RVPT Forum

Will RVPT be attending Tram Sunday over in Fleetwood this year? In my opinion, it's one of the best rallies here in the NW. It's just a shame that the number of buses present is dwindling slightly. It's great that societies such as RVPT still support these events and I feel it's a real testament to your dedication to the preservation movement that you help keep these shows running!!!!

Also, will we all be seeing you at Totally Transport in Blackpool this weekend? I do hope so.

It is proposed that two R.V.P.T. vehicles and the Trust's Exhibition Bus will be attending Totally Transport. The Exhibition vehicle has had one of its displays changed too especially for the event. So come and see the new display.

Regarding Tram Sunday, I will not be going to to the event after the scenes that Freda and I witnessed last year from the window of a cafe near the lighthouse, when gangs of drunken youths were fighting with police in the area of the cafe and the ferry pier. We decided at that time, we would not be supporting the event this year and as such the Exhibition National will not be attending Fleetwood. (The vehicle being V.O.R. for scheduled maintenance and other minor repairs after the Wrea Green Club Day on 5th July.)
I hope our Guest enjoys himself at Fleetwood, but this is the only event I have attended over many years, that has to have riot police and police horses attending.

Fleetwood Transport Festival is widely acknowledged to be the most unique, transport-themed, FREE family day out in the North West of England. The Fleetwood Transport Festival has been firmly established in the rally calendar for 24 years, however it is more commonly known as "Tram Sunday" (especially to the locals).

The next event falls on Sunday 20th July 2008. (Always the 3rd July of every month)

Fleetwood Transport Festival 2007 was the best event that we've had in many years, despite severe weather warnings which may have put some vehicle owners off attending. We had an exceptionally wide variety of vehicles attend the event and vehicle management and placement was much improved with our new plans which will continue in 2008!!


The festival is uniquely held in Fleetwood's Historic Town Centre, which is the part of the world's first electric street tramway. This means that the roads are closed and your vehicles will be parked on the firm road surface rather than a muddy field, especially useful for heavier vehicles which sometimes have a tendency to get stuck on fields.

The event is only a short way from Blackpool off the M55 motorway.

Usually attracting around 50,000 visitors it is a tremendously fun day with attractions for people of all interests and ages including Vintage Trams, Classic Cars, Buses, Commercial Vehicles, Motorcycles and other Special Interest Vehicles of all types, sizes and descriptions.

There is also much to entertain families with a national gathering of Town Criers, bands, dancers, miniature and model railways, military, gymnastic displays, fairground rides and of course the scenic sea-front and beach. There are many one day only transport-related trade stands along with many of the local shops, cafés and restaurants open, ensuring all the family get maximum enjoyment throughout the day.


This means that Fleetwood Transport Festival is not only great for the individual classic owner, but also an ideal place for your North West club meet, not only to witness it's wide range of enthusiast vehicles but also for those club members who have families who will the masses of amusements and performances throughout the mile-long, seaside event. Please let us know in advance if you intend to come as a group.

When Tram Sunday began it was an excellent event and provided a really good day out for the general public as well as enthusiasts. Unfortunately over recent years it has declined - trams no longer run down the street in Fleetwood. However, the main problem is the drunken behavior referred to by Dave. Not only is this unpleasant in itself but it also presents a serious problem for bus owners who park their vehicles on the main street and are faced with morons who have no respect for the buses. The RVPT has decided on a policy of non-attendance and we will stick with this unless the event changes direction radically.

Ray

Hello all. Stumbled upon this whilst doing the last rounds of forum checks ahead of putting the programme together for Tram Sunday, and thought that I may reply to your concerns.

Firstly, in response to Ray's comment about trams: the trams were prevented from running down the street one year due to a driver's strike which co-incided with the event. The committee made the decision to use this oppertunity to try parking vehicles over one of the tram lines. This not only allowed more room for a larger and more diverse range of vehicles, but improved the ability for people to take photographs too. This was carried on in later years, partly for this reason and partly due to health and safety concerns. Furthermore, the trams now provide rides all the way from our event to the North Pier and back, which is a lot more enjoyable for guest and that quick 2-minute run down the high street.

As for "drunken behaviour", we are aware that there is some sort of problem here. We haven't, however, ever had any reports to the committee from vehicle owners of their vehicles being damaged in any way. TRN810V says "this is the only event I have attended over many years, that has to have riot police and police horses attending". Mounted horses attend the event, not only to act as a deterrent but partly as another attraction, and photographs of people enjoying stroking the horses at Tram Sunday can be seen on other websites (e.g: http://www.yelloway.co.uk/flee35_x_270.jpg - taken from a bus owner's website). "Riot" police, as far as I am aware, have never attended the festival during the hours that the events run and the police presence is only requested at the same level as required by events such as the Royal Lancs. show and the Great Eccleston Show.

The committee are very keen to address this issue in particular, and have incorporated policies such as exclusion zones which prevent marshalls from positioning vehicles near a pub. We are aided, this year, by the closure of two pubs in the area and the closure of a number of off-licences too. The committee also encouraged the on-street drinking ban which will be in force in the town by this year's festival. Whilst we are aware that this might not have an immediate effect, we hope that there will be a noticable improvement in future years.

The comments I hear are disappointing, as a committee member. I am just 18 years old, and have joined the committee along with my dad in order to try and "save" the festival. We have entirely taken on the vehicle entries this year. Many of the committee members are having difficulties in putting in time to organise the event, with one of our most diligent members (who has been helping to organise the event since it began 24 years ago) is critically ill in hospital. Furthermore, I shall be at university next year and unable to help in the capacity that I have this year. These issues over the lack of support and the issues at the event all raise concerns about the future of the festival.

