Social Events
Every year, a volunteer from the SVW Register organises a weekend for Register members and their guests.
SVW Weekend in 2008 31st May - 1st June at Naarden near Amsterdam
We had cars from three countries. 6 came from Germany, 13 from the UK, and 10 from the Netherlands. Our venue was Naarden, a fortified coastal town east of Amsterdam.
On Saturday we had rides through the pretty Dutch villages and countryside, over bridges and under blue skies, with lunch at a bistro. Another ride in the afternoon finished at the old barracks in Naarden for the photoshoot. Most then went for a boat ride around the fortifications-very peaceful after a day in traffic.
At the end of the day, the SVW Register AGM was held, and the new committee elected. Details are on the "contact us" page. Contact Us
After the AGM we had the Gala dinner in the evening, and thanks and prizes were given to the organising team. Also, the SVW Register committee awarded a picture of an SA saloon to Gary Perry as thanks for his 5 great years as Chairman.
On Sunday the weather was a little foggy and damp, and we saw the steam pump at Stoomgemaal, then on to the Expo museum of old crafts and toys for lunch.
This was followed by the presentation of the Ratcliffe cup to John Dutton's WA Tickford, the car "I most would like to go home in"; and then some went home, and some stayed to get the ferry back to England on Monday.
A great weekend, and our hearty thanks go to the organising team of Rene Pas, Bert & Els v.d. Linden, Susan Bellis & Theo Groot
More information is available on the offiicial website for the event.
SVW Weekend - 29th June - 1st July 2007 Ironbridge Shropshire
Wet, wet, wet. Great hotel and a great location, but the weather was at its worst. We had the usual good turnout, reduced because John Dutton had sold his SA (which was there) in order to buy a WA Tickford (which wasn't). We even had a unique SA all the way from Oz, the Airy saloon owned now by Malcolm Robertson.
Saturday saw a wet trip to the local iron museum where we paraded the cars for the photoshoot, followed by a wet drive on the A5 to Pontypridd on the Llangollen canal. We boarded a narrow narrow boat for beer, sandwiches and a trip across the famous viaduct-awesome. The rain stopped long enough to change Peter Pimm's deflated wheel
Then a wet drive back for the Gala dinner with guest of honour, Richard Jones, General Manager of the MGCC, giving a welcome speech. The Francis Adam award (in replica) went to Malcom Robertson, and Gary Perry asked Malcolm to award it each year to the most deserving SVW owner from the antipodes.
Sunday and the rain had stopped. The Mayor of Ironbridge gave a rousing speech then waved us off for the day's run. The sun actually shone when we visited the glorious Stokesay Castle in Shropshire, then on to Ludlow to park amongst the town market stalls for the presentation of the Ratcliffe Cup for the car "I would most like to go home in"
This went to Malcolm Robertson, making it a clean sweep for the weekend. It could be that we all wanted to go home to Oz. Our thanks to him for bringing such a great car so far
Our thanks also to John Bates and Charlie Plain Jones for organising such a successful event. Once again, a DVD is available at £10 including P&P for UK, at cost overseas.
SVW Weekend - 7 - 9 July 2006 Sherborne, Dorset
For the once the weather blessed us. The turnout was one of the best in recent years, and Gary Wall managed to organise the event from his home in New Zealand. He was there in his WA Tickford.
We had two other WA cars, the usual gaggle of VA's in all three variants and a fine selection of SA saloons and DHC's. John Bates arrived sans windscreen and there was the usual selection of failed water pumps and punctures. Peter Ratcliffe always arrives fairly late to these events, as he hangs on to wait for calls for spares before he leaves from Hull.
The hotel was fine, modern and efficient and the town of Sherborne is worth a visit on its own.
Day one started with a run to Glastonbury, where we took over the town car park. From there, some went to see the local steam railway, some to the airshow at Yeovil and some went riding through the lovely local coutryside to Wells. At the Gala dinner in the evening, we were joined by the MGCC President Bill Wallis and his wife. Gary Perry gave the speeches, and awarded the Francis Adam award to Peter van den Heuvel for his outstanding work for the register. Later in the year, Ann & Keith Bush were able to take the award over to him in Holland.
On Sunday, we had a long and glorious ride through the local by-ways, including Cheddar Gorge, ending at Forde Abbey, where we had a relaxing stroll in the sun, some of us even dozing in the heat. Eventually, it was time for the Ratcliffe Cup, which was presented to Jeff Gibson for his glorious WA saloon (a second time winner) as the car we most wanted to go home in.
Our thanks to Gary Wall for his very hard work in setting things up-and once again, there is a DVD for sale at £10, including P&P within the UK.
SVW Weekend - June 2005 - Norfolk
We were hardly blessed with perfect weather. It rained hard for many on their way to the hotel on the Friday, and it was still raining fleetingly on the Saturday morning. After that it dried up, though the sun never really got going till the Monday. Despite the weather, everyone enjoyed themselves immensely.
By common consent, the Links Hotel was a perfect venue. The rooms were excellent, as was the food, and from those able to take advantage of the swimming and golf facilities, there was also much praise. We had a very good turnout for a UK event. 24 SVW cars, 3 other MGs, a couple of modern cars and 65 people in all. We also had a high proportion of members coming from outside the UK, especially from Holland. This is heartening and shows the camaraderie of the Register at its best.
The programme included a ride on a steam train, a visit to two stately homes and their gardens, tours of the Norfolk countryside with stops to view glass blowing, windmills and WW2 weaponry and finally, to round things off, a boat ride on the Broads in our own paddle-steamer.
The Gala dinner was held on Saturday evening at which our Chairman, Gary Perry, awarded the Francis Adam Award to John Dutton for his services to the Register. At Blickling Hall on Sunday, the Ratcliffe Cup was presented for "The Car of the Event" to Heinrich & Petra Borgesius for their splendid VA Tourer.
We have made a DVD of the Norfolk event from footage taken by John Bannister, Gary Perry and John Dutton. It shows all the cars and all the passengers and is one hour long. It is available at £10 including P&P. The DVD is on DVD+R discs, so make sure your player can handle these. We can produce the DVD in either PAL (Europe) or NTSC (USA) format, so let us know when ordering.
We can also supply A4 photographs of the photoshoot at Blickling Hall at £5 plus £1.50 P&P (UK) or £2.50 (elsewhere) or panoramic pictures at £7 plus £2.50 P&P (UK) or £3.50 (elsewhere). Please choose whether you want a picture featuring the cars, or the people, or the people beside their cars. Examples of the last two are shown in the photos above.
SVW Weekend - August 2004 - Holland
The UK contingent ferried across to Holland for the SVW weekend last year.
See Bas de Voogd's VA website for further photos.
SVW Weekend - July 2003 - Kent
MG motoring in Kent as the annual SVW weekend get-together got underway.
SVWs line up at Knole House, Sevenoaks
SVW car owners at Batemans, National Trust property