TR Register - Social Scene

TR Action 228

After the relative flurry of activity reported last time, things have eased off a little.

Our May mid-month lunch, organised by Peter Molland, was scheduled for Sunday 11th which turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so far. Having spent the morning manning a water station on my local Leukaemia Research ‘Fun Run’, I arrived at the Bell, Pensax about an hour after the appointed time to find a modest gathering augmented by the presence of Bill and Stephanie Piggott, from our neighbouring Wye Dean Group.

Just three days later, our May monthly meeting at the Old Halesonians was attended by the usual suspects. The rugby season having ended, we found ourselves able to get to the bar without having to negotiate the hordes of juniors who are usually present on a Wednesday evening. It was still disappointing to find the attendance no better than when we used to meet on Tuesdays.

Tuesday 10th June saw our Sprint Day held at Curborough. After a couple of last minute cancellations seventeen cars turned up which meant that we broke even on the day. It was another warm sunny day which helped to make it a very enjoyable afternoon.

Inevitably after days of sunny weather, the following day dawned cloudy and after a brief spell of sun in the early afternoon, the sky became more and more overcast. Well, that was to be expected because our Concours d’Elegance was planned for the evening. As I write this, straight after the Concours, the deadline for this issue of TR Action is less than two hours away so the results below are hot off the press. We are fortunate that two new sponsors have stepped in to fill the gaps left last year, so a big thank you is due not just to Rod Gautier of Jules Bodycraft and Richard Flynn of RFR Engineering but also to Nigel Cluley of Larger than Life, John Cowley of Blakedown Sports Cars, Frank Holz of OPRA Ltd and David Manners of Abingdon Parts 4 MG & Triumph, who have continued to help us over many years.

As ever, you can view our events calendar on our website: www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/birmingham or if you need to get in touch with the group, the contact details can be found in WOHFTB.

Birmingham Group Concours d’Elegance Results - 2008

TR2/3 RFR Engineering Trophy: Winner: TR2 Paul Tunnadine

R/U: TR2 Brian Hodgetts

TR4/5 Larger than Life Trophy: Winner: TR4A Colin Boother

R/U: TR5 John Roch

TR6 Blakedown Sportscars Trophy: Winner: TR6 Derek Machin

R/U: TR6 Tim Sharp

TR7/8 OPRA Ltd Trophy: Winner: TR7 FHC Roger King

R/U TR7V8 Colin Hornby

Best TR Jules Bodycraft Trophy: Winner: TR4A Colin Boother

R/U: TR6 Tim Sharp

Masters Class David Manners Parts 4 Trophy: Winner: TR4A Tim Hardwicke

R/U TR6 Steve Hughes

Wooden Spoon Winner: Dave Newbery

TR Action 227

As anticipated in my last report, it’s recently been a relatively busy time in the Birmingham Group. We’ve had two monthly meetings, a mid-month Sunday drink/lunch and our inter-group skittles match against Cotswold Vale Group.
March saw us move our meeting night to Wednesday in an attempt to encourage more people to turn up. It’s difficult to say whether it was successful in this respect but fifteen braved the crush of juniors at the Old Halesonians bar (don’t go calling the police, they were on soft drinks). Also in March, though not strictly part of the social scene, your Group Leader and Treasurer attended the Group Leaders’ Meeting at Didcot.

April’s attendance slipped back a little, with just twelve appearing, but our Group Leader, Dave Newbery, had emailed the membership to say he would be unable to attend as he was visiting Dave Lewis in Spain. If the May attendance has shown an improvement, we’ll have to take his passport off him.

Our mid-month drink/lunch on Sunday April 13th, organised by Merv Parkes, was well attended, though, with about fifteen turning up. The venue was the Fleur-de-Lys, Lapworth, which is the home of the famous Fleur-de-Lys pies. The weather started off with some sunshine but it later turned rather cooler and then rained. This would not have been a problem if we hadn’t been sitting outside. Still, those of us who chose to eat enjoyed a good roast meal before the rain came and Dave Newbery hot-footed it straight from Birmingham Airport to join us after his Spanish trip.

Less than a week later we found ourselves at the Bluebell Inn, Ryall, for our inter-group skittles match, against Cotswold Vale, organised by Colin and Lesley Boother. The turnout from the two groups was an impressive forty or so, including a few faces we don’t see too often these days. As well as a meal, we managed to fit in three complete rounds of skittles. Unfortunately, the Birmingham Group’s skills with the balls was somewhat lacking and we lost all three rounds, the aggregate score showing a deficit of 46 points. Merv Parkes had acquired a trophy which was duly presented, by Dave Newbery, to Andy Canning. I’m sure we’ll be arranging a return match to win it back.

