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This might bore some of you know already know all about the Pride of Longbridge, so please skip through the parts that you know about.
If you are into your Longbridge history, then this is the rally for you.
The Pride of Longbridge is held on the nearest Saturday in April to the mass redundancies caused by the collapse of MG Rover in April 2005. This year's rally is on Saturday 15th April and is organised by the Pride of Longbridge Heritage and Community Group. The event has a dual purpose of both remembering the collapse and those affected by it and also celebrating Longbridge's fantastic vehicle making history. The event now attracts well over 2000 vehicles, and if it has a connection to Longbridge you will find it there. The variety is quite amazing. Many former employees and members of the local community come along too. It is free of charge for both vehicles and the public, however, as you can imagine it is not free to host, so if you feel inclined to make a donation towards the event, it would be very gratefully received.
In previous years, the Austin and Longbridge Federation (ALF) have been involved in organising PoL. I got to know John Baker, the chairman of the ALF in 2009 at the IMM held at Longbridge I found him quite inspiring, and when I saw his website, I was blown away - http://www.austinmemories.com/. I'm pleased to say that this website is now backed up regularly by the British Library. John and I became friends and at the 2010 PoL he said that I should think about bringing a convoy of Longbridge connected vehicles from Cowley (so that includes all production at Cowley from 1952 to 2000 when the Plants were linked) to PoL, and so the Cowley Convoy was born.
If you happen to either live in the Oxfordshire area or would travel through Oxfordshire to get to the PoL or just want to join us (we do have people who come from Birmingham just to come on the convoy!), we'd love to have you. In the spirit of PoL, the Cowley Convoy is free of charge. We do have flags and run plaques which are entirely optional and sold at cost price. However, please do bring your own flags etc, if you have other flags.
We've had some great cars on previous convoy including a replica of Mr Bean's Mini, with Mr Bean on top, and the Met Police have very kindly brought their operational Rover SD1 and Rover 827, and as they are operational vehicles, they come complete with Police Officers. It's always good to have Maestros and Montegos along, coming back to their home Plant before convoying to Longbridge.
There are two routes. The scenic one which takes our usual route of Woodstock, Chipping Norton, Moreton in Marsh, Broadway etc, and also a motorway route were we join the M40 at junction 9 (Bicester). The scenic route will leave at 8.00am and the motorway route at 8.30am.
You can sign up for the Cowley Convoy here - http://cowleyconvoy.info/#/attend-a-convoy/4564571391. The Cowley Convoy also has a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/128401660618757/ as does PoL - https://www.facebook.com/groups/steveturner36/ Stuart Watson made a great film in 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZOMnTzqunM and here's our amateur Facebook short film also from 2013. Hopefully you'll get the idea - the Cowley Convoy is a lot of fun
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater
I have asked for a stand/area for the Maestro & Montego Owners Club and will let you know where it is when I know.
Please remember that all the marshals are volunteers and please do as they ask. Please expect to queue getting into Cofton Park – there will be a lot of cars to park up!
If you are into your Longbridge history, then this is the rally for you.
The Pride of Longbridge is held on the nearest Saturday in April to the mass redundancies caused by the collapse of MG Rover in April 2005. This year's rally is on Saturday 15th April and is organised by the Pride of Longbridge Heritage and Community Group. The event has a dual purpose of both remembering the collapse and those affected by it and also celebrating Longbridge's fantastic vehicle making history. The event now attracts well over 2000 vehicles, and if it has a connection to Longbridge you will find it there. The variety is quite amazing. Many former employees and members of the local community come along too. It is free of charge for both vehicles and the public, however, as you can imagine it is not free to host, so if you feel inclined to make a donation towards the event, it would be very gratefully received.
In previous years, the Austin and Longbridge Federation (ALF) have been involved in organising PoL. I got to know John Baker, the chairman of the ALF in 2009 at the IMM held at Longbridge I found him quite inspiring, and when I saw his website, I was blown away - http://www.austinmemories.com/. I'm pleased to say that this website is now backed up regularly by the British Library. John and I became friends and at the 2010 PoL he said that I should think about bringing a convoy of Longbridge connected vehicles from Cowley (so that includes all production at Cowley from 1952 to 2000 when the Plants were linked) to PoL, and so the Cowley Convoy was born.
If you happen to either live in the Oxfordshire area or would travel through Oxfordshire to get to the PoL or just want to join us (we do have people who come from Birmingham just to come on the convoy!), we'd love to have you. In the spirit of PoL, the Cowley Convoy is free of charge. We do have flags and run plaques which are entirely optional and sold at cost price. However, please do bring your own flags etc, if you have other flags.
We've had some great cars on previous convoy including a replica of Mr Bean's Mini, with Mr Bean on top, and the Met Police have very kindly brought their operational Rover SD1 and Rover 827, and as they are operational vehicles, they come complete with Police Officers. It's always good to have Maestros and Montegos along, coming back to their home Plant before convoying to Longbridge.
There are two routes. The scenic one which takes our usual route of Woodstock, Chipping Norton, Moreton in Marsh, Broadway etc, and also a motorway route were we join the M40 at junction 9 (Bicester). The scenic route will leave at 8.00am and the motorway route at 8.30am.
You can sign up for the Cowley Convoy here - http://cowleyconvoy.info/#/attend-a-convoy/4564571391. The Cowley Convoy also has a Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/128401660618757/ as does PoL - https://www.facebook.com/groups/steveturner36/ Stuart Watson made a great film in 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZOMnTzqunM and here's our amateur Facebook short film also from 2013. Hopefully you'll get the idea - the Cowley Convoy is a lot of fun
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theaterI have asked for a stand/area for the Maestro & Montego Owners Club and will let you know where it is when I know.
Please remember that all the marshals are volunteers and please do as they ask. Please expect to queue getting into Cofton Park – there will be a lot of cars to park up!
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