Alf Tudge conducts the Beckenham Special II – Pre-War Prescott 2016.  A feature article on this historic car is slated for the 2017 Souvenir Programme. (571Photography)

 Needless to say, planning is well in hand and entries are already arriving.  As I write this in mid-January, we already have 18 entries, 43 climbs allocated, 11 entries for Sunday and 18 cream teas ordered!

We are delighted to announce that we will be joined again this year by our good friends and supporters at Motor Wheel Services.  Helen at MWS tells me: “Please do ask people to contact us in advance – we always bring a range of stock with us for on the day sales but obviously there is a limit to how much we can bring so knowing in advance really helps.  We will not be bringing our trailer so please mention that – owners can have a chat about their wheel and tyre options and buy/collect tyres and other parts but no fitting and balancing.”

I am highly delighted to let you know that the Dutch MG Group will once again be joining us this July and swelling the numbers of the MG Car Club’s Triple M Register.  The Group provided us with tremendous support in 2015 and last year joined the MMM Register’s Ulster Tour, but have decided to return to Prescott again in 2017.

It was announced in the November newsletter that we will also be joined for the first time this year by the Bean Car Club and the Talbot Owners’ Club.  Now we can announce that we will also be joined for the first time this year by the British Hotchkiss Society.  The key to the huge success of Pre-War Prescott is twofold.  First, it enables one-make clubs who may not have the financial resources to book Prescott, to hold a rally there as a ‘gathering within a gathering’. The format is extremely informal, allowing clubs to gather in the Paddock, including not only parking together but having their own club tent, autojumble stalls, award their own prizes, and anything else within reason (!) – all at no charge to the club whatsoever. All we need is rough numbers (which we will know from the entries coming in) and any tent space requirements and we then allocate space accordingly. This means that your members can have ‘all the fun of the fair’ including untimed climbs of the hill, all of the catering, access to all the trade stands, displays, etc., etc., and all with little or no organizational overhead to the club. All that is needed is for your members to enter, and we do the rest.

The second key to our success is the now-legendary informal, garden party, minimum of red tape atmosphere of the day. No nonsense, no marque snobbery, just equal reverence for ANY car that survived the War.

So if you are a member of another club or group that you think might also like to join us, please talk to your committee and also let us know so that we can follow up with a formal invitation.  We would also welcome post-war car clubs who are very welcome to gather as spectators in the Orchard. At £25-00 per car which includes all occupants, this is a tremendous opportunity for a great day out for all.

This website (www.prewarprescott.com) has been updated to 2017 specification, including on-line entries which are now open and entries are already arriving.  Watch this space for news as planning gets into top gear.

A reminder that the dates for the weekend are Friday 21st July to Sunday 23rd July, NOT the previous weekend as published in the 2016 Rally Programme.  The Bugatti Owners Club changed the date just after the Programme went to print.  Why is this important right now?  Because we know that many of you wisely book your accommodation well in advance of the weekend and we want to make absolutely certain that nobody books the wrong weekend!

Finally for this update, we will know some time next month (February) whether we have been fortunate enough to have been selected for a flypast once again by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

With just ten days to go to Pre-War Prescott 2016, we are all set for a truly fabulous day of vintage motoring and aviation in the glorious Cotswolds.  As of tonight, we have an incredible 167 entries for Saturday and 52 for the Sunday Navigation Rally and Parallel Scenic Tour.  While the Sunday run is now fully booked, we still have space in the Paddock on Saturday, and 22 climbs to allocate.  It is now too late to submit a postal entry, but NOT too late to enter online.  Entries received from this point will be ticketed, and your tickets will be made available for you at the gate.  Anyone so entering will receive a free climb and will be able to book a second climb.  Alternatively, we know that many of you cannot commit until the day for a variety of reasons, but fear not, you will be able to pay at the gate on the day, but be warned that there may not be any climbs left.  Of course, you might not have a desire to climb the hill, but just take in the famous Pre-War Prescott laid-back atmosphere among old friend and new.  And of course we will warmly welcome spectators, either in pre-war or post war cars who can also pay at the gate on the day.

