Croft Nostalgia
Festival
8-9 August 2015
This was the sixth year of this event and with a slight tweaking
of the title brought it more into line with the Goodwood and
Silverstone festival weekends and helps to firmly establish it
as the premier historic racing festival for the north of England
. The race meeting side of the festival is organised by the
Historic Sports Car Club who arranged 19 races over the whole
weekend with the majority and the main day being held on Sunday
, the 9th . As well as the historic cars and motor
bikes it’s fair to say that the biggest attraction and crowd
puller in name , size and noise was of course the appearance on
the Sunday of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust’s Vulcan B2 XH558
flown on this occasion by Falklands
Black Buck veteran
and chief pilot Martin Withers .
Having previously attended this event two years ago , with an
Oulton Park Car-fest weekend interlude last year – which also
had plenty of aviation activity , a return visit to Croft was
always on the agenda and with the advertised appearance of the
Vulcan in it’s final display year and with the forecast of some
decent weather , it was too good an opportunity to be missed !
An early start is imperative not just to ensure that you have
plenty of time to look around the display area’s but more
importantly to ensure that you beat any queueing traffic on the
A167 Darlington to Northallerton road , particularly if you are
coming from the Darlington direction were a friend of mine had
to queue bumper to bumper from Croft Bridge . Once into the
public car park , exhibitors have a separate entrance but use
the same access road from Dalton-on-Tees , you enter the
festival via a ticket booth and with only two operators , yes
you’ve guessed it another queue which visibly lengthened in the
early afternoon with the impending arrival of the Vulcan .
There is a large military display area centered around Paddock C
which appropriately enough some 70 years ago had been RAF
Croft’s main runway , much of which is still visible today and
still in use by the resident aircraft which are hangered at it’s
eastern end . Also along here are the temporary support enclaves
of the racing teams some of which are very impressive not only
in terms of kit but in the size of their motorhomes ! The
circuit control tower , offices , restaurant and pits form
Paddock A which are built along the line of the former
north-south runway , again much of which still remains and the
office block has a plaque which was dedicated in May 2002 in
memory of the Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons who were based
here during the war . There is also a large grass area in the
centre of which are displayed classic and vintage cars ,
bicycles and close by are motorcycles and commercial vehicles .
Most if not all of these cars as well as the motorbikes and
racing cars take part in track parades which are easily viewed
from vantage points around the circuit . Apart from the cars
there are various stalls and the obligatory children’s funfair
whilst in a large marquee singers and dancers recreate the
sights and sounds of the 40’s whilst re-enactors and visitors in
period dress mingle with the crowds and help to add a little
ambience to the air and feel of the event , something the Croft
Nostalgia Festival hopes to do for many years to come .
The adult entry fee was £13 on the Saturday and £18 on the
Sunday with free entry for children under 15 with the option of
pre-booking your tickets from the Croft Circuit website ;
http://www.croftcircuit.co.uk/racing/nostalgia and
more details of the Vulcan participation here ;
http://www.croftcircuit.co.uk/news/44/vulcan-nostalgia-2015
. If you are looking for family day or weekend out in 2016 then
you should consider visiting the Croft Nostalgia Festival for a
good mix of wings and wheels , vintage and veteran , retro and
chic , militaria and plenty too to keep the kid’s interested and
with more than enough for the committed petrol-heads but get
there early to avoid the queues !
Sunday 9thFlying
G-TYAK
YAK-52
aerobatic display by Simon Johnston , Breighton based
XH558
Vulcan B2
really G-VLCN , to Elvington via DTVA
Static display
NJ689
Auster AOP5 really G-ALXZ
, desert camo c/scheme , Breighton based
502074/CG+EV
Bucker Bestmann
really G-CGEV , Breighton based
G-BKKZ
Pitts S-1S
presently Chester-le-Street based
Spitfire
Flight Sim Centre
(NE) , operated by Neil McCarthy ex- JPT3A XM479/G-BVEZ
Visitor
G-AYUT
Jodel Ambassadeur
F/T Breighton
Residents on display
G-ATUI
Bolkow Bo208C Junior
G-BSUX
Carlson Sparrow II
Permit exp 21-10-14 , restoration to fly,ex-Fishburn
G-BYFV
Team Minimax 91
the only resident not on
display but confirmed hangared was ;
G-ARFV
Tipsy Nipper T66
DET
11 August 2015