Events (2014) pt 2

Scorton Steam Fair

They say the sun shines on the righteous so we must all have done something right because the Scorton Steam Fair was a scorcher, well until Sunday I suppose. The South Cumbria and North Lancs Area had a good turn out for this event, plus others from surrounding areas and it seems the MV patch is getting bigger thanks to the negotiating skills of Ian Coats, our man in Scorton. There was a good mixture of vehicles that pleased the organisers who have in the past been a little worried about it becoming a Jeep show. There were Jeeps of a number of varieties, Bedfords, Volvo, Reynolds Boughton, a very tidy and rare GMC used by the RAF apparently, Land Rover, and Plymouth staff car. Elsewhere military vehicles appeared on single marque stands, On the Albion stand was a World War 1 Albion truck, and on the Bedford stand an RL depicting the Auxilliary Fire Service. Elswehere around the field were classic cars, motorcycles, steam engines and static engines to be seen. At night time a fleet of Honda Goldwings gave a display of the mass of LED lighting attached to their bikes. Medieval jousting was the star attraction in the arena, after our MV display of course. Let's not forget the 6 real ales available in the beer tent.

Our display in the arena gave us the opportunity to mention and then embarass Jonny Newbould. The owner of one of the vehicles mentioned Jonny's name which started the ball rolling with virtually every other owner also admitting to have visited Jonny's workshop. One person was brave enough to say he had driven past but never called in. At the end Jonny was called up to give a speech to the arena crowd, much to his embarassment.

Sunday was dull weather wise, but this did not stop the public from coming to view the displays. Just as most of us finished packing away the tents, down came the rain. This was a shame as it could so easliy have spoilt a very enjoyable weekend. Thanks Ian for your efforts.

Normandy 70th Anniversary

Ian Coats has provided the following report on the group's visit to Normandy for the 70th Anniversay of the invasion of Europe.

ARROMANCHE. June 6th 2014. We, along with our French friend Alain ( The chap who found my Jeep for me ) camped at the Chateau de Martragny with the rest of the Inskip Militia. On D-Day itself we set out with our vehicle pass to Arromanche, unfortunately and despite our pass the Gendarmes were having none of it although unlike some of our Coppers they were very polite and friendly and even saluted us. Not to be put off we tried several roads and eventually found a little lane with a very pleasant Gendarme who let us through, must have been Kathryn who was wearing Susy's WAAF outfit, or maybe Alain in the clothes of an Alpine guide, his father was in the Maquis during the war and escorted many escapees, Jews and POWs over the mountains into Switzerland. We ended up about half a mile from the town and walked in, wearing our uniforms and Alain in his FFI outfit we were allowed into the centre of the town with a ringside view of the celebrations and were able to see William and Kate perform their duties, the MC was Dan Snow. Thanks to Eddie and Sarah for organising the ferry, camping, and passes.

BAYEUX, June 8th 2014. Preston Isaac obtained a pass for us to attend the parade on June 8th celebrating the liberation of Bayeux by the British, this was a great honour and we were very humbled by the tremendous response and welcome of the local people as we drove slowly through the heart of the mediaeval city. Over 220 vehicles took part and only British badged ones were allowed, much to the chagrin of several American ones who were turned away by the Gendarmes. The parade took a long time to make its way through the centre of the city and there were thousands of happy citizens thronging the route. We were interviewed by French TV and when the lady reporter found out that Alain was French she chatted to him for some time so we held up the convoy! Thanks to Preston Isaac for organising this momentous parade. The day before we toured through the countryside and the Bocage and were treated to several flypasts from a B-52 at very low level, not only did it frighten the horses it woke us up as well!

 

Yorkshire Wartime Experience

A reprot form Liz Russel follows: (Tony H towed his jeep for the day but I have no idea what his jeep is !! Russian ?) The weather on Friday put some of us off going to this event for the whole weekend, apart from Martin Russell & the 82nd Airborne who had been camped since Thursday and were in the battle Saturday & Sunday. We just went for the day on Saturday & the weather was great for this great event. Set in fields above the M62 there was a fantastic display of vehicles, along with stalls, dancing in the marquee and of course hundreds of re enactors. There were displays in the main arena as well as a WW1 & WW2 battle. Well worth going to see.

