Beaulieu, Simply Land Rover
On Sunday 11th August over 250 Land Rovers rumbled into Beaulieu for the attractions first ever Simply Land Rover event. Anyone with a Land Rover was welcome to drive through the forest and join the fantastic display of Land Rovers in the grounds of the National Motor Museum.Once they had displayed their vehicle, participants were free to enjoy the sunshine, meet other Land Rover owners and admire their vehicles, and enjoy all the features of the Beaulieu visitor attraction, including the National Motor Museum, BOND IN MOTION, World of Top Gear, Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House and the gardens.Car clubs present at the event included the Solent & District Land Rover Club, which put on a wonderful display of its vehicles and the Range Rover Register.Beaulieu also partnered with the Land Rover Experience, West Country, to offer Simply Land Rover entrants and attraction visitors the opportunity to try Beaulieus very own off-road Forest Drive either in their own Land Rovers or as a passenger in a Land Rover Experience vehicle. This proved to be a very popular activity, with 84 drives by participants driving in their own vehicles recorded and 36 visitors either driving or having a passenger ride in the Land Rover Experience vehicles.Throughout the day Beaulieus visitors had the opportunity to vote for their favourite vehicle on display in The Peoples Choice Awards. The winner, who received a Beaulieu Trophy and Land Rover mug from Beaulieus Managing Director, Russell Bowman, was Nigel Major from Christchurch with his colourful 1978 Land Rover Series III 109 fire engine. Nigel, who is a full-time fire-fighter at Bournemouth Airport and a retained fire-fighter at Christchurch, bought the vehicle through ebay three years ago.Second place received a Land Rover book, courtesy of Auto Express, and three additional runners-up received Land Rover mugs. Following the awards the top-placed vehicles took part in a cavalcade through the grounds of the Beaulieu attraction.Simply Land Rover is part of a growing calendar of Simply rallies which has rapidly expanded to include a wide variety of themes covering many makes and models. All Simply rallies are run and organised by Beaulieu and take place in the grounds of the National Motor Museum. For more information please visit www.beaulieuevents.co.uk