Scilly escapades

As young lads in the 1950s we went to many of the big exhibitions held at Earls Court and Olympia. Regular annual ‘must-see’ events were the Motor Show, Motorcycle and Bike Show, and the Schoolboys’ Own Exhibition. It’s not that we were particularly interested in any of these subjects, it was just a good day out and we could ride there on our bikes.

One year a bunch of us cycled up to Earls Court for a day at the Boat Show. In those days, the salesmen on the big stands prevented anyone going aboard the show craft If they looked like time-wasters, which we lads whose combined wealth was about a fiver certainly were. They even