Starting at Bocketts Farm, Fetcham, Leatherhead in Surrey we drive about 60 miles through the picturesque countryside of Surrey and Sussex, finishing at a scenic place of interest.
With your help, this popular annual event helps our charity fundraising. Over the years we have our total donations have reached over £50,000!
The destination for 2024 was…
The Rural Life Living Museum, Tilford, Surrey
rural-life.org.uk
As some of you may already know our annual charity fundraising event took place on Sunday
July 14th. Origins of the Surrey Run can be traced back over 35 years to the days
of the MG “Southern National” hosted by the Epsom Area and held in the
Leatherhead Leisure Centre grounds each July. This action-packed weekend
dedicated Saturday to inter-Club activities including a 40-mile road run for a few
cars through the picturesque Surrey countryside.
This year, for SURREY RUN 2024, our route was from Bocketts Farm to the Rural
Life Living Museum near Farnham. With about 165 cars pre-registered, on the day
we had a good turnout despite being plagued with road closures at the A3 Cobham/M25 junction and a diesel spillage near
to our start area. The actual route was not affected by these closures, but getting to and from the event did need some
consideration.
As usual, we were set up and operational at Bocketts Farm ready to receive the participants by about 8.30 as the MGs started
streaming in to sign on. The registration gazebos and parking marshals were kept busy until about midday when we decided
that everyone taking part had arrived. Following a visit to the farm and the temptation of a bacon butty,
each car was photographed under the start banner before being waved off at the start of their 60-mile journey. The
weather was set fair for the whole day and our planned route from Bocketts turned away from the immediate traffic issues,
travelling along leafy lanes and passing through many of the picturesque villages of the Surrey countryside.
Following a journey time of about two and a half hours, and a left turn off Reeds Road, Tilford, into the Rural Life Living
Museum, each car was then welcomed by our team of marshals. The cars were all parked within the museum complex
providing an amazing display for all the other visitors to admire. These cars included a YB saloon, a variety of early T types,
the famous Magnette, MGAs and a range of Midgets. Following into the 1970s, the MGB is still the most popular with over
74 entries. This record is followed by the modern MGFs and TFs. It is also noticeable that these ranks are being joined by the
present MG examples with some cars just a few months old. On arrival, many participants immediately unpacked their picnic
lunch before exploring the wide array of historic buildings containing over 40 thousand artifacts of country life from way back
in the 1800s. There was certainly plenty to see, spending the afternoon relaxing and absorbing the atmosphere of a bygone
age.
At the start of the run, each driver was given a prize draw ticket containing their unique run number to be handed in as they
passed the finish line. When everyone had arrived, Rob Bentley, representing the Rural Life Living Museum announced the
selection of winners. Three tickets were randomly chosen as follows; Galyna Bogutska, entry number 65, won first prize – a
voucher for £25, Stuart Mason, entry number 3, won second prize – a voucher for £15, and Patrick O’ Sullivan, entry number
93, won third prize – a voucher for £10.
This event would not be possible without the Owners’ Club at HQ’s continued support, and the club would like to thank them and
Bocketts Farm, together with the Rural Life Living Museum, for hosting the start and end venues.
It was a full and enjoyable day with some falling asleep on the way home! From the comments and
feedback that I have had so far it seems to have been a great success and I am confident that we will
be able to match previous sums raised once again for this year. I am sure we all had a great day.
