Beaulieu Autojumble 2009
THIS YEAR GEZ managed to pop his Beaulieu cherry, but because things have been so completely chaotic, we could only make the Sunday.
Now, whilst Sunday was packed with bodies the traditional day of rest was much quieter. The organisers may have been proud of producing the largest ever Autojumble in these difficult times, but that didn’t stop the traders moaning.
‘I’ve never seen so many people not spending money,” said one Cheerful Charlie. Well, yes, it is understandable, but the traders have to take some responsibility for this. There were many visitors from the Continent, particularly Holland and Germany, but even people who haven’t been turned over by Brown’s mob baulked at some of the prices.
Yes, this is a recession, yet you wouldn’t think it reading some of the prices. We witnessed one interesting conversation between a Dutch customer and a stall holder over a book. It was nearly 80 quid and the stall-holder made no attempt to adjust the price when the punter turned pale. In the end he just put it back, probably went home and logged onto Ebay.
Of course we aren’t just wagging fingers at stall-holders, some of the cars which were on sale too were ridiculously priced. We all know the classic car movement is experiencing an unprecedented sustained boom in values, but some people really need to take a dose of reality medicine.
After experiencing the rush of ‘my first time’ last year, I came back this year dressed for business (well, if that business was John Candy preparing to take the part of a darts player on safari) and packing twice as much cash as 2008. Worryingly, I came back with it mostly still in my pocket.
I did clock an original if tatty BMC Special Tuning file which I was going to revisit – well, it was 65 quid – but when I returned to the stall at around 3pm, they – like many – had buggered off home. So what can you do!?!
On the plus side, and I feel like I’m still suffering from all the negative vibes emanating from Cheerful Charlie, I did come away with a couple of damn good leads which should see the Gazelle inch closer to the MoT man.
We’ll certainly be back next year, because by then everyone should have recovered from Glum Gordon’s handiwork and perhaps more of the prices will start to feel like they belong to the real world. One thing’s for sure though, it will probably be on the Saturday because we don’t want to miss out on some of the stalls or the buzz of the crowds.
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