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Area 10 - February 2026 update

Jeff Sears | Published on 2/15/2026

Area 10
February 2026 News Update



I have two Area 10 events to report on for January, the first of which was our monthly meeting which we held on the 8th at The Bird in Hand. 

Despite being just two days before our annual dinner, 
we had a good turnout, although Storm Goretti discouraged all but four brave Astons from venturing out.  Two of those Astons belonged to recently-joined new Members Sam Downes and Graham Curren and so we hope to get a proper look at their cars when the rain stops for future meetings.


On Saturday 10 January, we held our New Year Dinner at the Gerrards Cross Golf Club.  It was another great success, with the staff looking after us really well.  Our musical entertainment, string quartet Bowjangles, provided suitably calm background music for our drinks reception, before entertaining us with a combination of music, singing and comedy culminating with the performers catching foam balls on their Velcro headgear whilst playing their instruments around the tables – bizarre!  Our thanks go to Geoff & Carole Dische for arranging the whole event – they are already mentioning Saturday 9 January 2027 as a date for next year and so please save the date.


new year 2026





Future Events


We are holding our monthly meeting for February at The Spade Oak in Bourne End where we will be in The Snug – I will see you there on 12 February from 6:30pm.

Our April meeting, on the 9th will be held at The Bird in Hand, Knowl Hill.  It will feature our annual quiz and AGM.  At the brief AGM I will summarise our Area 10 accounts and hold our elections for rep and assistant rep.  Both Liz Constance and I are happy to continue for another year, but please get in touch by the middle of March if you are interested in taking on either of the roles. Liz focuses on the website and social media, but we would welcome an assistant rep to help with events.

The weekend of 25/26 April is pretty busy – we have two of our fully-subscribed visits to the Wellesbourne Vulcan XM655 on the Saturday whilst on the Sunday, Drive-it Day, there is a choice of the Bicester Scramble or the British GT Supercar Sunday at Silverstone.  The Silverstone racing includes a 3-hour GT3/GT4 endurance race which will involve some Vantages.  In fact, one of the Aston GT4 drivers will be Owen Hizzey who is the great-nephew of Area 10 Member Peter Foster – Pete is a senior Member of the AMOC and has raced a DB4 (amongst others).  So please cheer on Owen if you plan to attend.  You can apply to park your Aston in an advanced position and enjoy two free tickets - visit Supercar Sunday | Silverstone

Our third visit to the Vulcan is on the afternoon of Saturday 2 May.  As I write there are a couple of places available for that visit.

The annual Donington Historic Festival takes place over the weekend of 1-3 May – discounted tickets are available using a club code – details are on the club website at: Donington Historic Festival 2026 - Events - Aston Martin Owners Club

We have 20 Members signed up for Steve Johnson’s visit to the Denham Bowls Club, Bucks on Wednesday 6 May for an introduction to lawn bowls – the day will include welcome refreshments, introduction to the game and etiquette, lunch, friendly competition and tea.  All bowls and equipment will be provided by the club.  The cost is £25 per person with a maximum number of 24 people - as I write we have four places available.  Please register your interest with Steve (steve.jelumy@btinternet.com), copy me, and you will be given payment details.

SupercarFest The Runway takes place at Sywell Aerodrome, Northants on the weekend of 16/17 May.  For details visit: Supercar Fest the Runway 2026

We will be holding “Feast on the Farm” at Peterley Manor Farm on the evening of Wednesday 20 May – details to follow.

This year the Pangbourne Classic Car Show at Pangbourne College takes place on Saturday 30 May. Tickets to exhibit cost £5 per car – visit: Pangbourne Classic Car Show | Pangbourne College





The AMOC Spring Weekend with Concours and Dinner is being held at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland on the weekend of 6/7 June – if you plan to attend you might like to consider booking accommodation.

Aston Martin has been chosen as a featured marque for the Abingdon Air & Country Show on Saturday 13 June – which means that we will be on display within the showground as well as having a run down the runway and down the crowd-line. I attended last year and the air display was superb. To apply, visit their website www.abingdonairandcountry.co.uk and download a classic vehicle form to fill out and return to Mr Ben Tyler at the address / email on that form.  Note that there is an entry fee of £5 per car which goes go to nominated charities (as per their website).  Please put 'AMOC' on your form so they know that you are part of the overall AMOC contingent.  All cars need to be in place by 9.45am absolute latest and exiting the showground will be after 4.30pm.

