Over the past few years the East Anglia Section of the BMW Club has had a stand at this excellent local show.

I had booked our space some months earlier in the year and looking at the forecasts over a few days, Sunday was looking dry and windy.

I left home around 06.30am on my BMW R75/5 LWB having packed lunch and a change of clothes - shorts and sandals.
The ride to Langford was on empty roads under a cloudy sky with a strong wind.

I was first to arrive at the site and had to wait around for an hour or so before other members of our team arrived.  Cliff and Jenny turned up with the all-important gazebo and after unloading his R100RS Motorsport bike off his trailer, we erected the gazebo, table, chairs and banner and were ready for business.

The Show officially opened at 10.00am and by 10.30am there were many stands operating and a growing number of classic bikes of all makes lining up in the centre of the field.

Many stands are local clubs of various marques of bikes and it is always interesting to walk around looking at the many well preserved old classic from the UK, Japan, Italy, America and elsewhere.

I took an hour off to wander around and ended up in the steam engine room where at 1o/c it was fired up and ran for about 15 minutes.  This gigantic 3 cylinder triple expansion steam engine was installed in 1927 and runs like a sewing machine - smooth and very quiet.

It was originally used to pump water from the treatment works at Langford to Southend-on-Sea, the system of pipes and rivers feeding a large catchment area.  Today a nearby pumping house uses electric pumps to do the same job.

Next to the steam engine room is a large workshop which was originally run via pulleys and belts from the main steam engine - this still operates and when the steam engine is not working electricity powers the system.  There are also many working old diesel engines and other machinery which makes a visit to this museum an enjoyable and enlightening experience.

During the day we had visits from members of the Club and we signed up some new members to our East Anglia Section of the BMW Club.

Bikes on our stand were R50s, R65, R75/5, GS 1200, GS1000, K1200RS, R100RS Motorsport and R1200R LC.

My thanks to all who turned up early to exhibit  their bikes and help on the stand, Cliff & Jenny for bringing the gazebo, Dik for his laptop to sign up new  Members and Ian for the table and banner he uses at Cannons for their launch days.Overall a very enjoyable day with the bonus of singing new members to the Club.