Posh stately homes always provide an excellent venue for family VW shows, and Stanford Hall is one of the nicest, most chilled out and well attended meets of the season. Being located near to a river, thank goodness this year’s event on May 4th was blessed with dry conditions and lovely early spring sunshine which served to attract an even bigger and more enthusiastic crowd than usual…

We’ve been going to this location for more years than we care to remember and when the sun shines at Stanford Hall, it’s beautiful. Of course the vast turnout of concours entrants, club displays and trade stands always make it an early highlight in the show calendar – and what’s great is the eclectic mix of cars.

 

Right through from absolutely stock to massively modified, there’s vehicles to suit all tastes – and always a good number of Porsches to add to the occasion. Indeed, the show seems to attract a perfect balance of air- and water-cooled models, with the main emphasis on providing a relaxed, totally laid back meet for all ages and interest groups.

This year was particularly memorable, being the 40th anniversary of the Golf the Mk1 Golf Owners Club put on a special display of cars, while the Historic VW Club also had a number of really early Beetles, along with a rare Kubelwagen. The Split Screen Van club were also out in big numbers after having their AGM the night before and there must have been at least 200 splitties in attendance. The VW Cabriolet Owners Club, who were also celebrating a big anniversary, being 65 years since the first Karmann soft top Beetle, also used the venue for their AGM.

As swathes of visitors rummaged through the trade stand area, took in the show and shine cars and generally kicked back to enjoy a great weekend, the event was again the success it’s always been made brilliant by the superb quality – and diversity – of cars. It’s nice to know some things never change!

Ian

Thanks again to my neice, Jess Cushway, for the splendid photos!

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage