Happy 45th anniversary everyone.
REPORT ON THE ROAD RUN – 20th AUGUST THE WHITE HORSE – AMPFIELD
As the organisers, we were slightly embarrassed to be one of the last to arrive - although in good time. Members were clearly not going to miss out on the final road run of the season.
The practise of leaving route cards behind the bar at the Fox & Hounds paid off. One couple were unaware of the change of timings. But, they picked up a copy and followed the route to our destination – well done to Sonja & Alan, who must have put their foot down because they arrived as the last of the convoy was parking up at the White Horse.
We had another good attendance with 10 Minors, an Austin A30 and a couple of moderns taking part.
Close to 30 members enjoyed a drink and a chat at The White Horse after an enjoyable drive. Stephen P was driving the lead vehicle and managed to keep everyone together, which was a great achievement. With 3 of us in his car, that may have meant that his Minor was cruising at sub-optimal performance.
Stephen noted that by the time he got home he had covered a distance of 60 miles. Good job that the petrol station at Sainsbury’s in Winchester stays open until 10pm we just squeaked it in time!
Andrew Searle joined his father for the run. Andrew took some cracking photos as you would expect from a professional photographer.
A few members have commissioned sets of bespoke, high-resolution photographs from Andrew for a modest fee. If you are interested, get in touch with him at:
NEW MILTON SHOW - 25th AUGUST
We only heard about this by word of mouth shortly before the show was going to take place We enquired to see if there was any chance of entering our car and there was as they had not reached the 100 cars that they had room for. Apart from the cars there was also quite a few stalls selling various items from food to trinkets, a band stand with various groups playing during the day. Being in the centre of the town there was plenty of shops, food and drinks outlets.
THE STUBBINGTON FAYRE - 26th AUGUST
Held annually on Bank Holiday Monday, the Stubbington Fayre and Donkey Derby always attracts a great turnout from the village and around.
Local organisations, charities and traders man dozens of stalls; there are fairground rides for the kids, driving taster sessions around the cricket square for the 14-16 age group, and a display of vintage vehicles to be admired.
HAMMOC was represented by Andrew T’s Traveller and Convertible, David E’s early split-screen saloon, and Stephen P’s 1970 saloon. We were in the company of a dozen BSA motorbikes from the BSA club, 6 Minis from the Solent Mini Club, and a range of other cars including a Fiat 500, E-type Jaguar, Austin 7, and the Daimler ‘Dart’.
The Dart's looks always polarise opinion! Our cars attracted a great deal of attention and discussion all through the show; a remarkable number of people expressed affection for our Moggies through their past connections to the marque.
VERWOOD RUSTIC FAYRE - 26th AUGUST
Mike H reported that although we made it to the rally, the Moggie started playing up - after stopping for fuel the ignition light refused to go out. On arrival at the show this was soon fixed by a friend of Sue’s who had worked in a BMC garage. After the show we got back to Lyndhurst with not further problems.
BALLS CROSS RALLY - 1st SEPTEMBER
On Sunday 1st September we took Flossie (the A30), for the fourth time, to Balls Cross, just north of Petworth, for the vintage steam rally organised by the LL Club. For those of you left wondering, the LL stands for ‘Local Locomotion’.
Not only was there me, Pete and Buddy (the dog) in the car but also our 90-year-old neighbour, Diana, who had regularly attended the rally until the recent loss her husband.
I was unsure whether Di would manage to get into and out of the car. (If you thought Morris Minors were small on the inside you need to see my Austin A30). I was surprised when she leapt into the front seat without a problem. Pete, however, had to be a contortionist to squeeze himself and Buddy into the back seat, which was quite amusing to see!
The weather forecast wasn’t great but, as is not uncommon these days, they didn’t get it right and it turned out to be bright and sunny.
As always, the rally was very well attended. There were several Moggies that we didn’t recognise and only one other Austin (A35). There was a good mix of other vehicles; steam engines, military vehicles, tractors, motorbikes as well as stationary engines, displays of collectibles and stalls. We had a very good day and Diana enjoyed meeting up with old acquaintances.
From our point of view the only issue we had was the loud scraping noise coming from the rear right-hand side of the car when I went tight right-hand bends. Luckily, our friendly local mobile mechanic, Richard Sink, also attends this rally. He had a quick look and said the body work was scraping on the wheel. His suggestion was that Pete sat in the opposite side of the car on the way back and this seemed to resolve the problem. Obviously, he’s heavier than I thought, or we just had too much packed lunch and furniture stashed in the boot!
For anyone considering this rally for next year I would say that it has many things going for it. It’s free to exhibit! You can arrive at any time over the weekend (although they do ask you to stay on site until 4.30pm each day), dogs are allowed, and you can camp on site. It is run in aid of Macmillan, so the funds go to a worthy cause. I hope to see some of you there next year.
ANSWERS TO AUGUST's CODEBREAKER
9 25 19 15 12 22 5 EXHAUST
4 15 21 15 4 9 GARAGE
26 9 5 21 18 10 PETROL
22 5 9 9 21 17 24 4 2 19 9 9 10 STEERING WHEEL
20 9 23 KEY
16 15 24 7 9 10 5 FAN BELT
6 15 13 20 JACK
21 9 14 9 21 22 17 24 4 10 17 4 19 5 REVERSING LIGHT
8 18 18 21 1 17 21 21 18 21 DOOR MIRROR
SEPTEMBER'S CHALLENGE
Can you name the singer or group who recorded the following songs?
The year of release is given in brackets to avoid any confusion as some songs were recorded by more than one artist.
Pink Cadillac (1988)
I Like Driving in My Car (1982)
Grey Cortina (1978)
Little Red Corvette (1982)
Chasing Cars (2005)
Car Wash (1976)
Getaway Car (2017)
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car (1988)
Cars (1979)
Drive My Car (1965)
Big Yellow Taxi (1970)
Mercedes Benz (1971)
Fast Car (1988)
Mustang Sally (1966)
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