Fancy riding your bike,classic or otherwise, around the Lincolnshire Wolds plus see or ride in a working Lancaster Bomber and a Dakota?

Well, we did and so we did, last Saturday.

The 2009 Aviation Heritage Wolds Run was held at the The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby and is organised and run by volunteers and raises money for the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance.

Pete described the day as ‘awesome’. Here’s why:

First the somewhat chilly but certainly exhilarating run from the Midlands to Lincolnshire and then there is a 40+ mile run through some picturesque Lincolnshire villages.

At the centre itself there are plenty of sights, sounds and smells from this preserved bomber airfield.

There were classic bikes aplenty as you might imagine for a run that is sponsored by Old Bike Mart and as is usual these days the local scooter club put in an appearance plus there was a goodly smattering of 1970s Japanese machinery.

The airfield itself is brought to life by men and women dressed in war time uniforms, army tents and rations displays, a working Harley WLA plus wartime music being gently played from the control tower.

In addition, there are plenty of inside displays at the centre of partly rebuilt crashed aircraft from parts excavated from both the airfield and the surrounding countryside. There are also aircrew belongings that in some cases have resulted in enabling the story of the crews involved to be told, which are very poignant.

The local volunteers that have enabled these displays to be possible certainly do a brilliant job and their work continues as there are still new displays in progress.

If that wasn’t enough there was a flypast by a Dakota and twice a day the Lancaster Bomber ‘Just Jane’ is started up and taxis down the runway. The experience of that is something not to be missed and certainly not forgotten. The sight and sound is totally amazing. Part of the raffle prizes was to win a taxi ride (normally costing £200) and certainly the participants looked as if they enjoyed it.

Finally, there were prizes given out in several categories – Pre 1945, Pre 1960, British/European Pre 1980,Threewheeler Pre 1980 and Japanese Pre 1980, as well as best of Show.

I did take note of some of the prize winners which were an Ariel Square Four and a Maico in the three wheeler class, which you can see in the photo slideshow below, a Douglas Dragonfly and an MZ. For a full list and photos of prize winners you’ll have to get Old Bike Mart www.oldbikemart.co.uk

So, can I recommend the Aviation Heritage Wolds Run? Most definitely YES! I fully expect to go again.

For more information on The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre go to their website at http://www.lincsaviation.co.uk/

Pictures from the event:

Video of Lancaster Bomber Taxi-ing