Stuart’s GoldWing Blog

The Organisers of the Blackpool Illuminations  GoldWing Light Parade, Britain’s original, brightest and best, have finally revealed the new Venue for the popular social weekend which is part of the Event – and it’s a whole Crescent of hotels and apartments, right on the Promenade.

On the face of it they were going to have real difficulties replacing Pontin’s Holiday Centre when it closed abruptly soon after last year’s Event.  It had been the Event’s home for several years – not perfect but it worked, or at least it worked in most respects for most of the time.

But the new Venue turns out to have a number of real advantages over Pontin’s and not many drawbacks – well, nothing that can’t be sorted one way or another.

The new Venue also takes the Event, now in its eight year, into Blackpool proper, and into proper Blackpool accommodation – hotels and B&Bs.  A group of these, all located along the same Crescent, on but set back from South Shore Promenade, are cooperating enthusiastically with the BLP Organisers to make the 2010 Light Parade innovative as well as successful.

The Crescent where the participating hotels are located also provides useful parking, display and Parade mustering space, although the Hotels all have out-of-sight off road overnight parking too.

The new venue will allow the Organisers to provide much better for day visitors as well as those coming to stay.  All the parking and display spaces will be open to non-resident GoldWings and the participating Hotels are all offering catering and other facilities for non-residents.

The location is a short stroll south of the Pleasure Beach, close enough to be handy to pay a visit on foot and handy for the Trams, yet far enough away from the really busy parts on the Prom (eg the Golden Mile) to provide, for example, crowd-free Parade mustering.  The Crescent is also right opposite the formal start of the Illuminations, so it’s ideally placed for purposes of the Parade Route.

As well as support from Blackpool Council and Knutsford Honda again this year, the event has the support of an enthusiastic bunch of Blackpool Hoteliers and Landladies.  They are combining to welcome Wingers to their Crescent by coordinating their entertainment programmes for the Event as well as offering specially discounted accommodation and even discounted bar prices.

This year’s event can also look forward to cooperation from Blackpool Police and there will be no risk of a repeat of last year’s misunderstandings.

Let’s hope that 2010 will see the return of genuine friendliness to the UK GoldWing community and an end to the factionalism.  The Blackpool Light Parade is organised for the benefit of all UK Wingers, regardless of whether and to which club or clubs they might or might belong.

For further information, including about the new venue and how to book your accommodation,  visit the GoldWing Light Parade Website.

You can also go directly to the Accommodation page.

It’s going to be a Great Weekend!

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Holding a non-camping social weekend for GoldWings at the darker ends of the biking season, to allow Wingers to show off their display lights, is catching on.

Norfolk Wings are holding one in their part of the Country for the first time this year and would welcome plenty of support.

The Parade itself is on the evening of Saturday March 27th in Hunstanton, Norfolk, a small holiday town on the North Norfolk Coast.

Proceeds are to be donated to the local Air Ambulance so it’s all in a good cause – and the Town Mayor is joining the Parade as a passenger on a trike.

The social weekend is based on Manor Holiday Park, where the accommodation is in chalets but they will also allow caravans and motorhomes on site but no tents.  Day visitors are welcome to join in the Parade too and they can also enter the Holiday Park on payment of a visitors fee.

Inscription (i.e. event registration, payable to the Organisers) costs only £2.  The Event is being run continues………

Graham Whitaker's stunning Hybrid GoldWing at the 2009 BLP - photo by Nigel Mackintosh

The Organisers of the Blackpool Illuminations GoldWing Light Parade, now in its eight year, have found a new Venue, which is to be announced on the BLP Website shortly.

It became necessary to find a new home when Pontin’s Blackpool Holiday Centre, where the Event had been based in recent years, suddenly closed down towards the end of the 2009, even before the end of the Illuminations Season.

Sometimes Fate takes charge with beneficial effect and so it is with this new BLP Venue, which the Organisers believe will offer considerable overall improvements.  Details of the Venue will be announced on the BLP Website within the next week or two – they are being delayed purely because continues………

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The annual Meeting of Alliance (a group of independent GoldWing clubs in France) will take place in Beaujolais near Lyon, organised by GoldWings Sans Frontiere, a Club based in that Area.

