Woodvale Transport Festival 2013

SOMEHOW it was appropriate a replica of that great wartime symbol of British optimism – the Spitfire – stood proudly at the heart of last weekend’s Woodvale Transport Festival.

I could sense a bit of Battle of Britain spirit at Victoria Park last Saturday morning, when the elements did their best to dampen everyone’s spirits for this year’s events. I’ve seen many a show – even the bigger, most lavishly funded ones – turn into a bit of a damp squib on account of typically British summer weather, but a bit of stiff upper lip meant the show carried on. Right on cue, it brightened up as Saturday morning got into its swing.

To say I’d been looking forward to this year’s Woodvale Transport Festival is an understatement. Even though I’ve been to hundreds of different car shows for as long as I can remember Woodvale is my ‘home’ show and the one I’ve grown up with. From my days as spotty boy scout picking up litter to more recent years when I’ve displayed my own classic on the club stands, it’s always been the one show I’ve put in my diary to get along to. That’s why I convinced Classic Car Weekly to let me come home, get the camera out and immerse myself in this year’s event.

It’s because of my fondness for the rally that I left feeling both slightly sad, but more importantly, optimistic. I thought this year’s show suffered slightly, mainly because of the weather, but perhaps also because the name still links it to the airfield extravaganzas of previous years. Smaller shows can and do work – you only need to look at the classic car gatherings in Lydiate and up at Bank Hall each summer to see that – but the reactions I got from speaking to visitors last weekend was that a bit of a mixed bag.

The Woodvale Transport Festival had some great ingredients – a great venue (as the Southport Flower Show proves), keen exhibitors, a host of classic car owners, model plane owners and other enthusiasts who can’t wait to bring their toys along, organisers committed to its success, and a whole town keen to support it -- but I can’t help feeling this year’s event was an opportunity missed.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say the show’s had its ups and downs over the past few years – through, it must be said, no fault of the organisers or those who support it – but I think the show’s future as a top draw event for Southport, not an airfield just outside Formby, is a bright one.

Every cloud – even the literal one that lingered over the show for much of last weekend – has a silver lining.

Originally published in The Southport Champion, June 26, 2013

Why I'm looking forward to the Woodvale Transport Festival

A celebration of classic cars, bikes and other means of transport gets underway in the heart of Southport tomorrow (June 22).

The Woodvale Transport Festival - the newly rebranded Woodvale Rally – takes place in Victoria Park in the seaside resort, and will be welcoming enthusiasts from across the North West from 10am on both Saturday and Sunday, with admission for adults costing £5.

 I’ll be there too, donning my best Classic Car Weekly-branded jacket and taking pictures aplenty of owners proudly showing off their old Triumphs, MGs and so on. So far I’ve already been to a smorgasbord of shows for CCW, including the Bristol Classic Car Show, Manchester’s Passion for Power, the Donington Historic Festival and most recently the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power, so what made me so keen to make the journey to a much smaller show, held in a park in a northern seaside resort?

 Put simply; it’s my home show, and the one I can remember going to for as long as I can remember.

One of the earliest existing photographs of me involves me standing next to an E-type at the Woodvale Rally, as a pre-pubescent car nut who wandered around the airfield with his dad. Then I spent years litter-picking with the scouts, followed by a stint of helping Mr Simister Senior with the displays at the Red Rose Land Rover Club, and then finally the day came when I could start showing off my own classics at the show. It’s also the first show of any kind where I’ve displayed my own classic, when my old Mini coughed into the venue way back in 2009.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say the show’s had its ups and downs over the past couple of years, but I can’t wait to see what the organisers are going to do with this year’s event. A change of name, a change of price, and a venue, don’t forget, that hosts one of the country’s best known flower shows.

Can’t wait!

Keep an eye out for David’s report on the Woodvale Transport Festival in Classic Car Weekly.

Woodvale Rally organisers confirm airfield axe for 2013 event

 

THE Woodvale Rally will not be returning to its traditional home at the RAF Woodvale airbase, its organisers have confirmed this week.

As first reported on Life On Cars last Friday, ongoing concerns about asbestos at the airfield, near Formby, have meant plans for the event to return there in its traditional format are no longer possible, although the show's organisers are now working on a smaller scale event, which is set to be held in Southport this June.

