RIP Longleat?

[jonners]

Oh no

RIP Longleat (by the looks of things)

Not the best venue by any stretch of the imagination but over many years I've had some wonderful times there and looked forward to the annual weekend enormously - just had a good feeling

Such a shame - hope Woolbidge can pull something out of the bag next year

[b1ackcr0w]

What's the source of this bad news please Jonners?

[Steve Wilkinson]

According to the MSA website and the fixtures pages Longleat is due to run on the 17th & 18th October; has something happened to alter this?

[Dan Friel]

As posted on the Woolbridge page back in December.

As many of you are aware, Woolbridge Motor Club have, for many years, run the annual speed hillclimb in the grounds of the Longleat Estate. In the latter years the hillclimb has been one of the last events of the season, taking place the third weekend in September.
In 2007 Longleat Estate requested a change of dates for 2008. They explained that they had considered their gate takings and the number of return tickets used by their visitors during September. It is a busy time for the estate and the disruption caused by the event, with the closure of one of the main entrances, was causing difficulties and so July was offered for 2008 as a compromise. At first I did not understand their reasoning, but it would seem that many people would visit the Safari during the Easter and Summer school holidays and use the return ticket facility to visit the remaining attractions later that year. As the July date was before the school summer holiday, it meant that they had less visitors than in September. We agreed to change the date in the hope that the weather would be better than 2007 (note for self – don’t rely on the British weather again!
During the set up for the 2008 event, John Forsyth and I had a meeting with the Longleat Estate management to discuss the renewal of the Contract for the upcoming three years. We were given a number of new provisions (i) the Contract would now be on an annual basis (ii) the hiring fee would increase (iii) they could no longer offer July or September as a suitable date and (iv) everyone would be charged to camp at the venue. The new dates proposed by Longleat were anytime during October to March. After lengthy discussions an eventual date of 17/18th October 2009 was offered.
Running an event this late in the year has a number of problems including the lack of daylight hours which would mean dismantling the event in darkness with all the potential Health & Safety issues that brings. Less daylight and a greater probability of poor weather would suggest the need for lower entry numbers which may have lead to an increase in the entry fee and a possible further lack of entrants. These were only just a few of the issues that were considered.
The Woolbridge Committee, having discussed the proposed dates over time and at great length, have taken the difficult decision to cancel the event for 2009. I have requested that Longleat review the dates offered for the 2010 season.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Steve Wilkinson

According to the MSA website and the fixtures pages Longleat is due to run on the 17th & 18th October; has something happened to alter this?

Having checked back on the MSA site after Dan's post above I now find that the two Longleat dates have been removed!

[Dan Friel]

Sorry for that news.. however, I can't wait to get back and give Mamhead a go, that looks an amazing new hill.

[RED21]

I’ve always enjoyed Longleat, even in the heavy rain we had last year.
I did prefer the September dates as it usually gave a nice close to the season so I hope it does return.
I do know that Woolbridge are looking at alternative venues and one is to be inspected by the MSA soon?

[JasagRacer]

I have been lucky enough to compete at Longleat a few times and it is a great Hillclimb.
Hope it can be saved.