It’s a weekend event from Friday May 21st to Monday 24th and UK Wingers will be most welcome. It’s not a huge gathering (about 150 bikes) and should therefore be friendly and welcoming.

It’s based on a lakeside site north west of Lyon, so easily accessible and in an attractive biking area.  You will encounter golden mountains and the Land of Amplepuis, with its framework of forests, water courses and the beautiful Lake des Sapins (Pines).

The organisers have provided for a wide choice of accommodation including camping, gites, B&B and hotels.  The Programme includes group rides through the Beaujolais area and a display in the local town with a welcoming reception by the local Mayor.  Most meals over the weekend are included in the inscription price and these meals are taken as a group – apart from breakfasts, which you sort out yourself.

An expatriate Brit, Peter Ware, who is a member of GoldWings Sans Frontier and involved in organising the Event, will take either email or telephone enquiries and do what he can to help.  Peter’s contact details are provided below. continues………

Intentionally impersonating Police Officers?

I have been looking into the circumstances surrounding the stopping, by Police Motorcyclists of Greater Manchester Police, of the Lead Marshall of this year’s Salvation Army Toy Run.

This Article also provides some background legal information and access to an opportunity for you to express your views about the matter if you wish – both to the Chief Constable of GMP and the Police Officer who was involved.

Peter Granger, the biker who had been asked by the Organisers to be Lead Marshall of the Toy Run, said that after being stopped he was told by the two Officer involved that he would be summonsed for something – they didn’t know quite what it would be at that stage, but he would definitely be prosecuted for something.

According to Peter they had a real go at him. He was of course riding his ex-police ST1300 which still had its blue and yellow livery and its blue lights, which he was using at the time.  (The bike had no police badges, nor the word “police” anywhere on it and Peter was not wearing any item of police uniform.)

After showing his licence and being issued with a “producer” for his insurance, which he didn’t have with him at the time, Peter was allowed to go on his way – although not until the Toy Run had moved on, leaderless and substantially disrupted.

A few days later Peter was arrested for impersonation of a police officer by means of a surprise early morning visit to his home involving continues………

The following was sent to me as a Comment on an earlier Article but I think it deserves special attention:

Hi Guys,

I thought you would be interested to know that I had a rude awakening on Thursday morning.  Police banging on my doors and windows, when I opened the door I was arrested and taken to Longsight Police station where I spent hours locked up in a cell and then charged with impersonating a Police Officer.

It was an awful experiance and it may still lose me my bike, all this because I led the Toy run on my well known ex-police bike.

That’s it, I have had enough of charity work, that Toy Run has cost me over £500 in various forms….

I am convinced the police have a different agenda and I just cannot afford the luxury of helping others as leader for all these charity runs, the police have no continuity they want me to help when it suites them and arrest me when it doesn’t, I will miss all the runs but i feel bullied and victimised but thank you all for your support.

Peter

GoldWings gather for the Annual Toy Run into Manchester

Being grounded still, I was unable to attend last Saturday’s Toy Run in person, but there was a decent turn out of GoldWings, among many, many other bikes.

And it was by all accounts a successful event, in spite of withdrawal of Police assistance and some messing about of the organisers about the route they would be allowed to use.

There is a write up of the Event on Dave Turvey’s Blog and there are some interesting comments about the unhelpfulness of the Police on the GoldWings North West Website.

It would appear that despite three Police cars and two bikes being available to spend two hours accepting Salvation Army hospitality before the run started, Police assistance for this annual Charity Event had already been refused this year on the grounds of insufficient resources.  Police were nevertheless on hand as the Parade started to stop and book the lead bike for looking a bit too much like the real thing for their taste.

There is an unfortunate pattern developing of Police Forces in various parts of the Country being unhelpful to biking charity events during this past year and it might be spreading.  The problems we had at this year’s Blackpool Light Parade were due to a Police error of communication and should not recur next year – and they did not (despite misinformation to the contrary) result in any prosecutions.  Nevertheless it did disrupt our Parade unnecessarily and we could have done without it.

There was a mass “re-occupation” of North Wales by bikers this year in protest at what has been pretty blatant picking-on of bikers for nit-picking routine stops to discourage then from riding in that area.  MCN are currently running another campaign for nominations for a Police Plonker of the Year Award.  Bikers can if necessary organise themselves very effectively to protest.

