Announcing the 3rd Annual Anglo/Scottish Meet at 12:00 on Sunday the 22nd of July 2012 at Gretna Green
For the third year in a row there will be a meet at the Old Blacksmith's Shop in Gretna Green. The owners are happy to welcome us and have said we can again use the grassed "car-avan" parking area to the back of the car park.
They have said this area will be roped off for our use and entry will be through double gates which will be opened for us to gain access.
They have said this area will be roped off for our use and entry will be through double gates which will be opened for us to gain access.
There has been a large investment in the famous Blacksmith's Shop (over £2M over the last 2 years) and they have recently won the accolade of "UK Shopping Attraction of the Year" at the UK Coach Awards.
Some photos from last years event
There was a grand total of 30 cars last year (although not all were 75's or ZT's )
So, from the thread on the "other side" we already have a few members confirmed as attending. All are welcome.
Please let me know if you are able to make it along.
Looking forward to another excellent turn out and hopefully the weather will be kind to us again.
1. kbonney88
2. pab
3. J1MBO
4. Scooterchick
5. FLYER
6. Yella Fella
7. Rotrex
8. Vindaloo
9. Blacknwhite
10. Tim_Burgess
11. Sworks
12. keithybhoy
13. DeuxGazoles
14. DerekO
15. Thomas
16. Bluejon
17. Silvervixen
18. mark_bonsai
19. suzublu
20. Jim Jamieson
21. bigbird
22. AldoR (& Alison)
23. Fusilier
24. Burble 260
25. Alan_G
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
Possibles
A) RPWC
B) WeeMan
C) Frazzle TC
D) OldChuffey
E)
If anyone has been included by mistake I apologise, but please let me know and I will edit the list.
I will keep this list updated as members confirm their attendance (or non as the case may be).
Love the award-winning shopping at historic Gretna Green
Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop has long been associated with run-away romance for young elopers of days gone by and nowadays with the romantically inclined looking for somewhere different to tie the knot. But this historic attraction is developing a great reputation as a top shopping destination with a difference! Winning the title of UK Shopping Attraction of the Year at the recent UK Coach Awards (hailed as the equivalent to the ‘Oscars’ in the group tourism industry) demonstrates that those in the tourism sector are eyeing up the retail offer for those clients with a passion for shopping!
Shopping at Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop offers ‘experiential shopping’ and to make the love of shopping a ‘must’ for visitors, an investment of over £2 million has been made over the past 2 years to create an environment that will exceed the expectations of the ¾ million visitors who come to Gretna Green each year.
There is a real sense of retail therapy: it is definitely boutique but on a bigger scale and with lots of choice! There’s a fabulous range of products, including many top brand names such as Hunter, Barbour, Harris Tweed and Lyle & Scott alongside the company’s very own range: the Gretna Green Collection. In addition shoppers are delighted by the long list of unusual products from independent designers and manufacturers from all over the UK and overseas. The shopping environment is full of character with unusual displays, quirky fixtures and fittings: in a sense a retail work of art. This is a shop where sleek meets quirky.
The family behind Gretna Green, the Houston family, have been here for 4 generations. Alasdair Houston, Chairman is very proud of the family legacy: “When my great-grandfather opened up the Famous Blacksmiths Shop to the public in 1886, visitors came out of curiosity hoping to bump in to a run-away bride and groom and to touch the famous anvil, over which so many weddings have been performed. That has not changed but we hope that what we offer nowadays will give visitors a reason to come back again and again.â€Â
The anvil is the icon of Gretna Green weddings and has its own legend: they say that if you touch the famous anvil good fortune in affairs of the heart will by yours! Everyone who visits is urged to do so, just in case!
The family have nurtured this historic building that has played such a pivotal role in so many lives and they have enhanced the destination as a modern day Mecca for visitors from all over the world. From the early days of tourism Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop has been on the map for many a tour and today about 30% of the visitors come from far flung places such as China, Russia, Mexico and Brazil. For the many who come by car and the 1,500 couples who marry here each year, with their friends and family, it has become a regular destination for staying in luxury at the family business’s award-winning 4 star boutique hotel, Smiths at Gretna Green, which sits alongside the attraction. For shoppers they can lose themselves in the variety of shops including the Foodhall, full of local produce and the whisky house, where rare and limited edition malts can be found first in Scotland!
