MAY 2008 NEWSLETTER
hello and welcome
I woke up this morning to the sound of rain, which after a week or so of glorious weather wasn’t very nice. I hope these few warm and sunny days in May aren’t the totality of our summer!
Anyway, what this fine weather has enabled many of us to do is get our TRs out for a blast in the spring sunshine. I must admit there’s nothing quite like it when the roof is down and the exhaust note is singing behind your head. It’s great.
As some of you may know, the pseudo Geordie and one time member of Brunel, Craig Alderson, is getting married next week. I’ve been invited to the Mecca of the North East –Gateshead, to partake in the celebrations and general drunkenness, which is nice. I understand there will be a card at the meeting for people to sign, which I will take along and hand over on behalf of everyone.
The thought of traveling up to Gateshead did give me a bit of a dilemma. Do I fly, or do I drive? Well, with the cost of fuel going up on a daily basis I did look into flying, but when I considered taxi fares to and from the airport and all the hanging around etc., I decided it was just as well to drive. I initially thought that if the weather was good, I’d take the Triumph, but that was before I did something very rash last month, which was to buy a new car.
Let’s just say it’s a bit of an old man’s set of wheels. I haven’t managed to get the obligatory sheepskin seat covers yet, nor have I found a suitable pair of driving slippers or a stick-on pipe holder, but when I do, I’ll bring it to one of the meetings so that you can have a look…
Have fun
Etienne de Coensel
group leader’s ramblings
At last the weather changes and we can start to enjoy our cars and look forward to the coming months’ events.
Elf is having trouble with her knee at the moment and unfortunately will not be able to get to many events, but she is in regular contact so any social events or ideas may be best directed to me at the moment while she is on the mend. I am sure that we all wish her a speedy recovery.
Included with this newsletter is Sheila Lake's History of Brunel which charts our early days as the ‘northern’ section of Apple County in the mid eighties and through to our own formation. I think that this will make interesting reading to most of you. Thanks must go to Sheila for having such a good memory and writing it up.
Our honorary Brunel member, Craig Alderson and his long-term girlfriend, Angela, will be getting married on Friday 22 May. On behalf on the group I’d like to wish them both our congratulations and all the best for the day and their future together. We plan to pass a card around at the May meeting and send a present via Etienne who is attending the wedding.
Thanks to those of you who have paid your subscription. If you have not already done so, can you please make a payment of £10 payable to Brunel TR's as soon as possible? Contact me for the postal address or hand your subscription form and cheque to Roddy at our next meeting.
Triumph Marque Day, Prescott - Sunday 18th May
As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, we will be attending this event and should be a very good day indeed. Details of which are in TR Action 226. Our planned meeting place will be the Northbound Michaelwood Services on the M5 at 9am. The run to Prescott is relatively short and we will leave by 9.15am at the latest, so if you are intending to meet up please let me know.
Andy Spencer
social committee report
Not a great deal to report this month. Dennis Lane has put together an itinerary for our trip to Ironbridge which is included in this report, along with a round up of forthcoming events.
Sunday Runs
As discussed at our last meeting, Tony Luffman has a few pre-planned runs available if anyone should wish to organise a Brunel Sunday Run. Basically all you will need to do is to go over and check the route, making any updates as necessary. Previous runs have been a great success and a fairly easy way to get involved. If you want any further details please contact Tony or Andy.
Moss Open Evening - Wednesday 21st May
Moss Bristol are holding their annual open evening this month. Unfortunately it’s the same night of our monthly meeting. However, if you want to pop along for the odd bargain before coming to the Dovecote, then the Moss team will be more than glad to see you. Please support them if you can.
Derbyshire Dales Group Peak Weekend, 6th - 8th June
We have been sent details of this event which sounds like another very good TR'ing weekend. If anyone is interested please contact Andy who can let you have some details.
Ironbridge visit - September 12th - 14th
Friday 12th
Depart from Bristol around 09:00. I suggest we meet at the Michaelwood services on the M5 just north of Bristol, then travel to the RAF Museum in Cosford (no admission charges) where we would spend the rest of the day.
The museum is on one site and split over a number of halls. Looking at their estimated viewing times for each exhibit, I doubt if we’ll have time to see the entire museum. We have, however, been allocated a group parking area in the centre of their site.
For those who are not interested in aircraft, then perhaps a visit to the shopping centre at Telford would be an alternative?
From the museum we will travel to our accommodation, The White House Hotel, Telford. There we’ve arranged to have an evening meal and hopefully be joined by the other members of the group who have driven up later in the day.
The deposit for the hotel is £10 per person per night, payable to Roddy at the next meeting.
Saturday 13th
Visit to Ironbridge museum. The Ironbridge complex is made up of 10 distinct museums, each with a different theme. It will be impossible to visit all the museums in one day, so members can choose which museum(s) they wish to visit. Admission charges range from £1.95 to £10.50. A 'passport' style ticket is available for £15 which is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase for anyone who is interested.
On Saturday evening we will meet up with the Shropshire Group for a meal, although the venue is still to be decided.
Sunday 14th
To break up the long journey home we plan to visit the Severn Valley Railway at either Bewdley or Kidderminster. For those wishing to experience the railway, there are some 16 miles of track from Bridgenorth to Kidderminster with a number of stations or stops along the way with places of interest. The cost of a full return journey on the railway is around £13.00.
We plan to depart from the Severn Valley Railway around mid afternoon and make our way home. If you have other commitments and cannot spend the weekend away, but would like to visit the Severn Valley railway, then please feel free to join in.
