Warley Exhibition Ceases for the Foreseeable Future

[matt]

Here is an announcement from Warley Model Railway Club
Warley National Model Railway Exhibition at the NEC
The Warley National Model Railway Exhibition 2023 was another successful event. Many thousands of happy visitors attended and we have received many positive comments. The quality of the layouts was again high and we were well supported by many traders, societies and displays. The Warley exhibition is different to many other major shows. It is run by a team of volunteers from within the club, some of whom have organised and delivered the show for over 30 years. The members have considered the present market conditions and their ability to deliver, what is a complex undertaking, and have concluded that the time has come to cease holding an exhibition at the NEC for the foreseeable future.
We are in the process of evaluating the present market conditions and the resources available to the club to plan what we can and need to deliver in the future.
Nigel Smith the current Exhibition Manager says:
"This will be disappointing to many people including visitors and exhibitors alike. However, we are an ageing membership and we have to be realistic about what we can deliver in the future. Many of our existing team have been involved for over 30 years and would like to retire gracefully".
Alan Turner, the interim Club Chairman said:
"When our club decided to create the Warley National exhibition it was primarily to create a showcase for our wonderful hobby. I believe we succeeded in doing that. We are amazed that our exhibition has remained the premier exhibition in the country for thirty very successful years. Many of the organising team have been part of that team since the very beginning. We thank all of those
who have supported this exhibition over the years whether as organisers, stewards, exhibitors, traders or just visitors; we couldn't have done it without you. Warley club is in very good health and has plenty of exciting plans for the future."
Steve Flint, former Railway Modeller editor and WMRC member added that although he was disappointed to see the end of the Warley National Model Railway Show at the NEC, he felt it was a
carefully considered decision by the members.
“The hobby is alive and well at grass roots level, but the commercial boom period of recent decades has probably run its course, having been slowed by the effects of the pandemic, the cost-of-living
crisis and the ever-increasing age of enthusiasts.”
He said that it would be folly for an organisation like the Warley Model Railway Club - itself a charitable organisation - to continue taking further financial risk in the current climate.
“Moreover,” he added, “the tick of the demographic time bomb is getting more prominent, as the next generation of younger enthusiasts required to take over the staffing and running of such
prestigious events does not seem to be materialising. Hence, it is time for Warley Model Railway Club to step aside with pride, having had the privilege of promoting this great creative hobby to the
nation at the NEC for over thirty years with the full support of hundreds of volunteer enthusiasts,
manufacturers and retail traders.

The Warley Model Railway Club have announced that they have ceased running the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition at the NEC for the foreseeable future. I expect many of you have been to this exhibition, it's the one I always try to attend. @Cowley was exhibiting with a layout at this show last year

 

[GusB]

That is a great shame. I have always had the Warley show on my bucket list but haven't made it there so far.

That said, it's a massive undertaking for a single organisation. I suppose the equivalent north of the border would be Model Rail Scotland at the SEC, but the organising body there is the AMRSS (Association of Model Railway Societies in Scotland), rather than a single club. Is there such an umbrella body in England?

 

[Cowley]

The Warley Model Railway Club have announced that they have ceased running the Warley National Model Railway Exhibition at the NEC for the foreseeable future. I expect many of you have been to this exhibition, it's the one I always try to attend. @Cowley was exhibiting with a layout at this show last year

Yes I’d heard rumours earlier in the week. This is a real shame and on top of Hattons closing this hasn’t been a good week for the hobby.

 

[Drogba11CFC]

At the same time, Key Model World have announced an exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre for the last weekend in April.

 

[hexagon789]

At the same time, Key Model World have announced an exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre for the last weekend in April.

That's been planned for a while AFAIK.

I certainly saw it advertised last year in November at least, if not October.

 

[Danfilm007]

That's been planned for a while AFAIK.

I certainly saw it advertised last year in November at least, if not October.

It isn't a purely model railway show though isn't it? A Key Model World thing with all the kinds of brands and modelling (plus the new and very large iteration of Making Tracks with extra bits!)

 

[hexagon789]

It isn't a purely model railway show though isn't it? A Key Model World thing with all the kinds of brands and modelling (plus the new and very large iteration of Making Tracks with extra bits!)

Are any?

Usually a sizeable portion is filled with various trade stalls, stalls representing various media publications and some special interest groups that might represent various rural railway lines or stations etc.

The SECC has several bookseller and media stands, that don't necessarily sell material relating specifically to railway modelling either.

 

[sprinterguy]

Are any?

