The 53rd Coventry Parade
Warwickshire Section’s 53rd Coventry Parade saw a total of 73 entries
braving the mixed weather conditions at Coombe Country Park, east of Coventry.
Bright sunshine was interrupted by heavy, blustery showers which sent riders
scurrying for shelter under the trees.
The Lord Mayor of Coventry was on hand to flag each rider away. During the
proceedings, the poor Lady Mayoress had her umbrella turned inside out by
the gusting wind! (“The second one this week” she said glumly.)
Undaunted, the Lord Mayor’s interest in old machines had been kindled
to such an extent he stated his intention to track down an LE Velo before
next year’s event – perhaps he will join us as a rider?
A choice of long (66 miles) and short (47 miles) routes took riders on a
circuit through Liecestershire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, passing
Stanford Hall on the way to lunch at The Green Man in Long Itchington.
To their credit, many of the riders on older machines elected to take the
longer route which included the picturesque village of Ashby St. Ledgers – seemingly
isolated but actually just a couple of miles off the A5.
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.
The sunshine returned during the judging of the machines and the awards were
presented by our chairman Harry Wiles, the immediate past president of the
VMCC.
It was fitting that Alan Bailey should win an award on his first run in 10 years on the Coventry Parade. Alan was unable to enter previously, having been the organiser for the last 10 years.
The award winners:
Oldest Machine – Robert Thomas – 1903 Humber Olympia Tandem
Best Veteran – Graham Hallard – 1913 AJS 350
Best Vintage – Gary Booth – 1924 BSA 350
Best Post Vintage – John Lycett – 1932 BSA TW9-32 3-wheeler
Best Post War – Paul Jephcott – 1956 Velocette LE
Best Coventry built – Ron Spinks – 1928 Montgomery Twin Five
Best Triumph – Rikki Richardson – 1970 Trophy 500
Best Birmingham built – Brian Thomas – 1920 Norton Big 4
Best Morgan – Malcolm Bull – 1932 Morgan Delivery Van
Youngest Rider – Mary-Ann Ferneley – 1950 Ariel 350 Red Hunter
Best under 251cc – Roland Robinson – 1929 Ariel LB 250
Organisers’ Cup – Peter Smith – 1981 Honda C70
Most desirable machine (entrants’ vote) – Brian Glover – Norton
Best BSA – Geoff Parr – 1938 Empire Star 500
Best unrestored – Mike Wills – 1911 Bradbury 554 combination
Oldest machine completing this run and the Coventry-Brighton – Alan
Bailey – 1928 Ariel Model E 500
Best Post 71 – Maurice Taylor – 1977 Honda 400-4
Our thanks go to Helen and Martyn Roberts for organising the event, Mark and Sharon at the Green Man and The Coventry Museum of Road Transport for the use of Mable.