You should be reading this just a week before two of our major events of the year, our sprint afternoon at Curborough on Tuesday 10th June and our Concours d’Elegance. This will be held the following evening during our monthly meeting at the Old Halesonians at which we expect to see the return of our Concours barbeque.

You can view our events calendar elsewhere on this site. If you have an idea for an event or, better still, are prepared to organise one, please get in touch with either Dave Newbery or me.

As ever, if you need to get in touch with the group, the contact details can be found in WOHFTB

TR Action 226

At the time of writing, following the accession of our new Group Leader, Dave Newbery, we’ve had just the one monthly meeting on February 12th.

The February turnout was rather disappointing with just eleven hardy souls appearing. Some of those who did appear, though, agreed to organise some events for the coming spring and summer. Among those are mid-month Sunday meetings in April (13th, so if this issue arrives early you should still be able to join us at the Fleur-de-Lys, Lapworth), May (11th at the Bell, Pensax) and June and a skittles match against Cotswold Vale (19th April at the Bluebell Inn, Ryall). June will see the return of our sprint afternoon at Curborough and our usual Concours d’Elegance.

Had we not decided to move our meetings to the second Wednesday of each month, I could have told you about our March meeting but that will now fall past the deadline for this issue of TR Action. You’ll have to wait for the details of all the excitement until the next copy but that should be a bumper report because, before the next deadline, in addition to the March meeting, we will have held not just our April monthly meeting but also the aforementioned April mid-month lunch and inter-group skittles match between ourselves and Cotswold Vale.

Dave Newbery has issued a calendar of events for the group for the coming year but there is plenty of space for more. If you have an idea for an event or, better still, are prepared to organise one, please get in touch with either Dave Newbery or me. You can view the calendar with any recent updates on our website: www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/birmingham.

If any of you who have previously received news of the group’s activities via email are no longer receiving such information, please send an email to either Dave Newbery (dave.newbs@tiscali.co.uk) or me (davidhgibson@btopenworld.com) so that we can make sure we have the correct address details. Please also email us if you would like to be added to the mailing list.


