The 54th Coventry Parade. Martyn Roberts
Warwickshire Section’s 54th Coventry Parade on Sunday 9th August 2009 saw a healthy entry of 83 riders assemble at Coombe Country Park, east of Coventry. We were blessed with bright sunshine this year, after the mixed weather of recent years.
The Lord Mayor of Coventry was double-booked so the Lady Mayoress flagged each rider away, supported by our president, Colin Seaton. Colin also rode in the event, helped judge the concours and presented the awards so he had a busy day.
Mike Wills led the riders away at 11:00 on the oldest machine, a 1911 Bradbury outfit with his young son, Matthew, in the chair. Sadly, Colin Scott’s 1914 Morgan 3-wheeler expired within the grounds of the park and was later recovered by transporter.
A choice of long (66 miles) and short (47 miles) routes took riders on a circuit through Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, passing Stanford Hall on the way to lunch at The Green Man in Long Itchington. This year saw several entrants suffer from mechanical maladies and many tales were exchanged at the lunch stop.
The short route included a ford near Rugby which had three inches of fast flowing water rushing through it 24 hours before the event so we prepared a last minute re-route, in case of problems. We need not have worried – the road was only damp on the morning of the run.
Fortified by an extensive and highly praised buffet at the lunch stop, entrants had only a short run back to Coombe Park in the afternoon. Mable, the vintage bus from Coventry Transport Museum, was our “Base Camp” as ever and housed the glittering array of silverware until it was required for presentation. Mable’s canopy, which kept the rain off, last year, was used as a sunshade this year.
Following the judging of the concours, award winners lined their machines up in the customary display, in front of the trophy tables, and our president, Colin Seaton presented them with their silverware. Several people remarked on the wide range of machines which had won awards; a reflection both on the varied tastes of our members and the impartiality of the judges.
Finally, a big thank you to all who helped with the running of the event – especially Frank Parker, Dave Kendall, Bill Wise and Alan Bailey. It was a long and hectic day for us all but everybody seemed to enjoy it, which makes it all worthwhile.
The award winners:
Oldest Machine – Mike Wills – 1911 Bradbury combination
Best Veteran – Colin Missen – 1914 Triumph LW Junior
Best Vintage – Alan Bailey – 1928 Ariel Model E
Best Vintage Sidecar – John Flynn – 1927 AJS Model H1 combination
Best Post Vintage – John Lycett – 1932 BSA TW9-32 3-wheeler
Best Post War – Andy Hooton – 1957 BSA A7
Best Coventry built – Brenda Hallard – 1915 Rover 500
Best Triumph – Peter Brown – 1960 Triumph Thunderbird 650
Best Birmingham built – Brian Thomas – 1928 Norton CS1
Youngest Rider – Jon Wood – 1973 Norton Commando 750
Best under 251cc – Brian Glover – 1924 Raleigh Model 14
Organisers’ Cup – Graham Hallard – Dunelt
Most desirable machine (entrants’ vote) – Dave McMahon – 1911 Rudge
Best BSA – David Hayward – 1930 BSA Sloper 557
Oldest machine completing this run and the Coventry-Brighton – Robert Thomas – 1926 Raleigh Model 16
Best Post 71 – Robert Payne – 1972 Suzuki GT550