The family and the team at Gretna Green never stop coming up with new ideas to enhance and to introduce new innovations. This May a new attraction will open: the Courtship Maze, which promises a fun filled challenge. The Courtship Maze is a pair of 20m diameter stone built interlocking wedding bands. With a choice of entrances this challenge represents the many decisions, twists and turns that are part of courtship and nurturing relationships. The Courtship Maze sets the challenge: “Where getting together has never been harder†but ultimately it is about everyone having fun as they wind their way through!
So, if you thought that romance was all there was to know about Gretna Green, Alasdair and his team invite you to think again, come visit and see for yourself!
Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop has long been associated with run-away romance for young elopers of days gone by and nowadays with the romantically inclined looking for somewhere different to tie the knot. But this historic attraction is developing a great reputation as a top shopping destination with a difference! Winning the title of UK Shopping Attraction of the Year at the recent UK Coach Awards (hailed as the equivalent to the ‘Oscars’ in the group tourism industry) demonstrates that those in the tourism sector are eyeing up the retail offer for those clients with a passion for shopping!
Shopping at Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop offers ‘experiential shopping’ and to make the love of shopping a ‘must’ for visitors, an investment of over £2 million has been made over the past 2 years to create an environment that will exceed the expectations of the ¾ million visitors who come to Gretna Green each year.
There is a real sense of retail therapy: it is definitely boutique but on a bigger scale and with lots of choice! There’s a fabulous range of products, including many top brand names such as Hunter, Barbour, Harris Tweed and Lyle & Scott alongside the company’s very own range: the Gretna Green Collection. In addition shoppers are delighted by the long list of unusual products from independent designers and manufacturers from all over the UK and overseas. The shopping environment is full of character with unusual displays, quirky fixtures and fittings: in a sense a retail work of art. This is a shop where sleek meets quirky.
The family behind Gretna Green, the Houston family, have been here for 4 generations. Alasdair Houston, Chairman is very proud of the family legacy: “When my great-grandfather opened up the Famous Blacksmiths Shop to the public in 1886, visitors came out of curiosity hoping to bump in to a run-away bride and groom and to touch the famous anvil, over which so many weddings have been performed. That has not changed but we hope that what we offer nowadays will give visitors a reason to come back again and again.â€Â
The anvil is the icon of Gretna Green weddings and has its own legend: they say that if you touch the famous anvil good fortune in affairs of the heart will by yours! Everyone who visits is urged to do so, just in case!
The family have nurtured this historic building that has played such a pivotal role in so many lives and they have enhanced the destination as a modern day Mecca for visitors from all over the world. From the early days of tourism Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop has been on the map for many a tour and today about 30% of the visitors come from far flung places such as China, Russia, Mexico and Brazil. For the many who come by car and the 1,500 couples who marry here each year, with their friends and family, it has become a regular destination for staying in luxury at the family business’s award-winning 4 star boutique hotel, Smiths at Gretna Green, which sits alongside the attraction. For shoppers they can lose themselves in the variety of shops including the Foodhall, full of local produce and the whisky house, where rare and limited edition malts can be found first in Scotland!
The family and the team at Gretna Green never stop coming up with new ideas to enhance and to introduce new innovations. This May a new attraction will open: the Courtship Maze, which promises a fun filled challenge. The Courtship Maze is a pair of 20m diameter stone built interlocking wedding bands. With a choice of entrances this challenge represents the many decisions, twists and turns that are part of courtship and nurturing relationships. The Courtship Maze sets the challenge: “Where getting together has never been harder†but ultimately it is about everyone having fun as they wind their way through!
So, if you thought that romance was all there was to know about Gretna Green, Alasdair and his team invite you to think again, come visit and see for yourself!