Usually a sizeable portion is filled with various trade stalls, stalls representing various media publications and some special interest groups that might represent various rural railway lines or stations etc.

The SECC has several bookseller and media stands, that don't necessarily sell material relating specifically to railway modelling either.

They're usually all railway related, though, at all the railway exhibitions I've attended. The impression I have of the Key Model World event is that it will be somewhat wider in scope. I'll certainly be attending, with the combined Making Tracks layout being the primary draw.

Astonished to see the end of the annual Warley NEC show, though I can certainly understand their reasoning. For most of my lifetime I've considered it to be the biggest model railway event of the year, though I appreciate that there are alternative contenders such as Alexandra Palace and the Milton Keynes Great Electric Train Show these days. I'm glad I had the opportunity to attend a few times while I lived in Birmingham.

 

[Danfilm007]

They're usually all railway related, though, at all the railway exhibitions I've attended. The impression I have of the Key Model World event is that it will be somewhat wider in scope. I'll certainly be attending, with the combined Making Tracks layout being the primary draw.

Astonished to see the end of the annual Warley NEC show, though I can certainly understand their reasoning. For most of my lifetime I've considered it to be the biggest model railway event of the year, though I appreciate that there are alternative contenders such as Alexandra Palace and the Milton Keynes Great Electric Train Show these days. I'm glad I had the opportunity to attend a few times while I lived in Birmingham.

I think part of the issue must be the sheer expense of using the NEC as a venue. I know we've all seen photos of £40 bottles of water but parking is very expensive too, and while public transport connections are good by most standards, can still be a challenge for people to get to without at least one train change.

 

[LBMPSB]

I think part of the issue must be the sheer expense of using the NEC as a venue. I know we've all seen photos of £40 bottles of water but parking is very expensive too, and while public transport connections are good by most standards, can still be a challenge for people to get to without at least one train change.

It is not the expense nor the transport facilities to get people there. It is the fact that younger enthusiasts aren't coming forward and leaving it to the retired generation to run. Clubs, Socities, Asociations are finding it increasing difficult to run because of their advancing age of volunteers. And whilst some of the younger generation are deeply interested in railways, they aren't willing to put themselves forward and volunteer to help promote their interest. As a result shows and various Railway Societies are struggling to keep going and need more youngsters to come forward to help keep things alive. By youngsters I mean those who haven't retired, still work or are in education. Societies, Clubs etc are trying to get youngsters involved, but they only seem to want what they can get out of those clubs and societies and not willing to commit to getting involved and help. It is the same in the preservation of railways, all forward in saying things should be saved, but no one willing to come forward and help. Oh it is sad that railway related clubs, socities and shows are disappearing, but it us the railway enthusiast that are needed to volunteer and keep it alive.

 

[John Webb]

That is a great shame. I have always had the Warley show on my bucket list but haven't made it there so far.

That said, it's a massive undertaking for a single organisation. I suppose the equivalent north of the border would be Model Rail Scotland at the SEC, but the organising body there is the AMRSS (Association of Model Railway Societies in Scotland), rather than a single club. Is there such an umbrella body in England?

There are several associations in England. One of the largest is the Chiltern Model Railway Association, which despite its name has a membership that covers much of the Midlands, East and South England. They too organised an annual show, at first in St Albans and more recently at Stevenage. Unfortunately during Covid the carpark at the south end of the Stevenage sports centre (the only one of the adjacent carparks which the larger vans and small lorries could use) was converted into a bus station. Result was their inability to hold the exhibition. A secondary factor was their aging membership, so they've not tried to find anywhere else.

 

[A0wen]

There are several associations in England. One of the largest is the Chiltern Model Railway Association, which despite its name has a membership that covers much of the Midlands, East and South England. They too organised an annual show, at first in St Albans and more recently at Stevenage. Unfortunately during Covid the carpark at the south end of the Stevenage sports centre (the only one of the adjacent carparks which the larger vans and small lorries could use) was converted into a bus station. Result was their inability to hold the exhibition. A secondary factor was their aging membership, so they've not tried to find anywhere else.

Bit in bold - the first of those won't be the reason - there are other venues they could look at. The second of those is almost certainly the reason and indeed is part of the reason why Warley isn't happening.

As pointed out in other posts upthread, the average age of the membership of many of the clubs is part of the reason why shows are increasingly not happening.

But here's a challenge to anyone on these boards who feels strongly about this and isn't a member of a local MRC - go and join one. Find one locally and start contributing. It's not really fair to expect everyone else to organise these things and not contribute to it yourself and even less fair to actually come on boards such as this and complain about what is provided if you don't contribute - and if you hear others complaining about it - call them out.

