Dougie Lampkin MBE at Brands Hatch 25th July 2003

Friday the 25th July 2003 was a very special day for me it was the day I met Dougie Lampkin MBE. The encounter was brief and I'll never forget it, I didn't say much to him because I was like a fourteen year old again faced with someone equivalent to a pop idol in the mid 1980's when music in the UK was popular. Lost for words I was, Dougie Lampkin is god to us trials riders and even when I met Steve Colley I wasn't effected in the same. Steve Colley now i've mentioned him is a rider that took part in Junior-kickstart a long time ago and if any of you remember that series with Peter Purvis run by Anglian TV he was the man then. My conversation with Steve at the SSDT 2002 lasted may be 5 minutes with me being astounded by what a down to earth guy he is, I've great respect for Steve and his trials riding abilities and perhaps one day we may see him down south training the new stars of tomorrow. Dougie, I can only describe as a lot bigger fish and I'm sure you would like to know how my encounter with the world champion went, well here goes:

Me: Dougie, hi can I take a photo of you?

Dougie: Yeah Okay.

Me: My cameras a bit slow, sorry. "what was really happening was I was shaking and unable to turn the thing on"

Dougie: no reply

Me: Thanks for the photo Dougie, when are you going to be doing your next show?

Dougie: James, what time is our next show? James: 9.30pm

Me: Dougie can I get a picture of you and James?

Dougie: Yes, here okay.

Me: Great, thanks, bye.

Well that was it, brief but I've met the man and it was worth it. There is something else that I think needs a mention and that is when I arrived at Brands Hatch overflow parking area it was full, perhaps with 30,000 people so I asked half a dozen security bods where is Dougie Lampkin's is performing? No one new who he was!!! Even when I got to with in 75 feet of the man and he was doing a show the security guards manning the entrance to concert and amusement area where Dougie Lamkin was riding didn't know who he was. I don't blame them for there ignorance its just disappointing that a man of such prominence is unknown to Joe Blogs in the south. The point I make here is and i'm addressing Dougie, the south is by far the wealthiest area in England and if you want to increase you massive bank balance ££££ visit the south a little more often it could pay dividend.

by: Cliff Barnett 'MBT'