2019 Rally and AGM

The 2019 AGM and Rally was in the Brecon Beacons National Park area where the Old Black Lion and the La Fosse Guest House in Hey on Wye were our accommodation.

On Friday night we had dinner in the Three Tuns pub which is the 2nd oldest building in Hay and is also the only place in Hay that offered an Italian themed menu.

On Saturday morning we took a scenic drive to the Brecon Beacons National Park Visitor centre to find out more about the area before the pleasant drive to the Henrhyd falls. Access to the falls was by a very steep and rough path which descended sharply for over 100 metres at about 45 degrees. Good shoes and a lot of care was required but it was well worth it as the falls were absolutely spectacular.

A short drive from there was our lunch stop at the George 4th pub at Cwm-twrch Uchaf. After lunch we continued over the Black mountain Pass (A4069) which was described by the Top Gear guys as one of the best driving roads in the UK. Our last stop on Saturday was at the Usk reservoir and then back to the hotel in time for our AGM before dinner.

On Sunday morning  we drove up to the top of the Gospel Pass before heading to the Castle car park in Abergavenny via the A40 which was a very pleasant drive. We explored the town and its castle before our lunch in the Angel Hotel where we had a basement room all to ourselves.

Being so much later in the year than normal, only five Gammas attended but several Consortium members attended in ‘normal’ cars.

2012 Rally and AGM

The base for the 2012 AGM and Rally was the town of Buckingham with the Buckingham Hotel chosen as the accommodation for the weekend of 14th to 16th September 2012.

Twelve Gammas were in attendance (9 Coupes and 3 Berlinas) plus a couple of Betas and a Maserati Biturbo Spider. Those who arrived at the hotel on Friday evening took  a short drive to a local hostelry with a very good reputation for food for an excellent dinner.

With the usual 10:00am departure from the hotel on Saturday, the Gammas headed east to Milton Keynes and onwards to the old Aston Martin factory in Newport Pagnell. The factory is now just a showroom and there was a short stop there so everyone could choose their favourite Aston. The Gammas then continued via Bedford and the famous Cardington Airship hangers, where the R100 and R101 airships were built, to the destination for the day, the Shuttleworth collection of vintage aircraft and transport - http://www.shuttleworth.org. The collection itself was stunning but to add to the entertainment our visit coincided with the Bedfordshire Steam and Country Fair so there was even more to see.

The return was in late afternoon, via Woburn Abbey and the Red Bull Formula 1 Team HQ for those who were interested. Back at the hotel there was the traditional AGM meeting followed by dinner in a private function room at the hotel.

With the same departure time of 10:00am on Sunday, the Gammas headed west into the Cotswolds and took a fast road route to Stratford upon Avon where we spent a couple of hours strolling around Shakespeare's town. That was followed by a short drive south into the Cotswolds for the now traditional, leisurely and lengthy Gamma Consortium lunch, before final goodbyes and departures for home. 

Click here for a slideshow of photos from the weekend.

Gamma Consortium AGM and Rally 2011

In 2011 our annual meeting was based in Blandford Forum, Dorset, England, over the extended weekend of Friday 9th September to Sunday 11th September.

Dorset is one of the oldest and most beautiful shires in the UK. The county is largely the basin of the river Frome. For centuries it was the quietest of rural counties, with small market towns like Shaftesbury, Beaminster, and of course Blandford Forum, and quiet harbours like Wareham, Lyme, and Bridport.
 

Blandford Forum is often given as an example of a Georgian town, as the entire centre was rebuilt at once in the 18th century, due to a fire, and is hence uniformly Georgian. All facades remain in fair to good condition, and notable buildings include the Corn Exchange, and the 1732 parish church of St Peter and St Paul, a classical building with a cupola on top of the tower.
 

The chosen hotel for the 2011 AGM and rally was the Crown Hotel Dorset in West street, Blandford Forum. Nestling on the edge of the delightful Dorset Market town of Blandford Forum, this 3 star Georgian hotel oozed charm and character. To one side it overlooked the picturesque water meadows of the Stour River and the 15th Century Bridge that enters the town from the south. The other side was the bustling town centre.

