A bevy of spectacular super trucks arrived at Tesco Prestwich this morning for the start of the 55 mile Prestwich Commercial Vehicle Road Run which then went in convoy through Bury, Todmorden and Rochdale before arriving back at Bury New Road. The commercial trucks are a mix of the cool, the classic, the vintage and the quirky, customised to the max and drawing total awe from surprised shoppers…
“Everything that’s stainless steel I made myself, the exhaust, all the side bars and front bars” explained Craig, whose Golden Fleece ERF EC11 actually has a golden ram’s head on the front “I just wanted my lorry to be different from every other lorry. All the interior was made by my wife who died last year, so it really is a labour of love.”
Organisers were expecting almost two dozen trucks to take part, which is incredible considering the current price of fuel… “My truck is only doing seven miles to the gallon and it’s going to cost me a lot of money today” Craig added “But what’s money when charities are involved?”
While the Road Run was sponsored by Holistic Approaches, the charity benefitting from the proceeds of merchandise and programme sales was the Bury Veterans Hub, one of Bury’s newest charities that has only been going for four months…
“We run breakfast clubs all around Bury, and also have an office in Bury centre to help people get support for housing, welfare, mental health and more” said Barry Phillips, Treasurer and Trustee for the Hub, who was in the army himself, together with his four brothers “We’ve also got a community garden, a fishing group, a golf team…we’ve got the lot!”
While the charity benefitted from the Road Run, the trucks themselves were the stars of the day, spectacular and shining in the Tesco car park.
“My truck is a mixture, an ERF underneath, with an American Kenworth cab fitted on it because it reminded me of the BJ and the Bear film in the 70s” Richard explained “It’s all English underneath so the parts are easy to get but it’s just a bit quirky. I came here last year and at Christmas when we filled the trucks full of presents for the children at the Wood Street Mission. It’s nice to do something like this…”
For details of the Bury Veterans Hub see the Facebook group – click here
Photos by Louise Garman
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