It’s been a strange couple of years for sure and that has had a negative effect on the numerous shows that are an integral part of the military vehicle scene. Things started up again for the Yorkshire Area with its Crank Up in York city centre in July. Elsewhere, some of the regular shows remained cancelled while others went ahead. Luckily, the Yorkshire Wartime Experience near Bradford in West Yorkshire, was one of the latter. It drew a bumper crowd as it has established itself as the premier event of this kind in the north of England. It was the 10th anniversary event although, because of the Covid-19 enforced interruption it wasn’t the tenth consecutive event.
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It was back with a bang, literally in the case of the central display area where vehicle parades and battle re-enactments took place. More Yorkshire-based MVT members that I can name here were present with a fascinating array of machinery. This included three M3/M5 Stuart light tanks, an M26 Pacific Dragon Wagon, an M1A1Ward LaFrance wrecker, an MG1 Cletrac airfield tractor and elsewhere, Nick Dunford’s Bedford MV and a trio of former Pennine Land Rover Club members in Jeeps; an MB, a GPW and an M38A1.
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The same trio also turned up at another event together, namely the 2021 Patina National, a competitive cross country trial for leaf spring vehicles organised by the Yorkshire Land Rover Owners Club. The event was held near Helmsley in North Yorkshire and saw the three Pennine LRC drivers enter. Sure, they were all in military Jeeps but Pennine always was a club that did things its own way! This year though, surprisingly and unlike previous years, Land Rover drivers edged them all out of the trophies but it was still a great day out.
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It’s a brief and, no doubt, incomplete, report this time because I only agreed to take on the role vacated by Paul Mayo in the last few weeks and it was only confirmed a couple of days before deadline at the Area AGM. Thanks are owed to Paul for years of compiling the Yorkshire Area reports and I hope, in future that I can maintain the high standard he achieved.
John Carroll
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