My '44 Flying Control Dodge

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While it was a sunny evening, there was a stiff breeze pulling the temperature down. There was a coffee van there selling warm drinks, but the burger van broke down earlier in the day, so anyone wanting food went hungry!



The village brass band was there playing a selection of 1940s music and there were poetry readings and songs by the local primary school children and other youth organisations.

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The beacon lighting was to be at 9:15pm, which I think was a UK wide time chosen. My daughter was chosen to light the beacon, on behalf of Girlguiding UK, with another boy representing Scouting.

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We had packed everything away by 9:50pm and made the short drive home, getting everything unloaded and the vehicles away as the last of the daylight faded at 10:30. The round trip was 0.8 miles, so probably the shortest ever trip to an event we've done!

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Northallerton 1940s Day - June 30th

It was going to be an early start on Sunday morning, so I got the Dodge out and assembled on Saturday evening. It was around a 40 mile drive to get to Northallerton. We stopped for a short while on the way, waiting for a friend who was going to follow us. However, he didn't turn up and couldn't be contacted, so moved on after 10 minutes ( his batteries had gone flat and the Jeep wouldn't start ).



When we got there, it was already packed with military vehicles and classic cars. The military vehicles were parked up at the North end of the high street, while the classic cars were at the South end. Military content was mainly split between Jeeps and Dodges, with one Alvis Stalwart.

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The public were there early in their hundreds, so I didn't get a chance to get any photos early on without lots of people in the way. Instead I waited until a little later when the crowds spread out more and also took some selfie-stick pictures on my phone, held up high, over the top of many people.

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The next set of pictures show just a few of the many classic cars that were on show. To the North end of the high street, there was also a stage where there was 1940s music and dancing. Wifey and daughter spent some time up there. There were also several trade stalls spread along the street.

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The un-marked Dodge Command Car is one I haven't seen before around the shows, so I don't know if it's a new purchase by someone in the region.



It was an early round front Dodge, the same as the other command car which attended.

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The show ended at 4pm and after the traction engine left, we packed up and headed home.





More pictures can be found on my website - https://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2 ... lerton.htm

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Dodge Put To Work Again - July 15th

The Dodge was back working again on the 15th. I needed some fence panels and posts for the garden and they weren't going to fit in the car. Now that the patio extension is done, I'm moving to working on the boundary behind the garage. I needed two 6ft x 5ft panels for behind the garage and a 6ft x 3 ft for behind the veggie planters. They were just the right size to fit in the back of the Dodge. I also found out that the Dodge was too big for the B&Q parking bays! It didn't take too long to get them home and unloaded, straight into the workshop for painting.

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Ushaw Historic House 1940s Weekend - August 3/4th

We had originally planned to camp at Ushaw, using a modern tent with a camo net, as we've done at Tanfield. It's much easier than setting up all the canvas. However, the organisers said no modern camping and that "tents must be in keeping with the 1940s aesthetics". This was highly frustrating, as when we arrived on Saturday, there was a modern Land Rover and two big white vans which remained in some displays all weekend. Hardly in keeping with 1940s aesthetics.

We still took two vehicles, but drove there and back each day, doubling our fuel costs. When we arrived, most of the other vehicles had parked in a row, like a car park. I don't like this at all, so parked the Dodge at an angle with the Jeep behind.

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After setting up the display and having a morning coffee break, I took a wander around the various displays. We were parked on the sports field, with the various dioramas set up around the edge.

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Not in the centre of the sports field, but closer to Ushaw House, the vehicles were parked up. A few Jeeps and a bike and side car were parked in some of the dioramas.

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On Sunday, I set the vehicles up further along the field and once more, not in a straight line. Paul, who was parked next to us on Saturday, parked his Jeep inside our display for Sunday, giving a little more freedom to wander, while reducing the chance of the public climbing onto the Jeep.

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Late on Sunday, several of us had a go on Paul's parabike. It's not an easy thing to ride, with the geometry poor, pedals too close to the front wheel, limiting the ability to steer and the gear ratio too high.

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This event has the space to take all three of our vehicles, so that's a consideration for future events, as it's also not too far from home to get to.



We ended the day playing cards, before packing everything away and heading home around 4pm.