Jayne and I will be driving from Seattle to Vancouver tomorrow afternoon, then departing by air for Toronto on Friday morning and then on to Gatwick, arriving Saturday morning.  Pre-War Prescott will be in our luggage!  Once we arrive we will be staying in a cottage near Bath until moving to our Prescott base camp in Winchcombe on Friday (Treacle Mary’s).  We will be at Prescott on Friday afternoon to prepare the Paddock and welcome arriving campers, then retiring to the Royal Oak at Gretton for our informal reception around 6 and my first pints of proper beer since Pre-War Prescott 2015!  All are very welcome – we have tables for 30 booked and more will be available, and and my personal request the landlord is laying on barrels of Prescott Ales specially for us!  Apart from when we’re on the hoof, I will be in e-mail contact continuously from now until the day, so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have ANY queries or concerns whatsoever.  I want to make as sure as I can that all the kinks are ironed our before the weekend, so when it arrives, we can all relax and have a fantastic time.  Remember, Pre-War Prescott is famous for its relaxed and laid-back atmosphere – the right crowd and definitely no crowding!

Watch this space closely for further updates during the coming days.

 

https://prewarprescott.com/?p=869

Well!  THAT was a night to remember!

Perhaps this is the perfect time to introduce Candida Hinks and her ‘Send Her Victorious’ accessory collection which will be proudly offered in the Pre-War Prescott Paddock.  Her unique collection includes bags and hats, gentlemen’s waistcoats, overnight and laptop bags and cushions.

In fact, while we’re about it, let’s bedeck the Paddock in red, white and blue this year!  Bring your Union Jacks, be creative, happy and glorious and let’s celebrate our sovereignty, independence and freedom, paid for so dearly and in living memory by a dwindling few.  And please spread the word that ALL World War Two veterans and their families are very warmly invited to join us as VVIPs on the day completely free of charge.  It’s the very least we can do!

In other news, entries continue to arrive and we STILL have climbs!  If you have not yet entered, do consider doing so without delay because there will definitely be NO climbs left by the day.  There is time to get tickets to you, as I have positioned a forward supply in Kent with Colin Lee.  As soon as I see your entry, I will have Colin get your tickets away to you immediately.   All tickets for entries already received should be arriving imminently with Colin and will be forwarded to you in the next few days.  Please check then when they arrive and let me know if I screwed up your entry!  And also please note a screw-up on the ticket covering letter!  The pub for the Friday evening informal reception (to which everyone is warmly invited) will take place at the Royal Oak in GRETTON, not the Royal Oak in Gotherington – which you won’t be able to find, because it doesn’t exist!  Tables are booked, I should have the new menu to share here shortly, and the Landlord is getting in barrels of Prescott ales specially for us!

Jayne and I fly from Seattle two weeks today, and we are REALLY looking forward to seeing you all three weeks tomorrow!

Pre-War Prescott 2016 is four weeks today!

This year’s Pre-War Prescott Paddock is set to have many more trade, display and club stands than before, and we have one or two big (literally) surprises up our sleeves for the day.

This is a call for anyone else who would like to bring a trade, autojumble, automobilia, aerojumble or other pre-war or pre-war transport related trade stand.  The fee for a generous pitch is just fifty pounds for the day.

Additionally, any of the participating clubs can bring along a club tent or gazebo, etc. entirely free, as long as we have prior notice so that we can allocate space alongside your club’s cars in the Paddock.

If you would like to participate in this manner, contact vintageminor@gmail.com without delay.  If you are not sure whether your stall or display would be suitable, contact us to discuss.  You are likely to be pleasantly surprised, as we would like the day to be full of variety and interest for everyone.

 

 

 

Pre-War Prescott is one month today!   Two major milestones were achieved today.  First, the Souvenir Programme was sent to our printers in Cheltenham for printing today.  This year, it will be a bumper 44-page publication packed with useful information for the day as well as several in-depth feature articles to enjoy afterwards.  Every pre-war car entry will receive a complimentary copy at the gate.  Additional copies will be on sale for a paltry sum.

