'golden light parade'

Back from Brecon in time to catch the sixth annual Honda Goldwing ‘golden light parade’, which raised over £5,000 for Scarborough RNLI.
Watched by thousands of spectators, 127 bikes and trikes from Goldwing motorbike clubs all over the country, including many from Yorkshire, converged on the seafront for a on Saturday evening.
Many of the riders wore fancy dress and played music on powerful four-speaker sound systems on their bikes.
“The bikes have a lot of show lights,” said co-organiser John Bates. “Some look like mini-Christmas trees. Lots of the riders go to town and that’s what makes it a spectacle.”
Lifeboat station treasurer Val Johnson spent about 12 hours raising money for her favourite cause.
She said: “Although the weather wasn’t as good as last year, we were still amazed by how many people turned out and donated.
“We raised £5,132.66, which is a brilliant amount of money to start the appeal to raise £200,000 towards the cost of a launch-and-recovery vehicle for our new lifeboat,” Mrs Johnson said.
Scarborough RNLI president Colin Woodhead added: “About £2,200 was collected in buckets in a couple of hours on Saturday night.”
Mr Bates said that, sadly, it would be the last Goldwings parade in Scarborough as he has had to accept responsibility for spectators’ safety.
Mr Bates, from Worksop, was deeply moved by RNLI work a few years ago.
He said: “During the awful floods of 2007, I watched on the TV the RNLI teams who came to inland towns like Doncaster and Sheffield rescuing people from homes and workplaces, and I thought that was brilliant.”
Mr Bates proposed that the Goldwing clubs raise money for the RNLI. Over the last six years, they have raised £32,432 for Scarborough and Filey lifeboats.
For the last four years, Mr Bates has been helped by co-organiser Janet Houseman.
More photos.
Story on RNLI website.