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The 17th Annual Barton Bike Night
On Wednesday 3rd July 2013 between 5 and 10pm, a small market town in North Lincolnshire was overwhelmed by thousands of motorcycles.
Barton Bike Night has grown around the passion of a few motorcycle enthusiasts who live there and this year approximately 20,000 people (which is more than twice the population of the town) attended the annual event, where among other attractions, special guests Michael Dunlop and John McGuiness chatted with TT fans.
One man’s Passion has become a major event on the biking calendar for any and all two-wheelers, from classic scooters to low-riding Harley chops.
Barrie Newton has been involved in the Barton Bike Night since his friend Malc Bennett had the idea back in 1997 following a run of successful Bike Nights in Brigg Town 12 miles away.
Malc arranged with the Town Council to close off the High Street, which proved to be a master stroke and the very first event was a huge success with around 2,000 people attending on a mid summer’s Wednesday evening. Initially most of the help came from local lads mucking in to provide marshalling, but as the years passed and the number of stalls increased and attendance steadily climbed (it was around 10,000 in 2012) it was obvious larger numbers were needed.
For a dozen years Malc was the chairman of an organising committee whose passion for the event, combined with a lot of – voluntary – hard work, turned it into a spectacular night that the town is proud of and that is one of the largest bike nights in the UK. Barrie took on the role when Malc stepped down 2009 and continued to expand the night’s appeal by adding more trade stalls and including Race teams etc.
A number of the visitors travel well hundreds of miles to be there, which is no mean feat on a Wednesday evening that isn’t always sunny, but they’re hard-core riders who aren’t put off by a little damp weather.
It is a true Local Community event with everyone getting involved in supporting it from Barton Lions, the Rotary club, Barton Town Council who help to marshall, and the Humberside Police and Humberside Road Safety partnership providing a safer environment.
There’s always a chance you might meet local celebrities like racers Mick Grant and Rob McElnea; and Queen Street, just off the High street, is the place to go to see all the classic bikes on display from old Brit iron, American Indians, and Italians like Guzzi and Ducati, to a whole load of immaculate vintage scooters.
As far as policing the event goes it’s all very casual, obviously there will always be the few who need speaking to but personally I only saw one wheelie, and the culprit was placed on a RIDE course.
(A Rider Intervention Developing Experience course is a voluntary opportunity to attend a day’s rider education and is an alternative to prosecution. It may cost £95, but it’s not a conviction and there are no points, so no need to notify your insurance company. RIDE has been structured towards motorcyclists and only riders attend.)
So if want to experience a great atmosphere among thousands of Bikers take a ride up to Barton Upon Humber.
Graham Pierce Pc1009
Thanks to Barrie Newton for the history of the Barton Bike Night.
Visit the web site for further details:
Here’s a techie / anal / possibly subjective query about zebra (non-light-controlled) pedestrian crossings – of the type that exercises the picky, nerdy tendencies of us IAM / RoSPA types, Graham…
Highway code rule 194 says: “Allow pedestrians plenty of time to cross and do not harass them by revving your engine or edging forward”.
But does that mean you MUST wait until (say) a particularly slow pedestrian has reached the other side before you move off? Or should you just get on with it and (quietly!) move off after they’re safely past you, though they’re technically (and actually) still on the crossing? Say… 5 metres away from you with their back to you?!
Again; I’m not talking about controlled crossings or those with islands – which I know are two ‘separate’ crossings on either side of the island – let’s assume for the purposes of the query that this is a simple, single uncontrolled zebra crossing on a WIDE road and the pedestrian is VERY slow…
As the HC doesn’t appear to specifically say (that I can see anyway), what legally binding document DOES say, and what’s the law on this? Or… what would YOU do on your traffic bike?
Dermot,
Legislation states that you cannot stop on a crossing, fail to afford precedence to a pedestrian on the crossing, (not stop for them), or overtake within the crossing limits.
The Highway code is guidance only, but can be called into evidence in cases such as riding without due care and attention as is sets a standard for drivers/riders.
Personally when the pedestrian is safely past, as in your example above, I would quietly move off, obviously not scuffing their heels with your exhaust as you pass by them!!!!
Here is an interesting piece of legislation,
On **(..SPECIFY DATE..) at **(..SPECIFY TOWNSHIP..), being a pedestrian, remained on the carriageway within the limits of a
(A)_[Zebra]_
(B)_[Pelican]_
(C)_[Puffin]_
crossing on **(..SPECIFY ROAD AND LOCATION..) longer than was necessary for you to pass over the crossing with reasonable despatch.
Can’t remember ever using that one myself……..
On another note, how did you get your Avatar onto this forum?
Thanks for the response Graham – makes good sense to me.
‘Naturellement’, the nerdy brigade pompously claim you MUST wait until the pedestrian has totally cleared the crossing (because supposin’ they suddenly reversed course y’see?), but I haven’t found where that’s cast in stone by bolts of lightning from on high…
Regarding the Avatar, I honestly have no idea how that got there! I can guess though that it has something to do with my profile on a blog site called WordPress.com, where I did a blog relating to a recent New Zealand biking holiday… http://ballymotebiker.wordpress.com/ Feel free to have a pop at the blog and feedback to me, but better put a couple of hours aside if you do!
The only instance I’m aware of where that mugshot is posted, is in my profile on that WordPress blog. As above, I have no idea how my WordPress profile avatar ended up on here. Hope it’s not a problem. Feel free to hack it out of there if it is.
D.