GEORGE IV PUBLIC HOUSE, BALDOCK, HERTS

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Is it ever going to stop raining??  We are attracting some new 'members' which is brilliant.  The more people we have joining the meets obviously the more interesting it gets!   The club is now listed on the on-line kit car magazine, www.totalkitcar.com, hopefully that will let others know we exist.  As usual, anyone with any good ideas as to where we might go or shows we could attend is very welcome to put forward their suggestions, also articles of general interest to other kit car enthusiasts are welcomed.  Without input to the site, it will get stale and boring so get your fingers busy and send some words to us!  As last year, we are having a raffle each monthly meet (always happy to add donations from 'members') and any funds raised will go towards the Christmas meal.  Last Christmas' meet was very much enjoyed by everybody so hopefully this year will be as good (it is intended, as long as standards don't drop of course!) to have the meal at the George IV.  I am sure they will look after us very well. 

Don't forget the agony page, I am sure some of you have some funny stories to tell...

The Oxford area has a new area secretary, John Peach, who has taken over from Pete Cherry, and is keen to get together with Herts area for a meeting.  We did this last year and it was very successful and well attended.  Northampton now has an area meet so there is another possible inter-county meeting.

Look forward to seeing you all and receiving input from you for the site.  Thanks to anyone who has already sent us photos/articles etc.

Helen

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MEETING REPORTS

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John and I met up with Sandie and John at their house.  John had passed by the Sainsbury Service Station as I was putting in my fuel, he did a quick blast on his horn, not realising the two minute silence for Remembrance Sunday was just beginning.  Whoops.  Oh well, I just ignored it.

It is a straightforward journey, up the A1 to St Neots, then left onto the B645 to Higham Ferrers.  The B645 is a popular road with bikers, just the right bends, straights, hills etc to make for a very interesting and fun drive.  I was leading the 'convoy'. The roads were generally dry, so we could get a nice pace going.  Luckily we drove through Kimbolton after the Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph had finished. 

We got to the pub to find a few cars there already.  You can get a very large and tasty bacon bap and coffee for about £2.70, fills you up very nicely.  Nice to see Peter Bell again and also Graham Mintram, haven't seen him for a while.

Had a good chat and set off for the journey home.  Still very cold, but we were all very pleased we made the effort to go.  My car decided to fail on me again when I was overtaking on the A1 but it soon picked up again. John is going to investigate over the winter. 

John said, that after all he has gone through recently, it was the first really normal day he had enjoyed for ages so that is very good news.  I didn't take any photos but Sandie did and she has sent them to us to put on. Thanks Sandie.

Attendees:

SG7s:

Peter Bell, Sandie, John, John, Helen

Northants

Graham Mintram, Dave Rose, Tony Patrick, Mick Brewer, Steve Baker, Steve Patenall and Peter

Definitely have to arrange an inter-county meet with them next year!

Since it was a lovely sunny, if cold morning, we decided to go.  Griff had already been out by the time we arrived. We had a good look round at the other cars, another Hood, a few Caterhams, a Dax Rush (motorbike engined),  road cars including a Noble, two Porsche, a Nissan 200, a Lotus and a Citroen VTR and the Fiat Cinquecento Club plus a few others which I don't remember.

Like I said, it was VERY cold, a biting wind blowing across the airfield.  The track was a reasonable length, with some good twists and turns. 

It was good fun to watch the cars going round but even better when Griff offered to take me out in his car!  Sadly for John, he was still a little 'delicate' to risk going out so I had to go instead... YIPEE..... Well, that was an experience! I swore a few times inside the helmet so Griff didn't hear me and I laughed so much going round the bends at cling-on speed.  I was totally thrilled by the way the Hood held onto the track (a bit pleased as well, don't know how I would have reacted had we spun off).  When we finally returned to the pits I had a smile from ear to ear on my face as you can see from the photo. 

Sad to hear that later in the day Griff lost one of his front wings.  John was concerned at the amount of rubber that was missing from the tyres.  I don't think either of us would put our cars through something like that.  But I have to say, it was great fun and very exciting. 

The Dax Rush was unable to run during the morning when we were there which was a shame. The noise level was reading too high, has to be 100 and it came out at 106.  After having the exhaust off and doing some repacking it still registered 101! 