Saturday’s tour  took in Sherborne (home to two castles!) and Kingston Lacey House, with some varied driving between which provided both perfect roads on which to cruise the Gammas, as well as some gorgeous Dorset countryside. The day started off with a visit to the Cerne Abbas giant, also referred to as the Rude Man or the Rude Giant. The 180 ft (55 m) high figure is carved into the side of a steep hill, and is best viewed from the opposite side of the valley. The figure's origin and age is unknown but regardless of that, the Cerne Abbas giant has become an important part of local culture and folklore, which often associates it with fertility!

After a visit to the town of Sherborne it was time for the lunch stop at the Half Moon pub on the edge of Shaftesbury before putting the Gammas to the test on the Zig Zag Hill en route to Kingston Lacey House.

The Club's AGM was held back at the hotel and that was followed with prize giving and of course dinner.

On Sunday, another picturesque drive through Dorset, most of it in glorious sunshine, took the convoy of Gammas to Wilton House where special permission was granted for the Gammas to park on the forecourt. We were also allowed to visit the Old Riding School and see the car collection which was not open to the public on the day.

The lunch stop on Sunday was at the The Ship Inn at Burcombe, a short drive from Wilton House. Gamma Consortium lunches are legendary in length so after lunch there was only time for final goodbyes and for everyone to start their journeys home.

In total 12 Gammas were in attendance (10 Coupes and 2 Berlinas) and overseas members came from Germany and as far afield as Japan!

Click here for a slideshow of photos from the weekend.

AGM Weekend - September 17th - 19th  2010

For 2010 we chose the Radnorshire Arms at the heart of Radnorshire's old county town, Presteigne in Wales, as our base for our annual Rally and AGM weekend.

The festivities started on Friday when most members made their way to the Radnorshire Arms for an evening check-in followed by dinner at the Hat Shop, High Street, Presteigne.

After breakfast on Saturday and when the rest of the attendees arrived, a convoy of Gammas (and a Trevi) departed for a visit to the historic medieval town of Ludlow, with its unspoilt architecture, interesting shops, ruined castle (www.ludlowcastle.com) and renowned open market. For lunch we headed to the Bateman Arms in Shobdon and on route we passed by Croft Castle where those who wanted could stop and visit the castle itself and/or walk through its grounds (see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-croftcastle). 

After lunch a pleasant 30 minutes drive through gorgeous countryside took us to Monaughty Hall, another medieval pile restored over two decades by ex-Car magazine editor, Doug Blain. Although not open to the public, we had a private tour of the Hall by Doug's wife Sophie. We saw some of Doug's interesting vintage and classic cars and tea and cakes were also provided.   

The Club's AGM was held at the private function room at the Radnorshire Arms at 5.30pm and dinner was served at 8:00pm followed by drinks at the bar to conclude our Saturday.  

After breakfast on Sunday, we checked out of the Radnoshire Arms and then embarked on a long drive through more glorious and slightly wilder countryside which took in part of the Elan Valley with its impressive dams and reservoirs. Sunday's lunch was at the Harp Inn, New Radnor (just ten minutes from our base in Presteigne) with spectacular views across the Radnor Valley.

Click here for a slideshow of photos from the weekend.

Gamma Consortium AGM and Rally 2009

FRIDAY 25^th SEPTEMBER to SUNDAY 27^th SEPTEMBER

Our weekend started with a visit to Prodrive on the Friday evening, Bletchley Park on the Saturday and a tour of the countryside and lunch at a local hostelry in the Banbury area on the Sunday.

Our hotel for the weekend was the Whately Hall Hotel in Banbury. The hotel is right in the centre of Banbury not far from the cross, and is a lovely old stone coaching inn with private secured covered parking which was ideal for our Gammas.
 

We’ve chosen Banbury because it’s the home of Prodrive (http://www.prodrive.com) who most will know as the team responsible for the Subaru Impreza rally cars over many years, and more recently for the Aston Martin Le Mans cars, as well as numerous other racing motors over the years including Alfa 155 Touring Car preparation in 1994 winning the BTCC with Gabriele Tarquini.