Second, all of the tickets for entries received so far were shipped in bulk to Colin Lee in the UK today for onward posting, so if you have already entered, expect to receive your tickets in the next 10 to 12 days.  Please check them and let me know if I screwed yours up!  I will continue to process further online and paper entries from here until the end of June and after that, tickets will be sent directly from Colin who will have a sheaf of spares that I have sent him today.  Once we get down to within a week of the day, then entries will still be accepted, but your tickets will be enveloped, marked with your name and given to the gate marshals for handing to you when you arrive.  This sounds complicated, but it has worked very well in recent years.  (You’d be surprised how many people pop up in the last couple of days, having just heard about the event!)

In other headline news, Hereford Vintage Auctions has generously offered to run their traditional no-reserve auction of spares and automobilia in the lunch break.  100% of the proceeds go to our designated charity, the RAF Charitable Trust, and the majority of funds raised by the Trust go to support the Air Cadets.  So PLEASE take a moment to sort out any quality goodies surplus to your requirements and bring them along on the day and hand them in to the Vintage Minor Register marquee first thing in the morning.  I suggest, with the enormous octagonal entry this year, that anything MG might attract brisk bidding!  Please donate generously and bid recklessly on the day!

A word about spectators.  We are expecting a LARGE number this year.  The entry remains at a paltry fifteen pounds per car, to include as many occupants as you can squeeze in.  In addition, ALL World War Two veterans and their families will be offered completely FREE entry, so please, if you know any, do extend a very warm invitation to them and perhaps help them with transport and logistics if needed, and let me know if they need any special assistance on the day.  Once they arrive, we promise them a VVIP day out, and we hope that the sight and sound of the Lancaster in the afternoon will warm their hearts.  And wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to give them a ride up the hill?

We are also offering half price spectator entry to any RAFA member who presents their RAFA membership card at the gate, and to further support the ATC, we are offering completely free spectator entry to ANY Air Cadets and their families.  Finally, for every spectator turning up with a copy of the 2016 Royal International Air Tattoo 2016 Programme from the previous weekend, we will donate five pounds of their entry to the RAF Charitable Trust.

After months of planning behind the scenes we can now announce that the Air Training Corps, who are celebrating their 75^th Anniversary this year, will be joining us in force.  Planning is still ongoing, but we are working flat out to have two ATC gliders in the Paddock for your close inspection, along with a flight simulator, marching drum band and Cadets from at least eight regional Squadrons.  We are going to try to get as many of the Cadets a ride up the hill as possible, so please offer your empty seats at the start line if you can.   These youngsters are just at the age when we should be introducing them to our wonderful world of vintage motoring, if we want our passion to be passed on to future generations.  In addition, Bishops Cleeve Squadron will once again be managing our GoPro video operation during the day, so you will be able to take home a DVD of your climbs if you like, with all proceeds going to the Air Cadets.

Sincere thanks to all of you who have checked the boxes on your entries to volunteer a couple of hours of your time on the day to help make things run smoothly.  As usual, in the next week or so, I’ll be circulating a draft marshaling timetable to all of you.  Please come back to me quickly with acceptance of your time slot or requests to change times, etc. so that I can update the draft and circulate to everyone again.  We typically go through three or four drafts in this manner, so timely responses are critical as the days count down.  Thanks again to all of you for offering to help, and if there are any of you out here who would like to add your names to the roster, please let me know.  If we get enough, I can reduce the slots to one hour from two.

That’s about it for now – keep stopping by for more breaking news as the big day approaches.

See you a month today!

Ian

With 38 days to go to Pre-War Prescott 2016, entries have just surpassed the number of cars present on the day last year!  Sincere thanks to everyone who has already entered and we look forward to more entries over the next few weeks that will make this by far the best Pre-War Prescott so far.  Thanks to some re-planning and the generosity of many of you, we do still have climbs available.