Money wise, it seemed good value to me.  £100 for the day, you can go out as much as you like during the day.  Passengers are £10 for the day.  Extra drivers are £10 each for the day, so if you split it two or three ways over one car it isn't so expensive.  You have to have good trusting friends though to take your car out for you.... There are no refunds so if you pay to go and can't run, you lose your money.

Certainly worth a visit next year once the events get going again, if only to spectate.  There was a burger bar with tea and coffee, toilet facilities, and girls, a few nice young soldiers running around in uniform just the other side of the fence!!!! I do like a uniform.

Look forward to going again next year, and a HUGE thank you to Griff for the experience.  Another one of those days you just won't forget.

(Andy Barbet in deep conversation with Rob, with Glen and Laurie behind)

Thank you to everyone who brought along their deposits for the Christmas 'do' on 5th December.  Just a reminder, we are meeting at the pub at about 3.30 to be ready to sit down at about 4pm.  There is no meeting scheduled for the morning.  We have a few nice prizes lined up for the Christmas raffle and a few more to buy.  Any donations are, as always, very welcome.  Thank you to those who have given us prizes to raffle over the last year.  We have made a few pounds to put towards the 'do'. 

Of course, for those of you who don't already know, Andy Barbet finally picked up his Luego kit yesterday! What an exciting day.  John, John and Andy went to Peterborough to the Luego factory.  Very impressed with the whole set- up.  Loaded up the bits in the van and it is now at home with Andy, now comes the hard bit. He spent last weekend stripping down his donor, a 2 ltr Sierra, with a bit of help from his mates.  He now has a heap of parts, lots of spare wheels and a lot of work ahead of him.

Attendees:

John, Helen, Chris, Peter, Richard and Caroline, Andy Petrie (great to see him come all the way from Bury!), Mike Gouldsborough - Hoodies

Mal - Westfield

Dave and Sarah - Hotrod

Rob and Paul - Ronart- a very interesting car, photo anyone?

Simon Trigg, Steve Wakefield, Laurie and Glen Barber, Neil, Alan Rowe, Sandie and John, Andy Barbet & Connor, Nick and Alex - Tin tops

It is just left for me to say thank you for your support this year, especially over the last six weeks! We have made some great friends within this group, something we will never forget.  We hope you have enjoyed the meetings and outings.  If you have any interesting suggestions for next year, let us know.  I think an outing to the Mosquito Museum at London Colney is well worth it, we had a good time there with the Cambridge Westfield Owners Club, thanks Mal for the invite.  Whilst Duxford Imperial War Museum was brilliant, the Mosquito Museum was made extra special by the enthusiasts willing to share their historical knowledge with us.  Certainly a lot to learn there.

Have a very happy Christmas! We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year. 

Met up with Steve, Steve, Paul Rose and Dave Brewster (I think, sorry if that is wrong) from Northants

Alan Rowe (Northants/SG7s) and Peter Bell SG7s. 

Enjoyed a coffee and a huge bacon buttie, a nice chat and then a brilliant drive home again. Well worth the run out, blew out all the cobwebs and stress from the past two weeks!  Will try and arrange a trip up there next year.

Piddy had suggested that some of the Anglia group might come down to see us today which they did. We will arrange to go to see them next year since time has now run out weatherwise.

I had a bad start, pulled the exmo out of mum's garage and thought how heavy it was, checked the tyres to find a completely flat one at the back.  This is where John would have been called upon to deal with it but instead poor Andy got the phone call.  He was very kind and came to my rescue. I have all these knights and lady knights in shining armour around me at the moment, didn't realise how many good friends we have made.Thank you again.

The forecast as usual was a bit iffy and after a reasonable start, we soon ended up getting wet.  The hood was put up on my car for the first time, after much micky taking I actually managed to get in without any problems. Different getting out, I cheated and undid the poppers and lifted it off.

Sandie finally got Pete Cherry into the Dax and took him for a ride. Apparently a slight skid on the wet road, Pete stayed very calm. Given him the incentive to finish his own off (is that so that he doesn't have to ride in our cars??) Nice to see Pete, first time he has made a meeting at the pub this year.

