I was deeply saddened to learn the devastating news recently, of the passing of Colin Gordon. We had only just learnt of Colin's illness; Frank Lomax had made contact with Colin when he hadn't met up with him as expected at Buxton, for the international Morgan meeting. Colin was an active member of Togmog and he was beginning to become more involved with our Centre, hence his friendship with Frank. Colin enjoyed his time with his Morgan and the friends he had made with us and Togmog. Colin was keen on motorsport so he found kindred spirits in us. On behalf of the Centre I would like to send our sincere condolences to Colin's wife Sue and family. I hope Sue you will feel able to continue your contact and involvement with our club. As our anniversary celebrations approach I am reminded how, that as a Centre, we act as an extended family being supportive to each other through the good and bad times. My thoughts and best wishes are with you Sue.
On a happier note, I was pleased to learn that we have once again won the best club stand at the Uxbridge Auto show, held back in July. The first time we won this trophy was back in the year of the launch of the Aero 8. That year we supported the stand with the Morgan agent F.H. Douglas along with the then prototype Aero; the dark blue one if you can remember it. This car caused quite a stir and was used to collect the award. I have often wondered if this was the first presented prize to the Aero, if so it was while at a Thames Valley supported event. That year Miss England joined us on the stand to help celebrate our win. If anyone has any pictures I think it would be nice to use them at our 40th Anniversary dinner - please contact Geoff Giles if you can lend us any. Many thanks if you can. The second time we won the Uxbridge Trophy was during the Centenary year, when we had on display Morgan sports cars through the ages. This year though the team put on a celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the formation of our Centre. The stand looked impressive and well deserved the win for a second year running. I would like to applaud everyone involved - well done. It is nice to be recognised by other car clubs in our milestone birthday year. Of course it would be lovely to win for a third year in a row but for now we should be justly proud of this year's win for the Morgan sports car. As is often the case, we owners are great ambassadors for everything to do with enjoying the Morgan sports car. Congratulations everyone!
I understand you all had a good time at the Ace Café this year, unfortunately I wasn't able to be there as I was busy touring Cyprus with Aphrodite, which was almost as much fun. Whether this year you met up with the Monster Raving Looney party, I'm not sure, but with this period of coalition I thought you may be interested in one of the latest of their Looney polices. Apparently they want us to embrace Europe wholeheartedly provided Europe adopts the pound sterling. Their argument goes that since Britain will then be the largest island in Europe, we would then become a tax haven. Now you can't argue with intelligence - the loonies get my vote.
Please don't forget our 40th Anniversary dinner to be held in November at the Bird In Hand. This will be a special event. Please contact Mike Aldrich if you would like to go as soon as you can as we are taking bookings now on a first come first served basis. At the time of writing in late July there were not many places left, so please be quick. You can find Mike's contact details listed with the event on the events page, please see below.
If you were a previous regular at the Reading, Grogmog or even Thames Valley Centre, I would love to hear from you, if you are still able to read this column. I would like to hear your memories so that we can pull together a comprehensive history for our Ruby dinner. Naturally, if you would like to join us for our 40th Anniversary dinner you would be most welcome. Also, if you are still active with us please pass this message on to any old members that you may still be in touch with - thank you. Interestingly, it was in 1970 that Concorde made its first supersonic flight while we were hankering for a Moss box Plus Eight. Also, the US Moon landings were still in full swing. In 1970 there was the drama of Apollo13 that was followed by most of the world. All this happened just months before the birth of the Reading Centre.
This month we make a welcome return to the Windsor area for this month's walk - I hope to see you there.
Take care, see you all soon