The best show in town
LIKE Dave Phillips (LRM, January) one of the things I missed most during the coronavirus-affected year 2020 was the outdoor Land Rover events that were cancelled. For most of my adult life these shows have been the highlights of my summer.
The Billing Show was always my favourite. I started going there in the 1990s and even booked my summer holidays so that I could camp at the Aquadrome for a week and immerse myself in all things Land Rover, with the best people in the world, who of course were – and still are – Land Rover fans. To spend a summer’s evening chatting into the small hours with enthusiasts sharing the same love of Land Rovers was – and still is – magical.
My proudest memories of Billing were driving my own Land Rovers around the arena during the club displays. Like the vast majority of owners, I never won any prizes for best vehicle or best resto, or anything like that, but it didn’t matter. We just enjoyed being there.
I suppose the thing I liked best about the Billing Show of old was the fact that it was the only show in town. The atmosphere was buzzing. I suppose it was the success of the original that encouraged others to start rival shows, but they all seemed somehow watered down and none of them had that same campfire atmosphere. I never liked the Peterborough Show, partly because that flat, wide open showground seemed very soulless, but mainly because nobody was camping there for the week. Everyone just turned up on opening day and left at the end of the weekend.
The other thing about most shows in recent years – and I’m sorry, but I include the events runs by LRM here – has been the same, tired old formulas. To be honest, you wouldn’t be able to tell one from the other, probably because they often had the same event management teams.
The only one that seemed different was the Billing Off-road Show, run by a farmer on the other side of the river from the main Aquadrome camping grounds. It was obviously based around the off-road course used during Billing Shows, but it had a family-friendly atmosphere and was supported by real enthusiasts when I attended in 2019. I was really looking forward to the 2020 event, but of course it was cancelled due to the pandemic. I do hope the organisers hold one in 2021, if covid allows.
I have lost count of the friends I have made over the years, including Land Rover fans from foreign countries. I don’t speak French, Spanish, German or Danish, but I have friends from all those countries thanks to our shared love of Land Rovers, which of course transcends all languages!
Take care – I hope to make many more friends at the shows of the future. Jim Stevens Patrick writes: Yes, we all agree that the Billing Off-road Show is the one to look forward to. Fingers crossed that we’ll all meet up with you there this year.