Events (2006) pt 2
Haworth 40s weekend
The group split themselves around Haworth, some staying in the YHA, others in a hotel, and the rest in the Westfield Bunkhouse. Altogether there must have been around 16 members there, but only 6 vehicles It has been suggested that Haworth is not an ideal venue for vehicles if there are too many as parking is restricted. The event has plenty of atmosphere however, and this year was no exception. Americans, British, German and Italian armed forces were represented . Unfortunately for one British Re-enactor the quest for accuracy resulted in a trip in an ambulance when his hob-nailed boots caused him to slip on the cobbled street, breaking his leg (we suspect). He certainly looked to be in pain.
On the social front the pubs on the Main Street were visited on more than one occasion, and we included the dances on the Friday and Saturday night in the White Lion Hotel. Graham gave some stroll lessons that seemed to go well until we had to "launch" ourselves into one of the moves The rest of the moves just went to pot after that.
Elvington Wings and Wheels
John Le Page has submitted this report and photos from the Elvington weekend of the 12th, 13th &14th May.
"Barry
and I set off on the Friday afternoon to run down the A65 and meet Dave at the
Little Chef at Skipton to go on down the A59 towards Tadcaster and from there
via the York ring road to Elvington.
Once
again the sun shone on us, Dave in short sleeved shirt all the way and the roads
were reasonably quiet for a Friday, the only hold-ups were at known junctions
through Ilkley, Otley and along by Harewood House.
We
arrived at Elvington at about 4.45pm and were met by floods!!
All
the vehicles were put in amongst the aircraft and we camped with a Harrier jump
jet out front and a Hunter alongside with the tail of a Meteor over the tent
(See picture) This was great and not only made for an interesting position(!)
but meant that the public were kept behind the ropes around the planes which
added to the security around the camping areas.
We
had room to put up the two tents and soon got set up with time to wander the
stalls despite the fact they were either setting up or shutting up for the day.
There were quite a few stalls with a good variety of stuff from clothing
(uniform shirts for £1.00) to vehicle parts and guns along with the usual
civilian outfitters.
The
display was excellent I haven’t seen so many vehicles together since War
Wheels and they were impressive with a wide variety of stuff from tanks to
artillery, heavy trucks and carriers to jeeps of all descriptions.
I
spoke to one of the marshals who told me that they had had about 200 vehicle
entries and that they already had 120 on site on Saturday morning and were
expecting another 20 or 30 on Sunday.
The
aircraft display was great - lots of aircraft about and the Dakota was open for
viewing, something I was keen to see as I often went on holiday as a young child
on Dakotas. It certainly seemed a lot smaller than I recall!!
We
were all quite surprised by the un-announced arrival of the Battle of Britain
Lancaster which came in really low over the site, circled and made another pass
before heading off west. I just managed to get some distant pictures
We
saw lots of friendly faces from our own Area and from others who we meet at the
various events throughout the year. Henry and his mob had a superb campsite set
up with all the medical stuff and plenty of realistic blood about. Tony had had
trouble with his jeep (a fuel problem I was told) but this was sorted and
didn’t impact on their weekend too much.
Tony
Martin visited us and Lou Evans arrived with the Luaz, but their group had had
problems as his brother, who was in the Gaz had broken down on the way. They
swapped the vehicles putting the Gaz onto the trailer and Lou driving the Luaz
to the site. Unfortunately they had to drive back with the Gaz straightaway and
come back for the Luaz on Sunday!!
We
had been asked to save a space to camp by Jonathan and his family who arrived on
Saturday with their jeep on the trailer. They parked up with us and we put the
banner out.
There
was a disco in the NAAFI on Saturday night but we decided to have a barbecue
first. Jonathan, Boyanne and William joined us and having got settled with food
and the odd drink we never got there but it was a really good night according to
those who did. We as usual, had an excellent evening of good company.
The
weather was mixed over the two days with showers and cloud. That wasn’t too
bad but the temperature dropped by
about 15 degrees - good job we had the tent heaters! We spent time in the hangar
where the wargaming bods were doing their thing, the models were superb but I
can’t get excited by the gaming.
Sunday
was slightly better in that it didn’t rain much in the morning but as usual at
Elvington, saved it for just as we were leaving. We’d left the canvas off the
jeeps as it was dry as we prepared to leave and we’d planned a very pleasant
run through the country lanes avoiding heavy traffic to Harrogate and then up
the A59 over Blubberhouses to Skipton. The cloud was right down over the pass
and once over the hill it rained quite heavily. We stopped at the Little Chef as
before and quickly put up the all weather gear before
Dave
went off down the A59 and Barry and I set off up the A65 making good time in
light traffic until we were just past the Goat Gap east of Ingleton when Barry,
who was leading, suddenly ground to a halt right on the uphill bends. He
couldn’t get any gear at all! The true nature of the problem has yet to be
diagnosed but looks like either a selection problem or a worn out clutch.
In
the pouring rain we hitched his jeep and trailer on to the back of mine and set
off for home. The journey was fairly uneventful
(Barry might disagree but I felt fine!) even though I had to take some of
the hills in first gear, crawling up at about 5 mph!
Another great MV weekend despite the trials and tribulations that are part of our crazy hobby. It would be that much less interesting if they always performed perfectly and dealing with breakdowns is a valuable learning experience. Hats off to the Yorkshire MVT for an event which was first class and will be on again next year so if you’ve not been to Elvington, give it a try - we will certainly be going again."
East Lancs Railway
Who said summer is here? It certainly wasn't for this year's ELR event on 26th - 29th May. It rained, hailed, and occasionally shone making this one of the coldest May events I have been to. Life is what you make of it and our group made the most of the event, using the rail passes to travel between stations and one brave soul (Geoff) taking part in the re-enactment at Rawtenstall station. Geoff's first outing in his Dodge Weapons Carrier gave the fiddlers something to probe into to try to smooth its running. It must have worked as it drove home well. The camp resembled a Dodge outing with three weapons carriers and an ambulance. Dodges are growing in popularity in our area. Four Jeeps from our group, a GMC and a Mack completed the numbers. The Brown Cow at The Burrs Country Park provided most of the group's entertainment, though others did visit the organised dances in Bury. I understand the Irwell Vale site was used by Tony who was joined by a troop of Home Guards. There was a group showing a diorama from the Vietnam era so he would not be on his own.
I thought a prize should be offered for the best caption for what Phil is saying to Geoff, but then I thought why should I?
