7/8 February - Doncaster Show
28 February - Midlands Garden Rail Show
21/22 March - London Festival of Railway Modelling
4-6 April - York show
19 April - SWAG Taunton
25 April - National Garden Rail Show
26 April - Key Model World
1-3 May - Bristol Model railway show
6 June - Llangollen garden rail show
12/13 September - TINGS
26/27 September - Stafford model rail show
10/11 October - GETS
24/25 October - Great British Model Railway Show
13-15 November - NEC Classic Car Show
21/22 November - National Festival of Railway Modelling
12/13 December - Manchester model railway show
I've highlighted the shows I expect to be at in some sort of official capacity. This isn't finalised, as we might split the attendance between the team, but for the moment, I'll keep the space clear in the calendar.
In addition, I can think of other events I don't yet have dates for - Yorkshire Garden Railway Show, IPMS Telford, Rapido Railex, G1 AGM, G3 AGM, and Rowington Steam being the main holes. I'm sure there will be others too.
This might look like quite a list, but the truth is, I love going to shows. Really love it. Even when my enthusiasm for my actually taking part in hobbies has evaporated, getting out and about still makes me happy.
It can, I think, be partly summed up by the theme tune to the sitcom, Cheers (look it up kids, it's brilliant):
Sometimes you wanna go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see (ah-ah)
Our troubles are all the same (ah-ah)
You wanna be where everybody knows your name
Basically, shows are full of wonderful weirdos who care about something. My tribe.
If you see me at a show, please do come up for chat.
6 comments:
I must some dates in the diary so Issy can ignore them and commit me to be somewhere else, as usual. I want to go to some new to me shows this year - but Matlock and the expanded Macclesfield show will both be on my list as well.
A most excellent choice of calendar for 2026! Front cover depicts the world’s second best coastal railway journey. We obviously don’t need to say which is the best!!
Chris TGG
I've often wondered why the best line in the world doesn't have a calendar. I'd buy one! (Mind you, I'll buy any random Groudloe tat, so perhaps I'm no guide).
I'm looking at a couple of new to me shows in January. I don't need an more, but I find the variety inspiring.
I'll mention the calendar to the retail and publicity department. I think it's been considered before and not happened due to print-run volumes Vs likely uptake. And there's the question of finding sufficient suitable shots for 12 or 13 images, unless we adopted a humorous or some other 'alternative' approach to keeping it fresh, year in, year out. Ideas for such would be welcome from our loyal followers!
Chris TGG
12 Groudle photos? I have enough for decades!
Post a Comment