Throughout WWII Melbourne Airfield was home to a squadron of Lancaster bombers known as The Shinies. Their biggest problem was the unpredictable nature of the weather in the Vale of York. In fact they lost more aircraft to weather conditions than they did to the German defences. It is almost sixty years since The Shinies and their Lancasters caused the area to echo with the sound of roaring engines. Nowadays the echoing roar comes in the form of motorcycles drag racing and jet cars screaming up the runway at speeds in excess of 170mph. The weather of course remains something of a lottery, but for the fourth year in a row at the NABD national rally, the sun shone down on the righteous.

The atmosphere at this year's event was brilliant! Friday night kicked off in fine style to the sounds of 'Fugitive' rocking the main marquee with a blistering set. Meanwhile in the other marquee the party was warming up nicely with a disco provided by Russ Harding of the East Leeds Lions MCC.
Later in the evening the main marquee stepped up a gear when our old friends and long time NABD supporters 'The Mick Rutherford Band' took to the stage with some of the most superlative blues I have ever heard. Mick was celebrating 40 years in the business this year and all that experience shone out as the audience went ballistic to the sounds of Cream, Hendrix, Eimo James, and much more. After the bands the party continued to rock with music supplied by the inimitable Russ Page, one of the most professional DJ's it has ever been my pleasure to work with (even though the bugger gives me a hard time whenever he spots the opportunity). I took a turn working on the bar after Mick Rutherford's set and as we had once again kept the bar prices to a minimum we were mad busy right through to 4.00am Saturday when we had to close the bar due to being completely knackered.
Saturday began with breakfast in the sunshine (always a good start to the day) and as I sat outside the CMA 'Holy Joe's' tent sipping my breakfast Newky Brown I just knew it was going to be a good day. By midday the drag strip was in full swing, the free entry 'Run What Y'Brung' seemed to be very popular and the bank along the side of the strip was full of spectators. By 1.00pm the entries for the custom show had assembled next to the Trike Shop stand and I once again lumbered the long suffering Howard Jolly from 100% Biker magazine and a representative of York MAG with the unenviable job of judging the show.

Back on the dragstrip we had the first of two breaks in the racing for a couple of novelty runs. The first was a short wheel-chair race featuring Spike (who you may remember from his micro-light exploits featured in Open House a while ago) racing against Paul Crudge. The second was Del Walker (NABD Transport Coordinator) with a little home-made paddock bike (which took him about 1 hour to build) racing against yours truly on a Mini Moto trike supplied by the trike shop. It must be difficult for anybody of adult size to ride a mini moto trike, but I can now say with some authority it is damn near impossible for a bloke with knackered hips and knees. I even managed to come off it on the rough ground before the dragstrip and gash my shin quite badly. Not wishing to let the side down we raced anyway, and Del left me in the dust (I don't think mini motos are meant to carry 16 stone). In the interest of fairness we then swapped machines and raced again, this time I should have had an easy win but I got disqualified for crossing the centre line in a bid to kick Del off the little trike (nobody told me this was against the rules).
Next it was the turn of Neil Porter (one of Britain's finest stunt riders) to entertain the crowd with stunts that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. This was followed by the 'Firestorm' jet car, a breathtaking machine that makes the ground shake as fifteen foot flames roar out of the 2500 horsepower engine as it warms up before the start line. The flames then subside as the thrust is built up and the scream of the engine makes your head ring, then blam! It's hurtling through the quarter mile lights at 170mph+. The only word that springs to mind when you see this thing go is "Awesome".
Within minutes Steve Murty (the site owner) and his crew had the drag racing back into full swing and I went to pour some beer over the gash in my shin (yes I know it may not be the best treatment, but the bar was closer than the first aid tent). Meanwhile back in the main marquee 'Charlie' was entertaining folk with his unique blend of music and comedy. He was followed by an amazing band called 'Shittin Bricks' who I can guarantee we will be seeing more of.
Throughout the afternoon I wandered around the site asking people for their opinions of the event. Answers ranged from "excellent" to "brilliant" which made all the effort worthwhile.

As the drag racing came to a close at 530pm we had a light shower of rain which drove everybody into the marquees (I couldn't have planned it better) just in time for the trophy giving. As in previous years I have lost the list of winners in the custom show, but I can assure you they all deserved their trophies. The Sarah Russell Trophy (given to the individual member who has shown most outstanding dedication to the aims of the NABD) went to Alan (Wellies) Varrechia. The George Hampson Trophy (Given to the club or group who\ have shown most consistent support) went to The East Leeds Lions MCC, and was this year presented by George's son Roy and his daughter Linda. The NABD Chairman's Award (given to the elected officer of the NABD who has shown most, outstanding dedication) went to Gary Tompkins (Kent Rep).
The evening parties got underway with I the two Russ's doing their disco thing in the marquees. By 8.00pm the marquee was absolutely packed in anticipation of the Frog & Bucket Comedy Roadshow. Once again the Frog & Bucket in Manchester had put together a fantastic line up of comics, and as an added bonus this year we had four excellent acts instead of the usual three.
To say it went down well would be the under statement of the year. Even the banter from the audience seemed to be funnier this year. The comedy show has become a much-loved aspect of the NABD national rally, and when you hear the peals of laughter from the crowd it is easy to see why. Following the comedy show, 'Doghouse' took to the stage. It isn't easy to get an audience into dancing mood after they have sat and laughed at comedians for two hours, but Doghouse were definitely up to the task and the marquee was soon rocking away. To cap the night of nicely we had exotic dancers Rachel and Jade! followed by disco until 4.00am.

Overall the event was a joy as far as the entertainment and the appreciation of those who came. On the down side we had an attendance of 1,200 people, and less than 30 marshals. When we moved from our previous site at Capesthorne hall in Cheshire we were regularly getting 2,500+ people but this figure has dropped each year since. For this reason we will be taking the rally back to Cheshire next year. For those of you who will miss the drag racing aspect of the event I can only apologise, but running a free run what y'brung is an expensive exercise and we were not gaining enough people from it to justify its continuation. However we will be broadening out the marquee based entertainment and adding a few surprises at the new site, so I think we can still guarantee a first class event.
See you next year at You've Been Nabbed 12A (I'm not really superstitious but 13 would be tempting fate).