Drive for Rory – The Summer Drive
Tuesday 20 August
We had been planning this event for months. We had set a monetary target, advertised the event, would members answer the call, what would the weather be like? Now it is consigned to just a very pleasant memory! For those who don’t know, the event was to raise funds to support CALM (Children Achieving Lifelong Movement), a local charity.
The day began wet, windy and very uninviting as 32 members and friends in 18 of Astons finest parked up at Cotswold Airport having negotiated “closed roads” and road traffic accidents on the way. Breakfast and coffee at AV8 Restaurant quickly changed the mood and in some magical way brought out the sunshine which persisted all day. After the usual “herding cats” exercise we were on the way by 1215 to enjoy 90 miles of interesting roads down through the Valley of the Racehorse on the B4001 to Great Shefford and then north on the A338 to Wantage. The temporary traffic lights in Lechlade were kind to us and we got to the Classic Motor Hub after 1500 to find the café had been kept open for us. After creating the usual “wish list”, as you do at CMH, we assembled the 18 cars and drove into Northleach where we were greeted by the children of CALM.
The children were all sporting their new Aston Martin Area 22 tee-shirts and were highly delighted to see and hear the cars parking in the school playground. They poked around in the cars and were specifically interested to see how the hood of the Volante works! A splendid and lively afternoon tea was enjoyed with the children and parents in the grounds of the Curious Wine Cellar and by 1800 I am not sure who was the most exhausted, the children or the drivers!
And so ended an excellent day, thoroughly enjoyed by all. I would like to personally thank all the Area 22 members who either attended the event or contributed to the event, to our friends from Areas 5 and 15 who travelled to the event, to others who contributed, to the staff at the AV8 Restaurant and CMH, but most of all to Andrea Richell who” just” made the event happen. We all know what “just” means … hours and hours of work in the background … thank you Andrea! We not only met our target of £3600 but exceeded it by £400.
The next opportunity to support CALM will be the 23 November event, Cotswold Navigation Capers. Put the date in your calendar.
