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.