A half a dozen of us met Andrew at Newlands Corner for our trip to the London to Brighton veteran car run. From the perspective of a local from the Brighton area, I consider this event to be one of the highlights of the year. Thanks should go to SexMog for organising an excellent pub to watch the cars go by.
I was unable to attend the 1st Thursday due to work commitments. I understand that arrangements for our annual Christmas Centre dinner are well under way. Mike Aldrich has arranged for the Christmas dinner to be held at the Riviera hotel, Maidenhead, on the 16th January 1998. Please ring Mike for details, his Telephone number is: 01628 676619.
When I arrived at our Sunday noggin I found to my surprise that Cliff Baker and Chris Rowe were already entrenched in the Queen’s. The last time we were all together we were in the same production car trial team - allegedly. I had heard a rumour that Leo and Jenny were emigrating to France; apparently they were only looking for some where to spend prolonged holidays - thankfully. We had a good turn out at the Queen’s including three legal aliens from HopMog. Ann, Quentin and Brian - you are all most welcome.
As this report falls into the new year period I thought it would be nice to remember the things we got up to in 1997. We had a good start to the years' activities with a scenic run to Tetsworth and it’s antique centre. I seem to remember it was a lovely spring day; there was a hint of scandal at the event, something to do with SexMog, my notes on the event don’t unfortunately record any details! Following on from this trip we had several days out to Morgan sporting events at various hill-climbs and race circuits. One of the highlights of the year was our trip to Le Mans. The monsoon conditions didn’t damper our enjoyment too much! The only lasting consequence for myself, has been, that I have now developed a taste for cheap French Beer. We had another enjoyable scenic run to the Cotswolds setting us up nicely for Mog 97. This year’s Mog event re-established contact with Philip and Caroline Male - long lost ThamesMog members. Philip and Caroline now live in Toulouse and are our most southerly members, hence our negotiations to be twinned with Toulouse. The rest of the year saw trips to Silverstone, and the London to Brighton run; not forgetting the event of the year our notorious Beer and Skittles evening.
I would like to thank everyone who organised, and attended our events during the last year.
On behalf of the Centre I would like to thank Eric Mason for his work on setting up the World’s first MSCC Centre Web page. During the year I had received some very complimentary feedback on Eric’s page. Well done Eric and thanks for all your hard work.
We were also the first Centre to make use of the questionable services of the latest in artificial intelligence, namely our emergency holographic scribe! Towards the end of 1997 I began to gather some vital statistics on the attendance’s at our local noggins. The accolade of the furthest travelled Morgan to one of our events goes jointly to the following Morganeers: Ann and Quentin English, and Brian Downing. On the 25th November they travelled forty-one miles to be at the Queen’s Oak. The best turn out of Morgans was on the 7th August at the Bird In Hand. Thirteen Morgans were present, plus two tin tops and one Lotus Elise. Lets hope next year we can at least match or even better these results.
During the year we decided go to the Queen’s Oak for our Sunday lunchtime noggins. The real ale is excellent and there is a pleasant garden for the kids. Unfortunately during the winter the kids aren’t allowed inside the pub. We need somehow to change the mind of the Landlady, I understand she is an ex-art teacher, personally I prefer bar-maids. I think we need the services of that old charmer Alan Foster (the Don Juan of Club Motor Sport) to shift her position - watch this space!
Next year will see Joe Philips starting out in his first season of Motor Sport, he will be competing in the National Morgan Speed Championship. He has had the trim in his car luxuriously appointed to enable him to enter the modified 4/4 class. I plan to report on his progress throughout the year. Good luck Joe!
Finally, I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 1998.
Dates and Things:
1st Thursday: 20:00 onwards.
Bird In Hand, Knowl Hill.
Sunday Lunchtime Venue Dates:
Queen’s Oak, Finchampstead, near Finchampstead Church, 12:00 onwards.
January 18th, February 15th, March 15th.
Centre Christmas dinner, 16th January 1998. Contact: Mike Aldrich. Tel: 01628 676619.
Roger Buff