Growler 4

Charlecote Park - Warwickshire

It never ceases to amaze me how all the planning behind arranging something as big as GROWLER always seems to fall into place at the very last moment and this year was no exception to the rule.

Over the weekend of 5-6 May 2007 GROWLER IV took place at the picturesque venue of Charlecote Park in Warwickshire.

The proceedings began with the arrival of the Guv’nor at the venue at around 8am on the Saturday morning to greet the companies that were there to display during the event. Present were SNG Barratt Ltd, Paramount Performance, EAPJ, Wheels R Us, DesignXKR and Guy Salmon Jaguar Coventry (who kindly acted as sponsors to our main trophy awards).

We were also privileged to have on show some cars loaned to us from the JDHT museum. On display were the famous James Bond villains green XKR, the last ever old shape XKR production line model and a new shaped XK in a promotional pastel shade of yellow. Many thanks go out to Tony O’Keefe and his staff at JDHT for allowing us to have these exhibits on display.

Members began arriving at the venue around 9:30 and one by one they streamed through the gates. A convoy, initially arranged by JJ, was also later brought into the arena and brought much attention to the flocking crowd.

By around midday we had attracted 83 XK8 and XKRs which although was slightly down on last years figures it was still impressive all the same. At 12:15 we finally unveiled the much awaited modified car of one of our member’s, entitled the XKS. Now with the exterior finally finished (but still not the interior) the car was unveiled to the waiting crowd.

SNG Barratt also kindly awarded a Bottle of Champagne to a member who had earlier in the day completed one of their feedback surveys.

The event eventually finished around 4pm when some of us then headed off to our overnight accommodation at the Stratford Manor Hotel. We then spent the evening hosting a member’s dinner and arose somewhat tiredly Sunday morning to travel in convoy to the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) where we boarded a steam train for lunch.

Designated parking was arranged for us on arrival and the rest of the day was spent enjoying picturesque countryside and filling our faces with food & drink. It appears from the many comments received that everyone enjoyed the whole weekend event, even the weather stayed lovely for us.

The only trouble now is we have to plan it all again for GROWLER V as that one will be held to celebrate the XKRs 10th Anniversary.

As pictures can say far more than words I leave you with pictures of just some of the cars present on the day. The pictures I think say it all. Our sincere thanks go out to everyone who supported the event. If you want to see more pictures from the day then check out the Photo Albums in the Members Only section.