Annual Rally 2023: General Information

This year’s annual rally is at Milton Keynes Museum on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 May.

Overview

The annual rally has always been the club’s biggest and best event of the year and as always we hope as many members as possible can come along to celebrate. The museum address is Milton Keynes Museum, McConnell Drive, Wolverton, Milton Keynes, MK12 5EL.

Like all our events it’s very informal. We encourage all members to bring at least one machine from their collection to exhibit, hopefully more. It’s surprising how much you can get in the boot of a car when you try! All mowers are welcome, large and small, hand and motorised. Bring family and friends too - even if they are not interested in mowers, there’s lots to see at the museum.

This Year's Themes

Museum's 50th Anniversary: to help the Museum celebrate this major milestone we are planning to create a timeline of significant mowers from each decade from the 1830s to the 2000s. In additon to mowers from the Museum's own collection this will include mowers brought to the event by members of the club. Please bring machines that you would like to include. We are also keen for members to bring mowers made in 1973 (or the early 1970s in general), the year the museum was founded. It is interesting to reflect that when we formed the club in 1990, mowers that were then over 50 years old were all made before the Second World War.

Kings and Queens: to mark the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Coronation of King Charles III we are repeating the ever-popular theme of mowers with some kind of royal connection. This could be, for example, the name of the mower: there are lots with a name linked to royalty such as Prince, Princess, and Marquis but we are sure that our members can find plenty of others. We would also like to see mowers with other kinds of royal connection. This might include, for example, mowers that were once used on a royal estate. Even a mower with a royal crest on its grass box would qualify!

Catalogue Mowers: another regular theme at our events in "catalogue mowers", in other words mowers made by one company but sold by another with a different name. Examples include mowers made for a department store or an ironmonger with their own name or mowers sold through mail order catalogues. There are lots of examples and it is always a popular theme at our events.

Posters & Leaflets: by popular demand we will be putting aside a special indoor area where members can display and discuss lawnmower-releated ephemera such as brochures, posters, advertisements, leaflets and so on. Please bring any items you would like to include.

Timetable

The timetable will be the same as last year.

Saturday

All Day: General displays

All Day: Themed displays

Sunday

11:00 - Auction

14:00 - Annual General Meeting (2pm)

16:00 - Awards and Presentations (4pm)

All Day: General displays

All Day: Themed displays

All Day: Competitions

Auction

This will be held at 11:00 on the Sunday morning.

We cannot accept lots for the auction until nearer the event. Check back later for more details.

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

This will be held at 2pm on the Sunday or just after.

Awards & Presentation

The following awards will be presented at the end of the AGM:

Best Grassbox Article
Charlie Jones Award (for the member making an extra contribution to the club's activities)

The following awards will be presented at 4pm on the Sunday or soon afterwards. Competition for all of these is likely to be as fierce as ever:

Spot the Part - identifying mower parts
Best Working Machine - for a machine demonstrated during Sunday
Andrew Grout Plate - voted by all exhibitors, their "choice to take home"

Souvenir

As always we will present each member in attendance with a souvenir of the weekend. These are normally given out at the end of the AGM.

If you are attending on the Saturday, please ask a committee member for yours and they will be pleased to give you one.

Club Shop

The club shop will be open on the Sunday

However, the range of items available and volume of stock is now so large that it is no longer possible to bring everything to sell on the day.

Instead, Colin Stone asks that anyone who wants specific items should contact him before the event and place an order. He will then bring those items to the rally for members to collect.

Members can also place orders with Colin on the day for delivery afterwards. Colin will have samples of the main items including clothing and transfers for members to see what is available. Payment will be possible using cash, cheque, or using the club's card reader.

Click here to see the full range of items sold by the club shop.

Click here to see the full range of transfers available.

Housekeeping

If you are planning to arrive on the Friday please do not come before 3pm because there won’t be anyone from the club to welcome you before then. After that, feel free to come at any time.

The museum gates will be closed when it gets dark but are open again from around 7.30am on the Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Please use the McConnell Drive entrance. Do not follow the Museum's "Brown Signs" because these will direct you to the public car park which has no vehicle access to the site.

Once on site turn left through the gate inside the museum’s main entrance and proceed slowly into the field but please keep an eye out for people who may be walking around the grounds. We hope to ask all club members to sign a book when they arrive so that we know who’s been.

All vehicles and trailers must be parked in the designated area as marked by signs or indicated by a committee member. This is for safety and to allow other members to drop off and collect their exhibits without hindrance.

Camping is permitted on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. The toilets and washrooms will be open until late at night and from early morning on each day.

The museum tea room will serve breakfast on Saturday and Sunday morning and light refreshments throughout each day.

On the Friday and Saturday evenings we generally send out for a take-away.