Don't miss out on the Lydiate Classic Car Show

CLASSIC car fans are being urged to help raise cash for charity by heading to a show in Lydiate next month.

The team behind the Lydiate Classic Car Show said this year’s event will take place at the parish hall between 10am and 4pm on Sunday, July 6. The bustling one-day event, which helps to raise much-needed funds for Cancer Research UK, attracts scores of classic cars from across the North West.

Ben Spears, one of the event's organisers, told Life On Cars: "It's the largest charity car show in the Merseyside and West Lancashire area, it has the cheapest entrance fee, and it's got a great atmosphere because there's no competition or snobbery, just lots of likeminded enthusiasts looking at each others' cars.

"It's an old school show for true petrol heads, and every car and owner and visitor is a winner for supporting a great cause."

The show which costs £2 to attend and has room for 200 cars, is open to all makes and model of classic car and motorbike.

All funds raised by the event will go towards helping Cancer Research UK - so far, the show has aready raised more than £10,000 for the charity. If you're interested in getting involved, send an email to classiccar@cheerful.com

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Lydiate Classic Car Show nails the feelgood vibe

THERE was a back-to-basics vibe about last weekend’s Lydiate Classic Car Show which I couldn’t help but love.

If you were there – and chances are that, if you’re a petrolhead in this part of the world, you were – you’ll know what I’m on about, but if you weren’t then you missed a treat. For the past six summers there’s been a gathering of all things automotive and vaguely old in a field behind the parish hall, but it’s got better and better to the point where I reckon it’s blossomed into a bit of a gem in the classic car nut calendar.

Sure, there was the usual brigade of Triumphs, MGs and Healey Sprites lapping up the summer sunshine (including a slightly shabby MGB GT owned by a certain Champion contributor) but this year’s show in particular really did have something for everyone, with everything from 1930s Rolls-Royces to 1950s bubble cars to the two-stroke clatter of a procession of Vespa and Lambretta scooters.

In fact, my favourite car of the show by far was a 1955 Land Rover – I’ve got a soft spot for old Series Ones – which had a used ‘n’ abused look which lent it a nostalgic patina in a sea of glinting chrome and polished paintwork. Everyone I spoke to at last Sunday’s show came up with the same verdict – that it was a cracker, even if you discount the sizzling sunshine which has left my face and arms a painful shade of Parcelforce red.

Lydiate’s show is, in the simplest terms, a field with some old cars and a couple of stalls thrown it, but it’s the atmosphere which makes it such an appealing event. By keeping it simple, the organisers have nailed something even far bigger shows sometimes struggle with. A feelgood vibe.

The best thing, though, was that the £2 entry fee wasn’t going to brim someone’s pocket – every single penny went to Cancer Research UK, including the sponsorship money provided by Maghull firm P & G Motor Factors, who stepped in at the last minute to provide the volunteers with a bit of a funding boost. The hi-vis jacketed volunteers running around herding Ford Zodiacs into makeshift parking spaces really were volunteers too – doing it because they loved it – and my hat goes off to them for it.

I love giving a few quid to the charity as much as the next chap but I reckon taking my MG to a classic car show is far more fun than running a marathon or sitting in a bathtub brimmed with beans.

For more pictures and a full report from the Lydiate Classic Car Show check out next week's edition of Classic Car Weekly, published on Wednesday, July 17.

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Lydiate Classic Car Show 2012

PETROLHEADS from across the north west have helped to raise hundreds of pounds at a classic car and bike show held in Lydiate this weekend.

More than 100 owners of cars, motorcycles and military vehicles from decades gone by packed into the field alongside Lydiate Parish Hall today to help raise hundreds of pounds for Cancer Research UK.

Ben Spears, one of the show’s organisers, told Life On Cars: "It’s gone incredibly well this year, with it being better organised and the weather being fantastic for us. 

"The turnout has been fabulous and we got a lot of variety this year, with everything from the scooter boys and the bikers to the vintage cars and the modern classics. There really was something there for everyone, and it was all for a very good cause."

Visitors to the show were not only treated to upwards of 100 cars of all ages, but also displays from local motorcycle and scooter clubs, a row of bubble cars from the 1950s and 1960s and the chance to buy an American pick-up truck in a silent auction to help raise funds for the charity. Among the other attractions were stalls, refreshments and the show’s first ever autojumble.

Plans are already underway for an even bigger event in Lydiate next year, to help boost the amount raised for Cancer Research UK. Life On Cars took these pictures at today's event:

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