We had the usual chatter and raffle and when the rain came those who stayed on went and had something to eat. The food looked good. I had a pudding, very nice. Hopefully the Christmas meal will be as good. A great turnout yet again.

Attendees:

Anglia - Piddy (Martin), Andy Petrie, Mike Shearing and Bob Rowell - Hoodies

SG7s

Chris Brown, Mike Gouldsborough, Stephen Altwasser, Rosemary and Ian, Helen - Hoodies

Sandie and Gina - Dax Rush

John - Dax Cobra

Mal, Simon, Steve Wakefield, Elaine and Stuart - Westies

Ced and Lorraine - Banham Sprint

Pete Cherry, Mike Montegue, Andy Barbet, Keith Rudge, Troy and Mick - tintops

16 cars and 26 people.

Piddy's report:

We thought that the meeting would not commence. Helen however decided that the meeting would commence in true hoodie style.

Four of us made the trip to the George 1V pub in Baldock. We first met at the Newmarket services and then set off down the A11 and A505 we arrived at the pub at 11.30 to find an empty car park.

It was not long before Mal in his Westfield joined us. Mal had also brought along the latest e-mail from Helen.

 (photo by Piddy)

This e-mail was concerning our friend John. Who was still waiting to go to London and because of constant pain he was now on morphine. John is now in London. 

Within the next hour more and more cars arrived until the number reached 16.

 (photo by Piddy)

Helen brought along a card for us all to sign. John was most impressed with this card.

 The weather now changed from a dull overcast to Rain this encouraged some to take there cars home (If I had a nice shiny Cobra I might do the same) the rest of us put our hoods on.

Next Pete Cherry was treated to a ride down the A1 in Sandie’s Dax Rush; he returned with a grin from ear to ear and legs like jelly. 

It was then time for the raffle. Helen had gone and found some useful items to use as raffle prizes our members were lucky Bob wining a large bottle of wine, Andy a photo album, and Mike a cuddly toy.

Following the raffle, the weather not being too nice many people went home however, we found our way into the pub joined by six of the SG7 group.

We indulged in a very nice cavery and a pot of tea.

It was nice to get to know a few more of the group.

On the return journey I managed to loose Bob. I left the car park first followed by bob and I had sight of him in my mirror until I reach the dual carriageway at this point I lost sight of him but could see some head lights on what looked like a hood. It was, but it was Chris Brown hood not Bob’s. I therefore slowed down and travelled about five miles all the time thinking where are they what has happened.

I  pulled over and waited I thought I ‘ll give them ten minutes and then retrieve the mobile from the boot and start ringing each of them in turn,  I thought one of them must of broken down. I then saw Andy and mike come screaming past and I pulled in behind and joined them. My thoughts were that Bob must have broken down and they had stopped for a while and then been told to continue without him.

I felt guilty thinking should I go back, where is he. It turned out that Bob had stopped for petrol and no one had seen him.

We all had a great day out. Better weather next time I hope.

Piddy.

                          Their web site is    www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk

This is a small museum, privately run without government funding.  It is run by a group of very interesting guys who had lots of stories to tell and information to pass on about the aircraft.  The prototype of the Mosquito was developed and built at this site, out in the sticks, in the grounds of the moated Salisbury Hall.  The Mosquito was built in wood and was a high speed, unarmed, bomber plane.

thanks to Stephen for changing the direction of the plane! It was facing the other direction, the wonders of technology.  Looks much nicer facing this way.

john looking very worried about the prospect of flying! even in half a plane....

                                                 thanks for the invite Mal!

                                                    home time on the A1(M)

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Attendees:

SG7's

Peter Bell, Stephen Altwasser, John and Helen - Hoods

Mal - Westfield

Chris and Moira - Dax Rush

Cambridge Westies

Chas Powerslide, Liam, other names to follow when advised

See section 'Duxford' on main menu for details/photos.

A big thank you to all who managed to come along and especially to Martin Pidd for co-organising the meet with John and me.

I had the idea to have a ride in Steve's Suzuki 1300cc motor bike engined Dax Rush as a prize in the raffle we run each month.  Helen won it! She says it was not fixed... She did offer it round to someone else but they all declined (including me).  So off she went, most likely not fully appreciating what she had let herself in for!  Steve's car is very fast, Helen was thrilled to have a ride in it.  A very big thank you to Steve and well done Helen for being willing to have a go.  She is still smiling, Abby told her off for being so happy!

