2003 EVENTS

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Brooklands New Years Day Club Meeting

MGCCSE - Valentines Day Treasure Hunt

Cobweb Spin - Winchester MGOC

MGCCSE - Spring Naviscat

EVENTS 2003   - GO TO PAGE 2

BROOKLANDS NEW YEARS DAY CLUB EVENT

Let's hope the weather was not a prelude to the rest of the year. It really was bad - heavy showers interspersed with more rain and the occasional  respite as the dark clouds sped across the sky before dropping further rain on us. We attended the event with the Runnymede MGOC setting off from a sodden Thorpe Green to sail the short distance through the drowning Chertsey to arrive at Brooklands by midday and pay the hefty £7 per person entrance fee - didn't it used to be £1 per car on New Years Day ? . The Kagouled marshalls were still trying to seperate the few arriving cars hence our two club F's got sidelined whilst the B got to within spitting distance of the empty paddock but was still not allowed inside (somehow a Sierra and Escort and Fiat 500 managed it though). Brooklands method of parking is always a source of mystery to us. As the rain lashed across the finishing straight I looked around at the few other classics that had turned up - a TR7 and Stag represented Triumph, a P6 and P5 represented the Rover entty. A Rolls Royce, a couple of Morris Minors, an Austin seven and Morris Cowley and a spattering of others had braved the weather. The Runnymede chairman, Tony, is a Brooklands volunteer so he gave us a privileged glimpse into the  library upstairs in the clubhouse  whilst outside people tried to find shelter amongst the exhibits. Despite that and a couple of visits to the canteen with convivial company the day was really a bit of a washout and I hope the sparsity of vehicles was down to the weather and not a lack of enthusiasm about the museum who do need all the support they can get at the moment.

MGCC SE - ST VALENTINES DAY TREASURE HUNT - 16th Feb

It wasn't raining but it was darned cold as we pulled off the M25 and into the Wray Lane car park with it's fine views over Reigate Town. A couple of brave souls had dared to lower their roof's but we were to be counted in the ranks of the "sensible" !. Having received our clues we set off , remembering our mistake of last year and avoiding going around the M25 roundabout again, towards our first stopping point of Bletchingly. We joined the other hunters in trying to find "a spiritual lady" and a "Royal Liquor man" hiding around the village. Exhasuting our mental abilities we soon set off for the next stop through the picturesque Surrey countryside. Next  stop was Crawley Down Village - difficult to park and only two clues so we weren't here two long  - but long enough to find out how many Ants were allowed to park. Off again to Turners Hill - appropriately enough a village on top of a hill but with a busy crossroads. We were more successful in this village and managed to answer all the clues and get them all right thanks to 2the 1960's pop group" and Pinky & Perky. One of our hunters bumped in to the TV antique man David Batty with a wheelbarrow and wellies as they wandered around the village. A lengthy drive then followed into Sussex and the quaint village of Rusper where we found out the Paolo Gucci was a famous resident and a bale of hay cost £2.50. Clues collected we made our way to the finish at the Parrot in Forest Green where we completely the last three bonus clues hidden at the pub - after we'd been looking for them everywhere else !

A nice lunch at the pub was followed by the announcement of the successful hunters - once again Doug Bush took the top prize with 27 points (I think he's a professional treasure hunter by now) with Nick & Laura second with 26 points and US in third place with a very creditable 25 points but sadly no rosette !.

COBWEB SPIN - Hursley Park, Winchester MGOC - 2nd March

Given the rain all day on Saturday it looked like the unofficial southern England season starter was going to be a little on the damp side this year but we woke to see an almost blue sky with a welcome peek of the sun. Luckily it was a fairly late start for what is essentially a lunchtime get together as the previous night at the MGCCSE awards dinner was very taxing on the drinking arm !. The slight hangover soon blew away as we left the M£ , dropping the roof at the same time and drove to Hursley Park where the Winchester MGOC had arranged this years Spin. We parked up around a small copse of trees, arriving too late for the hard standing on the social club car park. Efforts to get the cars to form a nice fan circle around the trees failed dismally but the still damp grass proved a bit slippery for some. We admired the machinery on show - probably about 150 cars including an LE with an interesting badge bar advertising the virtues of Fullers beers. A couple of Z cars appeared - a ZT 190 and a ZR and a good number of F's and TF's amongst the usual array of B's. A few older models also ventured outside but the weather stayed fine and they needn't have worried about getting wet. Lunch was eaten in the social club to the accompaniment of a local jazz group as well as chips.

The Spin itself is a good way to start off the season and meet some old and new MG friends but it's a brief event and cars were all but gone by about 2.30pm.

What a lovely morning - blue skies, sun shining a slight chill in the air but warming up nicely for a beautiful Spring day just right for this year's Spring Naviscat. The sun had persuaded a good number of MG's to head up Tilburstow Hill and congregate at the oddly named Rabies Heath Road car park. Then it was down to the serious business as 11.15am approached and the clue sheet was handed out by this year's organiser and MGCCSE chairman, Doug Bush. A rush back to the cars with Ordnance Survey mpas spread over bonnets and boots and pencils furiously marking the 44 OS reference points spread over the east of Surrey and north of Sussex. Half an hour of plotting led us to the first clue  - at the end of the car park ! With most people having got that one we set off in search of the other 43 - well not quite - anyone who has done a naviscat will know that is an impossible feat - in fact this year we managed to visit 18 sites in the allotted three and quarter hours. Having worked out the clue sites the next task was to climb into the mind of Mr Bush and decipher his cryptic clues, not an easy task.  Who would have worked out that the clue "No. of cowards" meant how many chickens there were in an advert in a BT call box  or that  "Spot the colour" meant the colour of a nail head hidden underneath a dog gate at a style in the middle of nowhere ! At the end, as usual, it was a rush back to the finish point , this year at the Millers pub in Bletchingley, to get in just on time before points were docked from you score - one for every minute you were late. We managed to scrape in at 14.29hrs !

Having finished a scorching hot Coq au Vin and a pint of Courage's Best it was time to listen to the moans and groans and protests as Doug revealed his answers. The winners were then announced and we managed to improve on our Autumn Naviscat placing with a first place this time in the  Class D and 18.5 points which we shared with another couple in a BGTV8 which coincidentally was next to us at the start. Well done to the overall winner, Nick Rowlatt and Lizzy who somehow managed a miraculous 27.5 points - no one else was even close.

Well done Doug for organising a very challenged Spring Naviscat.