The Jumbler
While this issue comes with the sad, if inevitable, news that the Stafford Show has been cancelled, the other side of the Covid coin is that ‘Normous Newark came back into action on Sunday, September 20, with a superb turnout of both traders and visitors, in glorious late summer sunshine. It does seem that, given that the natural habitat is out in the open air, that autojumbles are having a slightly easier time with the current social distancing measures, although it clearly isn’t as straightforward as that, given the September 12 event at Kempton Park was cancelled at the last minute (actually while some traders were not only travelling to the event, but actually setting up!). Clearly, the health of the public needs to be everyone’s priority and it seems that we may have to get used to having events cancelled with very little notice, especially if localised lockdowns are going to become a normality, but it is also very clear that the organisers of autojumbles (and, of course, shows and other bike-related events) are having to work very closely with venue owners, and local and national government in order to make the events as safe as possible for the public, while also giving us something of a life to live!
It certainly seems that traders and visitors alike have settled very easily into the ‘new regime’ of social distancing, with face masks becoming the norm, even at outdoor events, and the indoor areas at Newark saw everyone donning masks without any need for polite requests to do so!
The washing of hands and the use of sterile handwash and wipes seems to be forming a habit now, with everyone accepting that it’s a necessary part of dealing with other people, and even a reduction in the amount of handling of parts on display for sale seems to have occurred, despite nobody actually asking for it.
While we can’t get complacent – as the cancellation of the Kempton Park autojumble proves – we can still have a positive attitude about forthcoming autojumbles, both from the perspective of traders and punters. Traders, as it’s clear that lots of folk still want to buy parts and consumables; and the public can see that trades are keen to travel to sell their wares.
The last Newark saw folk attending from all across the UK, from the South West and as far north as Scotland, so our favourite way to search out rare motorcycle parts is going to continue for the foreseeable, even if we have to be a little more flexible about it all.