Following the 2010 rally being cancelled because of a water-logged field, the organisers suffered another blow with the loss of the back stubble field due to the death of the landlord and an unsympathetic new tenant, but all that meant that there was not quite the numbers of exhibits on show in 2011 as was in 2009. Sections affected included the commercials, parts of the military such as the Sabre Squadron, the Toyota Estima Owners Club and the ploughing match which couldn’t take place. There was also no tug-of-war but the latter two may have found alternative homes because of last year’s cancellation.

The layout reverted to the 2008 plan in the main with the fire engines moving to the far end of the stationary engine line which looked as if it could accommodate a few more entries. The commercials were cut back to just one line with a line of Landrovers opposite. The cars still park nose to tail so access is difficult, particularly when you have to walk around their chairs and picnics etc, as remarked previously.

The craft and model tent was more craft and fewer models, and this influx of trade was reflected in the number of outside stalls which took up an extra row compared to 2009, replacing the line of awning displays.

The awning displays had been re-arranged in an L-shape and there was only just enough room. We arrived just in time to avoid being placed across a corner with our car in the car-park, but a little more thought and a movement 2m further forward into dead space would allow cars to be parked behind caravans and still have an access roadway in between us and the trade stands behind. There were one or two different displays not seen before including the collection of toy filling stations and garages.

Tractors appeared a little down in numbers as they didn’t quite fill the line between bygones and miniature steam, and there wasn’t really anything unusual unless you count a Bray conversion of a Nuffield. The military section, however, included a Marmon Herrington scout car amongst the more mundane stuff.

The Saturday auction started an hour earlier to fit in all the stuff, there being approximately 600 lots. There were plenty of bargains with run-of-the-mill stuff not fetching vary much, but the odd items of quality did make their price. Starting at 10am, it was still going strong way past 3pm, so reckon on about 100 lots per hour selling rate.

Back across in the countryside arena, there seemed a lot of wasted space for a Viking re-enactment group with their tented village, but why can’t they use orange rope rather than barrier tape to mark out their arena, the whole point of their display being compromised by red and white plastic tape. Personally, I would prefer to see more country crafts which are more in keeping with the original aims of the rally when it was based at Ecton Park.

To conclude, the loss of the back field didn’t really affect the rally too much, part from some exhibitor camping being back down towards the noisy A45 and the loss of car-parking might have been a concern.