Middle Wallop (May) Kite & Buggy Festival

Saturday 24th- Monday 26th May 2003

Location: Middle Wallop Airfield, A343 Andover to Salisbury Road, Andover, Hampshire
Organised by: Roy and Hayley, Kites Up

Two Wheeled Buggy | Female Kite Buggiers | Buggies & Boards | Ye Olde Buggy Jousting | Miscellaneous

This was the first three-day Middle Wallop event, over the May Bank Holiday weekend, and it was incredibly busy!

The weather throughout Saturday and Sunday was sunny but showery, however on Monday it stayed warm with plenty of sunshine. 492 people registered at the British Buggy Club stand during the weekend - more than ever before! The beer tent did good business: a good place to go during the rain showers, and at night-time to socialise with friends old and new.

Roy and Hayley did an excellent job of organising the event again. Notable improvements this year were the addition of 'posh loos', sited next to the beer tent (excellent location), a decent food stall selling curries and Japanese style 'takeaways', and the segregation of buggiers from the other kitefliers by means of red flags marking the boundary, all the way down the field. The majority of people adhered to this, and so made the event safer for all involved.

We look forward to the second Middle Wallop event in August, which should be bigger and better! In the meantime, take a look at some of the unusual and interesting things that we saw at Middle Wallop this time...

Two wheeled buggy

We caught up with Ade Stevens riding around on his two wheeled buggy. We just had to ask - what had inspired him to do this?
Ade tells us: "Having seen a photo on the net of a two wheeler it gave me the inspiration to design my own model based around my Flexifoil 2001 buggy. I had no drawings to work from, just an image of the finished buggy in my head. The construction of the buggy axle took me a rainy Saturday to complete, then I prayed for no rain on Sunday, and got it. The first run on it was interesting to say the least, however after 10 minutes I felt that it was quite possible to run up and down wind reasonably well. After 20 minutes I was in full control."

Female Kite Buggiers

It was nice to see so many women buggying and boarding, and thoroughly enjoying themselves! Good on you, girls...

Buggies & Boards

Ye Olde Buggy Jousting

Monday morning was a no-wind morning. So, Tim Burgess and Joe Brown decided to settle old differences with a Buggy Jousting tournament.

With their wallpaper-roll lances, trusty buggy steeds, and a varlet to push each along, the tension mounted as the men prepared to face each other in battle. Each had their strengths and weaknesses - Tim being the more agile, Joe with the weight advantage.

Round One saw Tim tipped out of his buggy, followed by some hand-to-hand combat, Matrix-style.
Round Two was over in seconds, when Joe's lance crunched into Tim's jaw; the impact sent Tim sideways, flipping his buggy over on top of him.

Thus, the tournament was ended, and the victor was Joe Brown! Tim accepted defeat graciously and lives to joust another day...

Tim Burgess	Joe Brown (and Charlie) preparing for battle	Let battle commence!
The knights manoeuvre round the battle field	Jousting, Matrix-style	And Tim's buggy overturns - victory to Joe!

Click here to see the moment that Tim's buggy overturns, in extreme closeup!

Video 1:

WARNING: Buggy jousting can be dangerous.
All jousting was carried out by highly trained individuals
and should not be attempted at home or anywhere else.

Miscellaneous

How cool is this??	The new Blade III, 4.9m	'Parachute Man' Dave Ryder

Video 2:

This panoramic MPEG shows the size of the Middle Wallop airfield and the popularity of the festival.

Links:

Previous event reports:

May 2002

August 2002

August 2001

August 2000 - Page 1

August 2000 - Page 2

Kites Up

British Buggy Club

Getting ready for Middle Wallop 2 in August? www.wallopkitenbuggy.org.uk should answer any questions that you have.

Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop

Other Middle Wallop May 2003 Links:

If you have other links to photos from Middle Wallop please let us know and we'll add them in.

Nytrox.net: Movie from Middle Wallop (page also contains other kiting videos)

Nytrox.net: Photos from Middle Wallop

Skud Mark's photos from Middle Wallop (including the Buggy Jousting)

http://www.scottkeen.co.uk/Wallop/

Lots of photos from Middle Wallop (as well as other places)

Selection of photographs on this page (Flexifoil Forums)

Terrorising a Terrier at Middle Wallop - Not for the faint hearted

Joe Brown in shirt-off shock!

Burt's aerial photos from Middle Wallop

Read more Middle Wallop threads on the Flexifoil Forums

http://rasga.jappi.com/mw