NEWS

All about the drive

Published: April 28th, 2024

April’s club meet was our first at the new summer venue and as usual it included our AGM, which took all of five minutes to complete this year. We’ll distribute the minutes in the next few days and also post them to the members' area of the website, but in the meantime we can confirm that the minutes of the 2023 AGM and the accounts were approved unanimously by all who voted and that all committee members who stood for re-election and were voted in. 

Unlike the small financial loss the club made last year, we did add to our funds over the last 12 months, so we are now looking at options for charity donations and subsidising club events in order to use up those funds. In the last financial year, we as a club donated £255.00 to charities and subsidised club events to the tune of £509.40. Our thanks to club treasurer Kate for keeping a track of everything and preparing the accounts. As is often the case in April it seems, it was quite a low turnout of members, with only 22 attending. Perhaps a few members have holidays at this time of year, or maybe not everyone fancies sitting through the AGM.

After a lot of planning, the morning of Drive-it-day on April 21st finally arrived and we were all relieved to be greeted by a dry and sunny day, made all the more beautiful by the fact that most of April was blighted by days of persistent rain and chilly temperatures. We have been lucky as a club in that since our inception five years ago (celebrated earlier this month) we have never had a Drive-it-Day rained off. For us, Drive-it-Day really is all about the drive and having fun; it is an informal gathering of club members who can choose to drive a suggested route together or make their own way to a suggested destination if they wish. It is kept deliberately informal so as not to contravene any legislation that applies to activities taking part on public highways.

Most of our club members are located close to the borders between Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire, giving us easy access to areas of outstanding natural beauty, charming chocolate-box villages, rolling hills, prehistoric monuments, and ancient woodlands. Given that we are spoilt for choice, it is never easy to decide where our Drive-it-Day will take us, but this year we opted to weave our way through the glorious Cotswolds. Committee members Pat and Tony provided a suggested route of about 80 miles that offered up a great combination of roads to challenge our cars and our driving skills. Our aim was to start out just after 10am from Ye Olde Swan’s island car park in Radcot. Club member Sinclair provided a bit of history that I was unaware of, when he explained that Radcot Bridge is believed to be the oldest surviving bridge across the Thames, having been built around 1200 AD, Furthermore, the bridge is still largely intact. 

I always try to get to the meet point a little earlier than everyone else so I can greet members as they arrive, but to my surprise half a dozen cars were already in place when I rolled in at about 9.40am. And before long, we had 14 club and guest cars all raring to go. We are not called “enthusiasts” without good reason! 

As we know from past experiences, convoying a large number of cars is not simple, so we always suggest that members go in small groups of no more than five cars. We also recommend that members group according to the sort of pace they like to travel at. Having never done it before, club member Kathleen was a little unsure about leading a group out, but with fellow club member Alan alongside in the role of navigator, both did a fantastic job. Our thanks to them for stepping in to help. Ten minutes or so later, Pat and Tony led out the second group, and the third group set off another ten minutes after that.   

With blossom on the trees highlighted under blue skies in bright sunshine the Cotswolds were stunning. Alan pointed out later that to live in the Cotswold villages we passed through requires deep pockets. For example, the average house price in Oddington, one of the villages we passed near to, is currently £985,834. Despite many of these properties being out of reach for the majority of us, most of our cars looked very at home with them as a backdrop. I just hope that we didn’t disturb the sleepy atmosphere too much as we burbled our way through.   

Halfway through the day, we stopped at Ye Olde Hobnails for an excellent lunch, as recommended by Pat and Tony. Surprisingly, despite the three groups setting off from the start at ten-minute intervals and despite each taking slightly different routes, some by accident and some by design, we all arrived within about 5 minutes of each other. Well, I say “all”, but we did lose one car along the way, following a slight excursion in search of a convenience. Thankfully, although they did not make it for lunch, we are pleased that they did make it home safely.

Following lunch, some members headed home or on to other local points of interest, while others of us carried on with the second part of the day and headed for The Cheques in Brize Norton for refreshments. It was an excellent day all round.   

In praise of the Lotus / Caterham Seven - a remarkable little car

Ever since I bought my Caterham Seven back in 2021 I’ve been conscious that it’s not a natural stable mate to many of our club cars. It lacks the elegant lines evident in a lot of classics, it’s impractical, it offers little protection against the elements, it can prove a struggle to get in and out of, and it can be a handful on wet and icy roads if not treated with respect. Indeed, when it comes to our annual “Club car you would most like to take home” competition, it never receives a single vote.

Members have described it variously over the years, with names such as “the skateboard on steroids”, “the slipper”, “the coffin” and even “the condom” (although I think that last description is more pointed at me as the driver). We like a bit of banter! When most people think of the Seven, they tend to think "track day toy", especially when it comes to the newer, more powerful Caterhams. And of course, they are pretty much perfect for that, which makes it easy to forget that there is another side to them ... the side that harks back to the cross-country trials that Colin Chapman's early cars were designed for. As we wound our way along the narrow, twisty and in some places rough roads that we encountered on Drive it Day this year, that trials heritage stood out. This little, well sprung, lightweight car really came into its own.  In comparison to how my TR5 would have performed on those roads, where in places it would have loosened some of my fillings, the Seven was nimble over the bumps and potholes and squeezed past oncoming cars with ease. On roads where high speeds can not be attained, braking is rarely necessary, as the car goes around bends and corners as if it is on rails. It was a joy to drive on the day. 

Now that the club’s spring activities are well underway, we turn our attention to what we have coming up in May. We kick off on May 6th, a Monday bank holiday, with a club display at the Carterton May Day Fair and car boot sale, held in aid of Save the Children. This is always a nice, relaxed event, with things other than cars to look at and do. This year we have a pitch for up to 12 cars. Next up, on May 19th, we are putting on a private display of club cars at the Twigs Community Garden (part of the Recovery Tree Charity). Twigs is a resource that gives people who experience mental health problems the chance to regain confidence and self-esteem and to learn new skills.

See: https://www.therecoverytreecharity.org.uk/twigs-community-gardens

And then we round out May with the Austin Ten Drivers Club invite to display with them at the Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum on May 26th. Providing we can find a suitable slot, we also hope to organise a special club activity between May and mid-June.   

For details of what we have lined up so far for June and the rest of the year, please visit our events page . . . https://www.whitehorse-cve.com/events

Triumph TR6 for sale

Club members Jane and Sinclair have decided to sell their Triumph TR6, so if you are interested (whether you are a club member or not), please drop an email to info@whitehorse-cve.com and I’ll put you in touch with Sinclair. Here is the information Sinclair has provided about the car . . .

The car was registered in 1973 and it has 59,357 miles on the speedometer. Jane and Sinclair bought it from M&M Automotive who are a large classic car dealer, and they have had it  MOT ‘d for the 5 years they have owned it. It has been regularly serviced and has a current MOT which runs until December 2024.

In Jane and Sinclair’s ownership, they have replaced the petrol pump, water pump, front offside brake caliper, and brake & clutch master cylinders. The car has electronic ignition and a stainless steel exhaust. Tyres were replaced last year and the battery was replaced in the last couple of years. Underside of the car has been rust proofed. It is stored in a dry garage and is only used in the dry. There is a folder of information from previous owners which includes old tax discs. 

Reason for sale is that it is not being used enough.

The car has an insurance guaranteed value of £19,500.

Note: Sale is on a first come first served basis, so by the time you read this the car may have been sold.  

Onwards into May then, when we look forward to better weather and lots of great days out taking part in club activities. 

A buzz of excitement

Published: March 17th, 2024

Classic car ownership is, for many of us at least, a yearly cycle of … prepare, use, maintain, use, fix and store.  Of course, there are some rare individuals that will use their classics whatever the season and whatever the weather, but these tend to be people with cars that have good heating systems and the luxury of a “proper” roof. It’s not just cold and wet weather that can put classic owners off driving through the winter, it’s also the risk of the dreaded tin worm. Owners of aluminium or fibre glass bodied cars are less at risk, but for the rest of us it is a real concern, so avoiding salted roads whenever possible is a good option.

