A VIEW FROM THE CHAIR
Oak, steel and brass – that’s what our new Chair’s trophy is made from. The Chairman’s Choice trophy was not awarded at the rally at Twyford Water Works last year since it was looking decidedly last century. Your committee resolved to fix that and now we have our rather grand new trophy.
The trophy comprises a solid gold (looking) wheel brace/starting handle, mounted upon an oak plinth in the relief of a Morris 1000 saloon.
It is finished off with an explanatory brass plaque.
The winner was a pickup, OOT 618 G, who were visitors to the rally.
They took away the only two winner’s windscreen stickers in existence – a unique memento – and proof forevermore to back up future claims that they did indeed win it. Look out for it when you next see their pickup. The stickers were kindly produced by BONWYKE DESIGN.
COFFEE MORNING - Wednesday 31 July at 11:00am
The venue this time will be Brambridge Park Garden Centre. Brambridge Park is situated between Eastleigh and Winchester. So, if you fancy a drive out in your Moggie for a walk, a cup of coffee and a stroll around the garden centre why not join us at Brambridge Park?
Kiln Lane, Brambridge, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 6HT.
ROAD RUN NOTICE – 20 AUGUST
The Road Run on 20 August will start from The Fox & Hounds pub. Timings are: Arrival 7:45pm for an 8pm departure. If you miss the departure time a Tulip Chart route will be left at the bar. Just pick one up and follow the route to the destination.
REPORT ON THE CLUB BBQ – 18 JUNE
This is the third year that we have held the Club BBQ at The Wheel House, on
the coast at Hill Head. Again, we were lucky with the weather. 31 people enjoyed the seaside atmosphere and the opportunity to cook on the BBQs.
REPORT ON THE CLUB STAND AT THE MMOC NATIONAL RALLY - BRITISH MOTOR MUSUEM, GAYDON – 30 JUNE 2024
The rally was a good event in a great location with around 500 – 600 Minors participating on the Saturday and 400 – 500 cars there on the Sunday.
It has been some time since HAMMOC was represented, as a Branch, at the MMOC National Rally. At the AGM last November Giles V proposed that the Club should sponsor a stand to mark the 45th anniversary of HAMMOC.
Due to the number of MMOC Branches taking part we were restricted to a maximum of 3 cars per Branch. Volunteers stepped forward and the Club was represented by a saloon and 2 travellers.
Giles, who is well known within the National circles, operated a trading stall on 29th June where he was joined by former Club member Tim Rouse. On the 30th Giles returned to Gaydon in his traveller, CPB 276 H and met up with Tim again. Tim’s convertible won third in Condition Class for Convertibles, but since he left early, Giles accepted the prize on Tim’s behalf and displayed it on his bonnet.
Giles presented the trophy to Tim at MOT UK.
John & Nicky Kearley were slightly surprised to be asked to represent HAMMOC, since they considered that they didn’t have the brightest and shiniest saloon in the Club. We wanted to add interest and they did that in spades. Their car had been owned by John Coleman a motoring journalist. John Coleman drove a vintage baby Austin 7 from Buenos Aires to New York in 1960. That car was on display in the British Motor Museum.
To celebrate his 80th birthday, John Coleman drove his Morris Minor saloon, XGP 626 G, around Scotland in 2008.
He wrote about that in his book “Around Scotland in a Morris Minor”. After finalising the publication of the book, John Coleman died in the car on 5 January 2010 from hypothermia. John Kearley had helped prepare the car for that trip and the Coleman family gifted the vehicle to them in gratitude.
Richard & Sue P and their grandson Cameron participated with their traveller, PPE 663 E. A slight mix-up with tickets nearly resulted in them being turned away on arrival. Thankfully, the issue was resolved quickly and they took their place on the HAMMOC stand. With great reluctance, Richard was persuaded to enter their car into the “Custom and Modified Minors” Class. It’s a good job they did enter because they won not only “Best Modified Paint” in Class, but also “Best Modified Interior”.
We felt that HAMMOC had a good return to the National Rally. Three cars represented the Club. One won two trophies, another will probably have an article written about it in MINOR MATTERS and the third brought home a prize – albeit not its own! Not a bad result. We are going to be hard pressed to top that at the National Rally 2025.
REPORT ON THE CLUB RALLY - MILESTONES LIVING HISTORY MUSEUM 7 JULY
It has been some time since the Club last held a rally at Milestones Museum. Although we didn’t know it when we selected the venue, the Club has a connection with the museum. When Club member Richard P sold their farm in the late 1990’s they donated some farm equipment to a new museum that was being built on the outskirts of Basingstoke – Milestones. Richard and Sue were delighted to see that the winnower machine and some other items of farm equipment are still on display.
The forecast was foreboding and throughout the day we did experience heavy rain and thunder. However, that was interspersed with bright sunshine, which seemed to compensate admirably. The museum provided informative and interesting respite from the changeable weather and the working pub and cafe were refuges for some.
Numbers were down this year. Twenty-six vehicles were booked in, but there were “6 no shows”. Attendees were split between 8 visitors’ cars; 10 Club cars and 2 club members that arrived in their modern cars because of the bad weather. The museum informed us that 32 people had taken advantage of the concessionary group entrance rate but more people than that participated in the rally.
Represented were a varied selection of vehicles, including Minor saloons, convertibles, travellers and an LCV and a pickup. Two Austin A30s took part as did an MG B GT.
Despite the weather, everyone seemed to enjoy the event. The museum made a classroom available to us for the presentation of our brand-new trophy to ensure that it did not get wet on its first outing. The Chair’s Choice Trophy was won by the very original pickup, OOT618G owned by Dave and Maureen Coles.
July’s Challenge is a mathematical one!
Take the answers to the statements and then do the maths.
A The year the first Morris Minor made its debut at Earl’s Court Motor Show.
B The size (in ccs) of the MM engine.
C The cost (in £s) of booking a weekday driving test in the UK in 2024.
D The number of forward gears on a Morris Minor.
E The year in which the production of Morris Minors ended.
F The number of cylinders in a Morris Minor engine.
G The price (in £s) of the first Morris Minor MM.
H The cost today (in £s) of a UK provisional driving licence (on-line).
I The length (in inches) of the original Morris Minor MM.
(A – B + C) ÷ D = x
(x + E) ÷ F = y
y – G – H – I = ?
Mandy J
Comments