                              before!

Helen says: "When Steve accellerated off up the road, it was such a different feeling to being in a Hood.  The bike gear box is naturally different, the car was very fast, gear changes really quick, no windscreen, should have kept my mouth closed in case of flies but I was smiling far too much and squealing with delight on a few occasions, grin factor of 110%, highly recommended.  Thanks Steve, I felt guilty winning since I was asked to 'chat you up' (John's words) to arrange the prize and then I won it..." 

                              after!

As usual, there was plenty of chat, Nick joined us in his tintop, he is definitely selling his Fisher Fury, shame but needs must. We left at about 3pm.  Thanks to everyone for coming along.

Attendees:

John, Helen, Richard and Caroline, Stephen Altwasser, Griff, Steve Putrell - Hoodies

Sandie and John, Steve (Suzuki) - Dax Rush

Doug and Andy - Marlin Roadster

Simon Trigg - Westfield

Nick, Leslie + 2 Altwasser - Tin tops

8 cars & 17 people

                                 now you see him....

                                 now you don't!

(Stephen sent us a revised photograph, he has been 'transported' to another time zone!) very clever....

I discussed Christmas with the Manager (I know it is ages away but it will get here soon enough)   Going ahead and provisionally  booking  for 4 pm on Sunday 5th December 2004 at a cost of £13.95 per head.  I will finalise the booking much nearer the time but at least we can put the date in our diaries! 

Great to see a good mix of cars again today. 6 Hoods, 3 Westies, 1 Cobra and 2 Rush.

Attendees:

John, Helen, Peter Bell, Chris Brown, Rosemary and Mike - Hoodies

Sandie and  Steve -  Dax Rush

John - Cobra

Mal, Simon Trigg and Steve Wakefield - Westfield

Mario, Lisa and Charlotte, Bob and Sheila - Tin tops

Mike was all set to sell his Exmo, but now he has fixed the smell of petrol he is thinking twice... Brian Camp is definitely selling his, see the for sale section.

Look forward to seeing lots of you at Knebworth (Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday), we have a RHOCaR club stand booked for the two days, speak to us for details.  Then it is Donnington! Where is the year going?  Bye again,

Helen

At last, SUNSHINE!  After a year so far of little sunshine and lots of showers, some of them very heavy, we finally picked a day when it was warm and sunny.  Last year at the museum it was very hot. 

It was arranged that we meet at George IV pub at 1100 to leave for Stondon by about 1130.  Eleven cars and Tom in his tintop arrived.  A slightly worrying time for me, came onto the A1 at Stevenage, got up some speed, then twang rattle rattle something had broken.  I was with Pete (Old Git from Oxford area).  Since the car was still running in a straight line, engine ok, I reckoned it might be the bracket holding the exhaust on.  Had a careful drive up the A1, pulled into a layby to find I was right.  The top of the bracket had sheared.  John had been in front of me with Andy as co-driver.  They arrived at the pub to be told that I had been spotted in the lay-by.  He came back to find me, but I passed him going towards the pub!  Out came the tool boxes to find a way to fix things so I could get back on the road.  It would have been ok to drive with the bracket like that but it was very noisy.  John made a temporary repair which meant we were soon on our way! 

A nice pace was set for the convoy, through Baldock, along the A507 and up to Lower Stondon.  Not much different from previous visits but nevertheless very enjoyable.  We were given a small discount of each member's admission which was well appreciated.  Chris Brown parted with an antique oil dispenser containing EP90 gear oil.  A fair exchange for a free entry to the museum.  He started off with more in the can but had more of it in his boot by the time he arrived at the museum!  Oh well, at least it will stop it from going rusty.... A nice puddle left on the car park floor as well.