We are also expecting a large number of spectators this year, which is not surprising, given the activities booked for the day.  Some spectators have booked their tickets online, but you can also simply turn up on the day and pay at the gate.   At just fifteen pounds per spectator car, to include all occupants, this is unbeatable value.

In recent days, we have added a number of special guests to our entry list.  Joy Rainey will be joining us again.  Joy has emphatically proved that size doesn’t matter in the world of motorsport.  A person of restricted growth, she has competed in circuit races and hill climbs, broken records, driven the London to Brighton veteran car run – and in 2004 tackled the London to Sydney Rally in a Morris Minor.  More recently she drove her 1904 Oldsmobile Curved Dash from coast to coast across America.  A personality of giant stature, she demonstrates what can be achieved, given innate talent, determination and charm.

We are also delighted to welcome Michael Barnard and his wife Joy.  As you probably know, we are celebrating the 75^th Anniversary of the Air Training Corps this year.  Michael Barnard was the youngest member of the ATC during the war and flew at nearby Honeybourne, Pershore and Defford.  In addition, we are offering completely FREE entry to ANY World War Two veterans and their families, and we hope those able to attend will enjoy the Avro Lancaster over the Paddock in the afternoon – a sight and sound not to be missed.  Please help to pass on this invitation any veterans that you may know.  There is no need for them to pre-book – the gate marshals will be briefed to offer free entry to any wartime veterans turning up on the day.  However, if we can be advised of their attendance in advance, that will enable us to offer them the very special welcome they undoubtedly deserve.

Bugatti Owners Club Chairman Charles Trevelyan will also be joining us with his fast and furious Grand Prix-bodied 1927 Type 37a Bugatti SY 6 (above), and we also thank Vauxhall Heritage for offering to bring their historic Vauxhall 30/98 this year.  So far we have three 30/98’s entered, but would love to see more.

As a reminder, the entry list can be viewed at http://prewarprescott.com/?page_id=547 and is updated regularly as entries are received.  If you have entered already, it would be a good idea to check your entry online and let us know if there are any discrepancies.  Tickets are being printed this week in Seattle and will be posted later this month.  Meanwhile a stock of spare tickets will be shipped to the UK to cater for late entries.

Just a quick update regarding entries and climbs. As of this morning, and with just over fifty days to go, we have 135 vintage and pre-war cars entered for Pre-War Prescott 2016 with another 7 known entries in the pipeline. We have been working feverishly behind the scenes to free up as many climbs as possible, and thanks to the generosity of many, we are pleased to announce that we have in the region of 120 climbs left to be allocated. We are expecting a total of around 200 entries, so we should be on target for everyone who has not yet entered to be able to have at least two climbs on the day. Having said that, it would not be a bad idea, if you are intending to come along and wish to climb the hill, to get your entry in without delay. This also helps us in organizing the ticketing which is a massive task each year, and the sooner we can allocate tickets, the less pressure there is in the last couple of weeks before the big day. (All tickets are printed and enveloped in Seattle and then shipped in bulk to England for onward posting, and this process has to be completed early in order to guarantee delivery before the day to everyone.)

Of course you might wish to come along and not climb the hill. Pre-War Prescott’s relaxed garden party atmosphere draws may each year, and the Paddock is the venue for a lot of first class picnics! If you are not intending to climb the hill on the day, please indicate when you enter so that your free climb can be freed up for someone else. Thanks in advance!

As for the entry list as it stands, this can be viewed at http://prewarprescott.com/?page_id=547 and is updated regularly as entries are received (the latest was the D Type MG of Digby and Julia Gibbs who entered online morning). If you have entered already, it would be another good idea to check your entry online and let us know if there are any discrepancies.

The entry list now contains an incredible 43 MMM MG’s – we had a record 35 on the day last year, and that number was boosted by the Dutch contingent who won’t be with us this year (but are expected next year). It is very possible that we will see at least 50 MMMs on the day this year. We have a record 6 MG D Types entered this year already (any more out there?), which is more than the 5 M Types entered – and we’d very much like to see many more M’s join us.

