Lancia Beta Forum

***Betameeta21*** Friday 27th August - Sunday 29th August. Oxfordshire / Bucks Border.

After bit of gentle encouragement, I am now very excited to announce that Betameeta 21 will be based in my home village of Henton, Oxfordshire.

Betameeta Bank Holiday will follow a nice relaxed but fun packed programme (following very soon).

Due to the timing  and geographical proximity to the LMC AGM, my aim is to offer something that will help make both events unique, special and memorable before 50th Anniversary celebrations in commence in 2022!

Main accomodation for Betameeta 21 will be at:  https://www.peacockcountryinn.co.uk/ (https://www.peacockcountryinn.co.uk/) but other accommodation is available less than 10 miles away. I look forward to seeing lots of you there 🙂. Alex.

Hi Alex

Well done. Hopefully we will still be able to meet by then. Just back from France and off to my 10 day stay T home….

I am hoping to make it, need to get the windscreen fitted and have an MOt and put some miles on the car, but time to do that. One question have you approached the Peacock for a group rate?

Peter

Hi Peter,

Thank you! I am keeping my fingers crossed that all is well. Theo (Thotos) was way ahead of me on this one (it hadn't occured to me tbh!) and contacted the hotel directly and managed to find the group rate was £99 per night so a significant saving! I am going to speak to Martin the owner as soon as I get back to Henton tomorrow. All the best with your windscreen and MOT.

The group rate of £99 per night is for two people in a double or twin room for bed and breakfast.

Hi Alex

Thanks, can you ask, is there a single occupancy rate available, it will just be me…..?

Peter

As my Beta lives about five miles from Henton, I have no excuse not to turn up!

I am only about 10 miles away so I should be OK to travel to this !!

Single occupancy of a double or twin room is £90 per night for bed and breakfast.

Nice work Alex  ;D
Hoping to join you all for a day or two, August is going to be a very busy month for me.
As I'm not too far away, I will probably drive up each day, hope to catch up with you next weekend at the LMC AGM, myself and Andy Collins will be there for the weekend.

Tony

not too far for me , count me in

The Peacock Country Inn is booked for me for Friday and Saturday night.

Best way to book your room(s) and get the special discounted rate is to call the Peacock Country Inn on 01844 353519 and quote "Lancia Beta Meeting". If you have any problems, ask to speak the Martin, the owner, who knows all about it. You can also email the Peacock at escape@peacockcountryinn.co.uk (escape@peacockcountryinn.co.uk?Subject=Booking request for Lancia Beta Meeting).

Hi Alex

A bit off topic, but were you aware that there was a garage which serviced Lancias on the road between Henton and Risborough. Cannot remember exactly where, but in the late 70s I had a HPE as a company car for 6 months, hand down from one of the directors and I took it there for service. They lent me a ratty Spider for one night which was amazing to drive and is the reason I bought the Spider I have now.

Peter

The garage is still there - it's in Bledlow.  It does MOTs and sells assorted modern used cars.

Hi Alex
Well done for stepping up and organising this year’s event but sadly I’ll be unable to join you. Weekends have been filling up fast and for me the August BH was committed some time ago. Hope you all have a great day and I look forward to seeing the subsequent photos.
Chris

PS
I’ll be at Goodwood for a thrash with the LMC the previous weekend and will look out for other Betas.

Hi Gerard

I did wonder, if I make it down there I will have a bit of a nostalgia ride around as we lived in that area for 17 years and drove around most of those roads in the Chinnor/Thame/Aylesbury/Wycombe area.

Peter

The roads in the area are still fun to drive - not much traffic and some good corners.  Here's a video that my wife made of an autumn drive in the Chilterns in my 1962 Lancia Appia.  The password is Appia.

https://vimeo.com/471786165

Great work, Alex. The Peacock is great: I live about 8 miles from there, but am very sorry that I shall be away on those dates. Have a great time, all. Howard

Hi All,

Alex here. Thank you for your kind comments - I will be sure to check back on here daily from now on!