         Arriving at the museum, Brain Camp already there (car on right hand side)

We certainly made the most of the facilities for the afternoon.  Didn't leave until about 4.30, nice to just sit and chat.  The staff really make you feel welcome, our thanks to Richard Ashby the Manager.  Tour of the Endeavour was as usual very interesting.

a few hangers-on 

 The Endeavour Replica with full rigging (above), side view of the ship (below)

The meeting was very well attended by the following:

John with Andy Barbet, Helen with Pete (Old Git), Chris Brown, Alisdair and Tyler, Peter Bell, Steven and Leslie Altwasser, Dave and Doug (knew nothing about our meeting but just happened to be visiting the museum) and Brian Camp - Hoodies

Sandie, Chris and Moira, Derek and Steve in a Suzuki powered - Dax Rush

John - Cobra

Mal, Simon Trigg - Westfield

Tom, Carol + 2 Brown, Mario and Lisa - Tin tops

15 Kits in all!  28 bodies!

Our thanks to everyone who managed to get to the museum, a good time was had by all.

Displays of falconry, dog team, shire horses, sheep dog display etc were going on in the arena all day, such a shame about the rain but the good old British didn't give up, out came the brollies and the show went on.  There was a craft exhibition in the 'house', great if you like that sort of thing.  Lots of stalls dotted around the arena.  Plenty of different things to eat and drink.  The fly past by a Spitfire was cancelled, most likely due to the weather.  A very well planned and run show, highly recommended.  We all enjoyed ourselves and I am sure we will want to go again next year.  The time flew by so quickly, we were still sitting chatting and didn't realise that the show had finished and they were starting to clear up!

We had a whip round and raised just over £15.00 for Sporting Bears which was handed over to the Sporting Bears stall.

Attendees:

East Anglia Area

Martin (Piddy), Andy and Linda, Peter, Alan and Sue Ryman - Hoodies

Herts Area

Chris Brown, Peter Bell, Richard and Caroline, Alan and Pauline, Helen and Abby, John - Hoodies

Sandie - Dax Rush

John - Dax Cobra

Ced and Lorraine were at the show with their Banham Sprint

A very big thank you to Chris Brown for organising the tickets and of course to everyone for coming along and making a great day. 

John, Terry Kent & friend, Alan Rowe - Hoods

Chris & Moira, Sandie                          - Dax Rush's

John                                                        - Cobra

Steve Wakefield & Simon Trigg          - Westfield

David                                                     - Caterham

Andy & Claire                                       - imminent builder

& Bob                                                   - sub K builder

Thanks for a good meeting, I really enjoyed it.

Firstly, thanks to Peter Bell for suggesting and arranging today's trip to the Enigma Museum.  The first meeting point was Baldock A1 services, a spectacular departure caught the interest of onlookers.  We snaked our way across the A507 being lead by John in his Dax Cobra with Mal at his side (Mal's Westfield sadly off the road at the moment). At the rear was Dave McCoy and Sarah in their Hot Rod replica 1932 Hillman, glad they came along.  We picked up Mike Montegue from a lay-by before meeting Peter Bell and Ian in Ampthill, the people in the pub must have wondered what was going on with 14 cars roaring into the car park.   On to Milton Keynes, Little Chef but no-one else joined us from there.  Arrived with a great rumble and roar at Bletchley Park and parked in line, quite straight for once!  Caused quite a stir with such an entry.  Great fun being in such a big convoy, our biggest yet.  Those who went on the tour round the museum found it very interesting, the rest of us just enjoyed a good natter between the very heavy showers that decended, seems to be the order of the day to get rained on.  Still, us good old British stuck it out and made the most of the day.  Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come along.  Quite memorable.

Baldock Services on A1

Pub Car Park, near Ampthill

Nice straight row!

Now for the list of attendees:

John, Helen, Peter Bell and Ian, Richard and Caroline, Mike Montegue, Stephen and Leslie Altwasser, Griff, Piddy and Ryan, Bob Rowell - Hoodies

Sandie, Derek North - Dax Rush (Also joined by Chris and Moira from Milton Keynes)

John and Mal - Dax Cobra

Steven Wakefield, Simon Trigg - Westfield

Nick and Alex - Fisher Fury

Dave and Sarah McCoy - 1932 Hillman Replica Hot Rod (very nice!)

Thought it might be interesting to have Piddy's Report on here as well for those of you who don't get it sent to you direct:

The Enigma Museum Visit Report. July 2004

In the end, only two of us from the Easthoods managed to visit the Enigma museum at Bletchley Park.

