Our first seafront display of the year got off to a chilly and dull start with the added inconvenience of a hire car having been parked on the pavement ramp used by our members to access the parking strip, despite the clearly visible double-yellow lines upon which it had been left. It must have been a quiet morning at Bexhill Police Station as a phone call soon resulted in the arrival of three boys in blue who following a mandatory mug of coffee made a call and a short while later, a recovery truck arrived to remove the offending vehicle which as discovered a little later, had been hired by a German couple who were visiting someone locally – an expensive mistake!

Member’s vehicles steadily arrived and by 10:00, the display stretched from the bandstand to the far limit of our parking area near the 1902 race finishing line stone. A fine selection of vehicles of differing types and ages were on show, and as the sun appeared and the day steadily warmed up, the whole seafront area became ever more crowded. 

Having spoken to a number of visitors over the course of the day, it is without doubt that our seafront shows attract folk to Bexhill who would otherwise not make the journey, and if the first of the 2024 season is an indicator as to what we may expect for the rest of the year – weather dependent of course – we can look forward to a positive and appreciative reaction from our visitors as we head towards the summer.

Mark Hammett