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Area’s main event again took place at the Yorkshire Air
Museum, Elvington. For the last few years we have had a range of
weather conditions and this year was no exception –warm and
sunny, torrential rain, cold east winds, then warm and sunny in
that order. Most of the vehicles, camping and stalls had plenty
of space to spread out to the right of the entrance. Inside,
next to the helipad could be found the artillery group of trucks
and a 25 pdr field gun along with a number of re enactment
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The main hanger was again home to Wargaming and further stalls
whilst to the side children could enjoy rides in miniature
‘tanks’. Rides on a real tank, a Russian T54/55, or armour
in the shape of a 432 and Abbot were also available at the end
of the run way at prices up to £25.00. |
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| The
4.00pm Saturday afternoon road run, through the adjoining flat
countryside, left on time. Starting with a convoy down the
runway, and then out through Elvington village to the former RAF
airfield at Melbourne. The cold weather attracted the Land Rover
fraternity rather than the Jeep boys.
The NAAFI
building was the centre of entertainment on Saturday evening
with loud disco music, (I am getting old), the excellent three
girl group the ‘ Hotsie Totsies’ and our usual large raffle.
http://thehotsietotsies.blogspot.co.uk
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| If
you wanted to be deafened over the weekend then watching the
static Merlin engine run up was the thing for you! A quite
unbelievable noise! Nearby, twice a day, Mike Peacock introduced
the 25pdr field gun to the crowds and talked them through a
demonstration firing of this iconic artillery piece. The bang
was suitably loud to make people jump and set the odd car alarm
off.
There are plenty
of aircraft to see dotted around the site and I took the
opportunity to go aboard the Nimrod which arrived at the museum
in 2010. Ray Flint, an ex Air Electronics Operator and
instructor kindly talked us through the technology on board.
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An unusual exhibit sheltering under an awning was a recently
purchased 1942 Austin Tilly which had been laid up since 1953
somewhere in Belgium. It may well have been ex Belgium army
after the War. Simon and Chris Taverner, from Helmsley bought it
last year. Built under Contract S1444 dated 28 10 42 and with
serial no M5396122, it certainly had patina, and was complete
before his wife Chris, and her sister Michelle Thompson, began
the strip down. They were continuing this over the weekend. The
plan is for a rebuild to a factory fresh finish. Chris and
Michelle are ATS re-enactors and along with Paula and Lotty
Swinford are known as the ‘Khaki Bloomers’. Other
possessions include a ’44 Ford GPW, a push bike and a Triumph
3HW from 1943, which Chris says she rides and helped put
together in their front room! |
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| Another
Austin, but this time one some 23 years younger, looking very
smart indeed as was owner Mike Howard from Goole, stood amongst
the Land Rovers. This ex AFS Austin Gypsy had been built in 1965
and released as late as 2002. It still has only 12,500 miles on
the clock and is powered by a 2.2 petrol engine now fitted with
electronic ignition. Mike is ex T.A. Royal Engineers, 129 Field
Squadron, 3 Troop from Goole.
Nearby, with his
head under the bonnet was Anthony Bentham being helped by his
son Jack. His immaculate RAF blue 1958 Series II Land Rover had
blown the exhaust gasket en route. He was hoping to fix it
before the trip back to Lofthouse near Wakefield.
Norman Gibson
and his wife Linda had brought along a 1990 110 Defender bought
only last week. This is ex Army 64-KJ-52 and now registered H880
OEE and Norman intends to put it back to its’ original
specification.
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| Colin
and Liz Parr come up every year from Southampton, and again for
the Crank Down weekend in their 110 which was built in 1991.
They say the folks up here are so friendly and that’s
generally true. Sold by Withams, this was originally fitted as a
deep wader but Colin had it put back to a commercial
specification as he uses it every day.
It has had
various rebuilds and a new chassis at some stage. They travel
widely in it having been to Spain 10 times, Italy and the
Pyrenees. He tows a small caravan with it and they said they
were planning a trip to Peenemunde later this year. It was
obvious that Colin had a wealth of stories to tell as he works
in the dockyard as a marine electronics contractor and was
previously a Torpedo and Sonar man. He is also an MBE.