Andy and Peter had to pull out at the last moment.

Bob Rowell travelled to Thetford where Ryan my son & I meet him at 07.30 at our normal meeting spot the Texaco garage on the Thetford bypass.

Bob had his hood fitted. I commented that I hoped we would not need hoods today. He stated that the weather forecast had predicted thunder.

We headed off to the A11/A14 interchange and stopped there for a few minutes just in case there might be any unannounced members waiting there. There was not.

 We headed off to meet the first of the Hertfordshire hoodies also known as SG7 at the services at Baldock. The SG7 car club is a very successful club that has a large turn out of cars at all the events they attend.   They had invited us to this event. This is their web site if you wish to view it. www.freewebs.com/sg7skitcars

We arrived at the services at 08.40 there were nine cars there at this time. However, by the time we left, the number of cars had increased to fourteen. The cars present were Robin hoods, Dax Rush’s, 1 Westfield, 1 Dax Cobra, 1 Fisher Fury, and a hot rod. Later we were joined by a Banham sprite.

We travelled in convoy to the next meeting place about ten miles away. We crossed several roundabouts through streets and on some duelled roads. What a tremendous feeling it was travelling in such a large convoy as this.

We arrived at the next meeting point. Here another hood joined us.

After a few minutes we were off again to the next and final meeting place before arriving at the museum itself.

On arrival at the museum our convoy had seventeen cars present.  You can imagine the looks we received from the classic cars fraternity as we almost doubled the number of car present at the show.

The Sun came out for us as we arrived and we thought we were in for a good day weatherwise for a change.

Bob decided it was time to remove the hood form his car.

Ryan and I made our way to the mansion to find a tour guide to show us around the fifty-five acre site.

I must say the tour was excellent most informative and interesting. My only problem as we were enjoying the tour the clouds came over and there were a couple of light showers. I thought the car would be ok, It will soon dry out was my thought. Then the rain came in a heavy shower, after about ten minutes it became too much and I had to drag myself away from the tour and go and cover the car. Let us just say it was wet. As was Bob's car. I soon returned to complete the tour.

The weather continued in this manner for the remainder of our day, sun, shower, sun etc.

After lunch we visits two museums on the site one being a private collection of Winston Churchill memorabilia and the other dedicated to the Enigma and the code breakers that served on the site during the war years.

After a cuppa and an ice cream, we was honoured to see a fly past of an aircraft, I believed to be a DC3 Dakota. It was then time for us to make tracks on our journey home.

We said our goodbyes to those still present, and set off for Bedford, followed by Cambridge and home.

 All in all the day was a great day out despite the weather being poor as normal.

I would recommend a visit to the site by anyone interested in history of the WW2 period.  

Piddy

 Those present. Bob Rowell, Martin, Ryan Pidd.

Apologies.  Andy Petrie, Peter Blackmore

  Pub at Ampthill

  Little Chef, Milton Keynes

  Nice Jag & Dave's hotrod behind

  Look out from Submarine

 The Mansion

The sunshine drew so many cars out of storage today, can't believe the turnout we had, the best ever yet.  Rosemary with her Exmo joined us for the first time, you can see her with her car on 'guest photos 2'.  An Ultima pulled into the car park, the owner was to meet some friends at the pub and didn't realise we had a monthly meeting there.  You can also see his car on 'guest photos 2'.  Hopefully he will come along again (sorry, didn't find out his name..).  A 1967 Bond Equipe joined us (from a distance, Stuart wouldn't bring it to the upper car park), not a kit but welcome just the same!   Stuart is involved with the Walsworth Festival, Hitchin where they have a vehicle show which quote : 'Includes Veteran, Vintage, Classic and Interesting Cars...'  the date for this next year is 22nd May so we will put that on the diary for 2005.  Steve (wookie) wakefield brought along  his recently SVA,d  SDV Westfield ,(again on 'guest photos 2). A very well built example, Rob made his first visit with his car (cortina based S7) having just had his sump shortened amongst many other jobs carried out in his cold dark garage over the winter.  John, (Peter's friend ) came along with his Gardiner-Douglas replica Cobra. 

Enough words, some photos....

Sandie's Dax Rush and John's Dax Cobra.

Don't they look good?

