In early September, over 60 riders commemorated those lost in the 1974 air disaster by riding from Ermenonville Forest, France, through Belgium and Holland and then back to Bury St Edmunds via the ferry from the Hook of Holland.
See the film to understand why the ride was created, the ride itself and the emotional homecoming for one and all.
About the 1974 Air Disaster – The plane crash on March 3, 1974, was the worst the world had ever seen. The players, staff and colleagues at the Bury St Edmunds Rugby Club had visited France in good spirits – to watch the England versus France Five Nations match and take part in a friendly against a local side – having just won the Suffolk Knockout Cup. But after their friendly scheduled for the day of the crash was postponed, 18 of the 21-strong party opted to take an earlier flight on the ill-fated Turkish Airlines DC-10 as a two-day strike at Heathrow had halted any British flights. In total 346 people perished in the tragedy, which caused incomparable grief in the west Suffolk town and rugby community. Ten local women had been widowed and between them they had 19 children who were now fatherless. The Rugby Club set up a Disaster Fund to give immediate assistance, which had phenomenal support from the public.
50 years on, Austin Cornish and a number of the other sons of those that had been lost and with assistance from fellow supporters, set out to ride from the crash site in Ermenonville in France back to Bury St Edmund’s Rugby Club for a total of 354 miles to raise money for St Nicholas Hospice and the Rugby Club itself. By the end of September 2024 over £200,000 has been raised for the charities.
Donations can still be made for such a great cause and just click link – https://shorturl.at/utufG
The event could not have been held without the generosity of all of the riders and their personal sponsors as well as the support of the corporate sponsors who include: Greene & Greene Solicitors, Greene King, St Edmundsbury Wealth Management, Boortmalt, Carsafe, Chassis Cab, H2), Thurlow Nunn Group, Granite Building Warranties, Ellisons, Bury Developments, IlIffe Publishing Group, Towergate, Paddy Read, Finboroug School, Merrifields, Logan Capital Advisors, Evans, Mdsign, Larkvale Homes, Sworders, Premier Miton, Huws Grew, Prostraw
This film was created by the great team at Sleepwalker Productions with additional footage supplied from Beanstalk Media.
1 Comment
Great work once again Max, capturing the emotional event very well !