Due to Roger’s natural modesty(see later) your emergency holographic scribe is reporting this month.
At the Bird in hand a list of potential ideas for things to do for the next year was complied. These ranged from a ride on a steam train, a weekend away in the Cotswolds, to a game of Aunt Sally. Hopefully we will have an exciting year ahead of us.
Journeys to the Bird in Hand seem to bring out the niggling little problems in the Morgans. Joe’s exhaust was falling off, while Andrew’s brake light had failed again. Perhaps we should all own TVRs instead. Talking about TVRs, Mike Lawton called in to see us with pictures of his F-Type Three Wheeler nearing the completion of a rebuild. Mike has sold his TVR and will soon hopefully be gracing our noggins in his Three Wheeler. We are all looking forward to it Mike. Turbo Brain Taylor was also out to see us, testing his car for the Morgan trip to Spain. On the first Thursday Dave had no comments to make, but his wife Ann wanted to make her own, and why not! Andrew Jenkin was quietly excited at the noggin, since the following week he was due to travel to Scotland to collect his new acquisition, a Series I four seater. I hope all went well Andrew.
Gerry Burkitt made it down to the Brighton Speed Trials to watch the Morgans compete in various classes; Roger was competing in the Brighton & Hove Handicap class as well as a modified class. John Bishop (SexMog) kindly stood in for David Stevens, Roger’s normal race mechanic, Dave doesn’t like travelling too far south, he finds the climate uncomfortably warm, hence the need for a replacement. It was particularly good of John to step in, since he had recently had a small operation on his index finger of his right hand. Roger was exceptionally up against it this year as he was expected to compete against two Chris Godwins(SexMog) in the same class. Against all the odds Roger managed, somehow, to come second in the Brighton & Hove Handicap class, although he would be too modest to mention the fact. Craig Jones(Midland Centre) also came second in a modified class in his 4.5 litre Plus 8; next year Craig hopes to run his five litre car in an attempt to regain the Onyx UK Trophy. Brian Tyrer(SexMog) was also competing in his standard Plus 8. All things considered it was a good day for Morgans. It was also good to see John and Maureen Linfield(SexMog) down for the day.
The day after the Trials Craig and Roger travelled north to the Cornbury Park sprint. The big Morgans beat all the Ferraris at the sprint, including a Mondial T and a 550 Maranello (£140ks worth?). They couldn’t use the power presumably.
Joe and Lizzie made it down to Wiscombe Park to watch the ThamesMog competitors in action. The journey down the day before had been in very wet conditions. Gerard Sykes had unfortunately broken down on route; the windscreen wipers on his TR engined +4 had developed a fault, and in those conditions the journey would have been too dangerous. On the day of the hill climb the surface conditions were very slippery, unfortunately during the event Frank Orton(class E competitor) lost grip and came off the track near the last section of the hill. Frank was okay, but his car was unable to run for the rest of the event. Frank hoped to be back in action for Castle Combe in late October. Good luck Frank, I hope you get through all the work in time.
According to my diary our Sunday noggin at the Queen’s was on the last day of summer; the weather was a fine summers day as well. Half a dozen Morgans made it along in spite of the clash with the Grand Prix; Mike Dulieu arrived, halfway through writing a clients’ report. Mike had some good ideas for some future events, including brewery and vineyard trips and a session on a skid pan. Perhaps we should do the brewery trip and skid pan on the same day, Dutch courage, etc. Mary was wearing a rather fetching light weight multicoloured jacket, ideal for early autumn Morganeering.
I must correct an error in a report a few months ago. Roger’s improvement at the Prescott hill climb was not only due to Dave Stevens’ help, but thanks also to some significant advice from Joe Philips (star pupil at the Prescott hill climb schools). Apparently the best way to go round Pardon is to .........
The rest of this report has been censored due to the fact that sensitive competition information was about to be divulged!
Dates and Things:
1st Thursday evening every month:
Bird In Hand, Knowl Hill.
Sunday Lunchtime Venue Dates:
Queen’s Oak, Finchampstead, near Finchampstead Church, 12.00 onwards.
November 23rd, December 21st, January 18th.
Roger Bluff