Jaap and René had to rise very early to catch the Hook of Holland - Harwich ferry service. Henk, Ted and I could enjoy their slumbers a bit longer as they had decided to use the Shuttle service from Coquelles to Folkestone. One reason for this was that Ted didn't want to inconvenience all the other cross-Channel travellers by stirring up the waves which in the past years has become a tradition… After coffee at my place we departed in sleet and rain to Calais by way of Antwerp and Ghent. After an uninteresting crossing (all you see is tunnel walls flashing by) and a short visit to the K&ES at Tenterden we arrived in the hotel at Dartford around 4.30pm. Jaap and René had already arrived by then, and after exchanging the news we heard dinner didn't start until 7pm, so we decided to take a nap and have a look at the inside of our eyes first.

After dinner we went over to Swanley to set up the layouts at 9pm. This took slightly longer than expected and by the time we arrived back at the hotel slightly past 11 (after a half-hour detour over the M25 where an exit had been closed) we found the bar had closed. So rather disgruntled we retired to our rooms and drowned our sorrow in a glass of water when brushing our teeth!

The next morning we had decided on breakfast at 7.30. We met a large number of participants in the show here as everyone had been accommodated in the same hotel. Slightly past 8.30 we were on our way to the exhibition hall to check the layout and rolling stock which luckily functioned as intended. Henk had a lot of new and untried stock with him which needed a bit of running-in. This was used together with his existing stock so we could realise a varied train service all over the day. Len Weal of Continental Modeller made a number of photos of Strien.

Jaap and René also did very well with Bryn Goch, even the rather hesitant point motors improved after a drop of oil. The article on Bryn Goch in the November issue of the Railway Modeller must have generated a lot of interest in the layout, judging from the number of visitors.

Having a five-man crew meant we were able to have a good look at the other layouts in between operating sessions. We met several friends both from Holland and the UK, including 'Kit' Kittle, Otto Schouwstra, Robin Winter and John Jacobs. Robin and John said they planned to show their layouts at the Valkenburg show of August 2004, and several other 009 Society members told us they had already booked the trip to Valkenburg nearly a year in advance! It seems Valkenburg has become a hype in 009 circles…

Around 3.30pm the customary trophy awards were made known: Alain Duchesne was awarded the Reinier Hendriksen Trophy for his 0-16.5 Tramway de l'Île de Fa, and Jaap Stuurman was the winner of the David Lloyd Trophy for Bryn Goch. We would very much like to see the French layout at Valkenburg in 2004.

At 5.30pm the show was over, and after packing up we went to the hotel where we had dinner together with many of the participants, all laid on by the organisers of the Greenwich & District NGRS. After dinner we had a long talk with Andrew Burnham about the way a modelling magazine is run, Andrew being the Editor of the Continental Modeller magazine.

The next morning we were present for breakfast at 7.45, which seems a bit early for Sunday, but in reality was quite an easy time to rise for us on account of the winter time shift. After a full breakfast we started back home at about 8.30, Jaap and René to Harwich, and Henk, Ted and myself to Folkestone. We had a safe trip and all arrived home with time to spare before dinner…