Hopefully someone somewhere at a senior level in Greater Manchester Police will realise that a charity run of this sort, organised well and run safely at a moderate speed is something the Police should be supporting as best they can rather than disrupting it to prosecute a minor technical Construction & Use offence which, in the circumstances, had road safety value rather than presenting any significant risk or nuisance to anyone.

Thousands of bikers honour the Fallen

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The day dawned dark, damp, misty and unfamiliarly early as the alarm clock jangled me from my sleep and catapulted me into Saturday morning, 6:00am.  The weather forecast was hastily checked, sandwiches and flasks assembled, and by 07:00, we were on our way down to Knutsford Services in order to meet the other hardy souls attending RTTW 2009.

For those who may not have heard of the event, and to be honest, it was only just over a week earlier (thanks to a chance encounter at Southport Air Show), that Goldwings North West learned of what was to be a wholly worthwhile and moving occasion, here’s the lowdown.

RTTW or Ride To The Wall, was created last year by Martin Dickinson and his team of volunteers.  The idea behind the event was to give motorcyclists the opportunity to publicly remember those friends and family serving in the Armed Forces who had sadly lost their lives, and to show their solidarity and support for those currently serving in conflicts at present. As they put it: Our vision: ‘To remember those that can no longer ride by our side’.

To do this, they arranged a run from Tamworth Services to the National Memorial Arboretum. continues………

Stunt Riding Display at the 2009 BLP

The Eighth Annual Blackpool Illuminations GoldWing Light Parade will run on Saturday September 4th 2010 as part of a residential weekend of biking and social activities.

The Organisers are actively seeking a new residential venue following the closure of Pontin’s Blackpool Holiday Centre – but if there is one thing Blackpool’s not short of it’s visitor accommodation, so there will be plenty of options.

We will be looking for somewhere big enough for everyone to stay in,  secure parking for the bikes and entertainment facilities.  An announcement will be made as soon as practicable.

Two potentially suitable alternative venues have already been identified and we are already  in negotiations with the proprietors. There is also a possibility that the former Pontin’s Site at Squires Gate may reopen for the 2010 Season under a new banner, so we may end up being spoiled for choice.  Anyway there is no doubt that a suitable venue can be arranged and the 2010 Event will certainly be going ahead.

As already reported, our difficulties with the Police for the 2009 Parade have been resolved and indeed useful experience was gained of an alternative and, as it turned out, better approach to running the Parade.  By starting off just before dusk and riding one way along the Prom in twilight before turning back on ourselves to ride back in darkness we ended up with a longer and in many ways better ride.

The crowds turned out to watch us in droves and by mustering within Pontin’s we had none of the difficulties of previous years with crowds swarming all over the mustering area. Apart from the parade getting fragmented (because Police deliberately broke the Parade up, which won’t happen again) the 2009 Parade worked very well.  Many people commented that the buzz from the spectating crowds was something special this time, so the basic idea of riding the Prom in both directions and starting earlier is clearly worth repeating.

The Organising Team is being strengthened this year too and it’s already well on with the job of making next year’s Event even better.  Members of the Central Florida Drill Team are keen to come back next year so we’re working on that and a number of new features too.

So book your time off work for the weekend of  September 3rd to 6th 2010, it’s going to be a great weekend!

As an Event Organiser it often seems like one step forward, like sorting the Parade arrangements for next year with the Police, is followed by two steps back when some other problem crops up.  So the news that Pontin’s are closing their Blackpool Holiday Park in a few weeks time is not exactly welcome.

It seems the Site was leased (from the previous owner of Pontin’s, who also owns other Blackpool attractions like the Tower and Piers) and Pontin’s have not renewed it.  Presumably because it couldn’t pay its way.

It remains to be seen whether the site will live on under another badge or not, we’ll have to wait and see. The Owner of the Site is said to have a track record of resurrecting failing pleasure businesses, so assuming Pontin’s have closed it because it was not doing well enough, he might be precisely the guy to give it another lease of life. I thought the buildings looked in pretty good condition this year, so we can live in hope.

One thing is for sure, the Blackpool Illuminations GoldWing Light Parade will run again next year, even if we do have to find a new accommodation venue. Where there’s a will there’s a way – so book your time off work, it’s going to be another Great Weekend next September 3rd-6th, wherever it’s based.