MAFVA Nationals & A Trip To Duxford

I've just returned from a great weekend attending the MAFVA nationals in St Ives Cambridgeshire and a visit to the IWM Duxford on the way home today. As ever my trusty sidekick Brian came with me & we met up with Paul B & Chris. In fact we were all staying in the same hotel very conveniently located in the centre of St Ives next to the river. 

The drive up on Saturday afternoon was pretty grim especially the M25 but then it always is. However once off that motorway progress was swift and Brian was getting the first beer down his neck by 3 o'clock!

Fast forward to the evening's entertainment and the usual carnage ensued. Brian did slope off early which was extremely unusual, I however kept the standards up and tried to drink the bar dry with the help of Paul & Chris! The show on Sunday was a short walk away, just as well as I felt slightly the worse for wear. 

The venue was smaller than I expected however there was plenty to look at and quite a few traders where in attendance too. The competition area had some really excellent models on display and it was also nice to say hello to friends and have a catch up. By 1 o'clock I was feeling the effects of Saturday evening so went back to the hotel for a well earned afternoon snooze. Sunday evening was much more restrained so I managed to catch up on some sleep.

Purchases were very restrained for me again, the only thing that caught my eye was a conversion set from accurate armour for the takom 432 for 20 quid. A bargain and quickly snapped up!

So on to this morning and after a hearty breakfast it was just a quick drive down the road to the Imperial war museum Duxford. Brian was delighted to only have to pay seniors price for admission & I almost got in as his carer! Here we spent a very pleasant few hours viewing the various hangers and the land hall as well as watching the two seater spitfire beating up the airfield. There's really nothing like the sound of a merlin engine in full growl mode!

 Finally it was time to go home but not before a sort of prisoner exchange in the car park, Brian's wife & Tilly the mad spaniel where there to collect him as they were going "up north" for the rest of the week on holiday. Good egg that Jill is she even brought us some lunch & a flask of tea which was just the job after a mornings walking around. So another very successful and enjoyable weekend for Stonehenge modellers who are really living the dream!