Classic Vehicles Go On Parade At Skegness Classic Wheels Show

Sunday 15^th September 2019

Bigger and better each year – this year's fifth Skegness Classic Wheels Show is expected to attract more than 250 vehicles  in aid of local charities on Sunday 15^th September 2019, from 11.00 am to 4 pm, in the Skegness Water Leisure Park.

The show will be held on Skegness Aerodrome, immediately next to the Walls Lane station of the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway in the Park.

Entrance this year will cost £3 for adults and £1 for children, with proceeds going to Skegness Lifeboat Station, the Lincolnshire Air Ambulance and the Skegness Sea Scouts.

For an extra £1, visitors will also be able to take a ride behind the steam locomotive, Jurassic, which dates from 1903 (or a heritage “Simplex” diesel locomotive), on the Lincolnshire Coast Light Railway. The £1 fares will go to help the Railway's charity, the LCLR Historic Vehicles Trust, which preserves and restores its collection of historic narrow gauge railway locomotives, carriages and wagons.

And visitors will be able to soar over Skegness by helicopter (for a separate fee) – rides cost £39 for a “Six Mile Air Experience” with group and family discounts available. In addition, a 15 mile flight will be available for £69; a 15 minute flight for £99 and a half hour flight can be taken for £149.  Booking in advance is recommended (via Central Helicopters, Tel. 01664 823846, www.centralhelicopters.com).

Prizes, including Fortnum & Masons Hampers and trophies, will be awarded to the best vehicles on display. There will be refreshments, trade stalls and club displays in addition to the classic vehicles. The cars, motor-cycles and commercials form part of private collections and most are seldom displayed to the public. The show has proved hugely popular since its inception and has raised thousands of pounds for good causes..

Above -  truly beautiful display of vintage cars at the Classic Wheels event in the Skegness Water Leisure Park in 2017, with Jurassic and historic railway carriages steaming past. (Photo: Dave Enefer/LCLR).

It's expected that no fewer than eight E-type Jaguars (the 1960s classic) will be on display, together with Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Bentley, Austin, Riley and BSA, among others. A full line up of classic British motorcycles, such as BSA, Norton, Matchless, Triumph and Vincent is promised.  Among the commercial vehicles on display will be a selection of beautifully restored Karrier lorries, which the Water Leisure Park's owners, Ellis Bros (Contractors) Ltd used when setting up their business in Skegness more than half a century ago, to create what is now one of the leading firms in the holiday park sector of the hospitality industry in Lincolnshire. For the first time, a number of modern sports cars will be display.

The narrow gauge trains of the LCLR  will demonstrate what it was like to travel to the front line trenches of World War One battlefields and the remotest districts of rural England, which standard gauge trains could not reach. The line has been extended by the volunteers who operate and maintain it and for the 2019 season most of the rails and sleepers  have been replaced, relaid and re-ballasted.

Visitors will be able to ride in the specially-adapted former World War One bogie wagon (built in Lincoln by Clayton and Shuttleworth in 1917) which has been restored as a disabled-friendly passenger carriage thanks to a grant from the Peoples' Millions Fund of the National Lottery.

Above - Jurassic with the Class D World War One bogie wagon and former Ashover Light Railway carriage, steam beside the classic tractors at the 2017 Classic Wheels event, in the Skegness Water Leisure Park (Photo: Dave Enefer/LCLR).

They will also be able to travel in the magnificent carriage built for the Ashover Light Railway in Derbyshire in 1924 by the Gloucester Rail, Carriage and Wagon company, which the volunteers have restored. (A second such carriage is now being restored). HRH The Princess Royal travelled in this carriage when visiting the railway and the Skegness Water Leisure Park in 2017.

If you would like to enter your classic vehicle in the show, please register at www.swlpevents.co.uk or email classicwheels@swlpevents.co.uk or phone 01754 899400.

Another attraction will be the aircraft  XS456,  English Electric Lightning T5, which is under restoration by volunteers  in the area between the Railway and the edge of the airfield.

Visitors will be entertained by Aiden Butler, a local artiste who in his live acoustic performance sings and plays his guitar with a range of both popular songs and his own work.

Refreshment facilities will include a BBQ stall.

Organiser Ian Ellis said: “The popularity of the show lets us share our enthusiasm for classic forms of transport – the cars, the lorries, the motor bikes, the trains and the aircraft – to help us raise funds for local charities. This year we've added the Skegness Sea Scouts, as we admire their work in encouraging young people to take a practical interest in maritime matters, which can lead to fulfilling and worthwhile careers”.