THE PUBLIC FEEDBACK ABOUT THE CLIMB

We have had fantastic feedback after the event.  Please find some of it here:

Aston Hill Climb Centenary
Comments about “The Climb”

Dear Pete
What a fantastic day- we so enjoyed it and very grateful you were able to fit us in at the last minute
So well organised and so many interesting cars and people. I don’t think there has ever been such a
collection of makes and vintages, even at Prescott.
You and you team are to be congratulated.
Best wishes Tom and Jenny Griin Bentley 3Litre.
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Dear Pete
I was very sorry unexpectedly not to have been able to drive my 1924 Aston Martin (number 47) in the
event, but equally very glad for the car to be present in the hands of Robert Blakemore of Ecurie Bertelli to
fulfil my commitment. By all accounts the event was most successful, apart from the number of
complaints I heard that it was unexpectedly cold in the morning at the top of the hill!
Many congratulations to you and your fellow enthusiasts on organising what will clearly be remembered
as a landmark event for Aston Clinton, for Aston Martin and for all participants, and best wishes to all
concerned.
Well done! Chris Lendrum
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Dear Pete,
Huge thanks to you for the initiative behind making Aston 100 happen, to the organising committee, the
parish Council, MSA (especially permission etc) and of course special thanks to all those who gave their
time for organising, setting up and making Aston 100 a great and memorable day.
It was for me a special day as a lifelong enthusiast of early Bentley’s and admirer of the early motoring
endeavours, l have hoped for years that there would be an event to mark this important and historic piece
of our motoring history.
Bentley Motors participation at Aston Clinton was intense and key to déverrouillage the 3 Litre in those
first few years and it was really interesting to learn more about WO Bentley’s earlier connections also with
his drivers, friends and key people to Bentley’s Cricklewood era such as Frank Clement, Bertie Kensington
Moir and also the competition.
With much appreciation and great moments to remember.
Wishing your all the very best, Stephen Forsey
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Thanks Pete. Once again well done to all involved. You could not have delivered a better day!
Regards, Martin Bryant
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Dear Pete,
I just wanted to say a big thank you to you and your team for organising and running such a fun event.
I thought the on the day organisation was handled with a relax but eAicient hand that added to a very
enjoyable event.
Well done and now have a well-earned rest if that’s possible.
Thank you again. Kind regards, Rob Murray
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Pete
Many thanks for your email and its photo links. A wonderful archive of a great day.
Thank you also to you and the HCAAC team for the enormous amount of work and time that you invested
in a memorable event. I know I speak for the many VSCC members who took part in expressing our
appreciation of all that you arranged – even the Clerk of the Weather co-operated! Certainly, a unique
occasion.
You may have heard that a Rover cooked its gearbox and dropped burning gearbox fluid on the hill during
the morning. It was my son en route to The Show and he reported that the marshals reacted promptly and
eAectively to what could have been a nasty incident. As it was, he was able to drive home at the end of
the day in a fully functioning motor car.
Just a small point, didn’t we plan a photographer on the roof of Aston Lodge? The photos I’ve seen so far
seem to be from ground level.
Thanks again, Pete, for your huge contribution to our fun.
With best wishes, Ian Cheese
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Dear Pete
Congratulations on a really great event. We thoroughly enjoyed Saturday, and we also visited the
exhibition the previous day and had a presentation from Mike.
I was driving my latest acquisition, the 1923 Aston Martin Razor Blade, which I was relieved went up the
hill without any issues. My wife brought our 1933 Aston Martin Le Mans for display.
I agree with you that the children were delightful and brought a great atmosphere to the Paddock & Start.
The photo galleries from Nick Salmon look great. However, I have tried to download the photos of Razor
Blade, and I get a message that the owner of the photos has not enabled downloading.
Can you share Nick Salmon’s contact details so I can directly contact him to seek copies of a few photos?
Kind regards and congratulations once again. David Martyr
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Thanks, Pete.
An excellent event. John Worth
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Pete, thanks to you and the team for a really good day. Special thanks to you for sorting my last-minute
failure with the Romano and allowing me to attend with the Bentley.