Makes it all worthwhile!

Now to the list of attendees:

John, Helen, Peter Bell, Andy and Linda (Norfolk), Griff + 1, Chris Brown, Rob, Rosemary, Mike Montegue, Mike Gouldsborough - Hoodies

John  -  Dax Cobra

John - Gardiner-Douglas Cobra

Sandie - Dax Rush

Nick and Alex - Fisher Fury

Mal, Steven, Stuart and David (David is restoring a Spitfire, I presume it is a car not an aeroplane...) - Westfield

Ced - Banham Sprint (Sprog, he calls it)

David and Janet - Caterham

 Ultima.- Alan

Doug and Andy, Tom Brown + 1, Steve Puttrell (2b builder) - Tin tops

Stuart, Sue and Shaun with their Bond Equipe

It is very rewarding to have such a good response to the meets.  Can you imagine what  would happen if we all turned up with our cars!  As usual, our thanks to everyone for joining us and for your support.  Anyone wishing to join RHOCaR let us know and we will give you an application form.  Chris Brown, Sandie and John are off to LeMans so we wish them a good trip and plenty of wine!

The meeting for July will be as scheduled in Bletchley but if anyone is interested we can still meet at the pub on Sunday 11th.  Helen won't be around for the 11th, she is off galavanting about again, yes!!!!, what a result, wife free hooding, don't tell her I said that...  See you soon

John

Note from Helen: I have just seen John's comment about wife free hooding, well two can play that game.... mind you I have Abby with me and she sticks to me like Velcro!  Have a good month, see you on 4th July all being well.

Helen

They run sessions of bikes then cars throughout the day. Some take their everyday car just to see what it will do over the distance. A good variety of cars is run which keeps it interesting.  Seeing a Fiat 600 travelling at over 100 mph is quite something!  Bumped into Richard and friends, hope they enjoyed themselves as much as we did.  Very tempting to run our Hoods, I think if I had not been there John may well have 'gone for it'.  Bob Tucker ran his car, Robin Hood 2B.  In 2002 he was doing 85 mph over the strip and having carried out many modifications was hoping to do much better but on the day managed roughly the same speeds, not very good traction apparently on the track.  A Dutton Phaeton did very well as did a turbo boosted Westfield.  I believe the fastest time was from a Suzuki bike reaching 153 mph.  One guy did a wheelie for the whole quarter mile.   

For £10 each, it is worth going.  It is only £15 to run the car! You do need a crash helmet which they will supply should you not have one. 

Yet another great turnout once again despite the weather.  Promised all week with a reasonable dry day, as usual they got it wrong.  Chris Wing arrived with the new area banner, very smart, thanks to Mick Mellors for sorting that out.  We were joined by a newcomer, a very nice Banham Sprint (photo below).  The meeting was very successful, and well attended, 11 cars and 8 tintops! 28 bodies in all.  Mike Montegue won the raffle prize of a green car donated by Sandie and John.  Don't get too excited, photo also below!

Banham Sprint

New Banner

Raffle time

A good turnout again

Attendees:

John, Helen, Chris Brown, Richard and Caroline, Griff, Stephen Altwasser, - Hoodies

Sandie - Dax Rush

John - Dax Cobra

Nick and Alan Ferris - Fisher Fury

Mal - Westfield

Sed and Lorraine - Banham Sprint - apologies if I have the names wrong, Helen was suffering from deafness and found it hard to hear.... I will have to try that on her!

Mike Montegue - motorbike

Mike and Myra, Andy Barbet, Elaine and Stuart, The Altwasser family, Chris Wing, Tom Brown, James, and David Edroff - Tintops

Sorry Mike! it does go really fast though....

What a great turnout we had again today.  The forecast was for April showers, which we endured with the usual Hoodie determination!  We had 25 people come along and a total of 13 cars.  The venue is proving to be a success although for some a little slow with the food service. Apparently, the quality of the food outweighed the long wait.

We had our first raffle to raise funds towards our Christmas lunch meeting.  Anyone with anything to donate as prizes is more than welcome to bring something along.

Sandie finally came along with her lovely Dax (see a photo below of the two girls) and we welcomed a Caterham owner, David and Janet, who we hope enjoyed the meeting.

