HUNDREDS of people flocked to the Pembrey Country Park in Llanelli on Saturday (Mar 19) and Sunday (Mar 20) for a weekend of events including a vintage vehicle rally, a steam rally, a mods and rockers get together and a series of bicycle races.
The predominant section of visitors and campers were those who had come from far and wide to compete in the cycle races, which ran throughout the day and sometimes into the night.
The cycling culminated in a mass cycle race on the Sunday when around 800 participants took part in Howie’s Battle on the Beach.
Competitors had to complete three laps of a 12 km circuit starting at the entrance to the beach, along the sands and back onto rough tracks and through the forest section.
After a gruelling ride the first home was Richard Jansen followed almost side by side by Bram Imming in second place with Benjamin Wadey following very close behind finishing in third place. The three riders were visibly tired and covered in mud but still found the breath to speak to The Herald. Richard Jansen said that he and Bram Imming had completed the whole course almost side by side and had decided to stick together up to the finish line.
Bram Imming said: “It is a great venue and a very tough course. This was the last race of the season for us and we are now going home for some time off.”
The three riders said that the course was tough in parts due to the soft sand but that they had enjoyed the race and the location.
The Mods and Rockers arrived on a range of two and three wheeled motorcycles for a friendly get together far removed from the famous battles at the seafront in Brighton, which was immortalised in the film, ‘Quadrophenia’. There were no battles to speak of other than friendly banter about whether a Harley Davidson was better than British bikes or whether British bikes were better than Japanese bikes.
There was an abundance of leather clad men and women including two trike riding grandmothers Patricia Lanham and Annie Hunnie who said that their children thought that they should be home knitting and ironing.
A fine collection of vintage vehicles lined up in the park with young and old sharing memories of motoring experiences in such classics as the Ford Escort, the Vauxhall Viva, the Zephyr and many more vehicles, which, but for the tender loving care of some seriously dedicated owners, would have suffered the same fate as many being crushed into small cubes of metal.
There were also the unique smells of coal powered steam engines as they pootled around the park towing trailers filled with water containers, coal, children and the occasional dog. There were rides on the miniature railway as well as stalls selling everything from hot dogs to monster bicycles.
All in all, it was a great weekend for the whole family and a great success for the organisers.
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