We had a quiet first Thursday with only a couple of Mogs venturing out. Albert Koo kindly volunteered to organise some outings while Dave and Ann Vodden gave us an up date on our future Treasure Hunt competition (no useful tips I may add)!
Our New Year’s Centre dinner was held at the Riveria Hotel, Maidenhead. We had a large table laid out in a private function room with a cosy log fire and a nice view of the River Thames. It was a very enjoyable evening. A big thank you should go to Mike Aldrich for organising the hotel and dinner. The consensus was that we should have a Centre dinner every year. As often happens at these occasions I tend to learn something new, in this case that the ownership of a four seater can have the same connotations as having some etchings that someone may want to come up and see - isn’t that right John!
We have decided to form a Centre camping club with our Patron being Pat Sanders. The inaugural camping expedition will on the wind swept peninsular of Peel on the Isle of Man during ManxMog. I think we are more of a survivalist club since I understand we are the only group camping thus far. They breed them tough in the Thames Valley. Any other fellow campers will be most welcome. We hope to form a Thames Valley Viking long boat team especially since we have an Oylmpic standard oars man in our Centre. I expect us to win. Failing that we should at least beat Captain Quentin Bligh and his crew from HopMog.
Only Chris Rowe and I made it to the Queen’s Oak Sunday noggin two days after the Centre dinner - the hang-overs must have been good! The Landlord from the Queen’s introduced himself on this occasion and asked about our web page. Apparently he has access to the web and he has seen a photograph of his pub with a Morgan outside on our web page. So I gave him a few photographs of our cars parked outside the Queen’s. He promises to mount the photographs behind the bar with the aim of introducing new members who may drop in for a drink. So look out for the photographs!
In recent months I have had some telephone calls from potential new members to the Thames Valley Centre. During the winter months especially I know it can be quite difficult to know who the Morgan Centre members are at a noggin, especially if there are no Morgans in the car park (this rarely happens at ThamesMog). Consequently in the near future, I hope to borrow an idea from HopMog by developing some sort of table top ornament that a new member would recognise: the group of people sitting around the table and the ornament would be Thames Valley members. In the short term we have a red box that I carry about for filing purposes. So any new members please just look out for the red box! Everyone is welcome, our noggins are always informal; please just turn up!
Last month saw the launch of our very own Centre Newsletter. The aim is to provide a means of keeping in touch with all Thames Valley Centre members on a monthly basis to ensure that everyone knows about future Centre events as soon as possible. The Newsletter has a main news section followed by articles from Centre members. This months edition has Chris Rowe describing his experience of driving a modern +4 round the Nurburgring and how he overhauled more humble sports cars. We also have a technical section and a section for members’ letters. An ad-hoc quiz is included for intellectual Morgan owners. Future additions plan to cover local Morgan sporting events including hill climbs and races, especially if Centre members are involved. Editions often include pictures of Morgans enjoying themselves! Subscribers are welcome World-wide; a nominal fee is charged to cover costs. All enquires should be made to the Thames Valley Centre secretary.
One piece of news that I learnt at the Centre dinner was that Mary’s and James’ new Morgan is now in production and could be ready in three to four weeks. Please let me know when you both plan to arrive at the Queen’s in your new baby so that I can make sure that I have my Box Brownie with me. Thinking about it, at this rate, it could be at the next noggin, at the Queen’s!
During the early part of the New Year, on the first Saturday (3/1/98) the Thames Valley region had some very windy weather! Nevertheless, our most southerly member was out in his yellow +8 in his shirt sleeves with the top down; this just goes to prove that anything can happen in the Thames Valley!
The first local Morgan sporting event this year is likely to be Gurston Down hill climb on 19th April 1998. This event is near Salisbury and is a good venue for spectators. I hope to be competing at this event (Centre Secretary). Please note that the Sunday noggin date at the Queens Oak has been changed to the 5th April, this is different from previous Centre reports to accommodate this competition date. Full details on Gurston Down will be included in next months Newsletter. As mentioned before Albert Koo and Dave and Ann Vodden have kindly offered to organise some events in the near future. Albert intends to organise trips to the Goodwood festival of Speed, 12/13/14 June 1998 and the Coys International Historic Festival and Footman James Retro Run, 25/26 July 1998. For details please telephone Albert (tel: 0149 481 223). Dave hopes to organise a Treasure Hunt starting from the Queens Oak on 21st June 1998. For details please telephone Dave (tel: 0118 981 5856). This months Newsletter also has further details on these events.
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.
February 15th, March 15th, April 5th.
TVC EVENTS
Gurston Down (OS Map 184. GR 026252): 19th April 1998. Roger Bluff; Tel: 0118 978 3547.
Goodwood Festival of Speed: 14th June 1998. Albert Koo; Tel: 0149 481 2223.
Coys - Silverstone: 25/26th July 1998. Albert Koo; Tel: 0149 481 2223.
Thames Valley Centre Treasure Hunt Trophy: 21st June 1998. Dave Vodden; Tel: 0118 981 5856.