If go to your local club and don't enjoy it, then work out why - and if the club isn't being welcoming, isn't including a broad spread of the hobby then work out how to change it - or join a different club.

Disclosure - I am a member of a local MRC, which I joined when my son (then early teens) wanted to get involved because he wanted to play on a larger layout than his trainset at home. So when we have our club show, I'm around to help set up and pack up and do various jobs all of which need doing.

 

[Danfilm007]

Bit in bold - the first of those won't be the reason - there are other venues they could look at. The second of those is almost certainly the reason and indeed is part of the reason why Warley isn't happening.

As pointed out in other posts upthread, the average age of the membership of many of the clubs is part of the reason why shows are increasingly not happening.

But here's a challenge to anyone on these boards who feels strongly about this and isn't a member of a local MRC - go and join one. Find one locally and start contributing. It's not really fair to expect everyone else to organise these things and not contribute to it yourself and even less fair to actually come on boards such as this and complain about what is provided if you don't contribute - and if you hear others complaining about it - call them out.

If go to your local club and don't enjoy it, then work out why - and if the club isn't being welcoming, isn't including a broad spread of the hobby then work out how to change it - or join a different club.

Disclosure - I am a member of a local MRC, which I joined when my son (then early teens) wanted to get involved because he wanted to play on a larger layout than his trainset at home. So when we have our club show, I'm around to help set up and pack up and do various jobs all of which need doing.

It's a great point - I have been a member of a MRC on and off for years. It depends who is joining and offers to help, and with so many activities keeping people busy these days it is a challenge. Thankfully there are a lot of online communities where people take part in these days which is great but it keeps some of the brick-and-mortar clubs out of the loop where it's just the F2F experience. Ironically, some of my most local clubs have no online presence which means people can't discover it!

 

[A0wen]

It's a great point - I have been a member of a MRC on and off for years. It depends who is joining and offers to help, and with so many activities keeping people busy these days it is a challenge. Thankfully there are a lot of online communities where people take part in these days which is great but it keeps some of the brick-and-mortar clubs out of the loop where it's just the F2F experience. Ironically, some of my most local clubs have no online presence which means people can't discover it!

The bit in bold is an excellent point - in this day and age not to have even a basic website or Facebook page is madness, especially if you want to attract new, younger members. The days of an advert in Railway Modeller as a way to raise awareness of a club are long, long gone.

 

[Uzair]

With regards to younger people not sharing the same levels of enthusiasm in the hobby as the older generation, I'm 28 and have always held the opinion that the trains with which I've grown up, have been very underrepresented by the mainstream brands, until recent years. When growing up, the vast majority of models were steam trains, and I think my first 'modern' era set was a Virgin Trains HST. I recall in most years hoping that the next years Hornby & Bachmann ranges would include a better selection of newer era rolling stock classes, but was disappointed most times. I'm sure many others also felt this way, and weren't ever fully captured by the hobby.

 

[Iskra]

Like many things, things are moving online. Youtube and twitter have a strong model railway presence, with a much more prominent modern image offering (and all for free). While it's nice to see steam layouts, shows do seem to focus on them disproportionately in my opinion at least. Equally, exhibitions probably used to attract a lot of second-hand sellers and buyers, but nowadays that's also well catered for online. Personally, I think rather than spend £40/50 on physically attending an exhibition, I'd rather spend that elsewhere and just watch it on Youtube afterwards much more efficiently (it takes less time and I can skip layouts I'm not interested in without it being awkward) and use that time to do something else.

 

[eastdyke]

I have been alerted by the mother of a junior member that BBC will be doing a live piece from a Lincolnshire Model Railway Clubroom on Look North at around 07.50, and again at around 08.50, tomorrow morning [Tuesday 16th January].

Because this has been brought about by the press reporting of the Warley and Hattons news it could be networked.

FWIW I well remember the second-hand offerings from Hattons in Railway Modeller from the late 1950's [much Hornby Dublo 3 rail back then!]. Whilst they were in Liverpool I did visit a few times [a longish but enjoyable train trip] but not since they moved to the latest premises 'off the beaten tracks'.

Edited 'after the event':

Broadcast live from the Clubroom of The Market Deeping Model Railway Club.

In the event the feature was networked on BBC Breakfast, having been trailed live at around 7.30. Coverage was in 2 parts, at around 7.50 and 09.25. Should be available on iPlayer but possibly only for 2 hours.

Extended recorded coverage is expected on BBC Look North (East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire) [not networked] in the evening broadcast from 18.30.