Our thanks to everyone who came along, i.e.

Richard and Caroline (her first outing in a Hood, and she arrived with a huge smile on her face), Chris Brown, Alisdair, Paul Boatman, Mike and Myra, Alan Rowe, Griff and Mary, Helen, John - Hoodies

Sandie - Dax Rush

John - Dax Cobra

Mal - Westfield

David and Janet - Caterham - also the proud owners of some other interesting cars which we may get to see at some point.

Builders:  Andy Barbet and Connor, Tom Brown, Del and Mrs Cook, Hugh Grant and son Adam

Previous owner - (without rubbing it in....) Mario and Lise

Once again, thanks to everyone who made the effort to join us.  Next meeting is going to be Stoneleigh on 2nd May and the club meeting will be at the George IV on 9th May, hope this is ok with everyone. 

Another cold, wet day, having had a reasonable forecast all week.  Never mind, the RHOCaR tent was most welcoming.  A very good turnout by Hoodies, as usual, met up with members of the SG7 group:

Richard and Caroline, Andy Barbet, Sandie and John, Peter Bell,  Paul Boatman, Griff,  Chris Wing, and of course us two (not all in Hoods but at least we were there!)  

Piddy and Andy from Norfolk

The usual stalls and manufacturer's stands in two marquees.  Very well attended, just a shame about the weather.

The forecast wasn't good, John put his hood on, determined to take the car whatever the weather, me, well I just put my hat, gloves and coat on and braved what was to be sent to me.  And boy was it sent!  As I drove the car out of the garage it started to rain and didn't stop until I arrived at the pub.  Got some very funny looks going down the A1.

What an excellent turnout we had today, I counted 32 people, 9 kitcars in all.  Mal arrived in a tintop and went home to get his Westfield during the meeting.  We all agreed the pub and car park are ideal, they do a mean syrup sponge pudding with custard (£2.95) which I had for lunch, as did Richard and Caroline (well she actually had Jam Roly Poly)  Very nice.  The staff are friendly and helpful, not something we have been used to elsewhere...

Many new faces today.  Sandie is nearly there with the Dax, passed the MOT and SVA, just got the final test to get through and then off she goes. 

Present:

Chris Brown, Peter Bell, John, Helen, Alisdair and Rob, Alan Rowe, Stephen and Lesley(2B) and Griff (series 3) - Hoodies

Nick Ferris - Fisher Fury

Mal - Westfield

Tin-tops:   Terry Kent, Chris Wing (2B builder) and two friends, Troy and Mick, Sandie and John, Mario and Lisa, Mike Montegue, Steven Wakefield, Simon Trigg, Richard and Caroline, Bob and friend Hammond, Mike and Myra and Andy Barbet (still hoping to get going with a build).

Sorry if I have left anyone out, just let me know.

A couple did drive up in a blue van but didnt speak so I don't know who they are.

As usual lots of chat, exchanges of opinions, bonnets off, a very good meeting.  The clouds started to build up again so the last few of us left in a hail storm.  Hail in an open top car at 40 mph hurts!  I was giving Sandie a run home and there were a few squeals and ouches going down the road.  Not to be recommended. 

Great fun, thank you to everyone who made the effort to come along.  Peter Bell has made a suggestion for the July meet which we will pass on as soon as we know more details and of course, we are hoping to go to the Stondon Car Museum again in August. Chris Brown is doing a grand job with the Kimbolton show, hopefully it will be as good as last year's and then Knebworth should be good if we can book a club pitch which we will arrange.

Until next time, bye for now.

Considering the snow last week, then the rain and wind, we were promised a dry day for our first meeting of the year.  For once, the forecast was right!  We had an excellent turnout, and it was good to see the cars on the road again after the winter.  Thanks to everyone who came along.

Hoodies:  Mike Gouldsborough, Peter Bell, Paul Boatman, Alisdair Thompson, John (+ Abby), and Helen (+ Craig)

Westfield:  Stuart

Fisher Fury:  Nick Ferris

Dax Cobra:  Sandie and John

Tin-tops:   Andy Petrie, Richard and Caroline, Bob Hammond, Mario and Lise

Update of Sandie's Dax Rush: SVA booked for end February so hopefully she will be mobile soon.