Eight hundred years ago, on 15th June 1215, Runnymede next to the River Thames was witness to King John’s historic sealing of the Magna Carta. Runnymede is a beautiful place to reflect on the history of the struggle for freedom. Here one can see a monument to the democratic legacy of the Magna Carta as well as memorials to John F. Kennedy and the Commonwealth Air Forces. In this important anniversary year, we have decided to pay a visit this National Trust site. Many consider this to be the birthplace of modern democracy and as a consequence worthy of celebration. As a Centre we are honoured, I believe, to have this site that is revered across the world in our region. (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/runnymede/ ) Our visit will be on Sunday 22nd March, when we shall meet at 11 am in the Memorial car park; afterwards we will visit the meadows and the respective monuments. The newly open tea rooms are available for lunch. It should be a reflective day. I hope you can join us.
Please remember next month our AGM will be held on April 23rd. Please contact Mike Aldrich (details below) to let him know if you are coming so that we can arrange the accommodation accordingly – thank you. As the eagle eyed members of the Centre may have noticed, this is St. George’s day. St. George of course was a great slayer of dragons.
With regard to Roger and Adrienne Prior’s bundle of joy from New Year’s Day, young Arthur may be the proud owner of a three wheel pedal car in the years to come. I remember the advert, ‘don’t you wish your first car had been a Morgan?’ Who can argue with the sediment behind this question? Congratulations, once again, to Roger and Adrienne.
I am very pleased to be able to say we have been invited back to RAF Benson on Thursday 23rd July for their family day and air show. The organisers at RAF Benson request that all vehicles are to be on site by 10:30. Flying displays start at 12:00. It's OK to leave any time after about 16:00. The event continues into the evening for the families of service people. The organisers require the following details: Vehicle Make, Model, Registration Number, Colour; Full Names of Driver and all passengers. Separate and numbered passes will be issued for each vehicle and person. These will have been sent to the Dave Cleveland and he will then forward these to you so please provide a postal address (just one per vehicle). I would like to thank Dave very much indeed for coordinating this marvellous event.
The other bit of good news is that after some careful negotiations, Terry Tedman has got us back into Fawley Hill Railway Museum for 2015. This is always a wonderful day out and something to look forward to very much indeed. I would like to thank Terry for organising this trip. The visit will be on Sunday 16th August. Please contact Terry (details below) if you would like to join us.
Finally, please note, I mentioned last month there is to be a Marcos and Morgan meet up at the Ace Café. I said that as soon as I have a date, I will let you know – well it is being held on Saturday 23rd May from 18:00 onwards. I hope you can make it – the food and music is great. It looks like 2015 continues to shape up quite nicely.