Events:

WWM Monthly Report April 2009

Introduction

As WWM regulars know Frank Smith has been heavily involved with organising events for a number of years, I know that I can rely on him for advice and sorting things out for us when timescales are short. To this end I have asked Frank if he would be willing to take on the role of Deputy Regional Organiser (RO), I obviously caught him in a moment weakness as he accepted, welcome on board Frank.

19th April Monthly Meet Bulls Head Meriden

We had 45 TVR’s and 70 odd people at this months meeting, I would usually write about them, thanks to you all for supporting the official WWM meet. However following recent events I need to provide clarification in relation to the venue of the WWM monthly meets. The Bulls Head has been the venue of the monthly meet since the early 80’s when Adrian Venn was the RO. Since I took over the role some 4 years ago attendance numbers have grown from the 10 or so cars to the average of 40 - 70 cars we see nowadays. My mindsets since taking on the role has been that if it is not broken don’t fix it, especially with numbers ever increasing. We even get people calling in when passing through the region en route to or from their own areas, all this suggests that the format works.

As some of you are aware there have been rumours that a number of Meriden’s residents have complained to the Bulls Heads management about our monthly meetings. As a result I asked members to respect the locality and keep the noise and speeds down; to a great extent this has been achieved. However recent events overtook me, so much so that I approached the venues management with a view to bottom out and seek resolution to the situation. On the 30th March I met with the Management to establish how this matter could be resolved. I was advised that there is no issue with the management team they welcome our custom and also recognise that having a car park full of brightly coloured cars attracts attention with passing cars pulling in to have a look which attracts additional bar takings. In addition to our meeting the venue also host the MR2 and Subaru monthly get together. Following further developments I asked Frank Smith to approach the Manager independently to confirm my interpretation, Frank was given the same stance that we are more than welcome and that they appreciate the additional revenue our monthly meetings provide.

To gauge the level feeling and to dispel rumours that we were no longer welcome at the venue I decided to explain the situation to the 70 odd people at this months meet, I only received positive comments from those that were there, that the location for what in all essence is a car club meeting still works. However as you know I am always approachable and am open to new ideas that reflect the wishes of the majority of members.
As with any”proper” club we have guidelines for backing official TVRCC events, these need to organised in consultation and agreement of the Clubs representatives to be covered by club insurance, by default those that do not follow this process will not be covered.

26th April Chatsworth Run - Frank Smith

Sunday dawned bright and sunny but with a cool breeze blowing I decided to keep the top on for the run.
Pat and I arrived at the scheduled rendevous at 8.50am and found one or two members already there including a 3000M that had come up from Hertfordshire. John CIRBY was tucking into his breakfast inside Macdonalds but was ready for the 9.30 off and by the time we had rounded everyone up we had ourselves a convoy of twenty five cars including Lees’ recently acquired Sagaris that seemed to change colour when the sun hit it, what a beauty.

I led the convoy with Keith bringing up the rear we set off up the A38 towards Lichfield when I received a message over the radio that one car had refused to start. It seemed that the 3000M had cooked his fuel pump and despite all efforts by some of our members, couldn’t get it going. However the RAC came to his rescue and somehow obtained another fuel pump, fitted it, and got him on his way with only a loss of one hour.

Carrying on up the A38 we peeled off through Kings Bromley and up to Ashbourne, inevitably the convoy had broken up into smaller groups however eventually we turned off onto a B road and found a suitable place to stop and allow the 25 cars to regroup. It was here that the Derbyshire stone walls were most welcome as makeshift toilets for both male and female members alike. I hope no one got caught on camera!

Setting off again and creating a lot of noise going through Bakewell, we eventually arrived at Chatsworth and joined the queue to get in, following some Triumph TRs who were part of some other classic car rally. The parking arrangements this year was by model groups so we were directed by the very efficient marshals to the Chimaera section. Here we met up with Stuart and Gilly Dixon and Richard and Dorothy Harper, Richard displaying his home made radiator grille for his early model Chimaera. Very professional looking too, Richard.

I was sorely tempted by two very nice Cerberas for sale, one a Speed 6 in Silver on an X plate 25K miles offered at £14700, and James Agger had one on a W plate in Dark Blue with Portland Grey interior (my favourite combination) for £13795. Pat was not amused when I told her. Oh well I can only dream (go on Frank you know it makes sense – SG).

Well what a fantastic turn out of TVRs, this must be a record as I heard something like nearly 700 cars turned up, a really great achievement. The weather stayed dry and sunny but although there was a cool breeze it was nevertheless a great day out and all credit must go to the organizers.

Meguiar`s Trip March 2009 - Keith Smith

Mother's Day saw another of Keith Smith's trips to Meguiar's at their Daventry facilities. It’s a valuable few hours packed with a presentation then a live demonstration on a member's car to put the old theory into practise.

Meeting up on the A46 where East Midlands and WWM crew gathered for a blat to Meguiar's.
Greeted with tea and biscuits, everyone headed for the presentation while Keith slipped his Sagaris into the detailing booth for a private session, rounding up Paul Arnold, Jon Chim Chim Chere and myself as cheap labour. With the presentation over and Sagaris removed a green Chimaera was brought in for a demo of how to do it properly.

As the morning drew to a close members went on a shopping spree on products to pamper their beloved Tiv… the wife at home stuck with the kids on Mother's Day a distant memory.

Coming Up Next Month

17th June 2009 Monthly meet Bulls Head Meriden midday onwards