After 14 Years of GTINI's annual forest retreat, has Castlewellan seen its day?

GTINI’s Castlewellan show will always hold a special place in my heart as it was the first show that I ever took a car to (way back in 2012).

Starting life as GTINI’s main show in 2003, Castlewellan has evolved over the past 14 years taking a back seat to Dubshed as their ‘serious’ show on the calendar. It’s become the one show of the year where there are no egos – nobody is hyped up on competition – everyone is just there to have a good time.

When we arrived at around 12 pm the forest park was unusually empty – perhaps this was because the show was moved from its traditional date to accommodate the ‘Districts’ show. Was Castlewellan really dead? We needn’t have worried! By 1 pm it was business as usual and there wasn’t a single space to spare.

Some of our favourites from this year’s show included this VW camper, sporting some BBS RS’s with white wall tyres!

Fresh from a new sump after Dubshed, Adam McPeake popped along with his BMW E28, also on BBS RS’s. Its fresh coat of black paint looking great in the sun.

Finally, we have a pair of great Caddy’s. The First owned by Colin Burnside I have spoken about a few times in the past but I always enjoy the detail that has gone into it.

Then we have Russell Chesney’s interpretation of the classic. Going for a more modern look Russell’s Caddy has a full leather retrim and a pearlescent paint job rather than the flat green of Colins. Both great looks for what was originally meant as a utility vehicle.

So, after 14 Years of GTINI’s annual forest retreat, has Castlewellan seen its day? Absolutely not!