Portchullin’s next exhibition may not be the furthest it has travelled but it will definitely be a first for the layout and indeed myself – an exhibition on the continent.  In this case Modelspoor 2018 which takes place on the 23 – 25 February in the Euroteco Centre, Houten, near Utrecht in the Netherlands.

To the Anglo-Saxons amongst us, do not be put off by the website being written in Dutch.  Basically almost everyone in the Netherlands speaks good English (embarrassingly perfect English typically) and it is a really easy country to travel around, engage with people and see what they have to offer.  Although I have not been to Modelspoor before I have heard a lot about it – think Warley * 3 seems to be the gist of it (which may be a bit much in truth!).  However, it has a core of “finescale” from across Europe to which I was very flattered to be invited and I hear is worth seeing in any case.

And of seeing Portchullin is a sufficient excuse to high-tail it over to Holland, coming in the van will also be Oly’s Six Quarters layout.  In contrast to the fresh air of the west of Scotland, Six Quarters has air laced with Cumbrian coal dust and grime!

There are a number of other very good layouts there, including Jerry Clifford’s Highclere Colliery (under a new name I hear) and Gordon Gravett’s Arun Quay.  Se even if you don’t fancy Portchullin or Six Quarters much (shame on you), it is still worth a visit.

So if anyone that reads this blog (well, either of you!) is over in Holland in a couple of weeks time, do pop over and say hello!