Mystery to me Astir 8, I would have thought that an interest in the registrations would have indicated an interest in aviation overall, but I certainly came across a few fellow spotters who had no real interest other than crossing the number off. They were in the minority though.
I can still remember my first visit to Lasham in 1978 - think it happened to be the Nationals - I spent quite a lot of time peering into cockpits trying to spot the BGA cert! My glider identification has never been that brilliant though...
Despite a very early gliding background, it was also the first time I became aware of the speed of the final glide and water dumping - happy memories of several sailplanes whistling across the peri track at not many feet, apparently under steam!