Llangollen Pavillion gears up for motorbike show

Aug 1 2008 by Rebecca Edwards, Flintshire Chronicle

A MOTORBIKE show will be hosted in Llangollen – miles from a bikers’ mecca.

The Ponderosa Cafe, near Llangollen, is one of those biking rendezvous points that attracts riders from all points of the compass, like the Cat and Fiddle, in Cheshire.

But, despite the fact that Llangollen has plenty of event space in the shape of the International Eisteddfod site, and a particularly attractive car and bike museum, there has never been a bike show in the town.

Now event specialist David Green is planning to stage a show in Llangollen, his home town, over the weekend of August 2 and 3.

David, who runs Xuberance Events, said: “Reaction to the news about the new show has been very, very positive – I suppose the only surprise is that nobody thought of it before.

“The Ponderosa Cafe, at the top of the Horseshoe Pass, is a popular watering hole but apart from that the motorcyclists rarely stay in the area very long.

“What I’m hoping to do is to give them a reason to stay in the area so that we can provide a bigger boost to the local economy.

“We want to celebrate every style of motorbike – from the vintage and classic bikes, to the array of road bikes to the freestyle motocross machines.”

Among the displays at the Motorbike Show will be a collection of old bikes from the Llangollen Motor Museum.

One of the stars of the show will be a World War One Triumph which is a personal favourite of the proprietor Gwilym Owen.

The despatch rider’s bike was built in 1916, and was known as the Trusty Triumph because it never let anybody down.

The Motorbike Show takes place on Saturday 10am-8pm and Sunday 10am-6pm at Llangollen Royal International Pavilion. Tickets: adults £6/£5, children £3.50, under fives free, family ticket £16. No dogs permitted.