Compared with newer cars, even those of up to around 25 years old, where the occupants are cosseted within, classic and sports cars offer a direct, visceral experience of the environment and the elements. It’s an experience that I think for many classic owners, especially those with leaky convertibles, is intimately linked with the weather and the seasons. And it is for this reason that spring brings with it an extra buzz of excitement. I sense it when I talk with fellow club members; cars are coming out, engines are being fettled, parts are being cleaned, checks are being made, and services are being done. The "prepare" phase of the yearly cycle is well under way in readiness for the warmer days and lighter evenings that April brings with it.

One of the things I really enjoy about my chats with club members is hearing about differing life experiences and interests. In such discussions, hidden talents often come to light.  Earlier this month I was struck by something written by our member Alan on his Facebook page. It captures nicely that period that falls between the end of winter and the full blossoming of spring.

"Sunlight at 7am, as the mornings draw out towards the promise of spring, and it stops raining for a bit. The Vale is sodden, under the drip dry downs. Sunrise pegs the crest, marching back to the east. So much water that the damp infests the low air, getting into everything that is not artificially warmed. The cattle fields tuft above the general level, steaming, a little like islands off the beach from the foot of my house. Freezing fog fills the valley of the Ock, between the downs, and my position on the gentle up-sweep of the Golden Ridge. Already warming in the weak sunshine, before the deep edge of the downs knows it is daytime. They will be sleeping in an hour extra this Sunday morning, unless they have reason to be up, and praise a better day. Called by muffled bells of Saxon towers. The reflected light gives a glow to the place, The sky pale as a result looks colder than it is, unless you are under that clingy blanket"

Alan Hitchcock

March 2024

For the club’s committee, February and March is a time of planning and preparation of club activities for the year ahead. We have now pinned down a list of the shows that we aim to attend as a club (see Events page) and we also have ideas for a host of non-show events and charity displays. Our first major club event of the year is almost always Drive-it-Day and this year is no exception. Committee members Pat and Tony have been busy planning a route of about 80 miles which takes us on a scenic tour of the Cotswolds, with a pub lunch along the way. A suggested route, along with meeting points and timings will be distributed to all members soon.  If you wish to purchase a Drive-it-Day rally plate in support of Childline, you can do so using this link:  https://www.driveitday.co.uk/shop

Drive-it-Day is always a popular event in the classic car owners' calendar and we as a club try our best to lay on a bit of an adventure, with varied road types to navigate. It might be that the successes we have had with this in previous years has got out, because last week we were contacted by the local branch of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club, who have members that are looking for an activity on Drive-it-Day and have asked if they can join in with us. For the moment, I have said that it will depend on the number of our members taking part, because we have to make sure there is room at the pub for all of us to eat, but if we can accommodate a few JEC members we will try to.

Following Drive-it-Day, our second charity event this year is likely to be at the Twigs Community Garden (part of the Recovery Tree Charity). Twigs is a resource that gives people who experience mental health problems the chance to regain confidence and self-esteem and to learn new skills. See: https://www.therecoverytreecharity.org.uk/twigs-community-gardens

We’ll put on a private display of club cars at Twigs in Swindon, with the aim of raising awareness and funds for the project. More details will be distributed to members shortly. 

Along with our April club meet, when we will be at our new location, The Royal Oak, we’ll also be holding our Annual General Meeting (AGM). All members should have now received full notification of the AGM by email.

If you are an official club member and have not received this notification, then please request it from us.     

That buzz of excitement that I mentioned earlier is perhaps most evident in club member Paul at the moment, as he continues to prepare his newly acquired 1978, 7.2 litre, Plymouth Fury 'Tennessee Highway Patrol' car.

