The Jowett Car Club National Event of 2004 at York
(Jorvik of course was the Viking name for York)
Friday 4th, Saturday 5th, and Sunday 6th June 2004
Click here to view the pictures from the rally .
Every car at the Eye of York was photographed
With the successful 2003 Rally in South Wales a pleasant memory, our sights are now set on the 2004 event, to be mounted by the Jowett Car Club's North East Section. We spend one of the days at the fabulous Castle Howard, see below.
Mindful of concerns to keep down the cost of this annual event, yet being intent on condensing as much style, interest and opportunity for additional tours (or an extended stay), the organising Committee has evolved the following event . Individual features on each specific aspect of the event and locality, as well as booking information and advice, will follow.
| Day 1 p.m (Friday 4 June). | Gather in York, where 100 rooms have been reserved at the Moat House Hotel, central in the city and flanking the river – a high quality hotel, for which extremely favourable rates have been negotiated and where secure parking is available. Optional evening buffet. |
|
Day 2 (Saturday 5 June) Scenic Run and Field Event |
Proceed by
the scenic route to
Castle Howard
(25 miles) a nationally
pre-eminent venue, at which concessionary admission rates for members’ entry to the house and gardens have been negotiated. Free entry to the display ground, where the Concours will be held amid a splendid setting, following which members will return to York in the evening for the Rally banquet, at the Moat House. |
| Day 3 (Sunday 6 June) | Jowetts gather for display at a prominent focal venue in central York (the Eye of York), where public interest is likely to be considerable. |
Here is a picture of the Eye of York.
This marks the conclusion of the organised events, but delegates are likely to wish to avail themselves of the many historical and scenic attractions offered by the famous city of York and its environs. One could mention the National Railway Museum at Leeman Road, the Jorvik Viking Centre at Coppergate, or the York Castle Museum at the Eye of York where we shall be on the Sunday.
Please Note: we have secured equally favourable rates for extended stays at the hotel, for those who may wish their visit to include tours of Heartbeat and Herriott countries, both reasonably close. For more on the North York Moors click here.
We are sure members will be delighted with the event and will recognise the degree to which the organisers have blended memorable attractions with a key concern for value for money.
Day 2 - The Scenic Run and Field Event
The Scenic Run varies from the more usual format in that members are taken on a gentle drive from the main hotel to the concours event and back to the hotel.
The route has been designed to avoid the dreaded and dangerous A64 and will meander along roads more suited to our cars and our kind of motoring as it leads us to Castle Howard for the day. The proposed mileage in each direction will be approximately 30 miles and there will, of course, be an easy to follow route card which will also give details of places of interest such as the nudist colony! People who may be embarrassed will be informed of the appropriate moment to `look away now`.
The approach to Castle Howard will be from the north via the village of Hovingham, once home to Miss Victoria Worsley who in the 1920s used her Jowett Special to great effect in the trials and freak hill climbs of the day.
Scroll down for more information on the Concours event at Castle Howard.
The return leg of the run will leave Castle Howard to the south and, passing through more sleepy hamlets, return participants back to the main hotel in plenty of time to ready themselves for the evening banquet.
Day 3 - the Eye of York
On the Sunday (June 6) all Jowetts gather at the Eye of York.The York Tourist Board has really taken our visit to heart, so they will be making sure that visitors from around the world will know all about the 'Jowetts in Jorvik'.
The Concours Event at Castle Howard
As season ticket holders it fell to us (write Barbara and David Peacock) to explore the possibilities of holding the Field Event in the grounds of Castle Howard. Our Jupiter is a regular visitor and always creates interest and comment. Our enquiries resulted in us being offered a prestigious location just to the East of the lawns surrounding the Atlas Fountain as shown on the brochure enclosed with last months Jowetteer. The Rally site is directly connected to the lawns and front of House by a small footbridge. Castle Howard visitors will be able to cross the bridge to view the cars. The venue offers possibilities whatever the weather, from the magnificence of the 18th Century Vanbrugh-designed house to the 125 acres of grounds.
As keen gardeners we often pop over in the Spring to see the amazing collection of Rhododendrons, Cornus, and Magnolias in Ray Wood.
After our last visit to discuss organisational details with the Events Co-ordinator we all walked back through the rose garden set within the old walled garden. The rose garden has one of the most comprehensive collections in England, a mix of old and nearly 2000 modern varieties which ensure a wonderful display through the summer.
To support the inner man there are three different eating places offering everything from sandwiches to full restaurant facilities. One overlooks The Great Lake which is a wild life conservation area.
We hope that The Hon. Simon Howard who lives in a wing of the main house will present one of the Rally trophies. [subject to his availability]
For those who enjoy camping the site is at Coneysthorpe which is a beautiful village just at the other end of The Great Lake.
See you all in June!
Surrounding Area
Here are some attractions, outside of York, which may induce you to linger for a few days beyond the fixed events. Continuity of the special rates at the Moat House has been negotiated, up to Friday, with this in mind.
York itself is host to multifarious attractions, of course, but the following venues are further afield, yet all within an easy day’s touring radius.
To the South East of York there is the evocative Elvington Airfield, a wartime bomber station still in largely original form and home to an impressive museum of preserved aircraft. Due south of York, for the historically minded, is to be found the quaint & ancient village of Cawood.
Eight miles North West of York is the National Trust’s Beningbrough Hall, while a little further and adjacent to the old A1 (which overlies the Roman road), are the Roman town ruins at Aldborough. Nearby, Boroughbridge has a number of prehistoric, upright stones, known as ‘Arrows’ and woodworkers would count themselves accursed if they failed to go the extra quarter mile to Boddy’s timber merchants, a wonderland of exotic woods. In the same neighbourhood is the charming cul-de-sac village of Myton on Swale, with its spectacularly restored Victorian bridge.
Nine miles further north and you are in Herriott country, based on Thirsk, where the actual vets’ surgery is open to inspection. Further afield, to the west of Thirsk, you are in the Dales National Park, with Studley Royal Gardens, the amazing ruins of Fountains Abbey, and then Middleham with its castle and the nearby and intriguing Forbidden Corner, a folly if ever there was one.
Richmond, too, has an impressive castle, also the recently restored & most interesting Georgian Theatre.
Further up the Dale is Bolton Castle, prison to a reluctant Mary Queen of Scots.
Those moved by the forces of nature should allow a visit to the spectacular Aysgarth Falls - and you might sneak in a visit to the nearby Carriage Museum.
Heading east from Thirsk, you are following in the tyre tracks of countless production Javelins, as you follow their test route up the slope of Sutton Bank, where a panoramic view awaits you. The Bank is host to a large carved White Horse and the nearby village of Kilburn is the place to see (and perhaps buy) furniture with the trademark carved mouse.
You are now in the North York Moors, where you may visit Rievaulx Abbey, then Helmsley (with another castle), Duncombe Park and Nunnington Hall houses, while Pickering is the base for the North York Moors Steam Railway. Eden Camp, near to Malton is close by and will appeal to those with wartime connections or proclivities. To head further east will take you to the sea at Scarborough or Filey.