Northern Rally – Hoveringham, Nottinghamshire
29th May 2022
It was time for the first Mayflower Rally of the year (kindly suggested as a new location at the AGM in March). The setting was Hoveringham, a village between Nottingham and Newark; the date was Sunday 29th May.
The registration period was very short, but with modern social media and the club website, the word was spread to pre-register for the event.
I had the honour of accompanying John Castle to the show, in his Triumph Mayflower. We set off in good time, with sat-nav on standby in case my navigation failed! It was a good journey, using the A46 and travelling at a steady 50 mph, taking us 1 hr 20 mins to arrive at the show area and park-up.
We were warmly welcomed by the volunteer marshals, and given a printed programme and Mammoth mug. Inside it were detailed all the exhibitors, with 173 participants. There were 3 Mayflowers pre-registered, and we managed to have 2 turn-up – this was great, but due to arrivals being at different times, the cars had to be parked separately. We did have consecutive numbers for all 3 to be together, but if we return next year and contact the organiser earlier, we might be able to have a larger area reserved for the club.
The show officially started at 12 noon, with cars, tractors, lorries, steam rollers and equipment all arranged in two large fields.
We were treated to a gymnastics display, equipment demonstrations, a dog show, and parades in the main event ring from some of the exhibits on display. We even had a visit from the Queen!
After enjoying a good look around all the stall holders’ crafts and edible goodies, we went back to the car and decided to present just one award, to the other Mayflower in attendance.
As this was classed as the Northern Rally, the ‘Peter Benfield Chairmans Cup’ was awarded to David and Janet Frost (1202) who came in a grey 1953 Mayflower, 792 UXU.
John Castle’s Mayflower, ODV 692, is also grey and 1953, so we had a matching pair.
The pre-registration number acted as a raffle ticket on the day, and the organisers drew out David’s number, so he collected a bottle of fizz for Janet and himself to enjoy when they got home. The weather was kind, and we only had a few spots of precipitation, which didn’t dampen any enthusiasm for the cars on show.
Hoveringham proved to be a good venue; well organised, with fascinating exhibits and shows for all the family, and a pleasant day out for everybody.
We had a good journey back to Leicestershire, re-tracing our steps. The Mayflower was sounding great, and all ready to go many more miles on another trip in the coming weeks.
John Banks