Newbury 60's Rally

14/05/2026

Well we arrived here about 10.30 having spent the night at Cartgate.  There was a steady flow of vans, motorhomes and caravans but it did not take long to find our pitch.  We are a bit further away from the barn but still quite close.

Its like this in all directions.  I would estimate a thousand rigs.

This evening the entertainment was Neil Diamond tribute.  He was okay but not quite there, entertaining though.

We then had the 60's explosion, much more energy, good guitars and drums.  Good selection of songs so very good.  Then it was back to the van to bed.

15/05/2026

So we did not get up until 10 this morning. Once we had finished breakfast we went to look around the showground.  You can buy just about anything here to do with camping and leisure.

We went into the marquee at lunchtime for two hours of music. The artist was Johnny Parish.  He sangs songs by Roy Orbison and other artists of the 50's and 60's.  He was very good.

This evening we had two groups the first was a 60's group called Vanity Fayre.  They were okay but not brilliant, one of the original members has been in the group for 55 years.  

The next were called Fourmost.  Now they were in a different class.  The group came from merseyside during a time known as the Merseybeat era.  This was when the Beatles were first famous and writing songs for lots of local groups.  They were very good with one of the original members on drums and his son on Lead Guitar. 

16/05/2026

So we were quite lazy today getting up at 10.30.  We have had breakfast and will wander over to the Marquee later to watch the lunchtime show.  Its a guy called Tom Harding who we think we might have seen before.

So Tom Harding is actually from the group Union Gap  who we will be seeing tonight so a busy day for him.

Duing the intermission Tom and the drummer sat at our table which gave me a chance to chat to him and have a bit of fun with him.  He joined the Union Gap 32 years ago.  He is a very nice and genuine guy with a great voice.

Leigh could not resist the opportunity to have her photo taken with him.

We are once more in the barn for the Saturday night entertainment.  The first act is the Union Gap who have been really good.. At the end of their show they invited Billy Shannon o  to the stage with them.  Billy was from Showaddy waddy.  He is now in the Dr Hook Experience which will be on later.

The next act are the Foundations who sang a lot of Motown songs and were originally an all black group.  Today there are six members in the band with only one black guy.  In our opinion not that good.  The sound is just wrong.

17/05/2026

So today is Sunday and the weather is not too bad.  We have had a bit of rain over the weekend but have managed to avoid it.  It has been very cold though and we have needed our coats.  We are going to watch Joanna James at lunchtime and then we will make a decision about whether or not to leave.  The entertainment for tonight does not sound great so we shall see.

Well here is a pic of Joanna and she is wearing a wig and a lot of makeup.  Her voice was good but as expected.  She would have looked better if she had been herself and not tried to pretend she was 15 years younger.  She sang mainly female ballads and she did very well.  I enjoyed her act and she worked very hard.