This week's Southport Champion newspaper has followed up the story, and today's front page story, by my colleague Natasha Young, reads:

THE popular Woodvale Rally will not be returning to its RAF airfield home after organisers were dealt a health and safety blow.

The long-running event had to be relocated at the eleventh hour last summer, when it was due to take place at RAF Woodvale for the 41st year, after a trace of asbestos was found at the site.

The move to Southport's Victoria Park hit organisers financially and also meant that key attractions such as the model aircraft demonstrations couldn't go ahead due to the lack of runway, but the team behind the event remained hopeful that the rally would be able to make an RAF Woodvale return this year.

As previously reported in the Champion, organisers went to seek advice from specialists after a Government report on the site was released, and were told there was no risk to the public from the asbestos and an affected area could easily be fenced off during the event with air monitoring also being carried out in marquees.

Now rally manager Peter Wood has been told that the RAF can't issue permission for the event to be held at the airfield, and told the Champion this week: “Because there's been a trace of asbestos at Woodvale, although we had a report saying there was no danger, they are unable to issue us a report saying we can use the airfield.
 
"I think we're out of RAF Woodvale forever."

He added: "There's such disappointment because the event's been there for over 40 years. The whole event was built for RAF Woodvale."

Despite the bitter blow, organisers are now determined to salvage some of the rally by coming up with a new event in Southport.

Rather than trying to recreate the Woodvale Rally at a different venue like last year, the group is now in the early stages of putting together a new two-day family event.

It is hoped the festival, which has been given the working title of Woodvale Transport Extravaganza, will be able to take place at Victoria Park on June 22-23.

If all goes to plan it will feature the classic cars, displays and family entertainment that the rally offered and, while the flying displays will no longer be able to take place, tickets will be cheaper for visitors.

Mr Wood explained: "We're going to give a much reduced admission, like £5 for adults and children free, and free car entry. We're really trying to make this one work.

An email has been circulated to car club members in the area to get their views on the idea for the new show, which could potentially still include camping and possibly parking on Princes Park.

Meanwhile, Mr Wood said a catering company used at the rally is already on board and Sefton Council is said to be pleased about the prospect of an event being held in the resort in June, which is currently a clear month on the town's events calendar.

“We hope this will succeed. The only disappointment will be the model flying,” added Mr Wood. “We just hope people will give their support.”

The latest news will be a blow to car and bike enthusiasts across the north west, who are among the exhibitors who have been attending the Woodvale Rally since its inception, although they are being encouraged to support plans by the organisers for the successor event.

Life On Cars comment:  LOSING the Woodvale Rally, in its traditional form at least, is a huge blow for car and bike enthusiasts right across Sefton and West Lancashire, as well as further afield. What's more, to my mind at least the RAF's decision triggers more questions than it answers.

Crucially, why has it been decided it's too dangerous to hold an event there, even when the Rally's organisers have been told by independent findings that the asbestos found at the airfield poses “no danger” to the public? Perhaps, most importantly of all, what does it all mean for the car clubs, the bikers, the exhibitors and the Great British Public who've supported the show for so many years, especially when it relocated to Victoria Park for last year's event?

I don't - and I'm sure I speak for hundreds of Rallygoing classic car owners - blame the Woodvale Rally's organisers for a second, who've a) fought tooth and nail to keep the event at RAF Woodvale going despite the setbacks, and b) kept the fans updated, particularly on their Facebook page.

For as long as I can remember the Woodvale Rally has been a highlight of my car nut calendar, for all sorts of reasons. Who can forget the flypasts of World War Two aircraft? Or the rows of classic cars and bikes seemingly stretching to the horizon? Or even the heady aroma of fast food being served to thousands of visitors? The airfield event, for all sorts of reasons, is just part of my childhood, and now that I'm a fully grown boy I'm saddened by the latest developments.

I'm sure even the Woodvale Rally's most ardent fans would admit the 2012 event lacked the scale and variety of the airbase extravaganzas of previous years, but then the people behind it had it did the best they could with a show that'd been relocated at short notice. The show, as they say, must go on.

It's a crying shame that the memories of wandering through legions of old cars on hot August weekends are set to remain just that - memories - but I reckon the team behind the Woodvale Rally have got the skills, contacts, experience, and crucially, goodwill to turn a blow into an opportunity and create something to fill the vacuum in the motoring events diary.

