Revcounter August 2025 Late last year 2024, I was thinking about a summer tour for our centre. I had received good reports about the ‘Holt Hotel’, Bicester as the Healey Motorsport group had successfully used it for their prize giving event. After a reccy with Brian Loades and an investigation of the area for places of interest we set the dates for the 16th to 19th June 2025.
16th June
With 11 cars booked in and 3 venues booked we left Winchester at 9.30am and took a route via Marlborough and Swindon to arrive at ‘The Motor Hub, Bibury by 12 noon. This venue provides car storage, car sales and maintenance, and is based at what was once the Ablington RAF Airbase during WW2 from May 1940 to Feb 1950. One of the original hangers has been restored to become a showroom of some very special cars. After tea and a nibbles, we had a conducted tour by Mike of the venue (one of the Hub team), and an outline chat about the aerodrome during the war. We then went to the restaurant where our pre-ordered lunches were served.
This venue is used by a lot of groups and has a social programme throughout the year if you are in the area. The café is open for drop ins, and the police use it for tea breaks, as we found out! Unfortunately, David Tofts suffered exhaust damage being forced to drop into a pothole on the way up country. The garage team were most helpful and got the car on a ramp for temporary repairs to keep David roadworthy.
By 3pm we were leaving to complete our trip today by arriving at Holt Hotel late afternoon, and to be at the bar for 6.30pm for dinner at 7pm. Dinner was very good, so the pattern of service was set for our break, and the rooms were very comfortable
17th June
The day was based at Sulgrave Manor, Northamptonshire dating from 1539 and the home of the ancestors of George Washington. It was presented to the Peoples of Great Britain and the United States in celebration of the Hundred Years Peace between the two nations. We arrived at the Manor around 10.30am and were especially parked in a display on the garden lawn. Tea and biscuits were available and our 90min house tour commenced at 12 noon. A lovely place and our very informative guide on the history of the house that was in good form.
Lunch was at The Star Inn a short walk up the village, and that again is over 300 years old. Freshly made sandwiches were provided and a cooling drink, as it was a warm day. A group continued to visit the 13th century church ‘St James the Less’ of Sulgrave. This again is a very historic building. Our second hiccup of the trip was bumping into vast road diversions for the HS2 project, so our return to the hotel was varied across the team, but soon we were in the hotel garden sampling the beer and catching up on the day, before dinner that evening.
18th June
The day was a more leisurely start as Rousham House was only a 20mins drive from the hotel. This is a very impressive house and gardens set in 25 acres of a 150-acre site (with 4 tenant farmers). Our tour of the house was from 11.30am so and having parked the cars in the inner courtyard we went to meet Caroline our guide at the main doors. This house was built by the Dormer family in 1635 and was remodelled by William Kent, who also designed the gardens. The most recent publicity has been due to Monty Don doing a programme ‘Around the World in Eighty gardens’, and who rated Kent as a genius of eighteenth-century garden design.
Caroline’s guided tour was encyclopaedic in knowledge, and we were all so engrossed in the information we did not realise that again we had walked this magnificent hour for 90 mins and came out into the gardens worn out. Lunch was a picnic.
Back to the hotel and most sat in the gardens and chatted over drinks. Dinner was again at 7pm and to check that we were still awake, Colin & Sue Dimbylow gave out a quiz sheet to all based on missing letters out of car manufacture names.
After much head scratching, the winners were Phil & Julie Gardner who won a china frog, but as Gordon & Sue were the same score but not absolutely correct on one make, they also got a china frog!!
19th June
All parties left after breakfast to head home, with hopefully some good memories of a few days spent with friends whilst enjoying our Healeys.
If you get a chance to visit the two houses at any time, they come highly recommended, as does the hotel.
