Fleetwood Transport Festival 2008 (North West) Dedicated to Fred Dibnah

[LawrenceW]

Fleetwood Transport Festival, also Known as "Tram Sunday" is a transport rally with a difference in Lancashire. This year is a special one, as the event is dedicated to Fred Dibnah, who regularly attended our event with his own engine.

Fred's wife, Sheila, put this idea forward to us and it will co-incide with Fred's statue being unvieled.

Hopefully we will be able to attract as many steam vehicles as possible. We currently have a small collection of steam vehicles which attend the event regularly, including a steam wagon, a steam organ, steam "gallopers", a steam loco and Martha - the world's only Steam sentinel passenger bus which also gives rides.

But this is where you all come in - it would be great to focus this year's event on steam vehicles even more. So if you can bring a vehicle (steam or not!!) then please let me know!!

Usual details in the next post.

[LawrenceW]

Fleetwood Transport Festival - aka "Tram Sunday". 20th July 2008 (North West nr Blackpool)


Pictures of 2007's event are at the end of this post.

Hello everyone.

The organising committee invite you all and your vehicles to be a part of Fleetwood Transport Festival 2008!!

Fleetwood Transport Festival is widely acknowledged to be the most unique, transport-themed, FREE family day out in the North West of England. The Fleetwood Transport Festival has been firmly established in the rally calendar for 24 years, however it is more commonly known as "Tram Sunday" (especially to the locals).

The next event falls on Sunday 20th July 2008. (Always the 3rd Sunday of July)

Fleetwood Transport Festival 2007 was the best event that we've had in many years, despite severe weather warnings which may have put some vehicle owners off attending. We had an exceptionally wide variety of vehicles attend the event and vehicle management and placement was much improved with our new plans which will continue in 2008!!


The festival is uniquely held in Fleetwood's Historic Town Centre, which is the part of the world's first electric street tramway. This means that the roads are closed and your vehicles will be parked on the firm road surface rather than a muddy field, especially useful for heavier vehicles which sometimes have a tendency to get stuck on fields.

The event is only a short way from Blackpool off the M55 motorway.

Usually attracting around 50,000 visitors it is a tremendously fun day with attractions for people of all interests and ages including Vintage Trams, Classic Cars, Buses, Commercial Vehicles, Motorcycles and other Special Interest Vehicles of all types, sizes and descriptions.

There is also much to entertain families with a national gathering of Town Criers, bands, dancers, miniature and model railways, military, gymnastic displays, fairground rides and of course the scenic sea-front and beach. There are many one day only transport-related trade stands along with many of the local shops, cafés and restaurants open, ensuring all the family get maximum enjoyment throughout the day.


This means that Fleetwood Transport Festival is not only great for the individual classic owner, but also an ideal place for your North West club meet, not only to witness it's wide range of enthusiast vehicles but also for those club members who have families who will the masses of amusements and performances throughout the mile-long, seaside event. Please let us know in advance if you intend to come as a group.


For peace of mind, a large dedicated team of marshals will ensure correct vehicle placement and that everyone has a thoroughly enjoyable and safe day out. An early arrival would be advised at the event.

To take part in this wonderful and totally free event please email me for an entry form. Entry AND entrance is all free and we appreciate all of the support we can get at the event. A vehicle pass and parking details will be sent to you closer to the event.

My email address is: lawrence.tramsunday@googlemail.com

I will send entry forms to those interested ASAP. You can also email me simply if you need more information and I will endeavour to help you.

You can visit www.fleetwoodtransportfestival.co.uk to see pictures of last year's events and get a feel of what the event is like.


Here are some of my favourite pictures from the 2007 event:

Reliant Scimitars' Club Meet at the Festival
"Martha" - The World's only Steam Sentinel Passenger Bus
Around 40 buses attended the event.
These included a left-hand drive half-cab bus from Portugal
The Ausin Bullnose was the oldest car at the event
As we can see, this was a very popular event with vehicles, attractions and visitors alike... even in the rain!!
The Monster Truck was a hit with the children
A rare DeLorean DMC12 found a prominent position
There were even minature versions of things
Another, slightly more rare, gorup of cars gathered too

[LawrenceW]

The entry form can be downloaded here:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/1/...stival2008.pdf

If you have any problems then please email me as I can send it as an attatchment or via the post.

Thanks,
Lawrence

[LawrenceW]

Sorry for posting in here YET AGAIN, but I thought you might like an update on what's going on.

We've still not got it all confirmed, but we're *hoping* to have Fred Dibnah's famous engine "Bessie", and three of Fred's old friends have also been in touch to express an interest in attending with their three engines too...

Also, dependent on whether repairs will be carried out in time or not, we could have another engine which is based locally and interested in attending.

Even if you can't make it with your own vehicles, the possibility of five of these magnificent machines could be very interesting to some of you who may just want to attend as visitors. We've also got a record number of entrants overall this year and we are still hoping to work on that number. If you haven't ever been before then this is the year to give our event a go!!

Thanks,
Lawrence

[8_10 Brass Cleaner]

Originally Posted by LawrenceW

Sorry for posting in here YET AGAIN, but I thought you might like an update on what's going on.

We've still not got it all confirmed, but we're *hoping* to have Fred Dibnah's famous engine "Bessie", and three of Fred's old friends have also been in touch to express an interest in attending with their three engines too...

Also, dependent on whether repairs will be carried out in time or not, we could have another engine which is based locally and interested in attending.

Even if you can't make it with your own vehicles, the possibility of five of these magnificent machines could be very interesting to some of you who may just want to attend as visitors. We've also got a record number of entrants overall this year and we are still hoping to work on that number. If you haven't ever been before then this is the year to give our event a go!!

Thanks,
Lawrence

Lawrence,

sorry to piss on your chips, Freds roller was called Betsy, and Alison before that.

Oh and Martha isnt the only Sentinel bus, I can think of at least two others. Please PM me if you want the details

[LawrenceW]

Originally Posted by 8_10 Brass Cleaner

Lawrence,

sorry to piss on your chips, Freds roller was called Betsy, and Alison before that.

Oh and Martha isnt the only Sentinel bus, I can think of at least two others. Please PM me if you want the details

Eeek, I'm sorry. That's what I get for being an 18 year old trying to keep an event that's 7 years older than me going without enough knowledge, hehe!!

As for Martha, I'm sure that is what they had been quoting however I cannot find any reference to that on their website.

My apologies, and thanks for the corrections.

[Horatio]

Sorry to be a spoilsport but as the custodian of both Fred's engines and living van I can confirm that they will deffinitely not be attending Tram Sunday.

[buzzy bee]

So what condition is Betsy in then? What does she need, tubes?

[Horatio]

It's not the condition of Fred's engines that are stopping them from being exhibited. They are impounded waiting for settlement of Fred's will. I find it hard to believe therefore that anybody could believe they would be attending Tram Sunday.

[LawrenceW]

Well, this thread was an unmitigated disaster... sorry all.

As far as I was aware, there were still outstanding legal issues but it was hoped that they would be sorted. I apologise if this is not the case as I've made a bit of a mess of things in all honesty.