That should be top of the organisers' to-do list, but it leaves the region's motoring fans with a mission of their own too. We need to lend them their support, because that's the only way to create an even more memorable event for the next generation of car nuts to enjoy.

The Woodvale Rally is dead. Long live whatever replaces it!

What do you think? By all means leave a comment below if you'd like Life On Cars to follow it up...

Woodvale Rally 2013 plans for airfield return dropped

PLANS to bring the Woodvale Rally back to its traditional home have been dealt a fresh blow after the RAF said the airfield base is still unsuitable to use.

Last year the event, which caters for car and bike clubs along with model aircraft and rail enthusiasts, was held at a venue other than RAF Woodvale for the first time in its 40 year history due to safety concerns about asbestos at the site, but despite hope the show would return in its usual format for 2013 it has now been confirmed the venue is unuseable "for the forseeable future".

In an email sent out to car clubs who have previously entered the event, Charles Scott said: "RAF Woodvale has confirmed that we are unable to use the airfield for the foreseeable future due to asbestos contamination in the soil.   This is a Health and Safety decision and we have been unable to challenge this despite our best efforts and help from others.  

 

"Last year we relocated to Victoria Park in Southport for a much reduced event.  There were problems but the Rally Board were determined to continue despite the problems.   The Board are exploring the possibility of running a similar event at Victoria Park in late July 2013 but on a reduced scale.  We are thinking about a show based on classic vehicles with a club section also.  

 

"We envisage a free entry for vehicles, and a Sunday only show, but with the possibility of overnight camping on site (for a small fee).  Public admission prices would be much reduced also (say £5 for adults, children free).  There would be other attractions similar to the rally but no flying and less extensive, eg model marquees, some music and children's entertainment. I would value your reactions and ideas.  Thank you."

 

The Woodvale Rally has been held at RAF Woodvale since the event's inception in 1971, but due to the asbestos concerns the show was held last summer at Victoria Park in nearby Southport.

Woodvale Rally organisers bid to bring 2013 event back to RAF base

By Natasha Young, The Southport Champion

ORGANISERS of the Woodvale Rally are hopeful that it can return to its RAF airfield home next year, amid fears that having to find a new location could spell the end for the event.

Earlier this year the annual two-day festival of aircraft and motoring displays and demonstrations, as well as camping and family attractions, was forced to make a last minute move to Southport’s Victoria Park after asbestos was discovered at the RAF Woodvale site.

The 2011 Woodvale Rally at its traditional home at RAF Woodvale

As the dates for the August event were moved back to July, and the new venue meant that some of the attractions such as flying displays could no longer take place or had to be scaled back, the team behind the rally remained determined to put on a good show.

However, the event brought a financial blow for organisers as it only took around a third of its usual takings on the gate, and the loss of some popular attractions is thought to have put some regular visitors off.
Rally manager Peter Wood has now confirmed to the Champion that they are waiting for a report to by the Ministry of Defence to arrive any day, which will determine whether or not asbestos-hit RAF Woodvale is now safe to be used for such an event.

If the report, which is being put together after Southport MP John Pugh raised the issue in parliament, confirms the airfield is safe, Mr Wood said they will aim to take the rally back to the site.

"The thing is the who event is built around RAF Woodvale, and we need a runway," said Mr Wood.

"We hope we can go back because if we can’t get back it could be the end of the Woodvale Rally."

The 2012 Woodvale Rally at Victoria Park in Southport 

Since this summer’s Victoria Park event, Mr Wood said other locations such as Leisure Lakes and the Riverside Caravan Park have been considered for 2013, when the rally will be in its 42nd year, however organisers are keen to maintain the character and all the popular features of the event.

He added: "The only other site we could use is Leisure Lakes , but it’s not the same and it wouldn’t be the Woodvale Rally.

"Victoria Park was a nice site but the problem was we couldn’t have the model aircraft so people didn’t go."

As the organisers continue to secure the future of the Woodvale Rally, they are still getting preparations underway for a 2013 show by booking stalls and attractions.

"We’ve got to keep the ball rolling in the hope we can get Woodvale," said Mr Wood.

"People have been coming to the event from all over for 40 years. They love it."