On Sunday 23rd August some of us were due to attend the Shoreham Air show organised by David & Lynn Collins of Sexmog. Sadly, the day before there was a tragic accident at the show. David and Lynn had the responsibility of letting us all know on the day. On behalf of the Centre, I would like to send our sincere condolences to all the families that have lost love ones, and to all those that have been traumatised. I would also like to thank David and Lynn for their good services. Our thoughts will be with all involved. The Dunsfold air show paid their deep respects the following weekend, as did the Brighton Speed Trials in early September, two relatively local events to Shoreham.
On a happier note, it was good to see the son of the late James Hunt competing at the Brighton Speed Trials. By chance I had a run just behind Freddie Hunt in his sped up MG Midget. I have always liked these little cars and he certainly was quick off the line and showed a clear set of heels to all the Midgets in his class. When I saw him climb out of his car with his long blonde hair and warm smile, I had to take a second look – I thought I was pulled up behind James Hunt. Freddie is a really nice guy; we were fortunate to see him at the Trials since the following weekend he was off to California for a sports car race. At Brighton, Freddie was racing for The Apprentice Racing Team (TART) racing to support them in their aims of raising money for training future apprentice race engineers – a great cause (www.tartracing.com).
They were quite a few camera crews around interviewing Freddie after his runs. There were news bulletins on Southern ITV on Breakfast television and for the evening slots. As for me, I ended up on Xcar with an interview with Darryl Sleath. I will probably end up on You Tube somewhere. Darryl was running the Aero Racing prepared Morgan three wheeler. This vehicle had a load of torque and was quite a blast down Madeira Drive – a return to the early days of the Brighton Speed Trials when HFS Morgan entered in a very early three wheeler.
At the time of writing, we had two places left for a visit to the Morgan Factory on 8th October. All the places by now may indeed be taken, but it is worth checking in case there have been any cancellations. Please contact me, as soon as you can, if you would like to join us. It should be an interesting trip.
I’ve heard that August 2015 was the wettest on record, in spite the forecast of a long hot barbeque summer. Thanks to this downpour along with high winds, you may remember we had to cancel our walk on White Horse Hill, near Uffington. However, we have rescheduled the walk for this month, on the October 25th – I hope the weather will be calmer around this time of year. I look forward to seeing you there and not blowing by.
On Sunday 1st November Sexmog will be meeting at the Jolly Tanner in Staplefield to watch the Veterans go by on their way to Brighton from London. If you plan to watch here, it is best to get there early. The Jolly Tanner does a great breakfast. Alternatively, you can watch the start in London – please make contact if you are interested in this option.
Take care, see you all soon – Roger.