War and Peace 2007
War and Peace 2007 is finally over, thank God, I hear you say! As I read some of last year’s articles it bought a smile to my face as I noticed that the first comments started off with the following: “We enjoyed 5 days of unparralled superb weather that turned The Hop Farm into a local version of the Sahara Desert”. After this year’s event, I was beginning to think that our luck had finally run out as the Hop Farm became the Somme. The last time War and Peace experienced rain at this level was in 1988 when the event was organised by Bruce Hoad and Bob Skinner. Vehicle movement was absolutely minimal with just over 100 vehicles in attendance, some 20+ stalls, and I seem to remember Dick Pettman relieved my brother and I of a fair few bob for Jeeparts. The beer tent was the main winner of the weekend. I can recall one vehicle owner who drank so much that he was unable to walk back to his vehicle and crawled all the way!! Much to the amusement of those camped around him.
The thing that never seems to amaze me is that no matter what the weather, The Hop Farm takes a pounding and always recovers extremely quickly. We have all seen The Hop Farm return to normal after the dust bowl and this year we are witnessing that same miraculous return to normal after the mud. For those of you who had left by Monday night the rain arrived again around about midday and stopped Tuesday morning. The streams burst their banks and the only way to access the shower block was by canoe. As you can imagine the model tent was flooded from one end to the other right through to the end of Ginger Gammon’s Bar. Looking at this on the Tuesday morning we realised how lucky we had been.
Regardless of the weather, the clean up crew ripped into their tasks and by Friday the 27th the site was pretty well clear, just those few remaining tanks to be low loaded home, as is always the case.
As all of you are aware The Hop Farm now has a new partner. The immediate feedback from Peter Bull was how impressed he had been by the size of the show and the efficiency with which it was managed.
You may remember that Simon Hume-Kendall joined us for the first time last year and this year really got into the spirit of things. On the occasions that our paths crossed Simon was full of support for all that he saw and on one occasion asked me to convey his thanks and appreciation for all that the officials were doing. He was greatly impressed by the professionalism of the War and Peace Team and the manner in which we interacted with the Hop Farm staff.
The 25th anniversary KM War and Peace Show 2007, despite the rain and mud, seems to have been declared by all who attended the best show to date. Judging from the amount of complimentary emails and the usual handful of complaints this was the general gist of the feedback. The Hop Farm team reported that public attendance was up 10% despite the weather. Imagine where we would have ended up if we had enjoyed our usual sunny weather. We have responded to a quantity of questionnaires, the main focus of complaints would appear to be around quad bikes and minimotos in the public camping area. Generally it was felt that the officials handled the situation extremely well on the rest of the show site especially in the extreme conditions. For those that became aware, Malcolm’s handling of the lost child was virtually text book, the only downside being the over-reaction of the mother’s boyfriend. A great many compliments on the new security aspect on the bars especially with the Berlin wall around Ginger Gammon’s. Many felt that if the rains hadn’t arrived this would have made a great social area of an evening time.
The new evening entertainment in Ginger’s Bar with a band each night went down a storm. All of the bands received good feedback and we will be rebooking for 2008. The DJ, Gypsy John, played some great music aimed at an adult audience as this is who we are really catering for although I noticed a lot of youngsters still enjoying it.
This year we seem to have attracted far more public attention than ever before. The fireworks on the launch night caused a bit of friction with the locals which the local Courier newspaper chose to make the most out of. This was then followed by the mud on the road at the end of the show which caused the closure of the A228 further enraging locals. We have had several written complaints from local residents, all of which we have responded to. At the same time we have also received some positive comments telling us to ignore the wingers. I myself met one of the complainants on the Sunday evening who had some justifiable comments to make whilst at the same time letting me know that her and her husband had a guest cottage to rent for next year’s War and Peace should it be needed.
You may remember that the major issue from last year was the invasion of unofficial unwanted locals who drank far too much in the beer tents and then created problems throughout the night. As you were aware we had a plan which we instigated with the Berlin wall and security. The local youth responded by failing to appear. Regardless of their lack of appearance we are of the opinion that the security and Berlin wall shall remain. They may well return in 2008.
Regardless of the weather the show was so successful we have returned to the office knackered but still full of enthusiasm for 2008 and are busily planning working towards making the 26th annual show as special as the 25th. One possible fly in the ointment was the appearance of John Sweeney of BBC fame after his row with the scientologists. The BBC were producing a documentary on re-enactors focusing on the Germans. I enjoyed a 90 minute interview with John Sweeney whilst driving around the site. As you can imagine he asked some quite searching questions, one of which was, is Kent a vipers nest of Nazism? With questions like this it was quite apparent that his programme will probably be aimed at sensationalism. Having now had the chance to watch the programme I am of the opinion that he raised some fair issues which we will be seriously looking at for future shows. The comments made in the beer tent are not acceptable at The War and Peace Show.
It has always been our intention to produce a 25th Anniversary book of War and Peace and with this in mind, we are still very keen to locate any photographs of the very early shows at Tenterten and early Beltring, 1987-90. I would like to thank Nigel Hay, Dale Johnson and Tony Lawrence for the material they have already sent. We have also employed an author by the name of Peter Cook who is fairly instrumental in producing the content of the War and Peace programme and is therefore known to some of you. He will be contacting IMPS members to gain their insight into the shows in which they have been involved in. Any help you can give in sourcing material, articles and photographs would be appreciated and we will make sure the originals are returned safely to their owners. Alternatively, you can scan them in and email them to us at rex@warandpeace.uk.com with whatever information you have.
This year, as in previous years, the input of officials was more
important than ever. No matter what the motivation the support was
excellent, with more and more family members pitching in making
it truly a family show. As each month passed, the meetings grew
and grew as officials took on their responsibilities. A special
thank you must go to Keiron and Danny who both stepped in at short
notice to help with living history and public camping. I am still
a firm believer that the major reason for all the support is the
cooked breakfasts, for which we need to thank predominantly Rory
and Pauline and those that assisted. This army certainly marches
on its stomach.
2007 truly underpinned for all of us the knowledge that a real War
and Peace team exists, which this year you clearly demonstrated
with the cards and gifts you presented to Barbara and I in the officials
mess tent. I was lost for words. These gifts now have a special
place in my study and will remain a life time reminder of the companionship
and pleasure I have gained from all of your company.
You may remember from 2006 one of the big complaints from exhibitors was the lack of space. Bert promised to remedy this and to his credit, Outer Monkton’s was created which this year we filled. I gather from Malcolm that this was an extremely popular area and well received. The big problem for us now will be making sure we have all the appropriate facilities in this area for next year. Should the show grow again we do have another field standing by.
The world now knows that War and Peace is, in the words of Classic
Military Vehicle Magazine, “the greatest show on the planet”
and the 25th anniversary show has done no more than to underpin
that statement. For those of you who are not aware, other than being
the biggest military spectacular in the world, War and Peace is
also the largest event in the county of Kent. None of which would
have been possible without the continued support of IMPS members
and the military vehicle enthusiasts world wide.
We look forward to welcoming you back to the Hop Farm for the 26th
annual War and Peace Show on 16th-20th July 2008.