The annual AMOC Festival is being held at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon on Sunday 21 June. This year it will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the V12 Vanquish.  Tickets for Aston drivers and passengers are available at £13 per person – visit: AMOC Festival 2026 - Aston Martin Owners Club

If you are not heading for Gaydon, Hart Classics have announced the 2026 Classic Car & Motorcycle Show to be held on Sunday 21 June at The Elvetham Hotel, Hartley Wintney, RG27 8AS. All ages of cars are welcome and there is a Supercar Category.  For more information visit: hartclassics.co.uk

Jo has arranged for us to visit Summerdown Farm near Basingstoke on Thursday 25 June.  The farm specialises in growing, harvesting and distilling Black Mitcham peppermint which is used in products such as tea, chocolate and fragrances.  After welcome refreshments, Ian Margetts, their ‘Master of Mint,’ will lead us on a 1.5 to 2-hour walking tour of the farm offering a truly unique insight into what they do and we will see their mint and lavender fields in full bloom, and visit the distillery.   The tour will be followed by a 2-course lunch in their Old Cricket Pavilion. They are arranging special private access and parking for us, to avoid the local narrow lanes.  The cost for the day is £54 per person with numbers limited to 30 people.  Please register your interest with me by Friday 13 February to gauge the level of interest and confirm the viability of the event.

Steve Cory reports a high level of interest in his proposed visit to Retrotec and Hever Castle on 16/17 July.  This is his latest report:

“I’m still waiting for a response from The People’s Mosquito, so I can’t confirm anything at this stage.  A total of 40 people have registered their interest in the visit which is an excellent response, but I suspect that Retrotec will place a limit on the number of people that they can accommodate.  Names have been added to the list in the order that I received their emails, and spaces will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.  There will be a reserve list if Retrotec can’t take us all”.

Hopefully Steve will have more news for us soon.

The popular annual Bristol Motor Club Classic & Performance Car Parade is being held at the Castle Combe circuit on Sunday 2 August – it is free to attend or £25 per car to take part in all three sessions of laps behind a pace car. Registration is now open – for more information visit Event: Classic & Performance Parade

A reminder to save the date for our Area 10 Tom May Special Meeting at the Eton Dorney Rowing Lake on Thursday 6 August.

Advance notice that Simply Aston Martin at Beaulieu is being held next year on Sunday 23 August. You can purchase discounted earlybird tickets by using the discount code SIMPLYEB before 1 March.

We have again been invited to exhibit our Astons at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre Auto Fest on bank holiday Monday 31 August.  They welcome cars, motorbikes, vans, buses, fire engines, bicycles to be displayed, but our Astons will have a special area reserved by the Visitor Centre.  Steam train rides and all the fun of their heritage railway will be on offer as well.  There is a suggested (but not obligatory) donation of £6 per car for exhibitors.

We have had an excellent response to our Area 10 Belgium Car Tour from 6 to 9 October.  The first 15 rooms were snapped up promptly and so three more were reserved of which only the last one is still available.  Those of you who have reserved your places will have received an email from Paul Trill on 30 January.  If you would like to take the last room, please register using this link: DA – AMOC Area 10 WW1 Registration form and room selection – Drive Away


Other News



We have some Members who are new to Area 10 over the past month – I would like to welcome John & Brenda Davison.

And for F1 fans, I have just received this from Edward Jensen, AMOC’s F1 Reporter:

“Good morning Jeff,

In the spirit of trying to be a unbiased as possible and inclusive of as many members as possible I am sharing the 2026 Aston Martin Hospitality prices for every GP race weekend this season.  I know that the prices are eye-watering, equivalent to a major service for one of our gorgeous cars. 

Notwithstanding that, if you want to share the attached price list with Area 10 & if any members would like a ticket(s) for any of these Grands Prix just let me know and I'll introduce them to the AMF1 department that deals with race hospitality. If they want to know what's included for the cost, I attach a feature that I wrote for AM Quarterly in 2024.

If anybody wants any guidance as to which one(s) to go to, they can message me directly on WhatsApp or by email and I'll try to provide the benefit of my experience.

Best regards.

Edward

07775-793513

edward.jensen@amoc.org