So I have a few details to add as I have now met Martin the owner of The Peacock. We have 5 rooms reserved for the Betameeta Bank Holiday weekend although I think there will be more available if needed - we are fortunate to be in close proximity to some other really nice accommodation too in case the Peacock gets full. The great news is we have reserved separate paddock to the side of the Peacock Hotel for Beta Priority Parking - although other Lancia's are very welcome to use it too (I just hope it will be dry!) The very loose itinerary is as follows,

Friday - Late afternoon / Early Evening Birds Arrivals and Dinner @ The Peacock (I will book a table when numbers are confirmed)
Saturday - Main Event - details to follow, but expect some great roads, scenery, nice lunch stop and a place of interest, plenty of opportunity to chat too!
Sunday - Smaller event / drive out and close.

The comments about the Lancia Garage in Bledlow are interesting. There is a beautiful white Gamma Berlina that lives not too far from me. I happened to notice it said "Bledlow Garage" at the bottom of its numberplate and I checked an old dealer network book and sure enough the garage was there as an official Lancia dealer! Sadly all long gone when I first moved to the area in 1992 - it had become a Honda lawnmower outlet known as Risboro' Turf. It is now known as Risborough Service Centre and Platinum Autos and is ironically where I now take my Golf for its MOT!

I will reply all the unanswered comments / queries below:


Gerard - Wow! I loved the video - I recognise the some of the roads there very well and this area may well feature in the big drive out! Looking forward to finally meeting your Beta who two friends have spotted and sent pictures to me! 

Peter - Look forward to seeing you there - you'll notice the Chinnor especially has changed quite a bit in recent years

Chris - Sorry to read that you can't join us this year - I am looking forward to seeing the photo's from the LMC trackday as I sadly can't make that. It would be great if you get the opportunity to let other Beta owners know but more importantly have fun thrashing your coupe on the track!

Everybody else - look forward to seeing you there and most importantly - spread the word - I would really love to get at least one of every type of Beta together  :)

As per my Facebook post I sadly won't be able to make it.....

 :'(

All booked for two nights, just need to see if the car is going to be reliable now before venturing South….

Peter

That's great news Peter! Look forward to seeing you and your Beta there!

Hi Alex

Thanks, looking forward to it as first Beta event for a few years, so will be good to catch up and meet some new folk (to me).

Peter

Also booked for two nights.

Like Peter, hope the car behaves.

I've just added it to the Dart Charge account. The account was inactive as I hadn't used it. They
sent an email telling me so. Bit daft in these times of travel restrictions!

I'm looking forward to it.
Nigel

Just in case you were unaware, there have been no travel restrictions in England for quite some time.

Hi Everyone - not long to go now and I hope you are as excited as I am to seeing you and your Beta's descend on the Oxfordshire countryside for what is set to be another fun and relaxed Betameeta weekend.

The slightly firmer order of events is as follow:

Friday 27th 4:30pm Onwards Early Arrivals and Evening Dinner at our base which is The Peacock, Henton. A chance to have a drink and catchup in the specially designated Beta Paddock (other Lancias welcome of course!)   - Let me know if you are interested in joining us for dinner and I will book the large round table.

Saturday 28th 10:30-11am onwards Cross country trip into the Chilterns to the Chiltern Open Air Museum via the Historic Kop Hill Climb (Not as steep as it sounds, 60mph limit on the hill, but unlike when its closed for the Kop Hill Climb event - traffic runs both ways!) Lunch / Afternoon tea & cake and return to base via a scenic route and Evening meal at The Peacock or venue close by - again let me know numbers for booking the table.

Sunday 29th 10:30-11am onwards Cross country trip to The Oxford Bus & Morris Museum, Lunch / Afternoon tea & cake. Beta's disperse & Betameeta21 draws to an end.  - I might need to hitch a lift back to Henton though!

If it is more convenient for you to join us at a particular point in either day rather than meeting us at our base then that will be great too!