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I
had just photographed an immaculate Plymouth saloon when the
owner, John Le Page from Wharton, a member of S. Cumbria and N.
Lancs MVT turned up. He said he had spotted the car on the web
on a garage forecourt in Indiana.
At the time it
was turquoise, but in amazing condition. Desert Classics
arranged its’ importation in 2012 and since then the 214cc 6
cylinder side valve engine has been rebuilt and the car now
supports olive drab paint.
This 1940 model
P10’s interior is all original and in superb condition. It did
make me wonder why I was driving a wartime truck and not
enjoying the luxury of something like this. Could be the future
perhaps? Most impressive Air Horns under the bonnet.
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1916 model T Ford arrived on Sunday brought by Alan and
Christine Rogerson. Built originally at Trafford Park,
Manchester this had been bought in bits from France.
Christine told
me that the original engine had “crumbled” but luckily a
replacement had been found. The rebuild takes its original form
as a Water Tanker and was completed last year.
Christine also
said driving it took a little getting used to as it does not
have a traditional gearbox. It is worth having a look at the
Transmission and Drivetrain section in Wikipedia to see how it
operates.
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Graham
and Maureen Durrans from Sheffield were sat enjoying a picnic
behind their immaculate 1968 Air Portable Land Rover as I
passed. This enjoyed a very short life with 41 Commando then the
Royal Signals before being sold at the end of 1973. However
Graham has restored it to show condition from the wreck he
bought in 2010.
I am never quite
sure what Mick Sparks from Shelf, near Halifax will be wearing
at events. He certainly looks most convincing as a French
'poilu' ( literally meaning 'hairy' the common nickname given to
French infantrymen because of their unshaven appearance ) not
that he is, but this year he was with the Russians.
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However, his truck is a 1940 aeroscreen Bedford MW which he has
owned since 1993. He likes to keep it on the road doing jobs in
between. The back body has been off recently so he could do the
chassis and he has recently renewed the cab floor. He tells me
it came from a farm near Kettering and when bought was fitted
with an OY cab. Alongside, standing out from the crowd, was a
1944 ex Army QL in fire engine red with plenty of patina. I
didn’t get to speak to the owner, but the display board showed
it to be ex Morecambe Fire Service. Great to see being preserved
in running order as it must have looked 50 or 60 years ago. |
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Chris Tills newly restored Sherman was most impressive winning
Best in Show and photographs of the interior can be seen in a
recent issue of CMV. He took it on the road run which I believe
created a bit of a stir locally. A number of us followed him and
several other Shermans in Holland last September where they made
a most impressive sight.
Another newly
restored vehicle was Mike Peacock’s Morris Quad on its first
show outing.
Re- enactment
groups included a superb large tented display of 101st Airborne
medical facilities, some German Wehrmacht, 69th Field, the East
Yorks, and Forces 80 amongst others. Forces 80 have been going
over 10 years and the group has about twelve members and
appeared armed to the teeth! The three in the photograph are
Graham Foggin from Durham, David White from Stroud and Stan
Cheffey of Cambridge.
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I appreciate that this report can only cover a handful of the
vehicles there but I hope it along with the photos gives a
flavour of the vehicles on show and the dedication of the owners
in restoring and keeping them on the road in excellent
condition. Last, but not least, a big thank you to Brian and his
team of volunteers who organised and had a busy three days
running the show. Next years show will be 6th- 8th May.
Prizes were
presented on Sunday afternoon and the winners after Best in Show
were:
Jeeps 1st D Anderton Ford GPW
2nd N Hudson Ford GPW
3rd J Arnold Willys MB
Best WW2 1st S Wright Halftrack
2nd M Bean AEC Matador
3rd M Dicken Fordson WOT 3
Best Post War 1st N Clay 436
2nd J Hepworth Land Rover
3rd P Wright Trabant
Best Motorcycle
1st M Edmondson Matchless2
2nd N Cheetham Royal Enfield
3rd K Goodwin BSA M20
Best
diorama/display Andrea Leathley 101st AB medical tent
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