It’s all in the location. Not just the
style and theme of an event but location can make a huge difference
to the success of my contribution. I
have been concerned for a couple of years about my pitch at Netley Marsh Steam
Rally and this year it was made considerably more difficult. I am beside a main ‘road’ leading to and from
the main arena and this year was at least a yard closer to it. This of course resulted in problems for the
vehicles coming past my audiences. At
times it felt like perfoming on the M6. At least the organisers this year closed
the road for the middle part of the day but it meant the exhibitors had a slightly
longer detour to the ring and expressed their dislike in no uncertain
terms. I thought one man would have a
heart attack as he lambasted me for having the audacity to prevent his tractor
taking the route they had always taken.
His wife even said that if she had children there was no way she would
let them watch my show. It is
fascinating how shows bring out all the best and worst of people. The showground becomes a microcosm of the
world as a whole.
The location in Hinckley is as near perfect
as I could wish for. A gently sloping
market square with a level patch at the top for the lorry and stage. Easy access and the sun facing me and not in
the audiences’ eyes. Travelling
performers must have occupied this spot for centuries. I love the few town
centre gigs I do. Britain’s town centres are in sad and rapid decline due
mostly to the ease of out of town shopping and the burgeoning of the superstores. Towns like Hinckley are becoming ghost towns
with mostly charity shops and only the usual national chain stores. The town
centre managements who are addressing this issue may be fighting a losing
battle but I applaud and support their efforts.
The management of Hinckley Town Centre are brilliant. Helpful, supportive and imaginative. The result a sweet stand and good audiences.
Hinckley used to be sock central for Britain.
All the sock makers have left town.
I bought a pack of socks from the town’s TK Maxx. They were made in Taiwan.
And so to Heckington Show in Lincolnshire.
This was a new one for me and I had been looking forward to it. Advertised as the ‘largest Village Show in
the country’, it certainly was big. I
was to be part of what is called the Heritage area, and had offered to come for
busking money only as it was on my route south from Hinckley, I wasn’t booked that
weekend and they wanted to see whether the show would fit into their Victorian
theme for 2017.
Maybe because they weren’t paying me, maybe
because this year's World War I theme didn’t quite fit what I did, maybe it
was the style of the area which was populated mostly by re-enactors and there
wasn’t a lot of available space (strangely as there were large open spaces
alongside the area), but all in all it was a disappointing stand. There were other performers on the area who
all needed their time slots so I could do no show buildup or wind down. No improvisation between shows so I just was
standing around for much of the time.
The worst aspect was that there were
fireworks on the Saturday night and everyone there said it was usually the best
display around. So I made plans to leave
in plenty of time with Mimi and Blue.
Heckington has a railway station so we caught the train to the nearest
small town Sleaford and enjoyed a meal near the station in a sunny pub garden. The event organiser had said the fireworks
were scheduled for 9.45 and the last train was due back at Heckington at 10.15
so it all seemed good. When we arrived
back at the station and walked into the village the place was deserted. This was unsettling because if the fireworks had
finished the place should have been heaving with the 30,000 people who
attend. I met another dog walking couple
who told me the fireworks were late and had not yet started. They were heading home
speedily.
This was a nightmare as I was in a strange
village late at night with two dogs who become very disturbed by
fireworks. We started walking away from
the show site but hadn’t gone very far when the display started. My two started shaking and fretting and all we
could do was hide behind a transit van at the side of the road and sit it out.
Horrible for them. Blue shook so badly I
thought she was going to have a fit. When I returned to the show site
afterwards my neighbours said the horses in the ring who were there as part of
the World War 1 show had been so terrified they had almost broken out of the
ring.
I wont be going back to Heckington.
All the best from a road near you,
Mr Alexander
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