HUNDREDS of vehicles rolled into Bywell on Sunday as MG Northumbria moved The Great Classic Show from its popular Corbridge location.

The Great Classic Show, formerly Classics in Corbridge, had been held at Corbridge’s Tynedale Park since 2007.

But traffic congestion causing problems for people accessing the event was one of the reasons organisers decided to move to the bigger show field at Bywell Parks.

Over 850 exhibitors descended on the show field - with the newest car being a 2018 MG, and the oldest car being over 100 years old.

American cars and those from the Ferrari Club were also amongst those on display.

TVR Car Club also elected to have its national gathering at the show, which brought with it about 70 of its members.

But the new location coupled with scorching weather provided a challenge for MG Northumbria in attracting crowds as large as the event has previously seen.

Chairman of MG Northumbria, Tim Cook, said: “There was quite a good offer of space and ways we could use it, so it’s a bit disappointing for the traders who came out expecting something like what was in Corbridge.

“We put as much if not more into advertising this time, but maybe people didn’t realise there was the connection to the show in Corbridge - maybe we needed to make it clearer that it was still an MG Northumbria show.”

Around 3,000 people are believed to have attended the show, including those who came to exhibit.

Tim said this compared to around 5,000 people which the event had attracted previously.

However, an exciting new addition this year was an autotest competition, where drivers were given the chance to manoeuvre around cones and reverse into dummy garages.

There was also a large variety of stalls, selling both car related and non-car related items, as well as a presence of local charities. Several food outlets were present to keep visitors’ energy up as the sun shone down on the show field.

The George Hunter Award winner was Jonathan Shepherd with his well restored 1972 VW Beetle

Although the total raised has not been totalled up, organisers will split it between several charities which have submitted applications for support.

And the organisers are keen to continue to grow the event’s presence in Bywell.

“Now that we are here I hope we have many more shows to come,” added Tim. “It’s a great site and the estate staff were really helpful with how we could use it.”