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A well-deserved Lifetime Achievement award for Mike Rutherford topped a successful evening for Guild members at the sixth annual Newspress Awards, held at the Bicester Heritage Campus in Oxfordshire yesterday (21st July).
Hosted by Alan Dedicoat, widely known as the National Lottery’s ‘Voice of the Balls’ and for Strictly Come Dancing, the event culminated in the presentation to Mike by Newspress managing director Tim Barfoot (above).
Much earlier in the evening the very first journalist award of the event had been won by a Guild member, George Barrow taking the Commercial Vehicle Writer of the Year trophy.
This was followed by the Automotive Business Journalist award for Mark Smyth, who then later added the Technology Writer title to his trophies.
A popular winner of the Classic Car Writer of the Year award was Charlotte Vowden, a recent recruit to the Guild having only joined us in the last year.
At the other end of the scale Ray Massey added to his considerable trophy cabinet with the Automotive News Journalist title.
Nick Williams was named Automotive Photographer of the Year, while in the Road Tester category, James Taylor triumphed.
The event was held as part of Newspress Live! – a networking afternoon which saw several of the automotive businesses on the Bicester Heritage campus opening their doors to visitors, and several current and classic cars available for those present to try out.
Attendees with classic or interesting cars were also encouraged to bring them to the event for display, and this added an extra bit of gloss to the evening for Guild member Alex Grant – his Volkswagen Polo G40 was declared the initial winner of the Newspress Star Car of the Year award sponsored by Footman James.
The 77th Annual General Meeting of the Guild of Motoring Writers took place on 7th June, at the offices of leading classic rally organiser HERO-ERA in the Bicester Heritage complex – appropriate surroundings with a good turn-out of members flanked on either side by an impressive display of classic metal.
Welcoming members, Guild chair Richard Aucock reflected on a year that had been less disruptive for motoring media professionals. “Events are back on, shows are physical rather than virtual, we are able to see people in person rather than on Zoom,” he commented, adding that the Guild was embracing the return to normality and working with major events to ensure that members’ interests were represented.
Following the formal business the activities of HERO-ERA were explained by a familiar figure to many members, former F1 media head Tony Jardine, who is now the communications director of the classic rally organiser.
xtra attractions for members attending the AGM included the opportunity to take a close-up look at the new GV60 electric model from Genesis, the car on show before it is officially launched in the UK. And after an enjoyable lunch which members were able to enjoy on the terrace atop the HERO-ERA offices, several took the opportunity to get behind the wheel of classic cars that were kindly laid on by our hosts.
The Guild passes on its thanks to HERO-ERA and Genesis for their efforts in ensuring that the AGM was another enjoyable event.
All photos by Jeff Bloxham
The 77th Guild of Motoring Writers’ Annual General Meeting will be held at HERO-ERA, Bicester Heritage, Oxfordshire on Tuesday 7 June, 2022. We are delighted to announce that the team from Genesis will also be joining us and bringing the new GV60 electric SUV crossover for viewing. Following the formal proceedings, HERO-ERA will be offering a unique classic car driving experience. Approximate timings are listed below:
1000 Arrival; tea/coffee
1030 AGM starts
1115 Presentations from Genesis and HERO-ERA
1145 Lunch
1230 Classic car driving experience
1430 Finish (approximate depending on driving numbers)
If you wish to attend, please email General Secretary Melissa Chadderton at . Please state if you have any dietary requirements and if you wish to drive in the afternoon. Driver eligibility requirements: Aged 25-75 with a full driving licence (no more than six points) required to be shown on the day. Drivers must sign HERO-ERA’s hire agreement and an indemnity waiver. There is a £2,000 excess on any damage to the vehicles.
Cut-off date for entries is Friday 27 May, 2022.
The Guild now has a new date for its 2022 AGM: Tuesday 7 June. It will still be at Bicester Heritage, and we are working on a number of activities to make the day a memorable one. Please save the date and look out for more information in the coming weeks.
Guild President Nick Mason’s band Pink Floyd are releasing a new single in support of the people of Ukraine, entitled Hey Hey Rise Up.
The single is now available on all streaming and download platforms, and is the first new original music that they have recorded together as a band since 1994’s The Division Bell.
The track sees David Gilmour and Nick Mason joined by long-time Pink Floyd bass player Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney on keyboards and features an extraordinary vocal performance by Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Ukrainian band Boombox.
The track, recorded 30 March, uses Andriy’s vocals taken from his Instagram post of him singing in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square. The song itself, The Red Viburnum In The Meadow, is a rousing Ukrainian protest song written during the first world war which has been taken up across the world over the past month in protest of the invasion of Ukraine. The title of the Pink Floyd track is taken from the last line of the song which translates as ‘Hey Hey Rise up and rejoice’. The song’s opening choral parts are by Ukrainian VERYOVKA Folk Song and Dance Ensemble.
