International Rally - Saturday's activities

Report on the second day of the most important event of the year

"Hello Paul, Lynda and Phil, and others.

Just a note to say how much we enjoyed a well organised Day's Run to  Broughton through the leafy lanes of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. When we  arrived this unassuming man said hello and smiled, this turned out to be His  Lordship ! I wonder if the garage contained any interesting old cars. The  castle is a gem.

Best wishes, David and Isabel".

Standard 8 Tourer outside Broughton Castle

Daytrip to Broughton Castle

It takes some time to set off some 70 cars on a roadrun, particularly when we have agreed with the police that they will only be released at minute intervals, to prevent bunching. This task was once again expertly carried out by Graham Hart and Adrian Crawley with much good humour, particularly as the drivers were keen to be on their way. Our thanks to them both!

Paul Newsome had devised a devilishly pretty rural route to the Castle and lunchtime stop. Lynda and I were about halfway down the procession and by the time we had completed the excellent guided route, there were already a large number of Standards gathered overlooking the Castle moat and others inside the Castle itself. The Castle is a private home and members enjoyed tours of the castle - it really is a splendid and interesting place!

I have published a number of photos of the cars in this very pretty location. You can click on any of them to see a larger version

The line-up of Vintage Standards made a spectacular display inside the Castle grounds:

To: Paul Newsome Esq

" Thank you for all you did last Saturday to make the visit of the Standard Cars so successful. All very efficient and well organised. I hope that your members enjoyed themselves. I wish all such groups were organised in such a way. 

All good wishes,

Nat"

(Lord Saye)

If the route to the castle was good, then the return run to Stratford was exceptional. The sun came out and we found ourselves amongst some of the quietest lanes and tiny villages of North Oxfordshire and South Warwickshire. It is remarkable that such remote and rural areas still exist in our crowded island - and we had the good fortune to find them. Ideal motoring for all our cars.

Saturday evening was occupied with the now traditional Rally Dinner, on this occasion attended by nearly 120 guests. This was followed by an address given to us by Malcolm Harbour the local MEP, who gave a fascinating insight into the workings of the British Motoring industry - we are in fact producing more cars than ever before - it's just the owners that are not British. He emphasised the need for many more trained engineers

My photo shows the presentation made that evening, of the Chairman's Cup. The recipients were Mike and Pat Beavis for their support of the highly succesful Pre48 Spares Service, in the centre, with the Chairman, Paul Newsome on the left and Malcolm Harbour, MEP on the right.