International 2012

2012 International Rally - Advance Information Page

53^rd Standard International Rally

29^th/30^thJune /1^st July 2012

The Corporate Conference Centre is set around a beautiful Country house in a very rural setting

Horwood House, Little Horwood, Nr Bletchley, Bucks, MK17 0PH

International Rally News - Latest News First:

Date: 18th December 2011 - Rally Entry Form Published

The Entry Form for the 2012 International Rally is published today and is available for download from the Document library here. It is a PDF document, it will open on your desktop and you should print both pages. The entry form will also be included in the next edition of the Standard Car Review, which will arrive on your doorstep on Jan 1st 2012

You may care to read the rest of this page to see earlier news

Date: 14th December 2011 - New Entry Class for the International Rally

This year, for the first time, we will host a discrete class for "Coachbuilt Standards" which have previously been part of our "Post-Vintage" Class. We are sending invites to owners of Avon Standards, Baby Railton, Salmons, Tickford, Gordon England and early SS cars, who all share a common heritage of being Coachbuilt over Standard-based mechanicals. This will be in addition to all the existing Classes.

We hope that owners of these cars will welcome this development and turn out in good force to join us in June.

Date: 24th November - Change of Saturday's Roadrun Plans

Both the Quainton Railway and Waddesdon Manor (NT), our intended destinations, have declared that they are unable to host us on Saturday 30th June 2012

Here is a brief description of the Roadrun including the the two alternative stops that we have arranged instead of the above:

1. Leighton Buzzard Railway

We have chartered a Steam hauled Train, exclusively for Club members. There will be the opportunity to ride on the 8 mile return journey to and from Poges Park station, pulled by a circa World War one engine. There will also be the opportunity to see the Railway's Museum, Craft Shop and to visit the engine sheds.

Tick the Option on the Booking Form (available soon)

More information on the Railway here

From here our route will pass over the edge of the Chiltern Hills at Dunstable Downs with the ability to stop off at the Chilterns Gateway Centre (free) where coffee and snacks are available. The route will pass Whipsnade Wildlife Park, but this is not a recommended stop today as we don't have the time to do it justice. Those requiring lunch are advised to move a little further along and call in at the Travellers Rest.

From there the Roadrun will move on to The Pitstone Green Rural Museum

Set in the Buckinghamshire countryside and housed in the buildings of a 1831 farm, the Museum offers a fascinating day out for the family with many interesting displays and artefacts to see. The museum is run by volunteers from the Pitstone & Ivinghoe Museum Society.

Although the museum is basically a Rural Life Museum with many exhibits relating to farming, country life, trades and professions within a 25 mile radiue of Pitstone, it has many other interesting exhibits, including two model railways, a 37 HP Crossley gas engine, stationary engines, vintage wirelesses, photographic and electrical apparatus and a WWII military aviation room. Highlight of this room is a full size reconstruction of a section of a wartime Avro Lancaster Bomber,

Tick the Option on the Booking Form (available soon)

More Information here:

Our return run will be via the grounds of Claydon House ( National Trust) and from there returning to Horwood House

Date: October 10th 2011 - Introducing our Guest Speaker

The Standard Motor Club is pleased to announce that our Guest Speaker at the Saturday Dinner on 30th June 2012 will be Chris Cunnington, Chairman of the Federation of Historic British Vehicle Clubs, FHBVC,

The Federation, of which the Standard Motor Club is a member and active supporter - is an Association of 500 UK Classic Vehicle Clubs, representing over a quarter of a million of like-minded enthusiasts, such as yourselves The Federation upholds our rights to use our Classic Cars on our roads and defends us against restrictive policies if they are forced on us by Government and, increasingly, European Parliamentary legislation. Chris is knowledgeable of Standard-Triumph, as past Chairman of the TR Register, whose cars were built in the same factories as our own by the same workforce.

He will speak on current issues of interest and concern to all Classic Car owners. You do not need to be an overnight resident to attend the dinner. The dinner is available to all attendees of the Rally and can be booked via the Entry Form which will be published early in the New Year.

Date: July 2011 - Announcing the International Rally 2012

The 2012 International Rally will be based at Horwood House Conference Centre, near Bletchley, Bucks. Entry forms will be available in the New Year.

Preliminary Programme (tbc) includes a guided tour of the secret Codebreakers headquarters at Bletchley Park, (Friday afternoon) and a Roadrun to places of interest on Saturday There will be a Static Rally on Sunday 1^st July. Two new features this year will be:.

an optional coach trip to Milton Keynes Shopping City (Sunday) for anyone not interested in the static rally.
we have engaged a local Milton Keynes Brass Band to entertain us on the Rally field.

Full leisure facilities including a swimming pool will be available. As usual, en-suite accommodation packages will be available at special discount rates.

Here is more information about the venues:

Bletchley Park - Friday afternoon

Many thousands of people worked in secret at Bletchley Park during World War 2. Bletchley Park was Britain's main decryption establishment. Ciphers and codes of several Axis countries were decrypted including, most importantly, those generated by the German Enigma and Lorenz machines.

Photo: Wrens at Bletchley with Colossus, the world's first electronic programmable computer, in 1942.

Our visit will include a guided tour and coffee/tea and biscuits

Sunday 1st July

As usual, we will hold a Static Rally. This will be in the grounds of Horwood House. At the request of several partners, this year for the first time there will be the option of an alternative attraction. This will be as follows:

Sunday's Destination is : thecentre:Mk

Just tick the option on the Entry form

With the expansion of the retail mix and introduction of new leisure attractions, Milton Keynes is now one of Britain's biggest shopping experiences. thecentre:mk is a stimulating, bustling regional shopping district situated in the heart of Milton Keynes, providing an exciting, dynamic and vibrant mix of retail, dining and civic spaces that link shopping to the rest of the city centre.

For shopping, you have the choice of over 240 stores, restaurants and cafés. Anchor shores include John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser, flagship health and beauty store Boots, Next, BhS and the premier HMV store.

With thecentre:mk boasting around 27 million visits per annum and a number new lettings over last year - shopping just gets better

Whilst every attempt to will be made to stick to this programme of visits, all of the above programme is not firm and is subject to change

Phil Homer

December 2011