In other Pre-War Prescott news, this morning we heard from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight confirming the arrival time of the Avro Lancaster which will run in low over the Paddock as precisely 1410 hrs before heading off to Farnborough to display there.

See you there!

 

The internet and the telephone lines between Seattle and the Cotswolds (not to mention Google Earth) are burning up right now as we assemble the Sunday Navigation Rally and parallel Scenic Tour.  This year we will be heading from the Prescott Paddock, up over the Cotswold escarpment to take in the incomparable views across the Vale of Evesham, the Malverns to the rolling Herefordshire countryside beyond.  The route for the day is falling into place incredibly well this year with some tremendously interesting and thought-provoking stops along the route, including locations that are not normally open to the public.  And of course, a quintessentially English pub has been selected for our lunch stop.   We will be concluding with cream teas, results and awards at Stanway House where we will have another private demonstration of the spectacular 300 foot tall gravity fountain.

Pre-War Prescott 2016 on Saturday is going to be an incredible day.  We are delighted to announce that our Guest of Honour for the day will be Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton GCB ADC LLD BSc FRAes CCMI RAF who recently retired as the Chief of the Air Staff – that’s the number one position in the RAF and was the position held by Lord Trenchard, founder of the Royal Air Force.  As of this week, entries for Saturday are about to hit the 100 mark, with a total of 308 climbs allocated so far.  Because of the enthusiastic take-up of climbs this year, we have had to limit climbs to three (two plus a free one) per entrant, and we may have to reduce this even further as the day approaches, so we STRONGLY encourage you to get your entry in if you have not already done so and you wish to climb the hill more than once.

Saturday planning is in full flight – in every sense of the phrase.  The Vintage Air Tour will be visiting us around lunchtime, followed by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Avro Lancaster that will be with us at 1415 hrs precisely before heading off to display at the Farnborough Air Show.  And we’ll be paid a visit by Tim Williams, flying his 1930 de Havilland Puss Moth to mark the reunion of the Gilg and Kay families who will be our special guests for the day.  Cameron Gilg and Walter Kay drove their brand new 1933 Morris Minor from Liverpool to Cape Town in 1933, achieving the first ever crossing of the Sahara in a light car.  The two families have not met for forty years.  Gilg picked Kay as his co-driver for his expedition because the previous year, he had flown his Puss Moth to the Cape to film the inaugural Imperial Airways flight from Croydon to the Cape.

From this point forward, I will be posting more regular news here as our plans develop and the weekend approaches.  See you soon!

 

 

Last year we saw a record entry of something over 170 Edwardian, vintage and pre-war cars, but this year, entries are already significantly up compared to this time last year.  The online entry list shows 49 entries so far, but we know that there are many more in the pipeline.  In addition, invitations are currently going out to numerous one-make clubs and registers inviting them to join us on the day.  Pre-War Prescott is designed specifically to offer one-make clubs the opportunity to gather and enjoy Prescott to the full without the financial and organizational burden of such a large and complicated event.  All your members have to do is enter, and we do the rest!  If your club would like to join us, do get in touch so that we can make the necessary Paddock arrangements for you.  If your club registers for the day, we’ll even give you free space to put up your club marquee, lay out trade or autojumble stands and anything else you would like, so that you can hold your OWN event within the larger Pre-War Prescott event.

There is some tremendous breaking news this week.  Ron Gammons, who may be known to many of you as an MG 18/80 owner is also a DH Moth man.  He’s organizing a grand vintage air tour of the south of England on the same day as Pre-War Prescott, and it looks like the flotilla of OVER FORTY AIRCRAFT – Moths and others – will be joining us over Prescott, which should make a unique and extraordinary sight.  I just have to ensure that the Lancaster doesn’t get mixed up with them!  The entry list currently stands at around 40 cars, so with two other Moths already scheduled to join us on the day, we now have the slightly peculiar situation that we have more aircraft booked for the day than cars.  But I suspect that advantage won’t hold for long …