Join us for Classics in the Walled Garden

Supporting the NSPCC and The Luton Hoo Walled Garden Project
Wednesday 1st July 2026, 4pm – 9pm
www.classicsitwg.com

Past Master Sarah Jane Adams-Diffey has been working alongside fellow Coachmaker, Liveryman John Worth, Chairman of this wonderful annual event, five minutes from Harpenden in Hertfordshire, in aid of the NSPCC and the Luton Walled Garden RHS Project. The garden will be open for your enjoyment alongside the classic car event.

This is the 17th year of this popular and informal gathering of like-minded automotive folk who bring their classic cars along to be displayed and admired by others in a leisurely fashion, (this is not a concours although people do make an effort!), and perhaps take a picnic which they set up to enjoy next to their car.

There will be music, a bar and a good choice of food offerings that may be purchased on site. 2025 saw 500 vehicles attend with circa 1,500 people. Quite a few more are anticipated this year.

The event raises funds for the NSPCC and the Luton Hoo Walled Garden project which is an RHS garden of significant importance. This is taken from the entry ticket price. This year prices will be per car:

£10.00 Early bird up to 31st May
£12.50 from 1st-21st June
£15.00 22nd June to 1st July (and on the day)

This year it has been suggested that we should be looking to encourage youngsters along to enjoy the event who may be interested in mechanical engineering or coach building. Without encouraging these young people actively to learn the dark art of historic automotive engineering and coach building, as we all know, will cause the classic car world huge issues in the future with a lack of qualified labour.

There is a central courtyard at Luton Hoo which is enormous and links the grass paddocks where the car clubs are often gathered, and the inner sanctum of the walled garden itself.

Past Master Sarah has invited Coachmakers, the Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) and Heritage Skills Academy to attend within this central courtyard to help educate and inspire.

The VSCC will be going out to their membership to invite them to bring their classic cars along and they will also be parked in the prime spot of the central courtyard. The Heritage Skills Academy will be bringing a marquee and machinery to demonstrate various skills.

Various local schools have been invited to encourage their students to come and join on the evening. Children under 18 receive free admission.

To that end, and because we have as Coachmakers a great empathy with education, an invitation has been extended to us with the intention for Liverymen to park their classic cars near to the Coachmakers’ stand.

The event committee is working out how many cars we can fit into the courtyard and so it may be that we give VSCC and Coachmakers a maximum quantity of cars per group. There is plenty of parking elsewhere. Nobody will be left out ultimately. This is detail to be worked out by the committee.

This event is open to all the livery.

Tickets are already on sale at the website link below with a picture gallery and more detail.
https://www.classicsitwg.com/