ALAN MILLAR reports from Blackpool where 47 coaches and their drivers competed in for this year’s top trophies and accolades, and some of the most recently launched new models were on show
Now settled into its third year on Blackpool seafront, the UK Coach Rally — celebrating the best vehicles and drivers on the road — feels not only that it belongs there but that it might never have been anywhere else.
Certainly it can put the six previous years at Alton Towers and Peterborough firmly behind this annual event made for the British seaside; the first one was in Clacton in 1955 and it was in Brighton most subsequent years until 2012. Blackpool also is arguably more accessible to operators and more welcoming of coaches.
Its successful revival is down to the combined organisation of the Coach Displays team that has staged it at its various homes for the past quarter century, co-organiser Merlin Group which operates many of the tourist attractions in the town and to Blackpool Council, which regards this as one of many ways to bring new visitors to the Fylde Coast. Also to the manufacturers and dealers whose accompanying vehicle display enhances and helps fund the occasion.
By its presence in the heart of th…
