The 30th Anniversary of the Rushden Historical Transport Society’s Cavalcade event was another successful show at their now-established showground just off the A6, south of the town. With a vast selection of vehicles and exhibits to look at, numerous trade stands and plenty going on around the site with beer, military, model & craft tents, vintage fairground, old-time film shows, dancing and cabaret, this show will stay on calendar as our season opener for the May-Day weekend.

Unfortunately, this may be at the expense of another show I’ve attended for the last 15 years or so, as the East Anglia Group of NVTEC have moved their Stradsett Park rally to the same weekend as Rushden this year. In 2007, Stradsett clashed with Belvoir Castle, which stopped us going to the latter, but if the move to the Bank Holiday weekend becomes permanent, Stradsett may well drop out of our calendar, as there is so much more to see at Rushden.

As expected with a Cavalcade of Historical Transport, the vehicles on show are the main attraction with huge displays of classic cars and military vehicles in particular, and also a fair selection of buses on the Sunday. Commercials were reasonably represented, understandable given that the HCVS London-to-Brighton run takes place on the Sunday of this weekend. Here is our A-Z guide to Rushden.

Class A, Agricultural & Tractors, had over 100 entries listed in the programme but there seemed nothing like that number on show. Perhaps the most unusual machine was the grass-cutter converted from a 1928 Morris car with a 1933 Bamlett mower attachment. In terms of rarity, it would be either one of two horticultural items, a 1954 Garner or 1966 Colt manufactured by Martin Markham of Stamford. However, all the popular makes were on display.

Class B, Buses & Coaches, were prolific on Sunday with token examples on the other two days. The most unusual was an open-top single-decker AEC in Maidstone & District livery that operated in the Hastings area. Other half-cab single-deckers present over the weekend included a 1949 Bristol 5LG and a Leyland in Falcon Coaches livery. Double-deckers included examples of 1962 & 1966 AEC Routemasters, 1965 Daimler (x2), 1966 Bristol FLF Lodekka (x2), 1960 Leyland PD3 & 1968 Leyland.

Class C, Commercials & Class M, Military, ranged from the small Austin 7 van right up to the Scammell Contractor and Thorneycroft Mighty Antar. In between were a selection including Austin, Bedford, Commer, Dodge, ERF, Foden, GMC, Hotchkiss, Leyland, Morris, Reo, Scammell, Thames, Unipower, Volvo, Willys and Zil, amongst several other makes. Again, much effort had gone into the military diaramas within the marquee.

Class D, Models, were mainly situated in the model tent where there was a good selection of circus layouts including Bertram Mills, Billy Smart’s, Chipperfield’s & Pindar displays, together with a collection of working fairgrounds. Class E, stationary engines, were ranged alongside one edge of the field and here there was quite a detachment of Stradsett regulars, with open crank examples of Stover, Arcadia, Alamo, Ruston, Amanco, Economy, Blackstone, plus some nice larger verticals including Lister, Pilter & again, Blackstone.

Class F, Fire Engines & Ambulances were few & far between this year, with only a couple of examples including a grey Austin pump. Class G, Miniature steam, were fairly plentiful but smoked copious amounts of smoke right in your face, which as the wife is asthmatic, we tend to steer clear of them. Class J, Horticultural, were mixed in with both the tractors and motorcycles with examples of Ransomes, Trusty & Trojan as well as the Garner & Colt mentioned earlier.

Classes K, L, R, U & V, cars from various eras, had a high turnover during the weekend with only a few being constant all 3 days. Saturday and Sunday were the best days and there were many different makes on show. Focusing purely on obsolete marques, you could see examples of AC, Alvis, Armstrong Siddeley, Austin, Austin-Healey, Auto-Union, Bentley, Bristol, Buick, Commer, Daimler, Fraser Nash, Hillman, Hudson, Humber, Jowett, Lanchester, Lea Francis, MG, Morris, Pontiac, Reliant, Riley, Rover, Singer, Standard, Sunbeam, Triumph, Wartburg and Wolseley.

Class P, Period Caravans, were nicely displayed alongside a similar period towing vehicle and there were also some larger showman’s accommodation both in the commercial line-up and of course, amongst the fairground operators. Class S, Steam vehicles, were quite plentiful and varied but unfortunately nothing particularly stood out, most being regulars from around the county, judging by the adverts and banners for Hollowell, Holcott & Earls Barton rallies, which take place later in the year.

Class T, Motorcycles, had 120 different machines listed in the programme, but that must have allowed for 40 on each day as there was nothing like that number on display, even allowing for the scooter club and the Christian motorcyclists’ fellowship’s displays. However, there were a few rare machines including a Ner-a-car (sic) and a Scott, whose elderly owner proudly proclaimed he gave it a “sniff” every time he needed to start it as he couldn’t be bothered to keep kicking it over, presumably for ever and a day if he ever runs out of the magic ether!

Class X, Organs, were surprisingly decent sized machines with only a handful of hand-turned instruments around the site. They included examples of Verbeeck, Decap, Limonaire and Whitehead. For the first time ever at a rally, I can’t remember seeing a Pell organ. That brings us on to Class Z, Miscellaneous, which includes all the odds and ends, including the bygones (oil-drums, blowlamps, implement seats, bicycles, old family games, etc), Priestman Cub excavator, nitro funny-car dragster, Bernese Mountain Carter dogs, local history groups etc.

Rather a long report, but if any rally can give you an A-to-Z of vintage preservation, than the RHTS Cavalcade can, in both an informative and entertaining way. Add to that the numerous trade stands and a selection of catering outlets offering fish and chips, hog roast, burgers & hot-dogs, American pancakes, baguettes & waffles, Cornish pasties, doughnuts, Continental Coffee Express & the Cavalcade Real Ale bar, then there is something for everyone here.