Approximate Distances:
Michaelwood services to Cosford 80 miles
Cosford to Telford shopping Centre (alternative to Cosford) 12 miles
Cosford to Hotel 10 miles
Hotel to Ironbridge 10 miles
Hotel to Severn Valley Railway (Bewdley) 16 miles
Severn Valley Railway to Michaelwood Services 60 miles
Web sites of interest:
RAF Cosford: www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford
Ironbridge:www.ironbridge.org.uk
Severn Valley Railway: www.svr.co.uk
WhiteHouse Hotel:
www.whitehouse-hotel.org.uk
Elf Harris
a brief history of Brunel TR's
Firstly, let me give you a brief history of how my husband, Mike and I became involved with the TR Register. We bought our first TR3A in 1967. In those far off days it was unusual for people to have more than one car, so it was obviously used a lot. One of the first things we did was to join the newly formed TR Register. Our membership number was 142. A year later I passed my driving test and thoroughly enjoyed driving the car, particularly with the hood down. At the time we owned a German Shepherd who enjoyed traveling in the car with us. After some years we decided that unfortunately there was not enough room for a large dog and an expected baby, so our beloved TR had to go.
When we bought our next TR3A in 1981 it was literally a pile of rusting metal which we hoped one day would be transformed into a thing of beauty. We used to joke that this TR would be for our retirement - little did we realise how true this would be.
Before this TR could be started, Mike had to build himself a workshop. One of the first things we did was to rejoin the TR Register and always regretted that we were unable to have our original number without paying an additional fee. There was no local group for us to join, so we occasionally attended the Glavon meetings.
Sometime around 1986 there was an article in the TR Action calling for a meeting to be held in Bristol with a view to forming a local group. At the time Glavon and Apple County were very successful, but both venues were a fair distance to travel for many Bristol members. That first meeting was held at the Yeoman public house in Whitchurch to see if there would be sufficient response to forming a local Bristol Group. There was a good attendance and it was decided to form a Bristol group and the Rising Sun at Pensford was chosen as our first meeting place. Andy Hayes and his wife Sarah, from Apple County agreed to start us off. The landlady made us very welcome and our numbers increased.
Several years later our numbers started falling and the landlady was not quite so amenable. It was in September 1991 when we decided to try the Hunters Rest at Chelwood. For several months a loyal few, namely Andy Spencer, Dave Squance, Ernie Cole (now Group Leader of Apple County), Gerald Hamblin and ourselves kept the meetings going, but we could not gain any new members, so we decided another move was necessary.
We moved to the Farmborough Inn at Farmborough in February 1992, where one evening we met Dave (Lightning) Brown, who was the South West Co-ordinator at the time. He gave us a lot of encouragement and said that we should choose a name for our group (previously we had just called ourselves “The Bristol Group”, appoint a Group Leader and find a suitable logo. I suggested ‘Brunel’ and someone else suggested ‘Avon Valley’. After some discussion we became the ‘Brunel Group’. Our son, Andrew, was interested in drawing and came up with several ideas for our logo. We selected a design of I K Brunel driving a TR3A and as you know, this is still our logo today and Andy Spencer became our Group Leader. The next month found us at the Griffin at Bridgeyate, but we decided that it would not be a satisfactory venue so we moved to the Riverside Inn at Saltford in April 1992.
Andy did a mail shot of the Bristol, Bath and Trowbridge area and we initially had a good response with around 30 members turning up. Andy also started an occasional newsletter. However the enthusiasm was not maintained and we were sometimes down to half a dozen members. We felt that we really needed to find a pub which would let us have a private room to hold our meetings. Sound familiar?
Our next move was to the Cross House at Doynton in May 1993, which proved an admirable choice. The pub had a small restaurant, which was not often used during the week and we were told that we could use it if we wanted to. The landlord and landlady made us very welcome (when the staff remember what you drink when you only go monthly, you know that you have made the right decision). We stayed at the Cross House for nearly seven years and I remember some enjoyable Christmas meals there. It was during this time that Andy decided it was time for a change and stepped down as group leader.
Bruce Mandell-Lynn took up the mantle of group leader and became a first class ambassador for the Brunel Group and TR’s in general. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and owing to a change of landlord it was time for another change.
The Bull at Hinton became our new home early in 2000 when the landlord allowed us to use a room at the back of the pub free of charge. We stayed here for a number of years and enjoyed some good, and the not so good Christmas meals. During this time we were all very sad to lose our leader Bruce after a long fight against a debilitating illness and it was an indication of the high regard in which he was held to see the number of TR’s attending his funeral. Kevin Thompson became group leader.
The Bull had a series of different landlords and we eventually became disenchanted with the disinterest and poor service from the staff. We held our 2005 Christmas meal at The Portcullis, Tormarton, where we were made very welcome, so it was decided to try this venue as our regular meeting place. Although we had use of a room and the food was very good, the car parking was not. Nor was it an ideal situation because of the distance some members in the South of Bristol had to travel Andy Spencer once again took on the mantle of Group Leader.
The Dovecote at Long Ashton became our next home in March 2007. There is a reasonable car park and they served decent food, but it hasn’t always been possibly to use a private room as originally hoped. Attendance is good however, and the group’s membership has grown. At the last AGM the question was raised about changing the venue again with mixed reactions. For the time being we’ll stay at the Dovecote, but as in the past, we’re always on the look out for more space and a suitable venue. The history of Brunel TRs continues…
Sheila Lake - February 2008
