section of most facets of the hobbyists work, and the fact is, given the space, we could have shown twice as much, we have members with large locomotives and tenders, Boats of various types, Traction engines and their carts and a host of other smaller items including work in progress.
But, as we were restricted for space some items scheduled for showing had to be stored beneath the stand to allow enough room for that which was shown, but the visitors knew nothing of this and simply ooohed and aaahed at what they saw - except for my exhibit!


I was showing a machine that was made with very limited facilities, constructed from some unlikely materials and not easily recognised for what it is, I overheard comments from the passing public involving words like - Emmett, Blue Peter, and even Scrap Heap Challenge.

But, when explained to them (and sometimes demonstrated with the aid of a battery drill to drive it) the penny dropped and then came recognition of its worthiness for a place on the stand, it was the cause of many furrowed brows and even more laughs.
One lady appeared with a camera and was busily taking pictures from as many angles as she could, which I found intriguing, so I found an excuse to ask if she was interested, then she told me, "I am very sorry" she said "I don't even know what it is, but my husband is absolutely enthralled with it". 
So she was on a mission for her leader, a bit like an industrial spy, but I avoided the temptation to fire a poisoned dart into her body from my secretly adapted umbrella !


I can almost hear your thoughts 'So why the Ally Pally Blues then?' the fact is, when this all started with setting up the stand on Thursday the 20th of January, I was not on best form, and by the time we had done I was feeling decidedly rough, on reaching home, after a quick meal I was soon in bed feeling cold and very uncomfortable.
Friday morning saw me struggling to rise, it was the traditional head nose and throat thing - all of it bunged up and needing a flue brush to clear the debris, but eventually, the starter motor kicked in and I got on my way, not at the intended time but I got there at last.
The following two days were similar, and the climb from the apparently sea level car park to the stratospheric Palace was a trial for a guy with clogged up tubes (and thus difficulty with breathing)  as I was at the time, still, I survived, and a cup of the concoction they called coffee there set me going for the rest of the day.
In spite of these problems, it was an enjoyable period I would not choose to miss, the comradery and friendliness from the visitors and exhibitors alike is refreshing. Yes, I may well be over this cold or flue or whatever it is by now, had I chosen to stay home and molly coddle myself, but who cares - I don't !
So now we have yet another accolade to add to our collection, this year we were chosen by the other exhibitors as joint third place for best stand (the lads must have hidden my exhibit when the other guys came round to make their assessment), the previous two years have seen us get second place in 2009, followed by a first last year, we must be doing something right !
My congratulations to all our members for their spirited actions in getting it all together when it matters, this makes me proud to be included among them, it was a good show, and what we showed was good too.