LYMM’S Historic Transport Day was once again a resounding success and work has already started on planning next year’s event.
The working group met recently to review how the event had gone on what is now, by general agreement, Lymm’s biggest day of the year; quite an honour in a village famed for its events, says event director Alan Williams.
“There is always room for improvement and one of the aims next year will be to provide improved disabled facilities and access; not an easy thing to achieve given the current layout of the May Queen field!
Alan added: “The team are also looking forward to next year’s event which has already been fixed on Sunday June 23rd 2019 !
“There had been some concern beforehand that an England World Cup Match on that day may severely dent numbers but there was certainly no evidence of that as crowds poured in from far and wide in bright sunshine.”
Meanwhile the financial figures are now in and the team are delighted to announce a surplus of £9K. The first £3K of that will be donated to the Lymm Heritage Centre Sustainability Fund.
The two organisations share common goals; to celebrate the village’s heritage whilst also boosting the visitor economy. Transport Day certainly does that.
A visitor survey carried out by Grappenhall Scouts shows visitors coming from far and wide, many of whom were visiting Lymm for the first time.
The Scouts received a donation for their efforts, as did Lymm ATC, for their regular help with gate management.
Further donations or contributions of £500 each were made to Lymm Festival, locally based charity Prevent Breast Cancer and to the RAF Benevolent Fund.
The last of these was as a thank you to the RAF in their centenary year for providing spectacular flypasts, free of charge for the second year running.
This still leaves the group in a strong financial position and able to re-invest in creating another great show next year whilst also potentially being able to provide financial help to other local causes.
Many other local organisations also recorded very healthy profits on the day making it an all round “bonanza” for local causes.
The search is now on for the next “big idea” for 2019.
Alan added: “We certainly don’t want to get carried away with ‘bigger and better’. The general feeling is the event is close to capacity and we don’t want to lose that friendly feel where it is easy to get around and enjoy the day.
“But we also think it’s important to ring the changes with new attractions each year. If any readers have seen something outstanding at another event do let us know via the website lymmtransport.org.uk or call 07540 096282. Better still get involved. There is always room on our management team for positive, energetic new members. Contact as above.”
So mark your diaries now – June 23rd for the event itself and January 3rd if you have a vehicle to enter or want to book a stall. Be sure to book good and early.
This year almost every space on the field was booked in the first couple of weeks. Remember the only thing better than going to Lymm Historic Transport Day is being part of it.
Spitfire flypast at Lymm Transport Day – Picture Darren Moston
Classic vehicles travel through the village
