I hope everyone had a very happy and enjoyable Christmas. I would like to welcome you all to our Centenary Year celebrations. I think 2009 is going to be busy. Interestingly, while we celebrate our one hundredth, our friends from the Marcos Club will be marking the fiftieth year of the Marcos. We hope to commemorate this happy coincidence, with some joint events through the year. The first of these has already been booked. Saturday evening, 13th June we shall be joining the Marcos club at the Ace Café a venue that many of our members know well from the days of their misspent youth. Hence, this will be a nostalgic trip for many. An appropriate meeting place for Morgan to return to in its Centenary. If you would like to take part in this important rendezvous, please contact me, as Ace Café would like to have an idea of numbers. All Centres are welcome. With the long summer nights at that time of year and all those classic British sports cars, it will be an evening to remember. There are quite a few Marcos sport cars booked up already. I hope you can make it.
We are in the process of pulling together all of our much loved regular events this year, which we shall bill as our Centenary visit. Roger Prior is currently agreeing dates for a return visit to the Chiltern Open Air Museum, and hopefully the Stanlake Park Vineyard. Roger does have a date for Beale Park Thames Boat Show as well as for the visit to the wonderful Snowdrop Woods in Welford Park. Beale will be held over the weekend of 5th, 6th and 7th June and the visit to the Snowdrop Woods will take place on 22nd February. These are all wonderful events; I hope you will be able to join us. All centres are welcome.
Also please note another date for your diary, as in previous years, we will be exhibiting at the Uxbridge Auto Show, which this year is on 19th July. For the Centenary year we are planning to exhibit a representative selection of Morgan vehicles, showing the development of the three wheeler, the 4-4 series 1, and onwards through to the current Aero (and maybe an Aeromax if you have one to exhibit). The location is the Middlesex Showground in Uxbridge, very close to the A40 Western Avenue. The show is organised by the Rotary Club of Uxbridge and raises funds for charity. There are normally at least 100 car clubs present together with many individual entries. There is plenty to do for all members of the family. Retail opportunities include an auto jumble, trade stands, and arts and crafts. Further details will be provided during the year, in the mean time if you are able to attend, have an interesting vehicle for display, or wish to be put on the mailing list, please contact Mike Smith,
Please don't forget that on January 1st, at the beginning of our Centenary year, we have the opportunity to attend the classic car meeting at the Poacher and the Phoenix Pub. Both start in the morning and run over lunch time to mid afternoon. Please contact Andy Low if you are thinking of going and would like some more information. Both venues can be busy, parking at the Phoenix in particular, normally involves finding a space at the roadside. Last year people tended to travel between the pubs to see the different cars on display. We shall congregate at our normal watering hole - The Poacher. The landlord will be providing his normal excellent range of food designed to add recovery from the night before.
On an important note, please note the Bird In Hand noggin in January, falls on 1st January. After a nice day out at the Phoenix and Poacher, with all those classic cars to yearn over, you may then feel like a nice evening at the Bird In Hand, to round off a perfect day. Well please note, the Bird In Hand will be closed in the evening. Normal service however, will resume in February; I hope to see you there.
While on the subject of the Bird In Hand, this pub is now on the real ale trail, each month they have a different guest beer on tap, often from a local micro brewery. It is a pleasure each month to go there and sample something different. I have not had a bad pint yet - we are very lucky to have this pub on our circuit.
Alternatively, on New Year's Day we have a rather spectacular walk to celebrate the start of 2009 and our Centenary year and to blow away the cobwebs with a ramble in the Seven Sisters National Park both with Hopmog and the Brighton Centre.
For the walk on New Year's Day and those just coming for the noggin, please contact Trudie Jacobs from Brighton Centre (see their notes), to book your place for lunch. We can reserve tables up until 13:00. Gerry Burkitt hopes to be running the walk, but at the time of writing (late November) Gerry was unable to confirm. Please contact Gerry nearer the time to check whether the walk part of the day is still on; many thanks. I will be away for this New Year period so I will not be able to join you. I hope though you will enjoy the day. Gerry and I rehearsed the walk recently and this is quite a magnificent one!