May The Fourth Be With You

Photo: Tracy Kramer

Sometimes in life, one looks back upon an event or circumstance and thinks "How on earth can I top this?" This year's fourth edition of the Vintage Velo was one such moment.

Photo: Tracy Kramer

Assembling on the Downs on a glorious spring Sunday lunchtime, we knew from the first that it was going to be a good 'un. The usual mix of repeat attendees and fresh faces were assembled, before we headed off across the Downs into the delightful leafy suburbs of Sneyd Park.

 As with our last two editions, we kept the ride element of the day short and sweet. An expedition deep into the countryside is all well and good, until the realisation dawns that you have to cycle miles to rejoin civilisation, while wearing a floaty dress, riding an extremely heavy and overgeared bicycle, and having overdone the gin to boot.

Photo: Tracy Kramer

After a stop for ginger beer, the ride skirted the edges of Shirehampton before diving down a leafy lane to our destination, Kingsweston House. Originally built in 1719 for the diplomat Edward Southwell, the house served as a stately home, a military barracks, and finally a police training centre, then fell into disrepair around the turn of the millennium. Saved from demolition and recently purchased by new owners, the house was easily our grandest end destination yet.

Photo: Tracy Kramer

This year as well as games, food and drink, the entertainment on offer included some basic dancing lessons, which were to prove invaluable when cutting the rug to the Bruce-Ilett Six. There was also a thoroughly entertaining re-imagining of Cluedo, courtesy of Splash and Ripple.

The day ended, as is now traditional, with the award of the coveted Dapper Chap and Chapess prizes. It was very pleasing to see the winner of Best Chap become so over-excited that he jumped on his bike and started doing laps of an appreciative crowd. A veritable cornucopia of prizes were also given away courtesy of our lovely sponsors.

Photo: Amanda Edmondson

 Our thanks, as ever, go out to our team of volunteers for making this happen, Norman and the staff at Kingsweston House for making our event possible, the Bruce-Ilett Six and Swing Dance Bristol, our generous sponsors, and of course all our subscribers. Chapeau!

A word from our sponsors

We're pleased to confirm some more excellent prizes from top-notch local businesses. Enter our raffle, or push the boat out with your attire, and you could get lucky!

Bristol Bootlegger (pictured above) have very kindly laid on a voucher for dinner and wine for two. With their 1920s speakeasy-themed bar, it'll be the perfect setting for a dapper date.

The redoubtable People's Republic of Stokes Croft have thrown some commemorative china into the tombola (not literally, we hasten to add), while the excellent repository of creative art Here Shop have contributed a stylish bicycle journal - perfect for recording your thoughts, or writing them a thank you note.

Further up the Gloucester Road, Grape and Grind have donated an extremely nice bottle of wine. On the other side of town entirely, The Old Bookshop  are offering free tapas to one lucky subscriber. And finally a special mention to Watershed, who have added a pair of cinema tickets to our groaning prize table.

Prizes, prizes, prizes

As well as a smashing day of riding bikes, top-notch entertainment, and fine food and drink, we like to spoil our subscribers with a dazzling array of prizes, for participants in our competitions and our raffle. Previous editions have featured fine wines, custom-made musettes, and more, and this year promises to be the best yet.

All stylish ladies need cufflinks

If you come along this year you could win a delightful assortment of lifestyle accoutrements, including a lovely pair of ladies' cufflinks, courtesy of sallydove from Makers Bristol. It takes a certain insouciance to deploy cuffinks as daywear, but we're sure that the vast majority of people capable of doing so will be in attendance at our ride.

We also have an Uppercut Deluxe wash kit from purveyors of perfect partings Angry Daves (including pomade, and that chap's essential, moustache wax), and a book token from Bloom and Curll (pictured right). Any bookshop with a prominent selection of PG Wodehouse gets the nod from us, and we're sure it'll provide one lucky subscriber with a more engaging browsing experience than any new-fangled internet trickery.

Fancy a browse?

We're also extremely excited have a much sought-after entry to L'Eroica Britannia, "The most handsome bike race in the world" up for grabs.

Taking place in the beautiful Peak District between 20-22 June, the event is open to riders of "heroic bicycles" (i.e. those over a certain age) and offers a choice of routes through stunning British countryside, plus a three-day vintage festival. The entry also includes complementary camping for up to three people.

This is by no means the definitive list, so check back soon for more exciting swag.