Just four weeks to go!  We’re now in the final preparation phase.  All tickets for entries received so far were shipped in bulk from Seattle yesterday and will be posted on to everyone by John Hicks in Gotherington as soon as he receives them.  The package included plenty of spare tickets so don’t worry if you haven’t entered yet.  We can take entries right down to the day before, as VERY late entrants can collect their ticket envelopes at the gate.  And of course you can simply turn up on the day and pay at the gate, but only advance entries receive a free climb, Commemorative Programme and raffle ticket.

Spectators are most welcome and can also book in advance for ten pounds per person, or you can pay at the gate for fifteen pounds per person.  Parking in the Orchard is free.

Right now, we are holding 238 entries – easily a record for Pre-War Prescott, but by careful management, we have slightly fewer climbs allocated than last year.  You can continue to enter online at http://prewarprescott.com/?page_id=161. 

The Commemorative Programme is completed and ready to ship to the printers in Cheltenham and the Tour Handbooks for Sunday have now been printed.  The To Do list is still a page and a half, but we’re getting there!

The weekend will kick off at the Gardeners Arms at Alderton (a couple of miles north of Prescott) where we are expecting a good crowd including the Dutch MG contingent who always add fun to any gathering!   (Not the change from the Hobnails which is now shut.)  All early arrivers are warmly invited to help us kick off the weekend!

Camping is available all weekend in the Orchard (just pay five pound a night to the Bugatti owners Club office some time on Saturday.)

Jayne and I are flying to Heathrow from Seattle with our family on the Tuesday night before PWP, we we have just over three weeks to wrap everything up now.  The two biggest outstanding tasks are to finalize the clues for Sunday and also to finalize the marshaling roster.  If you volunteered to marshal and received the draft roster recently but have not confirmed your slot yet, please do so ASAP – thanks.

As we count down to the weekend, I’ll be posting more frequent updates here, so keep an eye on the website now as the days count down.

See you soon!

 

No need for a caption – their expressions say it all!

Jayne and I are working flat out to make this the best weekend ever for everyone.  There are a few important news updates, so here goes.

Entries are still open, albeit with just the single free climb on offer.  I am particularly keen to see more Minors enter.  Right now we have a record 18 entries, but let’s see if we can make this an even bigger Minor gathering.  Since the vast majority of entries are now in, ticketing is under way and I hope to have them to everyone who has entered so far in June.  (If your entry is not in yet, don’t worry – I’ll post your tickets individually.)

For the first time this year, each entry will come with a free raffle ticket worth £5.  And you will receive your raffle ticket with your entry tickets.  Be sure to bring it along on the day!  More tickets will be available on the day in the morning (the draw will take place in the lunch break, directly after the Charity Auction).  Get yours from the VMR Marquee or from any of the Air Cadets.

So far, we have 40 generous souls who have volunteered to help out for a couple of hours at Prescott.  I’m assembling a draft roster from the names and will circulate this to all volunteers shortly.  I’ll need everyone to respond with a confirmation of their allocated time slot or a request for a different time or post.  Thanks to one and all.  Pre-War Prescott could not happen without you and your Free beer tickets have already been printed!

Turning to Sunday, the route is now set and I can announce that the Ordnance Survey maps required for the Navigation Rally are Landranger map numbers 150, 151 and 163.  Any issue will suffice, so you can use your old maps.  (Maps not needed by the Scenic Tourists, although it wouldn’t do any harm to bring them along if you have them)

The lunch stop will be at the George Inn, Lower Brailes and clearly, with 84 entries for Sunday, the pub is going to be very busy.  We have visited this pub before and received admirable service, but I’m sure you will understand that the bar and the kitchen will be under considerable pressure, so patience will be the watchword.  That, or get there first!

Next, a reminder that the Friday evening informal reception has been moved from the Hobnails at Little Washbourne to the Gardner’s Arms in Alderton, a stone’s throw from the Hobnails.

Also, for the party on the hill on Saturday, the caterers have asked us not to take any more advance bookings as we have reached 150 tickets sold (actually 160 now!) and there is only space to seat 150 people in the Clubhouse, should the weather be inclement.  So if you would like to partake of the BBQ in the evening, but have not booked yet, let me know and I will have extra tickets available on the day, as long as the weather is fine.  Also, please put in a prayer to the weather Gods!

A word about spectating.  Pre-War Prescott is a super day out for spectators, who are really more entrants without a pre-war car than true spectators, as they have full and free access to the Paddock, the hill and all the displays, trade stands, not to mention the Hawker Hurricane flypast – and they have every chanced of a run up the hill as a Passenger.  This year, we’ve re-jigged the spectator pricing from per car to per individual which makes spectating even more attractive.  Advance spectator tickets can be booked through the online entry form or by using the entry form below.  Prices are £10 per person for advance bookings, of £15 per person on the day.  Spectator parking is free.