If you have any questions, queries, thoughts or concerns - drop me a line underneath. Look forward to seeing you all very soon!  :)


Alex 

Hi all,
I've had to alter my booking with Martin as I have
a must-do event in Leighton Buzzard on the Friday evening.
I hopefully will join you for breakfast on Saturday morning
before the trip out.

Regards
Nigel

Hi All,

This evening I have had a chat with Martin @ The Peacock (http://The Peacock)- and we have 2 rooms left at the Club rate of £99 (Double Occupancy) £90 Single Occupancy. I have booked the round table for dinner for those staying on Friday Night and Saturday night, we have space for extra diners on to join us on the round table on both of these days, but please let me know in advance if you are planning having dinner with for so I can confirm the final booking.  Cheers. Alex  :)

Roundtable dinner Saturday night please Alex, thanks.

Rgds
Nigel

my wife and i are booked in the peacock for saturday night, so all going well we shall travel down early saturday morning .if there any spaces at the knights round table on saturday we would love to join, if not no worries we,ll see all there,. darren and maria

Hi all
I will be up from Somerset aiming to arrive for 10.30 ish for the Saturday drive out. Look forward to meeting you all
Jon

Hi Chaps

I have been quiet because I am waiting for a Covid test result and fear the worst given the symptoms I have currently. If I have better news I will join on Saturday.

Eric

Oh no Eric!  :'( fingers are crossed for a good result so you can join us on Saturday. I hope you are feeling better soon.

 :o hope all is well Eric  and hope to see you soon 🤗

I am going to Norfolk on Saturday (in my Beta), but will pop by on Friday evening and Saturday morning.   When might some people be in the bar on Friday?

Hi Gerard, I am going to be heading down the road for some liquid refreshment at around 4:30 / 5pm time. I am Betaless myself at the moment, but there are people turning up and the more the merrier  :)

Alex

I too should be there around 4:00-4:30 pm but could get there earlier if you want some earlier company :-) Look for the Trevi when you get there :-D

Hi

Aiming to set off late morning and it should take around 3 hours, but aim to have run around some old haunts/homes so 3:00 to 4:00 arrival assuming no dramas!

Peter

Hi Chaps

I have a negative Covid PCR test result now and feeling a lot better although I still can't smell anything which is very weird. I will now go for being at the Hotel at 9.30 on Saturday morning which should be OK for a coffee and joining the run out. I will leave again early evening because I am not yet back to having the sort of very social session I would like!

Cheers

Eric
PS I will understand if everyone stays well back although I should not be a risk to anyone now.

Hi Eric

That is good news, looking forward to seeing you and everyone else.

Peter

That's great news Eric - looking forward to seeing you on Saturday! 

Regrets, but for family reasons I cannot make any part of the weekend.  Hope you all have fun.

Sorry to miss you Gerard, hope all is well.

I just wanted to thank Alex for the time trouble and effort to make this event happen.

Eric

Yes, many thanks Alex to organise a gathering this year in such a short space of time. A great mix of betas on the Saturday and good to meet new and old faces with their motors. I do not think I have done 325 miles in one day before with the beta but most enjoyable.

Well done Alex, and thanks to all for making it such a pleasure.

It was great to meet and put faces to names.
Peter, glad you sorted your small hiccup.
Jon, I've pm'd you about the grille badge.

Cheers all and see some of you at the NEC.

Nigel

Thank you everyone for coming this weekend and your kind words. Whether you just joined us for a few hours or stayed for the whole weekend, it was an absolute pleasure to organise Betameeta this year and I am glad you all had a great time in and around Oxfordshire and the Chilterns. I had an absolutely great weekend, meeting more Betaneers and furthering my understanding of these wonderful machines. Some of you may not know that Ed let me take his red Berlina for a short drive on Saturday evening and I loved every second of it. I can categorically say now I have finally driven a Beta, my enthusiasm for acquiring one hasn't wavered at all! Watch this space for an exciting update hopefully soon. 🙂 Alex.