We’ve had a private tour of the Prodrive facilities on Friday evening. The tour included the museum, body shop, engines, preparation areas and even a glimpse of as yet still partly secret projects which we were not allowed to photograph and we are not allowed to mention! 



On Saturday we visited Bletchley Park (http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/) the home of the WWII code breakers. The drive from our hotel to to Bletchley took in some of the lovely countryside and secret villages of north Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, including Juniper Hill, the location for ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’ recently made into a popular BBC drama series. We spent most of the day at Bletchley Park with two private tours separated by a lunch break in the local canteen.

Sunday 27th September, the last day of the Gamma Consortium 2009 Rally, saw us take a leisurely drive in the Cotswolds to Bourton on the Water where we spent some time exploring and enjoying its many attractions (and of course coffee!). A further picturesque drive through the Cotswolds took us to our lunch stop at the Kings Head in Blenington.

Click here for a slideshow of photographs taken at the Gamma Consortium 2009 AGM and Rally.

AGM and Rally - 19-20 April 2008

For 2008 local consortium member Geoff 'The Colonel' Holmes organised a memorable AGM and rally weekend based in Southampton and the New Forest National Park.

Saturday morning started with a drive to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu for lunch, taking care to avoid the New Forest Ponies and cattle that have the unfortunate habit of standing in the road. Besides the Gammisti attending the event, we were also joined by Lancia Motor Club amici from the Monte Carlo consortium and Simon Lavis who brought his Ferrari 400 along - quite fitting since both the Gamma and the 400 were styled by the same designer. In the evening pre-arranged mini-buses took us from our hotel for a gala dinner at the excellent club house of the Royal Southampton Yacht Club in Southampton's Ocean Village. The food and the company was good and the location superb, with a fabulous view of a few million pounds worth of exotic sailing machinery tied up in the marina. Amongst the prizes awarded was the Fitzgerald Trophy for greatest distance travelled to attend the AGM & Rally, which this year went to Dutch couple Johan and Alma Alkema. They had brought their handsome dark blue Gamma coupé all the way from Friesland in the northern Netherlands. The dinner was preceded by the business part of the weekend, the AGM itself.

After the poor weather endured on Saturday, Sunday dawned bright and warm and we enjoyed another pleasant run through the New Forest to spend some time on foot in Lymington, followed by lunch at the RSYC's 'other' clubhouse in a secluded location on the Beaulieu River. After a good traditional Sunday lunch and with the weather still warm and sunny, no-one was in any particular hurry to leave and time was spent chatting and enjoying the views of the river and wildlife until departures could be delayed no longer and people headed for home.

Our Dutch visitors were spending a few days more in England, but said of the event: 'The whole weekend was fantastic. It was very good organised and it was great to meet all the friendly members of the Lancia Gamma Consortium...We had also lots of interesting conversations, specially of course about the Lancia Gamma Coupé. The villages and the nature in the New Forest are beautiful. We enjoyed it very much. And it makes it also special to drive through your country with so many Lancias. What a great car the Gamma is and so relaxing to drive.' And we can all agree with that!

The 2007 Gamma Consortium Spring meeting took place in North Wales over the weekend of 21-22 April although most members arrived on Friday 20th April. We chose the the Bryn Howel Hotel as our base for the weekend.

On Saturday we set off at 10.00am on what must be some of the best and most beautiful driving roads in the country through Llangollen with its picturesque setting on the river Dee, steam railway and canal, on to lake Bala and the Snowdonia National Park to arrive at Portmeirion where we spent some time looking around this extraordinary village described as “a glorious medley of Italy, Wales, baroque, reason and romance” (could also be a description of the Lancia Gammas). Portmeirion is famous for the 1960’s TV series the Prisoner. After our tour of "the Village" we had an excellent lunch at the nearby Castell Deudraeth and then  continued our drive through Blaenau Ffestiniog with its slate mines, Betws-y-coed, the North Wales coast and returned to our hotel for dinner.

On Sunday we visited Chirk castle where the National Trust agreed to allow us to photograph the cars outside the main Castle entrance. No visit to Wales would have been complete without visiting at least one castle! 

Finally a drive up the horseshoe pass and then a superb lunch at the 15th century Bodidris Hall.