On the display front, we will be welcoming Tim Parrott and his team who will be bringing the Falkland Island Medal Association display.  I will be particularly interested in this display, having spent four months helping to run things on Ascension Island during the conflict.

Entries are still open!  You can either enter by filling in the form at the foot of this Newsletter or by simply going to http://prewarprescott.com/?page_id=161 and signing up.  You can check out the entry list as it grows at http://prewarprescott.com/?page_id=547.  Please check your entries very closely prior to tickets being distributed in early July.

Finally for this time, the Commemorative Programme is now almost complete.  This will be a 56-page all-colour publication – rather like a VMR Magazine on steroids!  Apart from containing all the information you would expect to get the most out of the day, it contains a number of major feature articles, including a tremendous article by our historian Peter Seymour on the Centenary of the formation of Morris Motors, an informative article by MMM Register M Type Registrar Mike Dalby to mark the 90^th Anniversary of the M Type M.G. There is also a super article on Jon Seber prepared by Tim Greenhill.  Entrants will receive a free copy of the Programme at the gate, while additional copies will be available for £3 per copy.  If you are unable to attend but would like a copy, please get in touch.

With Pre-War Prescott just 100 days today, we’re looking at the greatest gathering by far in the event’s nine-year history!

As of today we have:

207 entered cars

432 climbs allocated

1 Hawker Hurricane, courtesy of the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

148 BBQ tickets allocated for the Saturday evening Vintage Party

73 cars entered in the Sunday rallies

And 130 delicious cream teas booked for Sunday afternoon at Stanway House!

Entries are still open and each entry comes with a free climb of the hill, a free five pound raffle ticket (all funds raised going to the RAF Charitable Trust) and a free Commemorative Programme.

Spectators are also most welcome.  The advance spectator discounted booking price is £10 per person, or £15 on the gate on the day (children under 16 free).  Outstanding value at either price!

Book your pre-war car entry or spectator tickets at http://prewarprescott.com/?page_id=161

And you can check out the entry list as it continues to grow at http://prewarprescott.com/?page_id=547

See you soon!

We are very excited to announce that the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will once again be supporting Pre-War Prescott this year by sending one of their iconic Hawker Hurricanes to grace the skies over the Paddock, honouring all those cars that survived the War, and many of which provided vital transport services during those dark days.  The Memorial Flight has supported us every year since the inaugural Pre-War Prescott in 2011, except last year, when the Flight was at full stretch because of the RAF Centenary celebrations.  (Who could forget their flypast over London last year?)  We are deeply grateful to the RAF, the Memorial Flight at RAF Conningsby and the RAF Display Team at Bentley Priory for adding to the sparkle of our day.

If you would like to witness the flypasts but do not own a pre-war car, you would be most welcome to come along and spectate on the day.  Spectators can pay £15 per person at the gate on the day, or pre-book online here for just £10 per person.  Parking is free and under 16’s enter for free.  And don’t forget your cameras!

As of today – 23rd March – just over 400 climbs have been booked, so the entry form has been amended to remove the option to book additional climbs.  However, each entry from now will still come with a free climb of the hill (as well as a free commemorative Programme and a free £5 ticket for our first ever prestige charity raffle, with 100% of the proceeds to be donated to the RAF Charitable Trust – so we have raised nearly a thousand Pounds already!).  We have an incredible 192 entries to date (including 58 overhead cam MG’s!), and 66 entries for the Sunday Cotswold Navigation Rally and parallel Scenic Tour.  A truly spectacular pre-war weekend is coming together!

Legendary racing driver Jean-Pierre Wimille getting the Type 59/50B in position for a practice run at Prescott hill climb, July 1939 under the watchful eyes of Robert ‘Le Grand Robert’ Aumaître, lead works mechanic.

We are delighted to announce that the incredible and unique works 59/50B ‘Wimille’ Bugatti will make its historic return to Prescott 80 years on as the centrepiece of the Trust’s 2019 Summer exhibition, and the Trust will be open all day at Pre-War Prescott.  The car is on loan from the Cité de L’Automobile – National Museum – Schlumpf Collection at Mulhouse, France.  The 59/50B had without doubt the most powerful engine built by the Bugatti factory and the car was fitted with twin rear wheels specially for Prescott.  However, it was so wide with the twin rear wheels that it could not use the return road!

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Bugatti Owner’s Club’s first ever international meeting on Sunday July 30, 1939, and Bugatti entered this works monoposto Type 59 fitted with an 8-cylinder supercharged 4.7-litre type 50B engine and was driven by the legendary pre-war Grand Prix driver Jean-Pierre Wimille.