Please pass on my thanks to the team for what seemed to be a perfect event, the organisation for a one-
oA event was super-eAicient and a credit to you all.

Hope our paths cross again sometime soon.
Kind regards Julian Grimwade
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Hi Pete
As you say, we have no way to know for sure the absolute visitor numbers as the majority of tickets were
sold per car
In total we sold the following ticket numbers:
1338 cars, 70 motorcycles, 70 pedestrians
If we assume 2-3 people per car, then the total attendees would be somewhere in the range between
2800 – 4150
Given that there were some afternoon un-ticketed arrivals and judging by the volume of people in the
display field, I would say it was comfortably towards the upper end of that range.
Regards, Neil Ashcroft
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Dear Pete
A brilliant event and such fun! A big ‘thank you’ to you and all the team who put it together, and then who
did so much work on the day to make it a success.
‘One oA’ events are always so special, and we were lucky to be included. With an early car 1911 Darracq I
did have concern as to whether the hill would prove too steep, but we got up easily but possibly garnered
the slowest time of day. The enthusiasm from local people lining the streets from the start reminded us of
the London-Brighton Run! The paddock at the top of the hill had an incredible collection of historic and
unusual vehicles and the whole atmosphere was indeed very special.
The whole event was great achievement for you all and much enjoyed. Thank you, Robert Mansfield
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Dear Pete
I think the more compelling thanks must go to yourself and the team for all the hard work you put in to
such a memorable occasion. You all made it so pleasurable and so well organised. There is such a sense
of elation at getting up that hill that one almost felt the sensation of a century ago. I gather all of the
combustion propelled vehicle made the ascent.
I had quite a chat with Kyle at the display and he indicated his enthusiasm for journalism and the motor
world. I suggested to him he might like to talk to our Singer Editor, John Simister who is well known in the
profession, but we didn’t have time to swap contacts. If you could give him my email address –
borleyfolksworth@gmail.com I’d be most grateful.
Do thank Nick for the pictures and to you and the team thank you again.
Regards Colin Borley
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Hi Pete
What an enjoyable day! Thank you to everyone and their eAorts in delivering such a well organised
event. It was lovely to see the younger generation getting excited about our historic vehicles!
Thanks again, Andrew Stevens (#76)
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Hi Pete, thanks for email. I was no84, would just like to thank all concerned with the organisation and
running of the event, and all the volunteers that gave up their time to help us entrants on the day. I visited
the exhibition earlier in the week, and bought a copy of the book, have already read it, a fantastic account
of Aston Hill, please pass on my thanks to the authors, many thanks Chris Lewis.
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Dear Pete,
You are right to praise the event, which was well organised, fun, historically important and did good things
for the vintage car movement. Of course, what you don’t say is your substantial contribution to the day. I
know about this first hand as I kept pestering you with complexities and changes. As it turns out the
Voisin was very popular with a surprising number of people appreciating the unique aesthetic of Gabriel
Voisin’s Lumineuse. It was a great privilege to do the run and have it on display. Thank you very sincerely
for a great event.
Please pass on my thanks to your committee. With kind regards, Charles Pither
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Hi Pete,
Thanks for a great day. Well done to the whole team. Richard Whittemore.
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Good morning, Mike, Steve & Pete,
Wow! What a day – well done to you all – and everyone else involved on the event. It truly was a wonderful
day, everyone has been so positive about it, and thanks to you and your wonderful idea, Aston Clinton is
now firmly back on the British Motorsport map!
A huge amount of work, particularly by you three, but worth every moment. So, on behalf of the Parish
Council, thank you for allowing us to be a part of this important event.
I do hope that we can organise a get-together of some sort with everyone who organised it – it would be
nice to be able to share our memories of the event once more …
I had quite a few chats with “Nick the Click” both in the park and at the Show – a very nice chap!!
Hope to see you all again soon. With kind regards,
Marion Mason CHAIR – ASTON CLINTON PARISH COUNCIL
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Hello Pete, We had a fabulous time on Saturday we arrive at the start around 8am and once the public
were allowed to wander around my vehicle drew plenty of attention, and I spent most of the time telling
people about it, with my number being 46, I wasn’t as fast as Valentino Rossi, once we set oA on the
route to the hill climb all the people were cheering us on it was fantastic, I did an interview at the show
and I had lots of people looking at my vehicle and once again talking about it, many thanks to you and
your team for organising this event, all the very best Steve Williamson
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Hi Pete,
I came to the Aston Hill 100 commemoration on Saturday and very much enjoyed it.
Huge thanks to all of you who made it happen.
Sorry I didn’t get to meet you, but it was hard to find an individual at such a huge event.
I had chats with many interesting folks including Rob Murray who let me sit in Green Pea.
I shall write something for SCCON’s Spotlight newsletter, and you may be able to help me with some
statistics: Do you know – How many period cars drove up Aston Hill? and how many motor bikes?
Do you know how many classic cars attended the whole event? and how many classic bikes?
And how many other cars in the visitor’s car park?
Once again, many, many thanks. Regards, Peter Riddle SCCON
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Good afternoon, Peter,
I just wanted to congratulate and, indeed, thank you for your part of yesterday. It all seemed to run very
smoothly.
Having ‘been there’ myself, I fully aware of what was necessary to achieve the above. Well done.
Kind regards, Neil Murray
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Morning Peter,
Justin a quick note to say thank you to all who were involved for a fabulous event yesterday. Sarah, Maddie
and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. A real success and a great selection of cars.
We particularly liked the school children on the start line with their overalls and moustaches.
Thanks again
Jon Rose
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Dear Pete,
I am sure your inbox is inundated with messages of thanks and praise for a quite stupendous day
yesterday. It must rank as one of the best old car events of the year. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and
did not meet a single person who was not in the same happy position. So well done to you and your huge
and enthusiastic team at Aston Clinton.
Best wishes, Martin and Hilary Bryant