Pennine 40s weekend

Dave Bentley has put a lot of effort into the event, centred around the Church Inn at Uppermill, on the Saddleworth Moor. The show was well attended, and with a road run and wedding to contend with on the Saturday, all went smoothly. I visted on the Sunday to find the paratrooper had missed the church and landed on the pub roof. I understand next year he is to try harder and get caught in the church tower. Dave Salisbury had a little trouble when his head gasket blew on the way to the event. The road from Uppermill was blocked by road works so a diversion was in operation that even in a modern car I found to be steep and narrow. The location is very picturesque as the pictures from Henry Lisowski show. Thanks of course to Henry for the photos pinched off his Facebook page. The food at the Church Inn was very good and homemade, and more importantly not messed around with. Virtually everyone recommended the breakfast there, but I ate at lunchtime and can vouch for it.. Next year's event promises to be bigger with more camping and hopefully better access. Well done Dave for this year's effort.

Ingleton Home Front weekend

John and Elaine have been running this show for a good number of years now and it is still as popular as ever. Re-enactors and vehicles roamed the streets and were joined by a Dakota from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. I did not camp so I'm not sure what the evening entertainment was like but I understand there was plenty to do.The weather held out while I was there unlike some previous years, so the crowds were out in force. Carry on with the good work you two!

Crich Tram Museum

Ian Coats has provided a report from Crich. "Around two dozen or so of the Inskip Militia managed to squeeze into the flat area just above the tramway bridge, our usual spot was taken up by a firing range using live rounds from Lee-Enfields and SLRs, great to smell the whiff of cordite in the afternoon. The area was very constricted and trips over guy ropes were the unfortunate consequence, hopefully next year we'll be allotted more space without the added thrills of streams of water running beneath the tents.

Entertainment was provided on Friday afternoon by Ian Coats erecting his new bell tent in a torrential and unending rainstorm, in this he was helped by the heroic John Langsdale. Saturday dawned bright and sunny, much to everyones' relief and Ian's clothes had dried out by the end of the day.

There were the usual stalls, tram rides, and of course the selection of real ales in the Red Lion; the parades were as popular as ever.

Ollie had his new motorbike which started up first time and kept going and it was great to have Judy Salisbury along to keep an eye on Dave, on top of that the downpours didn't faze her in the least!"

Darwen 1940s "do"

Dave S and our Gen Sec, Simon Bromley, went to the Darwen 1940s day. Dave has provided a couple of photos.

Lytham 40s weekend

Ian Coats has provided the following write-up for the Lytham weekend. "I counted 72 military vehicles ( Incl NWWII Assn ) over the two days, this is a conservative figure because I know I missed recording some. This is a record number so far. The parade went extremely well thanks to Kevin and his cohort of bikers, scouts, and police real and pretend. The low points of the show, or high if you have a sense of humour, were the man who insisted on his right of way across the battle area of the Green, this despite being told he could have his leg blown off by the hidden pyrotechnics ( he went anyway ), and the few locals who refused to be halted when trying to cross the road while the convoy ambled along. No fruitcakes were harmed during the event. Well, it is Lytham.............. The estimated visitor numbers at Lytham were around 30,000 over the two days. Next year's dates for Lytham have been set for August 15 & 16 2015."

I went on both days but did not camp so missed any evening entertainment. There were certainly plenty of people there and a good display of military vehicles both wartime and post war. The battle re-enactment was impressive with Jeeps and a Daimler Dingo taking part. Occasionally you find something unusual and this time it was an engine from a Mustang that had crashed. The research team found the crash site and unearthed the remains. Surprisingly it was in quite good condition though wouldn't run of course. Roll on next year. Thanks to Ian and Kev for representing the MVT at the planning meetings.

Ye Horns Inn Beer festival

What could be better, Green machines and beer, but not at the same time. Ye Horns Inn at Goosnargh was hosting its annual beer festival with around 40 different beers on tap, so where better a place to pitch up an MVT camp? I'm told the food was excellent but again there was a long wait for it to be served. Never mind, you didn't need to wait long for your beer to be served in the marquee outside. A run out on the Saturday, and a shorter one on the Sunday gave the vehicles chance to stretch their legs. Unfortunately it stretched a cog in Dave S's Jeep just a bit too far and it snapped off. A quick field repair soon had the starter motor off while waiting for another to be fetched from a nearby garage. Thanks to Ken and Jim for arranging this event yet again.