Amazing automobiles made a pit stop at a newly reopened Sandford pub in Dorset, to take part in a new year’s day classic car rally, the first event of many to come.
The Sandford pub on the busy A351 out of Wareham had become run down after unexpectedly closing in 2023, but it’s now been refurbished and renamed as Rivo’s Hub after being taken over by Richie Rivers and his partner Laura in summer 2024.
Laura and Richie Rivers at the bar of the newly opened Rivo’s Hub in Sandford, a pub for motor lovers
A sleek Ferrari was a big draw at the new year’s day classic car event
First of many classic car rallies
Richie, who stages the annual Dorset Volksfest on the Wareham showground, originally set up a cars and coffee cafe called Rivo’s Hub in nearby Hamworthy and it was so successful that it made them rethink their lifestyle.
Keeping the Rivo’s Hub name, they had planned to reopen the larger pub site in July 2024 but were delayed by several months due to the dilapidated state of the building. Eventually, just five days before Christmas 2024, they were finally able to open to the public.
After an amazing response to the new Rivo’s Hub, Richie and Laura decided to stage their annual new year’s day classic car rally, despite appalling weather which led to the cancellation of many planned events elsewhere.
And the gamble paid off massively, as dozens of Dorset drivers who own classic American and British vehicles from Chevrolets to Land Rovers parked up outside the pub to the delight of hundreds of customers.
A Ford F100 truck attracted a lot of attention parked outside Rivo’s Hub on 1st January 2025
A classic American Chevrolet GMC pickup truck at the new year’s day event
“I was really pleased about the turnout”
Richie Rivers said:
“Considering it was such bad weather on new year’s day, I was really pleased about the turnout, a load of classic cars turned out and we were chockablock.
“Poole’s Classic Cars on the Quay event was cancelled due to the weather so I think we benefited from that as people drove over to us instead, and I don’t think we could have fitted many more in the car parks.
“This is our fourth year running a new year rally and it was as busy as any other year, if not busier – I’d hope we can bring in even more in the future.
“We had a lot of classic American cars including a few Mustangs, some Ford trucks, Triumphs and Capris, Land Rovers, a supercharged Mini, one car was even specially finished in time for our rally. That’s one of the reasons I love this event so much, you never know what’s going to drive in.
“New year’s day was mostly locals because the weather stopped people from driving any distance, but we do get visitors from all over.
“We’re going to get people to sign a wall for us, if they have any address other than the BH postcode – it will be fun to see how far people travel to see us!”
Richie and Laura with their son outside the newly reopened Rivo’s Hub Sandford
One of the new Rivo’s menus in front of a feature wall of American numberplates
An American jukebox has pride of place inside the new pub
A social media plea for help
Richie and Laura had looked into taking over The Sandford just before the Covid pandemic hit the UK, but with a four month old baby and the death of Richie’s father, they decided it wasn’t the right time – just a week before the country went into lockdown.
Instead, Richie sold his sandblasting business to a friend and took on an industrial unit in Hamworthy where they began the original Rivo’s Hub, which was quickly adopted by the motorcycling fraternity and started to stage vehicle meet ups for American cars, military vehicles and performance bikes.
Then, with The Sandford back on the market and the couple looking for more space to expand, they realised that even though the pub had fallen into disrepair over the years, there was still huge potential for it.
The couple got the keys to the pub in July 2024 and faced with an overwhelming task of sorting out the vacant pub and overgrown gardens, they launched a social media plea for help – and had dozens of their new neighbours turned up with chainsaws, sledgehammers and a crowbar to tackle the job.
Graffiti style murals will be a feature of the new pub
There’s plenty of room for eating, and Rivo’s breakfasts have already made their mark in Sandford
Serving from 10 am daily, breakfasts to give plenty of energy for the day ahead
Delays were a painful process
Richie added:
“When we moved in, everything about The Sandford needed work doing to it, the building was so neglected, everything had been patched or bodged and every job we looked at needed more and more doing to it to put right.
“We had originally hoped to open in July, then it was the end of September and we finally made it just before Christmas in the end. It still isn’t finished, we still have plenty more automotive items to put up on the walls, but we needed to get open, we had been closed for far too long.
“We had to wait for the brewery to make some repairs, almost every part of the kitchen had to be replaced, including walls and floors, and we had to wait for our brewery, Stonegate, to fix it which took a long time and was very frustrating as it was out of our hands and their contractors weren’t as quick as ours!
“The kitchen was only finished the day before we opened, it was touch and go whether we’d be able to use it – the whole thing was quite a painful process, but our kitchen is amazing now because it’s completely brand new.”
A Triumph Vitesse and a Triumph Dolomite brought back many fond memories
Classic cars and classic bikes – you never know what might be at Rivo’s Hub
A car-sized Hot Wheels box
Special touches inside the pub include an original 1930s parquet wooden floor, an American jukebox, menus in the style of Haynes’ car manuals, a bottle top bar, the first of a series of planned graffiti murals and a wall of American motor memorabilia.
Richie plans to create a car-sized Matchbox or Hot Wheels box for the car park which will have guest classic cars parked inside, to draw curious passersby into the pub, and also hopes to have a children’s play area installed in their large garden space.
A full calendar of events is being planned for Rivo’s Hub, which will include weekly Thursday evening bike nights starting on Thursday 9th January 2025, and a classic car day every Sunday, usually featuring different makes and models each week.
Major events such as Armed Forces Day in June and Dorset Volkfest at Wareham Showground in mid July 2025 are also planned, and other automobile occasions and live music nights will be announced on Rivo’s Hub social media pages.
The venue is already running a daily breakfast menu from 10 am and is also looking to establish a drive-up coffee bar outside the pub which would be open from 7 am for passing trade on the busy A351.
A Maserati Gran Turismo Sport turned heads on New Year’s Day
Richie hopes to hear from anyone with a picture of the original hanging pub sign from The Sandford, to keep the pub’s traditions alive
“It’s a steep learning curve!”
Richie Rivers said:
“We have started out with a basic menu – we didn’t want to go over the top with options because we wanted to make sure the quality was perfect first. We will add special boards each week for something new, but we’ll keep the menu the same so that we don’t overwhelm the kitchen.
“The day we opened the doors was the day we realised we hadn’t actually tried the food ourselves because we had been so busy, but our kitchen staff have been absolutely amazing and we are extremely happy about the food.
“We were rushed off our feet for the first few days, but it feels like we have been working with our staff for weeks. We have gone from having a couple of staff to having 14, but we all just clicked once we got together.
“Their first day was also our first day – Laura has always worked in the catering industry, but I had never poured a pint until I came here, so it’s a steep learning curve!”
Look inside Rivo’s Hub
Further information
- Future events will be on Rivo’s Hub Facebook page
