Most people have heard of the ABR. A lot less people have heard of Overlander Events, run by the team that used to produce Overlander magazine.
I signed up for my first Winter Warmer in 2023. Held late February in Oxfordshire, I thought it would be a good try out for my winter camping skills. Unfortunately the 2023 winter event was cancelled, so I ended up at the four day main event in August.
Last year there were no overlander events at all, but as soon as the summer 2025 event was announced, I bought my early bird ticket... and that was that. At least it was until my mate Leigh spotted that a young lady called Cloe Jones, who rode a Honda C90 from Aberystwyth to Tajikistan, was going to do a presentation at the 2025 Winter Warmer.... so that was us signed up.
As it turns out, we were lucky, as with places limited to just 120 atendees, we just snuck in before they sold out.
Fingers crossed for dry weather was my only thought.
The week leading up to the event, the forecast said it was going to be dry and sunny all weekend, but a bit chilly at night. OK, I have camped in winter (as a MUCH younger person), I have good gear, I have spare warm clothes... it'll be fine... which it was, but ....
When we left the main hall on Friday night, after a dinner of a baked potato and then a couple of hours of a chap with a guitar bashing out a series of excellent cover tunes, we realised just how chilly a night it was going to be.
The fly sheet was glistening with ice, both outside and in, so it was a minimal disrobing and the donning of my thick fleece socks and my wooly Inca type hat and dive into the sleeping bag, complete with thermal liner.
Drops of freezing water on my face during the night indicated that I had rolled into the fly sheet, a quick shuffle and back to sleep.
At 6.30 am when I finally decided that the call to nature could be ignored no longer, I opened the tent to a proper winter scene. I was later told it was -2 degrees overnight!
Once the blokes I was with were both up, off we went for breakfast rolls.... egg and bacon for me, thank you and a big mug of coffee.
The day was filled with really excellent presentations, covering all sorts of tales of international travels on motorbikes. There was a little wagon selling Thai food for lunch, then a few more presentations.
The blokes and I didn't attend the evening entertainment, it involved a karaoke, which is the Japanese word describing the horribly painful massacre of music. Instead we sat around a picnic table we had borrowed, talking bikes, travels and telling funny tales. It was not as cold as Friday.
Saturday morning cuppa was enjoyed, again at 6.30 am, with less of a frost on the ground.
After another breakfast and a mornings worth of presentations, it was time to break camp and head home.
My mate Lee had already left, as he had a trek home to Essex. My other mate and I were both heading back to W-s-M a couple of hours cross country.
It was an excellent weekend that I would happily recommend to anyone who likes camping, motorcycles and travel. I believe there are still tickets available for the summer event which is held at the same venue; Hill End Educational Centre just outside Oxford. If your interested, just google Overlander Event