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Dear Peter
May I take this opportunity to thank you so much for the opportunity to drive up Aston Hill at your
wonderful event.
The volunteers were delightful, and the atmosphere was marvellous. The locals all waved and cheered as
we went by. Truly a magical experience. The kids on the start line were great fun.
What a well organised and relaxed special climb.
We cannot begin to explain how much we enjoyed it and we met some old friends and new.
We saw cars today that we rarely see out and about so congratulations too on the eclectic mix of pre 1926
vehicles and also the display vehicles.
I believe Aston Martin missed a massive marketing coup as they could have provided course cars and
really made more of it. Your partners and sponsors were really lovely to us. Chiltern Aston especially were
so welcoming. In summary we had an absolute ball, and the car stormed up the hill.
Thank you so much! Please do pass on our thanks to your wonderful volunteers.
Yours, Sam Whittaker
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Dear Pete
I am sorry that this is a rather belated thank you for the brilliant day we had at Aston Hill Climb on
Saturday. The organisation was first class, the atmosphere was brilliant and very relaxed and as someone
said, so much better than all the shenanigans that go on at Goodwood! We had such a good time. The
drive was lovely with lots of locals waving and cheering and you even organised terrific weather! There
were loads of lovely cars in attendance that had not been out and about for years, and everyone was in
thoroughly good spirits.
We really loved the children at the start; they looked so smart and were so well behaved and a credit to
their school. The way they came out with their banner at the Start line was super fun and as for their
moustaches – well, just brilliant!
The whole day was a superb and we would like to thank everyone who made it such
fun. Congratulations! If only we could do that every year!
With best wishes and very many thanks
Kate C-K and Tony Crump
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