Last Updated: 20/01/2012 22:55:49
Autumn arrived with all the colours we expected of it and seemed the perfect opportunity for Thames Valley Group to enjoy an ‘Autumn Colours’ run on the 25th October. We expected to have fifteen TRs turn up at Ryka’s car park at Boxhill, but on the day we had seventeen TRs covering all from TR2 to TR7. The morning was mild and sunny providing the perfect conditions for the last run of the year. Everyone was provided with route notes before setting off for an hour’s leisurely run through country lanes to Wakehurst Place, Ardingly in Sussex. Wakehurst Place and Gardens is run by the National Trust and Kew Botanical Gardens, they keep the largest seed-bank in the world and is well worth a visit if you have never visited there; it must be also beautiful in Spring. One of our TVG members, John Andon who races his racing TR4 on a regular basis, made the headline in the Sports Extra pages in the Autosport magazine. It was at the two day MGCC Meeting at Snetterton on 1st-2nd October, the magazine headline read ’Triumph tussle in Snetterton heat-wave’. The event was the Equipe GTS races and developed into an entertaining double header, where John in his TR4 led from the start, then tenaciously resisting the challenge from Pete Foster’s TR4, only for his hard work to be cruelly undone two laps from home. A split engine hose forced him to retire, giving victory to Foster. John’s determination paid off and he bounced back in style in race two, surging up from the eleventh row to second within five laps, before setting a new fastest lap as he whittled down Pete Foster’s advantage. He made the decisive move to claim top spot as the pair surged into lap 15 of 20, and this time made it to the finish. “I could see him hauling me in and was doing my damndest to stop him, but he just had the edge today”, Pete Foster admitted afterwards. The picture shows John leading just after his passing move. Plans for next year’s TVG trip to the ‘Picos de Europa’ in northern Spain are well underway with our planning meeting on 28th November. The trip will take place mid June. Our last Sunday in the month meetings are held at The Crown in Capel, but our landlord Rob Long, who recently suffered a heart attack, is retiring on the 30th November; we wish him well for the future. It is still November at the time of writing and our future at The Crown is in the balance. We hope to meet the new landlord/lady at Rob’s farewell on 30 November. By the time this is published, we will be a week away from our TVG Annual Lunch on 22nd January at The Onslow Arms, West Clandon. The latest TVG information and forthcoming events etc can be found at www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/thames-valley
Winter is now with us and the excitement of Christmas and all that family fun are foremost in our thoughts – or not as the case may be. Looking back to the happenings since issue 253: A small but select group descended on Honfleur, courtesy of Continental Car Tours over the August Bank holiday and by all accounts had a great time in this lovely French town. TVG visited here thanks to the organisational skills of Cliff & Jill Markham (now residing in Cornwall) twice in the mid 2000s. A super place, well worth a visit. TVG were well represented at the Cobham Heritage day (September 10th) with eleven TRs, one Stag and Carla’s Austin 7. The sun shone, at least to early afternoon when the rain arrived. Several members made it to the annual Goodwood Revival which as always lived up to expectations although weather rain of Biblical proportions descended during the RAC Tourist Trophy flagship event on the Sunday. However, I bet there were no retirements from owners wishing to maintain their ‘dry use only’ status! Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control (Dave & Belinda our culinary experts couldn’t make it), the BBQ on 25th September did not occur – it was a nice day too! The Autumn colours run to Wakefield Place scheduled for the 25th October hopefully was a success. It will be interesting to see the timing of the ‘fall’ compared to other years when related to the unusual climatic conditions we have experienced lately. As you will see from the accompanying photo, Tony Browne’s four year build of his highly modified TR4 is complete. So much so, that he felt confident enough to enter the final event of the Register Sprint and Hillclimb Championship at Castle Combe on15th October. Although he did not quite manage to set the ‘fastest time of the day,’ valuable experience was gained and he will be signing up for next year’s series. Perhaps we ought to start up a support group? Don’t forget November is when Jon Gordon wanted to know those interested in the 2012 Spanish TRip in order that bookings could be put in hand. Hopefully by now, the venue for our very popular Xmas lunch (in January) will be confirmed and you will be making your bookings accordingly. One of the highlights of the year, in my opinion. For all future events refer to www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/thames-valley and don’t forget to periodically access the Photobucket site for piccies of TVG and individual’s TR related activities. Safe TRavelling.
In July the big question for TVG was who would make the trip to North Yorkshire for the International at Harrogate. There were fears that it would be poorly attended, but not so, and by the Saturday evening, we had thirty people around the BBQ (see photo). We always have a barbeque on the Saturday evening arranged by Dave and Belinda. I have to mention, not only did they look after the BBQ, they also arrived at the Events Ground as the gates opened at 2pm on the Friday and found us a great spot in the quiet camping area. It was as flat as you could find, amongst the very undulating and attractive landscape. The International weekend was brilliant in so many ways and all our TVG members enjoyed the weekend bathed in sunshine. Thomas Zeisler, our friend from TR Register Italy, joined us in his just completed restored French blue TR6. We last saw him last September after the European meeting in Harrogate. At that time his car had suffered severe hailstone damage, so during the winter he launched into a full body off restoration in his drive and he has made a beautiful job of it. He had fitted en-route from Italy a new set of Dellortos, This attracted lots of interest after the BBQ. On August 21st the ever popular growing Cranleigh Classic Car Show was bursting at the seams with over 1300 classic cars in the sunshine. Accompanying Thames Valley Group was the TR Drivers Club and the Triumph Sports Six Club had pitches. The TVG had fifteen TRs, further complimented with five members from The Kent Group and both banners flying. The Arena celebrated the 50th Anniversaries of the Jaguar E type and the MG Midget. Other displays included the Brooklands Museum cars, some used throughout the school holidays for taking visitors at speed around the remaining open parts of the famous Brooklands Circuit at Weybridge. As I close this article I received the sad news from Henry, one of our longstanding members, his dog Crispen passed away. Crispen had become a honorary member of TVG, always accompanying Henry and his TR6 where the left seat would have been; we wish him well. Last but not least, our very kind landlord at The Crown in Capel was taken ill with a heart condition on 01 Sep, I am told he will spend at least two weeks in hospital and require a pacemaker. We wish him well and a speedy recovery as possible. By the time this is published we will be preparing for our annual TVG lunch in January and next year’s Picos de Europa tour in mid June, so if you are interested to join in please let Jon Gordon know at - jon.gordon@btconnect.com. The latest TVG information and forthcoming events etc can be found at www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/thames-valley