Last Updated: 17/07/2008 14:49:42	Social Scene TR Action 228 After the relative flurry of activity reported last time, things have eased off a little. Our May mid-month lunch, organised by Peter Molland, was scheduled for Sunday 11th which turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so far. Having spent the morning manning a water station on my local Leukaemia Research ‘Fun Run’, I arrived at the Bell, Pensax about an hour after the appointed time to find a modest gathering augmented by the presence of Bill and Stephanie Piggott, from our neighbouring Wye Dean Group. Just three days later, our May monthly meeting at the Old Halesonians was attended by the usual suspects. The rugby season having ended, we found ourselves able to get to the bar without having to negotiate the hordes of juniors who are usually present on a Wednesday evening. It was still disappointing to find the attendance no better than when we used to meet on Tuesdays. Tuesday 10th June saw our Sprint Day held at Curborough. After a couple of last minute cancellations seventeen cars turned up which meant that we broke even on the day. It was another warm sunny day which helped to make it a very enjoyable afternoon. Inevitably after days of sunny weather, the following day dawned cloudy and after a brief spell of sun in the early afternoon, the sky became more and more overcast. Well, that was to be expected because our Concours d’Elegance was planned for the evening. As I write this, straight after the Concours, the deadline for this issue of TR Action is less than two hours away so the results below are hot off the press. We are fortunate that two new sponsors have stepped in to fill the gaps left last year, so a big thank you is due not just to Rod Gautier of Jules Bodycraft and Richard Flynn of RFR Engineering but also to Nigel Cluley of Larger than Life, John Cowley of Blakedown Sports Cars, Frank Holz of OPRA Ltd and David Manners of Abingdon Parts 4 MG & Triumph, who have continued to help us over many years. As ever, you can view our events calendar on our website: www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/birmingham or if you need to get in touch with the group, the contact details can be found in WOHFTB. Birmingham Group Concours d’Elegance Results - 2008 TR2/3 RFR Engineering Trophy: Winner: TR2 Paul Tunnadine R/U: TR2 Brian Hodgetts TR4/5 Larger than Life Trophy: Winner: TR4A Colin Boother R/U: TR5 John Roch TR6 Blakedown Sportscars Trophy: Winner: TR6 Derek Machin R/U: TR6 Tim Sharp TR7/8 OPRA Ltd Trophy: Winner: TR7 FHC Roger King R/U TR7V8 Colin Hornby Best TR Jules Bodycraft Trophy: Winner: TR4A Colin Boother R/U: TR6 Tim Sharp Masters Class David Manners Parts 4 Trophy: Winner: TR4A Tim Hardwicke R/U TR6 Steve Hughes Wooden Spoon Winner: Dave Newbery TR Action 227 As anticipated in my last report, it’s recently been a relatively busy time in the Birmingham Group. We’ve had two monthly meetings, a mid-month Sunday drink/lunch and our inter-group skittles match against Cotswold Vale Group. March saw us move our meeting night to Wednesday in an attempt to encourage more people to turn up. It’s difficult to say whether it was successful in this respect but fifteen braved the crush of juniors at the Old Halesonians bar (don’t go calling the police, they were on soft drinks). Also in March, though not strictly part of the social scene, your Group Leader and Treasurer attended the Group Leaders’ Meeting at Didcot. April’s attendance slipped back a little, with just twelve appearing, but our Group Leader, Dave Newbery, had emailed the membership to say he would be unable to attend as he was visiting Dave Lewis in Spain. If the May attendance has shown an improvement, we’ll have to take his passport off him. Our mid-month drink/lunch on Sunday April 13th, organised by Merv Parkes, was well attended, though, with about fifteen turning up. The venue was the Fleur-de-Lys, Lapworth, which is the home of the famous Fleur-de-Lys pies. The weather started off with some sunshine but it later turned rather cooler and then rained. This would not have been a problem if we hadn’t been sitting outside. Still, those of us who chose to eat enjoyed a good roast meal before the rain came and Dave Newbery hot-footed it straight from Birmingham Airport to join us after his Spanish trip. Less than a week later we found ourselves at the Bluebell Inn, Ryall, for our inter-group skittles match, against Cotswold Vale, organised by Colin and Lesley Boother. The turnout from the two groups was an impressive forty or so, including a few faces we don’t see too often these days. As well as a meal, we managed to fit in three complete rounds of skittles. Unfortunately, the Birmingham Group’s skills with the balls was somewhat lacking and we lost all three rounds, the aggregate score showing a deficit of 46 points. Merv Parkes had acquired a trophy which was duly presented, by Dave Newbery, to Andy Canning. I’m sure we’ll be arranging a return match to win it back. You should be reading this just a week before two of our major events of the year, our sprint afternoon at Curborough on Tuesday 10th June and our Concours d’Elegance. This will be held the following evening during our monthly meeting at the Old Halesonians at which we expect to see the return of our Concours barbeque. You can view our events calendar elsewhere on this site. If you have an idea for an event or, better still, are prepared to organise one, please get in touch with either Dave Newbery or me. As ever, if you need to get in touch with the group, the contact details can be found in WOHFTB TR Action 226 At the time of writing, following the accession of our new Group Leader, Dave Newbery, we’ve had just the one monthly meeting on February 12th. The February turnout was rather disappointing with just eleven hardy souls appearing. Some of those who did appear, though, agreed to organise some events for the coming spring and summer. Among those are mid-month Sunday meetings in April (13th, so if this issue arrives early you should still be able to join us at the Fleur-de-Lys, Lapworth), May (11th at the Bell, Pensax) and June and a skittles match against Cotswold Vale (19th April at the Bluebell Inn, Ryall). June will see the return of our sprint afternoon at Curborough and our usual Concours d’Elegance. Had we not decided to move our meetings to the second Wednesday of each month, I could have told you about our March meeting but that will now fall past the deadline for this issue of TR Action. You’ll have to wait for the details of all the excitement until the next copy but that should be a bumper report because, before the next deadline, in addition to the March meeting, we will have held not just our April monthly meeting but also the aforementioned April mid-month lunch and inter-group skittles match between ourselves and Cotswold Vale. Dave Newbery has issued a calendar of events for the group for the coming year but there is plenty of space for more. If you have an idea for an event or, better still, are prepared to organise one, please get in touch with either Dave Newbery or me. You can view the calendar with any recent updates on our website: www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/birmingham. If any of you who have previously received news of the group’s activities via email are no longer receiving such information, please send an email to either Dave Newbery (dave.newbs@tiscali.co.uk) or me (davidhgibson@btopenworld.com) so that we can make sure we have the correct address details. Please also email us if you would like to be added to the mailing list.
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