ACE Annual General Meeting Agenda
Wednesday 4th November 2026, The Royal Oak Ashbourne
Chairman’s Report (Overview of Last Year)
I'm delighted to present my first annual report as your chairman and thank you again for putting your trust in me at the AGM last year. I think we have had a good year with both a good programme of the regular events which we've been running in this club for a good few years and two significant new initiatives - the launch of our website and our first ever Ashbourne Classic Car Festival.
The year started with our annual dinner in February at the Bentley Brook Inn - well organised by Mel Howe and Helen (Mrs Walker). We were once again well looked after by the Bentley Brook and could enjoy some photographs of the previous year’s events, a challenging quiz and a little look forward to the year to come. In the months after the dinner Mel and Helen looked at whether it would be nice to have a change from Bentley Brook. They reviewed a long list of local alternatives, visited a short list and prepared a comprehensive spread sheet comparing the different possible venues against a number of criteria. The analysis truly exceeded expectations. The spread sheet was presented to the ACE Committee with the conclusion that the Bentley Brook remains the best option for us considering everything, including the hall for the dinner, the overall quality and value and the food options being offered. The Committee is very grateful for the thorough and professional way that Mel and Helen looked into this subject.
Our Spring Run on the day of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs Drive it Day, as usual, was organised by Doug and Liz Billings and we had a beautiful drive over the Staffordshire Moorlands to Dunham Massey - a lovely National trust Property near Manchester. A round trip of around 100 Miles.
In Spring we launched our new website and we are very grateful to Dave Hatchett and his son Jonathan for setting that up. They also set us up with the club e-mail addresses to enable us to post club email addresses in the public domain. Dave Robson has taken the role of Webmaster and is always pleased to receive material to put on the site. He can be contacted on the contact@ashbournecarclub.org email address. Dave, would you stand up or wave?
This initiative, together with the Ashbourne Classic Car Festival, and the continuous efforts of club members to spread the word about our club, has been very effective in raising our profile and attracting new members. I'm delighted to be able to tell you that since last year’s AGM we have had 46 new members join our club. Several of whom are here tonight – and we extend a warm welcome to you for your first AGM.
This year, as every year, we have said good bye to a number of old friends who through ill health or other reasons are no longer able to continue with their classic cars and in this past year we've lost 20 members. That maybe a bit higher than in some years as we have made some efforts to get our membership lists in order. This is not a mathematical game, it’s about people, but from the point of view of an annual review of the club’s situation and its long term sustainability, it is good to know that we are 26 members ahead!
Our Summer Run was to Stella’s Kitchen near Eyam with its surprisingly located, and exceptional, African Cuisine, for a late lunch. Having lunch rather than dinner was a nice change from our typical pattern of having an evening meal. Another lovely run – through Derbyshire’s beautiful countryside this time.
On the first Sunday in August, we held the first ever Ashbourne Classic Car Festival working in conjunction with the Ashbourne Town Team and using the wonderfully enhanced public spaces which have been delivered by the Ashbourne Reborn investment. We had over 80 cars of exceptional quality filling the Market Place, Victoria Square and Shrovetide Walk with overflow in the QEGS school car park. The weather was perfect and we had hundreds probably thousands of visitors and so many positive remarks, lovely conversations between the car owners and the visitors, and between club members and others who had just brought their cars along. We are extremely grateful to a small team led by Andy Thomas supported by Dave Robson and me, who met with the town team, led by Anne Wright, the owner of Young Ideas and Henmore’s, and her staff, who put this car show together - it was a lot of work.
We're also very grateful to Robert Shields of Longcliffe Quarries who gave us £500 of sponsorship to help us with the costs of marketing, signs and banners, drip trays, clean up materials etc.
We have already got permission to use Market Place, Victoria Square and Shrovetide Walk for the first Sunday in August 2027 for the second annual Classic Car Festival and we are applying to close Dig Street so that we can have a continuous show of cars right from the Market Place down to Shrovetide Walk. We estimate we will be able to accommodate 105 cars in that space and considering how many entries we had this year we do not anticipate any problem in being able to fill all the available spaces.
Our Annual Trip Away was to Sandburn Hall Hotel near York and was well organised by Brian Humphries and Jane Potter and very well attended. It was an outstanding hotel with lovely rooms, great food and good service – and in a beautiful part of North Yorkshire. The prosecco reception every night before dinner was a very classy innovation. And this year Helen and I would have been there in time, apart from a small breakdown on the York bypass!
Our Autumn Run was to the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, organised by Helen and me. It was a lovely run through Cannock Chase and it was possible to get through the built up areas of the West Midlands without getting lost – though not easy!
Noggin and Natters have continued on 2nd Wednesday of each month at the Shoulder of Mutton in Osmaston with a steady attendance of around 20 people.
One of our members, Kev Howe, won 1st place in this year’s Chatsworth Vintage Car Display for his class with his 1936 MG TA. He has worked on this car for years and it is a real achievement to get this result against the quality that was on display.
And finally, we are back here again at The Royal Oak for our AGM - and a huge thank you to Hilary for organising the lovely meal for us.
Your Committee has met 5 times during the last year and sought to provide and facilitate an enjoyable programme of activities for the club as well as being good stewards of the club funds. I would like to thank the committee members and officers for all their work.
Events Planned For Next Year
a. Annual Dinner – Friday 26th February – Bentley Brook Inn – Mel Howe and Helen Walker
b. Additional Event – 18th March – Aldridge Transport Museum – with a classic bus ride to get there – Peter Mayes
c. Spring Run – FBHVC Drive It Day – Sunday 25th April – Liz and Tom Sread
d. Summer Run – Sunday 27th June followed by 30th Anniversary Party: Run - Stephen and Jo Blakey; Party – Helen and Tony Walker, Bradley
e. Ashbourne Classic Car Festival – Sunday 1st August
f. Annual Away Trip – 3 nights, 13th -16th September – Bailbrook House Hotel, Bath – Bob and Britt Westhall
g. Autumn Run – Sunday 26th September – Andy and Trish Thomas
h. Noggin and Natters – 12:00 noon, second Wednesday of each month (not December) – Shoulder of Mutton, Osmaston