Workbench 2025 - Saturday 25th October, Chipping Sodbury, BristolThe next SWAG meet is our annual Workbench event which takes place on Saturday 25th October at Dodington Parish Hall, Chipping Sodbury.
We've worked hard to pull together a fantastic line-up of guest speakers and traders to make this our best Workbench event yet!
Tickets are now on sale, priced at £12 for adults (accompanied children are free, but we just need to know how many you're bringing) and are available to order via the
Retro Directory web site.
Note that tickets MUST be purchased in advance and will not be available on the door.
Event SponsorAll of 2025's SWAG events have been generously sponsored by Fusion Retro Books!
Since launching back in 2012, Fusion have published over 50 books and magazines ranging from Crash and Next to Zzap! C64 and Zzap! Amiga.
This is not the first year Fusion Retro Books have sponsored our SWAG events, and we are truly grateful for their generosity once again.
Please check out their web site over at
https://fusionretrobooks.com
Reduced Ticket PriceFor several years our event ticket price has included snacks, drinks and a lunchtime buffet. While the buffets have generally proven to be popular, the cost of paying for the catering added significant costs to each event. These catering costs meant that each SWAG meet was running at a loss. While the group has enough money in reserve to cover this in the short term it wasn't a sustainable model for running SWAG in the long run.
Towards the end of 2024, the SWAG Committee made the decision to no longer provide a lunchtime buffet at SWAG meetings and to reduce the ticket price from £15 per adult to £12. This was tried at the February 2025 event and meant the event was no longer run at a loss. As with our February event, there will be no buffet provided. Drinks and snacks will continue to be included as part of the entry fee, however.
In September of 2024 a well-stocked Co-op opened on the estate the Parish Hall is sited on. A mere two minutes walk from the venue, it has a plentiful supply of food and drinks. Situated behind the Co-Op is a takeaway which opens around mid afternoon should you want hot food. Of course, you’re also free to bring your own packed lunch!
We trust the decision to drop the buffet won’t spoil your enjoyment.
Venue and ParkingThe event runs from 10:00am - 9:00pm and is held at Dodington Parish Hall, Finch Road, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol, BS37 6JZ.
We have masses of on-site parking and we'll be the only people using the grounds during the event.
Our Special GuestsIt wouldn't be a Workbench event without special guests, and this year we've pulled out all the stops to bring you an incredible line-up.
Reassembler / Chris White.Yes, Out Run on the Amiga was dreadful. We all knew our favourite machine could do better and it's taken the coding prowess of Reassembler / Chris White to finally bring the arcade version to the Amiga.
Chris will be giving a talk detailing just how he managed to cram Sega's Super Scaler racer onto AGA machines.
Phil SouthFrom the humour filled pages of Your Sinclair to the more serious Amiga Shopper and essential AMOS programming books, Phil has been active in the home computing scene for decades. Our very own Dan Rolfe will be sitting down with Phil to ask him about his early days working on Your Sinclair, his time at Amiga Shopper, his AMOS books and more.
David PleasanceThe man behind the legendary A500 Batman pack will talking to us about the recent Commodore buy-out and what it means for us fans. David is a regular SWAG guest and we are pleased to welcome him once again.
Matthew Leaman (Amiga Kit)After he returns from Germany, we will be learning what Matthew Leaman of Amiga Kit has to share with the Amiga community, to hear more about the new A1200NG, a modern web browser on the Amiga and more! All being well, Amiga Kit will also have hardware and sofware for sale on the day.
Paulee Alex BowPaulee Alex Bow, also known as Vogue Renege will be talking to us about making music with the Amiga and a recent event in the US.
Ian Griffiths (Amiga Addict)Ian and the AA team have been massive supporters of our events for many years and we always look forward to seeing his cheery face and crates of AA goodies. From Amiga Addict back issues to AA merchandise, we're certain you'll find something to spend your money on over at the Amiga Addict stand.
Tony WarrinerRevolution Software were the developers of the "Virtual Theatre" found in the groundbreaking Lure of the Temptress. They followed this up several years later with the gripping science fiction point and click adventure Beneath a Steel Sky. Revolution Software developer Tony Warriner will be joining us to discuss past and present games that he's worked or is working on.
Stoo CambridgeStoo made a name for himself with his pixel art back in the days of Sensible Software, and he'll be with us to talk about how many colours you're forced to use when designing game graphics, tales from his Sensible days and also details of what he's working on now.
Allister BrimbleWe've been trying for years to persuade Allister to be our guest at a SWAG event and we've finally broken him! Allister has been composing videogame music for nigh-on 40 years, and he'll be joining us to discuss his work and his latest album release.
We'd like to give a huge thank you to all our guests who have agreed to travel to Workbench and give up their time to come and talk to us.
Buy and Sell AreaIf you have Amiga or general retro kit you want to sell then please bring it along to the event and put it in the Buy and Sell area.
We'll have a pile of sales forms available. All you need to do is take one, detail what it is you're selling, the price you're asking for and your name. Put this form on your item and if anyone attending the event wants to buy what you're selling they can track you down, so don't forget to wear your name badge! You can pick up some absolute bargains this way.
Two Games Tournaments!You read that right. This Workbench will play host to not one but two games tournaments!
SWAG's very own gamer Gil has been hard at work planning a tournament based on the classic filled-vector driving game Stunt Car Racer!
Using two linked Amigas, the challenge at the Workbench tournament is for you to race against a fellow attendee and win the race. If you're good enough you'll go through to the next round.
Meanwhile, Dave Boswell will be hosting a tournament of the multiplayer battle game Wizonk!
Both tournaments have several prizes up for grabs for those placed in the top three! Get practicing!
A Big Thank YouWe'd like to say a big thank you to Rob Smith of the Retro Directory for allowing us to use his hosted ticket system to sell tickets for our Workbench event.
Rob has been a massive help to us with not only hosting the ticket system, but assisting us with any queries we had while setting things up for the event and even making tweaks to the features in readiness for our tickets going on sale.
Do check out his web site. It's an amazing way to not only see what events are coming up and where to find them, but to also find the location of permanent retro venues dotted around the country.
Find it at
https://retro.directory/