With over four months to go, we already have an incredible entry list shaping up.  Today we received the 179th entry – exactly the same TOTAL number of entries received last year, which was, in turn, a record turnout.  We already have 57 MMM entries, which is also a record entry as the MMM Register celebrates the 90th Anniversary of the start of these quintessentially English sports cars.  And we have an incredible 25 Wolseley Hornet Specials already entered, while other marques are also assembling tremendous entries, including 13 Alvises so far.  Alvis will be the featured marque next year as we will be celebrating the Centenary of the marque.  Other entries include Morris, Riley, DFP, Bugatti, Talbot, Austin, Frazer Nash, Darracq, Morgan, BSA, Ford, Bentley, Lagonda, Humber, Truimph, and Bean!

As of this morning, we have allocated 387 climbs.  When we reach 400, which will happen in the next few days, we will have to reduce bookable climbs once again to the single free climb that comes with every entry.  Entries with a free climb will remain open until we reach 450 climbs, when the climb list will be CLOSED so that we do not suffer from over-crowding at the start line on the day.  So if you are planning to enter and wish to climb the hill, we strongly recommend you don’t leave it much longer – you have been warned! 

Meanwhile we are working flat out on preparing the route for the Sunday Cotswold Navigation Rally and parallel Scenic Tour.  So far we already have 61 entries for the Sunday runs and 115 wonderful cream teas booked for the conclusion at Stanway House!

One more thing.  A official-looking brown envelope will shortly be arriving from the RAF Events Team, telling us whether we have been lucky enough to be allocated air support from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.  We are keeping a close eye on the letter box and hope to make a major announcement in the next couple of weeks.  Watch this space!

As of today (12^th March) we have an incredible 169 entries and 367 climbs have already been allocated.  And we already have a wonderful 61 entries for our Sunday runs.  Last weekend, when booked climbs approached 300, we had to reduce the number of pre-bookable climbs from two plus a free one to one plus a free one.  That prompted over thirty entries over the weekend and now we are approaching 400 climbs.  Once we reach that number, we will have to reduce climbs again to just the free one that comes with every entry.  This policy is necessary to ensure fairness and enjoyment for everyone on the day.

Entries with a free climb will remain open until we reach 450 climbs, when the climb list will be closed so that we do not suffer from over-crowding at the start line on the day.  So if you are planning to enter and wish to climb the hill, we strongly recommend you don’t leave it much longer – you have been warned!  There can only be 83 more climbs, and over 70 have been booked since last Saturday!  After we reach this climb limit, entries will still be accepted, but no more climbs will be allocated.  We thank you for your understanding as we work to preserve the relaxed atmosphere which is the hallmark of Pre-War Prescott.

In addition to these record numbers, we have allocated 138 tickets for our Saturday evening buffet BBQ at the Clubhouse on the hill where Mike Dowley and his jazz band will be entertaining us once again, after the awards ceremony.

So, to recap, entries will remain open until the day, but there are only 83 more climbs available.

Climbs are going FAST!  As of today (3rd March), 267 climbs have already been spoken for.  With an ultimate limit of around 450, we will be REDUCING the number of climbs that can be pre-booked once we reach 300 climbs booked.  We will reduce the number of pre-bookable climbs from two plus a free one to one plus a free one.  So if you are keen to climb the hill more than twice, we strongly suggest that you get your entry in without delay!

Entries this year are WAY up on last year.  We already have 126 entries and also 50 entries for the Sunday run.  And 117 tickets have already been allocated for the Saturday evening BBQ and buffet.  It is going to be a Pre-War Prescott to break all records!

There has been one small but important change to arrangements this week.  It had been announced earlier that we would no longer admit any post war cars.  This was largely brought about by the presence of the supercars last year.  In earlier years, we had stretched the envelope slightly by allowing a number of early post-war cars to enter – chiefly those with traditional pre-war style bodywork, so as to not look too out of place.  Brian Rainbow contacted me recently to ask about Octagon Car Club members, several of whom own post war TC, TD and TF’s.  The Octagon Car Club has been a strong supporter of Pre-War Prescott for many years and so the executive decision was made to revert to our original arrangement whereby early post-war cars with traditional coachwork WILL be welcome to join us.  It is considered that their presence does not in any way detract from the pre-war atmosphere of the event.  Since adjusting this arrangement I have heard that there is a gentleman bringing his post-war MG from Germany who has already booked his accommodation, so there we are.  This arrangement will also apply to Morgans, some early post war Alvises and perhaps a Triumph Roadster or two.  If in doubt, contact us!