David, who has a Ukrainian daughter-in-law and grandchildren said: “We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world’s major powers.”
He explains how he came to know Andriy and his band Boombox. “In 2015, I played a show at Koko in London in support of the Belarus Free Theatre, whose members have been imprisoned. Pussy Riot and the Ukrainian band, Boombox, were also on the bill. They were supposed to do their own set, but their singer Andriy had visa problems, so the rest of the band backed me for my set – we played Wish You Were Here for Andriy that night. Recently I read that Andriy had left his American tour with Boombox, had gone back to Ukraine, and joined up with the Territorial Defense. Then I saw this incredible video on Instagram, where he stands in a square in Kyiv with this beautiful gold-domed church and sings in the silence of a city with no traffic or background noise because of the war. It was a powerful moment that made me want to put it to music.”
While writing the music for the track, David managed to speak with Andriy from his hospital bed in Kyiv where he was recovering from a mortar shrapnel injury. “I played him a little bit of the song down the phone line and he gave me his blessing. We both hope to do something together in person in the future.”
Speaking about the track David says: “I hope it will receive wide support and publicity. We want to raise funds for humanitarian charities and raise morale. We want to express our support for Ukraine and, in that way, show that most of the world thinks that it is totally wrong for a superpower to invade the independent democratic country that Ukraine has become.”
The video for Hey Hey Rise Up was filmed by acclaimed director Mat Whitecross and shot on the same day as the track was recorded. David Gilmour: “We recorded the track and video in our barn where we did all our Von Trapped Family live streams during lockdown. It’s the same room that we did the ‘Barn Jams’ in with Rick Wright back in 2007. Janina Pedan made the set in a day and we had Andriy singing on the screen while we played, so the four of us had a vocalist, albeit not one who was physically present with us.”
The artwork for the track features a painting of the national flower of Ukraine, the sunflower, by the Cuban artist, Yosan Leon. The cover of the single is a direct reference to the woman who was seen around the world giving sunflower seeds to Russian soldiers and telling them to carry them in their pockets so that when they die, sunflowers will grow.
All proceeds will go towards Ukrainian humanitarian relief.
The weather gods shed hardly a tear over Castle Combe on 13 April. They were not exactly doling out sunny smiles, either. But they at least allowed nearly 50 drivers, plus passengers, taking part in the Guild’s now-traditional Big Day Out track day to venture forth mainly in the dry.
For many, using relied-upon road cars, that can be a comfort on this gratifyingly sinuous, but fast and challenging circuit nearby the Wiltshire village once voted England’s prettiest.
And what a colourful variety of cars was to be found taking part (to say nothing of the drivers).
New Guild member Lucia Forlini Cataldo, on her first track day but deadly serious about seeking tuition, in her diminutive Citroen C1; Cobra-mounted Chris Mann’s guest drivers Philip D’Archambaud in the mighty 1930s single-seat racer Bugatti T51 Pur Sang and Jeff Stow in his fabulous Aston Martin DBR 1 recreation; Richard Bremner cutting a dash in a rarely-seen Abarth 124; not least, Rob Marshall’s venerable Volvo 440. To which must be added several gaggles of MX-5s, Boxsters and Caymans.
And in the best spirit of the Guild’s BDO, how great it was that distinguished drivers such as Porsche maestro Nick Faure and Anthony Wilds (son of the legendary Mike, who was away testing) should pitch up entirely voluntarily to sit alongside and instruct those keen to learn on how to do it properly.
Despite each driver having an hour-and-a-half of available track time (split into several sessions) , happily this year no-one found him- or herself straying extensively – and expensively – into the Castle Combe scenery. Sadly, however, the wretched Covid also made its presence felt, accounting for almost half-a-dozen late no-shows from some of the BDO’s most popular driver regulars.
Missing this year, too, was the presence of our much-appreciated president, Nick Mason, whose close-of-play tea and reception at his home not far from ‘Combe’ has become a highlight of the ‘BDO’. This time Nick had to be away on delayed musical business (thanks again, pandemic), so the day finished at the circuit clubhouse instead. However, Nick has made clear that he fully intends to resume hospitality at Maison Mason next year.
Most definitely present, however, was Friend of the Guild and Suzuki GB’s Head of Press and PR, Alun Parry and his team, along with a small fleet of Suzuki models for drivers to test on nearby public roads when not otherwise engaged on the circuit. Alun and Suzuki have been consistent, stalwart supporters of the Guild and not least the BDO, of which they were, once again, sponsor – financing much of the circuit hire and catering. “It was good for us, too – the cars were in use pretty much all of the day”, Alun said afterwards.
Casting a fatherly eye over the whole event was our former Hon Sec, Chris Adamson, the committee member who has organised the BDO with consummate efficiency and attention to detail since its inception. Chris has now delegated it on, having set the tone and format for the event which should stand it in good future stead. The BDO regulars owe him many thanks.
John Griffiths
Photos: Jeff Bloxham