And, just for the record, last year's number of entries was 130 and the event still seemed very busy. After a lot of work from me and my Dad, this year we are at a considerably higher 230 vehicles and still counting... Considering it was fairly busy last year, I hate to imagine how another 100 vehicles will fit in, but the committee assure me that it is possible. The numbers show that whilst some people, such as yourselves, have decided to pull out of the event, there is still a huge amount of interest in the event. We don't want to lose RVPT forever as your range of vehicles is absolutely magnificent... so hopefully you'll attend the event this year in a "visitor" capacity and have a great day.

From one 18 year-old lad who wants to make a difference,
Lawrence


P.S. I hope everyone did enjoy themselves at Totally Transport today! Although the weather and the small number of trade stands was a slight disappointment, I had a good time and the RVPT National certainly seemed busy when I passed it today!!

lawrence i got to tell you your father and the whole of fleetwood in fact ever bus enthusiast should be not only greatfull but proud of you becouse no one nowhere can ever tell me what it is about busses keeps them so interested in keeping buses alive.
if it wasnt for the future generation taking an interest (at least ) when the people who now keep closed doors in bus circles will find the buses they feel so passionate about will die with them,
so not only are you premoting fleetwood and all thats good about it, you are at least creating some interest in preserved vehicles,
i myself did pay my first visit last year to fleetwood and yes i did take a bus,it was my first visit and beleive me a took only a handfull of people with me, this year i will fill every seat !

if we all gave up when we see a scufle we wouldnt leave home ,the thugs would win and transport will die ,becouse lets face wheres there's so many thousands of people there are going to be scuffles,
i did see one late on last year but it was very calmy proffsionaly dealt with by the police, these days we should be letting the youth of today live life the way we did, and not stoping everything going on becouse people might not get on !
and to the god father you can always come with us and i will buy you a wopping fish and chips and you can eat them on my national where you will be safe,
and a free ride there and back !

get to fleetwood and surport the people who would surport you !

again lawrence you desirve a medal ! ( I know you will get one )

Having last attended Tram Sunday several years ago I paid a return visit to Fleetwood in 2006. I was disappointed at the lack of tram running in the main street and assumed that it had been discontinued on safety grounds. Judging by the number of people milling about on the street, clearly affected by alcohol, this was probably just as well. What had once been a pleasant afternoon for enthusiasts and locals had become an apprehensive experience for some vehicle owners and stall holders. Those that I spoke to thought it unlikely that they would return. The atmosphere that had prevailed in earlier years had gone and a significant minority of the public clearly had no interest in the cars, buses and lorries in attendance, their objectives being to consume large quantities of lager and shout at each other. There doesn't have to be actual vehicle damage to create a bad impression, if people feel intimidated and uncomfortable that is sufficient.

As a former rally organiser, I know how hard people have to work to provide an enjoyable day out for others. If the alcohol problem can be eliminated then the event stands a good chance of recovery and the efforts of its Committee will not have been wasted. In the meantime I fully support the RVPT policy.

Jonathan, I have already explained above the reasons for the trams stopping running down the street. It's amazing that H&S allowed them to run through the crowds until just a few years ago - it's a massive risk. The tram drivers didn't like doing it, and we were able to park more vehicles by getting rid of the trams. Although, there are trams running down the main street in the procession at 11.30am and there are static trams at both ends of the event. Besides, the organisers never really intended it to be a "Tram Sunday", it's a title which was invented by the local rag and has stuck. The event is named "Fleetwood Transport Festival".

As I have already stipulated, there will be an on-street drinking ban in force this year. Hopefully the policing side won't be too difficult, however it's worth noting that this ban might not have an immediate noticeable effect but will hopefully bring a gradual improvement to the event.

As for people not wanting to return, last year we had 130 vehicles at the event, and we weren't really short of entries and the event seemed pretty full.

This year we have DOUBLE the number of entries, and a massive variety of vehicles too. To be honest, I don't really know how we'd cope with any more entries than the 260 or so that we have booked in this year... although we will once again be aiming to improve on that number for the 25th next year, as well as making bids for bigger attractions to celebrate.

We have lost some of the non-vehicle attractions this year (such as the miniature railway and the army) due to other committments, but we have replaced these with even more exciting attractions (such as birds of prey and a host of limousines).

Hopefully, if you attend this year as a visitor, then you'll have a great day. Whether you decide to return again next year with vehicles is another matter. You'd be very welcome to. But, as I say, it's not a huge problem if you decide otherwise as the event is capable of growing in other ways.

Lawrence

Just thought I'd update you all on this, as I'm not sure whether or not any RVPT members were present.

The on-street drinking ban at this year's Tram Sunday seemed to go without problem. I saw very few people drinking, and there were no issues on the day what-so-ever.

Articles:
http://www.blackpoolcitizen.co.uk/news/3...a_success/
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/fleetw...4311572.jp

We had a much higher turnout of vehicles compared to last year. Admittedly the number of cars was higher, but there was still a higher number of buses compared to last year - even though weather in some poeple's local areas meant not quite as many vehicles as we'd hoped. As a matter of interest, we also had Envir 400s and an Optare Versa running on the 84, and other unusual buses running on local routes thanks to Stagecoach in Preston - whom we hope will be supporting the event again next year.

A selection of images are available at someone's flickr page here:
http://flickr.com/photos/nicholaslawley/...298834956/

As I have said previously, I didn't expect the booze ban to have an immediate effect on the atmosphere of the event, but a gradual change over a number of years. I WAS WRONG. The event had a much more pleasant environment. The ban DID have an immediate and obvious effect, thanks to everyone respecting the wishes of police/organisers.

I hope that this is the "change of direction" that the RVPT were looking for, and hope that we are able to welcome the group back to the event for our 25th anniversary celebrations in 2009.

Lawrence