Welcome to the corner of the Internet that’s home to the Western Group of Motoring Writers, or “croeso i cornel y we sy’n cynrychioli Grwp Gorllewinol Ysgrifennwyr Moduron”, as we say on this side of the Severn Bridge.

The Group was formed to represent journalists, writers, broadcasters and photographers who specialise in motoring and who live and/or work in South Wales and the West Country – an area that extends from the tip of Cornwall eastwards to Wiltshire and north to the A40 that runs across Wales from Monmouth to Pembrokeshire.

We currently have 24 active members, who regularly contribute to a wide range of written and broadcast media outlets.

It’s our 25^th anniversary in 2008 and our aim today is the same as it was in 1983 – to promote and foster interests in motoring and provide a unified voice for motoring journalists in the area.

In fact, it seems that with ever-shrinking budgets and a growing reliance on centrally-based motoring features agencies, the need for regional motoring writers’ groups is actually greater now than it was a quarter of a century ago.

The move away from the traditional local newspaper “motoring correspondent” has meant many of our members have embraced the Internet as a tool to distribute their work.

The web has also enabled the Group to offer online details of its members, a regular newsletter, our events diary and a summary of some of the hotels in our area. If you’d like access, please click the “register” button on the right.

As you’ll see from the images and hotel information contained within these pages, the Western Group’s “patch” contains some fine venues and stunning scenery that doesn’t often feature on car launches - unfairly, we feel.

But, with the Group about to celebrate its 25^th birthday, there’ll be an especially warm welcome to manufacturers planning to hold an event in the West Country or South Wales during 2008.

Mark James

Chairman Western Group of Motoring Writers