i have never visited blackpool show.... so cannot offer any similarities.....but warwickshire show in my opinion is good, 3 days, all under cover, 2 demonstration pools for clubs and traders to display on, and alot of trade stands, - most of the kit manufacturers attend, in the past these included, mountfleet, model slipway, marten howes and baylis, cheddar models !, deans marine, metcalf models, palaform, hunter systems, action, model ower supplies, mobile marine models, SHG Marine ,proxxon power tools, howes models, mantua models, to name but a few, plus a whole host of traders such as , walker midgeley insurance, squires, proops, propshop, people selling second hand goods/ models and the usual stuff like adhesives, scalpels, cutting mats , needle files and that sort of stuff !
there are a huge number of club models on display, and i doubt you can leave the show witout being totally overwhelmed by some of the models displayed, there are some real gems that turn up at this show each year....
but the show is great to see some awesome models, to buy those hard to find items, or unusual fittings or even a whole kit, radio, batteries, charger, adhesives or whatever... i think if you cant get what you need at the warwick show then its obviously no longer in production !!!- you can pick up some rare and obsolete stuff however !!!
the halls are huge agricultural style sheds with alot of space, there is lots of stands and stuff to see and for the record for other viewers of this post there are good facilities, hot food in the cafe, and full disabled access to the show,
parking is close by ( on grass- but there must be hard standing for bikes ! )
and it is free, the show is on over 3 days, but the friday is usually quiet in terms of visitors and number of exhibits, i guess on 70 % of the exhibits are there on the friday....., alot of the exhibits turn up on sat morning !- so i would suggest the sat or sunday is the day to go,
as for is it worth a 200 mile trip, then its up to you, - but before you make the decision, go to
www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk and look under the 'shows' section, there are a fair few photos showing the shows at warwick over the last few years, this may help you in making the decision as to go or not !