BTaP 2010 - The Date

It's official, Saturday November 6th 2010 is BTaP day

Who got the most drunk here then?

For those of you who don't know, allow me to introduce the much anticipated event that is BTaP - PH's annual dinner where you wear black tie (BT) and eat pie (aP).

The format of the evening is simple. Dust off your finery, get together a table of friends (or mingle with new ones), book yourself a room for the night and relax with a few drinks in a genteel atmosphere. Sip fine beverages (sometimes through a straw), reminisce about old times, remember when all this was fields, wonder who will be the first to get embarassingly drunk this year and eagerly await to see if you have won a special award. Whatever you do, just make sure the 6th November is booked out in your diary.

2010 sees yet another new venue as we seek to constantly improve the event. This year we are heading to Tortworth Court Four Pillars Hotel in the lovely Gloucestershire countryside (a short drive from junction 14 of the M5). It really is a magnificent building with spectacular grounds and an imposing approach. We will have a spacious and very private area for dinner, with two bars all to ourselves offering an area near the band and one that's a little quieter too. The area is secluded and is surrounded by some fine driving roads. There is also a lovely forecourt directly outside the hotel doors and we have permission to park the cars in an area not usually open for parking, ensuring that people know they have well and truly arrived at BTaP. Location wise, it offers reasonable access for most parts of the country, and believe me the location is worth making the effort for.

Ooh, fancy.

The hotel is rather old, and as such each guest room is slightly different, but all offer comfortable accommodation without the risk of booking a small room as we have suffered with at other venues in the past. The food is first class, and the chef is working on a pie for us as we speak - tell us what you fancy as a filling in the attached forum and we'll try and make the most popular pie.

BTaP really is a great night, and we'll have a band, as well as a charity raffle, charity auction, speeches and awards in addition to the good food, drink and banter. The best news is that the ticket price will be held at the 2008 rate of £75 per person, and we'll be working hard to get certain parts of the evening sponsored as we have done in previous years.

As we did in 2009 we will be asking you to book your rooms directly with the hotel (call 01454 263000), rather than through PistonHeads as it seems to work out cheaper than block booking the hotel ourselves.

Tickets for the event will go on sale in the PistonHeads shop at 12.00 on Friday 6th August, but we wanted to let you know today so the date could be added to your diary. As usual tickets will be in limited supply and will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

Stand by for more announcements, and we hope to see you at Tortworth Court later this year........