(05 Jul 2015, 4:53 pm)Malarkey wrote Seems to be quite a mixed reaction on the Rally today, Spoke to a few people who said it wasnt worth coming out for due to the small amount Vehicles in attendance and lack of space in what is supposed be to be a Car Park, just looked like a slab of tarmac to me like, would agree with those comments after spending 4 Hours on Buses to go to Whitley Bay and back, this included a 70 Minute trip on the 1 to Gateshead from WB having missed the 308 due to taking a Photo of (H106) was going out on the Shuttle and not seeing the 309 in the distance as I boarded the 1 a few minutes later, didnt see it till I went to sit down as the 1 pulled away.

As I discussed with Aureolin last year on our way back from Seaburn Rally I think something needs to be done with the Rallies to make them more enjoyable, i.e. bringing different Vehicles as we see the same ones every year, although it was nice to see FTN 708W & 33101 at Durham the other week as it was something different to Photograph, I think perhaps merging the Smaller Rallies such as Whitley Bay, Durham & Seaburn together at a Location which is Central to where everyone is travelling from, and is easy to travel to via Public Transport, so then your not doing a Jimmi spending 6 to 7 Hours on Buses to and from the Rally, that is some dedication to the Hobby right there mind, and having the Event at a bigger site such as Herrington Country Park at Penshaw, with the adage of other Vintage Vehicles such as Cars and Trucks etc would make it more interesting, I would also like NEBPT and CDBPG to have an Enthusiast Open Day at there Respective Yards.

So you would have as an Example:

MetroCentre - May 
Tyne Tees Run - June
Shildon - July
New Merged Rally - August

I somewhat agree, it didn't feel half as good as the MetroCentre rally(which was my first one) as I did see some buses that I never have before and I can imagine that you have probably seen those before. At times I got a tad bored where there was no free bus journeys on and resorted to sitting on a bus waiting for something to happen, whereas at the MetroCentre bus rally there was never a dull moment as there were much more different buses and a more exiting atmosphere with more people too.

I may not attend next year to this rally as it was a bit dull, but I may change my mind when it comes to the time as it was nice weather and was better than sitting in the house.