My 1969 VW Microbus: Run the Ring VW Charity Cruise 2017 (part 1 of 2)

This weeks blog review is a two part review all about the 2nd 'Run the Ring VW Charity cruise', which saw over 700 Volkswagens of all descriptions cruise the 117 miles clockwise around the London orbital motorway, the M25. The original idea to cruise around the M25 came from a guy called John Emberton. John put a post on Facebook suggesting the idea and the response was incredible so John thought if this was to happen why not raise money for a charity at the same time. In 2016 the first RTR took place where just over 400 VW's both air cooled and water cooled assembled at the 4 designated service stations around the M25 and cruised around the M25 creating an amazing sight. In 2016 RTR raised just over £10,000 for the chosen charity, The Teenage Cancer Trust. In 2017 there were around 700 Volkswagens that took part (660 actually registered, but we estimate there were about 100 that just turned up on the day) and raised an incredible £25, 758.39 for the charity 'Scotty's Little Soldiers'. You can check the VW M25 Run the Ring Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/M25VWRunTheRing/
I have taken part in both these charity cruises and although to some the thought of driving 117 miles around the M25 (known as the biggest car park in Britain) doesn't sound that appealing, they have both been really enjoyable. The atmosphere at the services both before the cruise and after is amazing, you can mingle and chat to other VW owners and take plenty of photos. As I did in 2016 I met up with friends of mine David and Angela, who are both from my hometown for the short cruise over to Hemel Hempstead where we had arranged to meet other VW owners before heading for the services on the M25. A huge well done to John and Amanda (and all the other people who helped to organise this event who I don't know about) and a big special thanks and well done to the hundreds and hundreds of people who participated and who made this memorable event happen. You can find out more about the worthwhile charity that this event was all about here: http://scottyslittlesoldiers.co.uk/
To see more than 400+ photos of some of the vehicles that took part in the charity cruise, check out this awesome photo album from Ed Baylis that captured the essence of the charity cruise:
https://www.facebook.com/ebay.ebay/media_set?set=a.10155840931620396.1073741832.620175395&type=1&l=f138e62381&hc_location=ufi
To see all my other blog entries, go to ‘My Blog Archive’ to the left of this page. Simply click on an arrow for a particular year, then click on an arrow for a particular month, this will then give you a drop down menu for all the blog entries for that month.

My 1969 VW microbus parked up at South
Mimms Services in the glorious sunshine.
There must have been around 200 VW's
of all descriptions at South Mimms services
which was a fantastic sight to see. This great
photo of my microbus was taken by my good
mate, Rich Coxhill.

The first meeting point of the day, a car park in
Hemel Hempstead where David, Angela and I
had arranged to meet some other 'Ringers'.

David and Angela left their 1966 split screen at
home and took their very colourful Comic Relief
Beetle to run the ring. David's distinctive bug
stands out against the gorgeous grey rag top
beetle parked next to it.

Here are two buses that I instantly recognised,
Stuart's 1967 blue and white Canterbury pitt split
screen and Mark's 1977 sage green and white
late bay.

At the meeting place in Hemel, there were about
20 Volkswagens of all descriptions. As we waited
for any late comers everyone took the opportunity
to take a few photos.

Stuart's '67 splitty is super straight as this almost
perfect reflection proves. This really is a nice bus.

Once all the Hemel 'ringers' had arrived we all
set off for one of the official meeting points, the
closest to us was South Mimms Services. On the
way I followed David and Angela and a few of the
Hemel ringers.

Once we arrived at South Mimms, the place was
packed with Volkswagens of all descriptions and
years. I didn't take many photos as I was to busy
chatting to old acquaintances.

We had the sound of a horn to signal it was time
to leave the services and join the cruise. As the
services were crammed with VW's, exiting the
services took some time.

This pair of beetles didn't hang around once the
horn sounded. They were off straight away to join
the M25 motorway.

As I left the services there were VW's everywhere
and they were all waiting to join this fantastic cruise.

On leaving the services I got held up by traffic,
and I started to loose the rest of the convoy...

... but once I got my old microbus up to speed I
soon caught up with the tail end of our group.
James and Andrea in their red split screen set the
pace for our group of the convoy.

My mate mark in his 1969 1646cc early bay
followed me for a short while around the M25.
Mark's bay really is a lovely looking bus and a
left hooker like mine.

Just a sneaky picture of Mark as we cruised the
117 miles around the M25 London orbital motor-
way to raise money for charity.

The following 15 photos are just a few of the VW's
that I passed whilst on the Run the Ring VW charity
cruise 2017, to raise money for Scotty's Little
Soldiers.

Taking part in the Run the Ring VW charity cruise
2017 to raise money for Scotty's Little Soldiers.

This ringer had pulled over to take some photos
of all the VW's that passed him, hope he got some
good photos...?

Taking part in the Run the Ring VW charity cruise
2017 to raise money for Scotty's Little Soldiers.

Taking part in the Run the Ring VW charity cruise
2017 to raise money for Scottys Little Soldiers.

As I was travelling at warp speed, I soon caught
up with the leaders of the convoy. As I didn't want
to pass the leaders I decided to ease off and fall
in behind, but first I thought I'd get a few photos
of James and Andrea in their gorgeous 1958
ex Swiss Army split screen bus.

The Ducati bus is stunning and is running a nice
1776cc motor. The bus is painted in the Ducati
anniversary red paint with hand painted Ducati
decals on the doors.

James and Andrea cruising the M25 with their
daughter Caitlyn and their dog Archie, and Rich
Coxhill from the Wolfsburg Bus Crew.

Shortly after the above photo was taken I needed
a comfort break so I pulled into Clacket Lane
Services (if I remember correctly), and bumped
into Fiona in her 1963 split screen bus.

Taking part in the Run the Ring VW charity cruise
2017 to raise money for Scotty's Little Soldiers.

Scooby Doo looked as though he had a great
time running the ring in the mystery machine.

Taking part in the Run the Ring VW charity cruise
2017 to raise money for Scotty's Little Soldiers.

After a complete lap of the M25 we headed back
to South Mimms services, for a final photo shoot,
grab some food and have a good chat to all the
other ringers. My 1969 microbus was parked up
next to my mate Ben's split screen bus that had
also just completed the ring.

And finally for this weeks blog review a lovely
photo of Stuart's 1967 Canterbury Pitt for no
other reason than I do like the look of his bus!

So that was the first of two instalments about
this fantastic event for a great cause. If you
haven't already I strongly suggest you check
out the RTR facebook page and take part in this
years run the ring. These are just my photos that
I took whilst running the ring. Next weeks blog will
have a few more of my photos and photos from
other ringers that I borrowed from the 'VW M25
Run the Ring' facebook page so be sure to
come back next Saturday.

My 1969 VW Microbus

Saturday, 27 January 2018

Run the Ring VW Charity Cruise 2017 (part 1 of 2)

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