Hebden Royd Mayor's Blog: Hebden Bridge Vintage Weekend

Sunday 7th August 2011 Vintage weekend

Amy, myself and the children attended Hebden Bridge's Vintage weekend on 7th August, organised by local volunteers in The Rotary Club.

Calder Holmes Park was completely full with a staggering array of vehicles from the past. We were delighted to see over 600 entries into this spectacular event of classic and vintage Cars, Motorcycles, Commercial vehicles and military vehicles. Our children also loved it and it was a fabulous family afternoon. we were delighted to see many of the entrants had travelled from all over the UK to visit this event in our area. The event itself attracted thousands of people into the Park in Hebden Bridge.

During my speech I talked about this the 29th Vintage weekend and how it had grown over the years to be one of the biggest events in the area's calendar. I also met 2 of the original founders from 1983, John and Mary Rushworth who were still exhibiting during this years show. As a qualified Engineer myself, I said I have a shared passion for our Mechanical and Ingenuity heritage which was in our park over the entire weekend.

All the vehicles were extremely well presented and we also talked to a number of owners. The passion and stories connected with each of their collections was fascinating and I stressed in my speech that the whole event was a complete success due to the Entrants and their fantastic Vehicles.

Congratulations and thanks also for the tremendous efforts from the organisers; Roger Benn, the President of the Rotary Club, Peter Layfield and the entire Rotary committee and produced yet another remarkable team effort in to ensure this event ran smoothly also raising significant amounts for local charities.

Roger Benn, President and myself

The thousands of visitors, many of whom had travelled from outside. not only benefited local charities but also the local businesses and local economy. Amy and myself talked to many visitors during the days and they all loved the event and would come and visit our area again.

Our children also had a great day; I asked the children to reflect on their day; my son Marcus (9) liked the American cars - in particular the 1957 Plymouth Savoy which was able to produced flames from it's exhaust !!. My wife liked the bubble cars but also enjoyed the vintage section. My two young girls (6 and 4) liked the restored Post office vans - these old vans were however proper 'Pat' vans, perfectly restored, even with the cat 'Jess' in the passenger seat.