As anticipated, last year’s Yesteryear Road Run did manage to crack the £10,000 barrier in funds raised through sponsorship and collections held on the day of the event. We hope this year’s efforts can come close as although the weather was not as kind as in 2007, the early drizzle did pass over mid-morning and the rest of the day was fine if a little chilly sitting around Cottenham Green waiting for the vehicles to return.

First impressions of the morning was that there was not quite as many vehicles taking part this year, but the last impression of the day was that the Green was virtually full to capacity around 4 o’clock. This year’s programme lists 283 mobile entries against 259 last year plus another 16 static entrants at Cottenham, so in theory there should have been more.

First to leave were the many motorcycles and scooters. The Vespa & Lambretta owners were out in force and machines ranged from what I would describe as a straight 1950s machine through to the heavily customised rides of the late 1960s, early 1970s. These latter machines carried many extras from custom paint jobs, white-wall tyres, spare wheel & luggage racks, to banks of extra lighting & mirrors, evoking many memories of Bank Holiday excursions to Great Yarmouth, Brighton & Blackpool.

The motorbikes by comparison were more conservative with machines ranging from the 1950s through to a 2007 Indian-built Royal Enfield, which on age hardly qualifies for a vintage run. However, the basic design does not appeared to have changed much since the UK factory closed in 1970. BSAs, Triumphs and Nortons were also well represented amongst the more modern bikes ridden by the “flying squad” of road run marshals.

Next off were the cars, which have to negotiate a tricky exit off the green, which looks worse than it actually is. Only a few of the classic sports cars and a couple of luxury cars with long overhangs had any trouble at all, but it did mean the cars took a fairly time to get going. The field was fairly evenly split between 30s & 40s, 50s & 60s, and a smattering of 70s & 80s vehicles. There were a selection of Jaguars ranging from early 1950s Mk VII-IX, 1960s S-type, 1970s Mk I-II & 1980s XJS, but alas no E-type. At the other end of the scale, a brace of Citroen 2CVs took part. The star for me, however, was a genuine AC Cobra instead of the more common Dax or similar make of replica version usually seen.

That left the commercials free to leave and they were, generally speaking, a similar bunch to last year. There were a few new faces, or should I say grilles, including the bright orange Ford Transcontinental & Welch’s Atkinson tractor unit, resplendent in its smart blue and cream livery. Also new out this year I believe, was the Gowler’s LAD cabbed Dodge with typical farm body, no doubt used for spuds or sugar beet in its working life. The Robinson-liveried Atkinson with its single-axle step-frame trailer with Essex motorcar load had Potters Bar written on the door, but I followed it home towards the Norfolk border after the show.

This left the road free to bring on the tractors, as always led by Robert Smith on his Field-Marshall. Entries ranged from the small Winget driven by Ray Parcell of the Cambridgeshire Vintage Tractor Club through to a large County, Northrop or similar Ford 4-wheel drive conversion, and a couple of American style JDs, a 4020 & a 5020. There were more John Deeres, Fordsons, Massey Ferguson, Allis Chalmers, International, David Brown and Nuffield amongst others, many towing a multitude of trailers with a variety of seating arrangements.

Basically that then leaves just the static displays on the Green to talk about. Around the edge was the usual display of stationary engines including examples of Arcadia, Alamo, Wolseley, Lister, Tiny Tim, Ruston Hornsby and New Holland. These were driving some machinery including a couple of corn mills, several water-pumps and a bench-grinder. The stationary engine cup was won this year by a debutant at his first show, a fitting recognition for the effort the gentleman has put into his restorations.

Elsewhere, Perrett's put on their usual funfair with cake-walk, helter-skelter, a couple of juvenile rides and some side-stands such as hook-the-duck, rifle-range, etc, quite a commitment for what is essentially a single afternoon. Charlye Pennington brought along his Bedford “Showman’s” outfit with organ mounted into the side of the living-van, and there was also another small organ on display. The steam engine “Leprechaun” put in an appearance and the scaled-down Beyer Peacock steam lorry also took part in the run. The crowds came out again at the end of the day to welcome everyone back.