The field is quiet, the dust has settled, the banners and posters have been taken down and your organisers and volunteers have recovered from a 12 hour day when we all must have walked miles (8 miles to be exact!) so it only remains to update our social media and website and to say a big THANK YOU to everyone!

To all the display vehicle owners who came in their 100s, to all the visitors who did likewise, to the car clubs who keep this event in their calendars each year, to our stallholders and caterers, to our volunteer marshals both in the display field and those keeping the traffic flowing in the road, to those passing through who were patient in the queues behind various slow moving cars turning into the gate and to our generous sponsors who enable us to put this event on each year.

We work tremendously hard from January onwards in making this happen so it’s all worthwhile when we get such lovely comments about our event.

We’ll fully update the website ASAP and also let you know the date for next year soon – but it’s likely to be the same Sunday in June

We’re busy counting the money collected and we’ll let you know the amount raised for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance within the next week or so

So, here’s to next year!

The big day is almost upon us and as your organising committee will be in the display field for most of today and at sparrow’s fart tomorrow, just some tips and reminders to have an enjoyable event:

• the main display area and the public parking area are fields – they can be rutted and bumpy so please watch your step
• the weather forecast is good so please wear sunscreen and keep hydrated
• there will be moving vehicles all day, the speed limit is 5mph but please be aware of traffic
• there is one road through the village and there will be queues going into the display field and into the visitor parking – please be patient if you are waiting to get in or passing through Yattendon
• we have volunteer marshals in the road and in the field – they are there for your safety so please follow their instructions
• display vehicles should arrive from 8.30am onwards to the display gate between the church and the school.  Visitors should arrive from 11am and use the entrance on the eastern side (Reading side) of the village and follow the signs to the parking area.  It is a one way system and you should exit into the Frilsham end of the village through the farm units
• If you are coming with a car club, please check the map on the On The Day page of the website so you can see where you will be parked
• there is a walking route to the Renegade Brewery who are serving food until 4pm and showing the England game at 5pm.  There will be a display of Porsches parked outside the Brewery buildings
• there is a vintage style tearoom in the village hall as well as vintage and artisan stalls – it’s only 2 minutes walk from the display field and we will have Ferraris parked outside.
• Please support our local sponsors and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance
• Have a brilliant day!

Your organisers helped by Yattendon Estate staff have been prepping the field today (Friday) ready for THIS Sunday 30th June with more to do on Saturday.  A lot of work goes on behind the scenes – we don’t just rock up on the day and let people park themselves!

Then someone will be at the field at 6am on Sunday to let the PA system people in with caterers starting to arrive from 8.45am onwards, stalls from 8am and display cars from 8.30am.  We do have a lot of traffic going through the village and there can be queues and pinchpoints so please be patient whilst we get as many vehicles through the display gate as quickly as possible so apologies in advance for any holdups.

We have had confirmation from the BBMF that the flypast of the Lancaster is CANCELLED.  They had been working really hard to try and get the checking completed in time for this week’s events but have been unable to do so.  We’re sure you’re just as disappointed as we are but the recent tragic event have left no other alternative.  Let’s hope that the entire fleet is back in the air very soon.  Per Ardua Ad Astra

The organising committee are having their final meeting today to finalise as much as possible before the actual physical work begins.

Preparing the field will take 2 or 3 days and about 6 people plus some of the Yattendon Estate staff that Lord Illiffe kindly allows us to utilise along with their tractors, trimmers, rollers and the like.  Luckily the display field has recovered from the wet weather of the Fete car park and barring any downpours, all will be fine for Sunday 30th June.

See you then!

The most difficult part of organising an event now seems to be having enough volunteers to help run the show.  We are lucky that we have a wonderful group of people who give up their time to help marshal traffic, park display cars, give out programmes and take money and donations.

If you would like to help us out on the day, it’s great fun and you don’t have to work the whole day as we can allocate you a couple of hours so you have the rest of the day free to enjoy the event.

And if you come along on the day as a visitor, please remember that each person you see in a hi viz vest is contributing to your enjoyment so please follow their instructions, be patient if you are in a queue and most of all, be kind!

Strutt & Parker were a generous main sponsor of the very recent Yattendon & Frilsham Fete and their bounty has been extended to the other very popular community event – Yattendon Classic Vehicle Day!

