Page 50 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q2

The Road to Heusden-Zolder,

the Mecca of Bonsai Pilgrimage

Noelanders

Trophy XV

2014

By Kath Hughes, UK
Photographs by Willie Evenepoel, courtesy Bonsai Association Belgium

hey came by boat, they came by train, most between Folkestone and Calais via the channel tunnel
by road and some by plane. Like the Faith- in just 35 minutes. Once on board passengers stay with
ful making the pilgrimage to Mecca, on the their vehicle throughout the channel tunnel crossing
Tweekend of January 17th to 19th, a vast num- in bright, air-conditioned carriages.
ber of bonsai enthusiasts made the journey to the small The Channel Tunnel, colloquially known as the
mining town of Heusden-Zolder in Eastern Belgium Chunnel, is a 31.4-mile-long (50.5 km) rail tunnel
to attend the Noelanders Trophy XV bonsai exhibi- travelling beneath the English Channel. At its lowest
tion. And they did come from far and wide—from all point, it is 250 feet (75 m) deep. At 23.5 miles (37.9
corners of Europe, from Cyprus and Israel and further km), the tunnel has the longest undersea portion of
afield, from as far away as Japan and the USA. any tunnel in the world. The tunnel carries high-speed
A special occasion—this event has now been up and Eurostar passenger trains and Eurotunnel Shuttle roll-
running for fifteen years and what an achievement. on/roll-off vehicle transport.
Fifteen years without a break and it gets better and bet- Arrival at the show on the Saturday morning found
ter every year. All credit must go to Marc Noelanders people eagerly queuing for admission long before the
and his team from the Belgium Bonsai Association. official opening time of 10.00 a.m. It proved well worth
Their presence is evident at the event, being equally the travel and the wait for admission. Well over 100
helpful yet unobtrusive. That is a rare achievement. top quality bonsai from all over Europe graced this
The previous year, 2013 was also an amazing show extraordinary venue—vast, old, restored coal mine
but it will remain etched in my memory forever, buildings, brought to state-of-the-art exhibition sta-
not just for the quality of the event but because the tus. Over the weekend more than 3,000 visitors clam-
weather and in consequence, the journey, which was ored to view the show.
horrendous; snow, ice fog and sub-zero temperatures. If this alone was not enough, international dem-
It took snowplows clearing the motorway to enable onstrators kept us entranced as we viewed with envy
exhibitors, traders and bonsai enthusiasts alike to get their ability to transform some sizable and daunting
to the venue, let alone getting home at the end of the yamadori pines and larches into works of art—near-
weekend! completed bonsai. The four demonstrators over that
January 2014 proved a very different story. Fine weekend were: David Benavente, Spain; Ryan Neil,
weather all the way and throughout the weekend. USA; Sandro Segneri, Italy; and Kevin Willson, UK.
To imagine the popularity of the Noelanders Tro- Finally, the icing on the cake for many present was
phy, you must envisage us leaving our home north of the opportunity to purchase bonsai related items from
Birmingham (almost the centre of the United King- over forty traders crowded into three areas of the ven-
dom) and heading for Folkestone, 200 miles south- ue. My only criticism of the event was that the traders
east and the entry point for the Channel Tunnel. were somewhat overcrowded. Such has become the
Such was the exodus to see Noelanders XV that we popularity of this event and at times, the purchasing
started to meet up with fellow travellers on the mo- public could scarcely move.
torway from other parts of the country. That must Once again, it was a magnificent event! Next year,
surely tell you something. Some four hours later, we January 24th and 25th, come with my recommenda-
arrived at the Eurotunnel, oh what a blessing that tion to make the trip—it will certainly be a worthy
has become. No overcrowded ferries, no sea sickness pilgrimage.
and no queues. The Eurotunnel car train service runs

48 | BCI | April/May/June 2014