We really could not put on any event without these local companies and their generosity so many thanks to the good people of our local Estate Agents!

Yattendon is a small village with only one lane running through the main part – needless to say that on the morning of the event, it does get a little gridlocked due to the sheer volume of traffic wanting to get into one gate despite the sterling efforts of our marshals out in the road and in the field.

So if you lived nearby, you could drive up to the field and park on Saturday afternoon if you wish.  We will already have the owner of the WW2 Sherman tank and his son staying overnight in the field so we think your vehicle will be safe.  Of course, it would be at your own risk and insurance as neither the organisers of Yattendon Classic Vehicle Day or Yattendon Estates Ltd could take any responsibility for any loss or damage however caused.

But it might save a bit of time and angst on Sunday morning if you wanted to be a bit more relaxed at the beginning of the day.

Please let us know if you wish to do this – email commercial@ycvd.co.uk

Our major sponsor is Yattendon Estate and we are very grateful to Lord Illiffe who kindly gives us the use of his fields and his team of  Estate staff on the day and throughout the year so we thought it would be nice to give a quick overview of this very local yet global company.

The Yattendon Estate is the amalgamation of several smaller estates acquired by the first Lord Iliffe between 1925 and 1940. Following his death in 1960, he was succeeded by his son, the second Lord Iliffe, who handed over the Chairmanship of Yattendon Estates Ltd to his nephew, the present Lord Iliffe in 1987.

The parent company has many interests outside of the Estate including marine leisure, property and local media.  It has operations in the UK, Europe, Canada and North America.

The Estate’s portfolio comprises let residential, commercial, and agricultural tenancies. The majority of the agricultural land is farmed in hand, growing milling wheat, malting barley, feed barley, oil seed rape, maize, beans, peas, oats and temporary grass . They run a commercial timber enterprise and are one of the UK’s largest producers of Christmas trees. The Estate also runs various businesses including the Village Stores and Post Office, Vicars Game Ltd, Renegade Brewery and now, excitingly enough for us locals, the famous Pot Kiln pub in Frilsham has been bought by the Estate to be run by local landlord Rob McGill.

The estate used to have several dairy herds, pedigree Hereford cows and sheep but due to falling prices over the decades, it is now purely arable. Some of the buildings still remain, converted for other uses such as the Renegade Brewery & Taproom.  There is a small herd of British White cattle which which graze the parkland around the village.

The Forestry Manager is responsible for the management of the 907 ha of commercial woodland and between 10 – 15,000 new trees are planted each year.

There are currently 1.2 million Christmas trees growing on the Estate and between 40,000 and 75,000 Christmas trees are sold every year, both for the wholesale and retail markets.

Vicars Game provide high quality meat and game to wholesale and retail markets, anything from Michelin starred restaurants to local pubs and from their farm shop in Ashampstead, members of the public.

Renegade Brewery, originally West Berkshire Brewery, began in a small unit on the estate and when the business started to grow the estate found the then tenants more suitable premises. In December 2021 the Yattendon Group took the opportunity to acquire the brewery’s business when it came to market and has developed into its current form.

There are over 50 commercial properties across the estate from small lock-up and workshop type units, through to modern distribution and logistics space and office space including a hairdresser, a florist, an airfield hangar, 2 pubs and nursery.

Cottages and houses make up a large proportion of the let portfolio and with over 170 residential properties spread across the local area, with maintenance and improvements along with the maintenance of the public spaces on the estate is very important there is a dedicated in-house maintenance team who ensure the village and surrounding areas are kept looking clean and tidy.

A month before our own event, it’s the annual Yattendon & Frilsham village Fete, always on the last Bank Holiday Monday in May.

This time, the square is blocked off from traffic and everything takes place in a traffic free environment.  We have all the usual traditions of Morris Men, jumble stalls, plant sales, home made cakes and jam for sale, hog roast and a Pimms stand plus some rather more unusual attractions like Christmas tree throwing!

Entry is £4.00 with concessions at £2.00 and all money raised goes to local charities.  Parking is free in 2 or 3 locations at either end of the village.

It’s a fun day out and in a good cause so let’s all keep our fingers crossed for good weather for the entire summer!