Despite the car’s “Tennessee” livery, it is actually a former North Carolina Highway patrol car that was repainted to emulate a Tennessee State Trooper patrol car by an ex-Tennessee police officer around 12 years ago. It's an A38, E86 car. For those not in the know, like me, Paul says that the A38 Handling Package (also known as a Police Pursuit Package) provided the car with beefed up torsion bars, anti-sway bars, a reinforced frame, Dana 60 rear end, and front disc brakes. And E86 package cars came with the potent Chrysler 440 V-8, engine oil cooler, power steering oil cooler, and transmission oil cooler. 

Since importing the car from Poland back in January, as covered in our February news, much work has been done on it. This included work on the battery tray and boot interior (plus around the boot seal) due to corrosion. A lot of parts required replacement:

New battery

4 new tyres

New cover for lightbar

New steering pump

New power steering pump pulley steering box

New power steering hose

New gaskets

New radiator hoses

New filters

New drive belts

New differential pinion seal

New front brake callipers and front brake pads

New rear brake shoes

New exhaust manifolds and gaskets

New spark plugs and leads

New rear taillight lenses

New marker lenses

New ECM module

New distributor

New wiper link bushes

New wiper blades

New carburettor and fitting kit

New front and rear shocks

New upper and lower ball joints, and track rod ends

Wheel alignment

Raptor paint for chassis and inner trunk

Paul, the master of understatement it seems to me, says “It needed quite a bit more work than I was expecting”.  He adds, “The most difficult to install was the steering box due to space issues and wiper linkage bushes. The hood had to be removed and wiper linkage removed so the bushes could be pressed in”.

Paul added a “AID 313” decal on the rear panel after seeing some old photos of Tennessee State Trooper patrol cars. Various police districts around Tennessee had patrol cars marked as "AID" vehicles. "AID" stands for, "Aid to Interstate Drivers". The 1st number is the district 3 for Nashville, the 2nd & 3rd numbers being car identification, Paul says. 

All photos courtesy of Paul.

Future work will include weatherstripping for windows and door felts. And the transmission will have to be removed to cure a small oil leak from the camshaft. More work on the suspension will also be required in due course. 

I dread to think how many miles per gallon that 7.2 litre engine will drink; perhaps I should be talking in terms of how many gallons per mile!

All I can say is that Paul must be a glutton for punishment because he also has a new addition to the family, the aptly named, Trooper.

I wonder which will prove the more expensive each year.

Something I know that all our members are keen to encourage is younger people taking an interest in classic cars, and so I was pleased to receive an email last week from a school in Banbury that has a pupil looking for work experience restoring classic cars. I explained that we as a club cannot offer any such work, but I pointed the school in the direction of Bicester Heritage in the hope that they will be able to help. If any of our members know of firms near Banbury that focus on classic car repairs or restoration and might be able to offer work experience, then please let me know and I'll pass that information on too.

White Horse Classic Vehicle Enthusiasts: AGM 2024

Published: March 3rd, 2024

We hereby give notice that the White Horse Classic Vehicle Enthusiasts’ 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Wednesday April 17th 2024 from 8.30pm at Helen Browning's Royal Oak, Cues Ln, Bishopstone, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN6 8PP.

Details will be sent to our members shortly and will also be available on the Members' page of this website.

Not long now

Published: February 2nd, 2024

Despite the recent storms and floods, it is starting to feel like we are not too far off spring now. And the sooner it arrives the better, as far as I'm concerned. January and February are quiet months when it comes to the classic car scene, but at least the lack of activity gives us a break and allows us to plan the club year ahead.

We always start the planning process by collating a list of all the events we can find that are taking place in and around our area (see Events page). At the same time, we ask members if they have any preferences about what they'd like to do with the club in the year ahead. Then, committee members gather together to work out a provisional plan. It's not always straight forward to do this, because several factors guide our decisions. Firstly, we take into account feedback from members. We prioritise those events that members have asked us if we can display at. Our next consideration is whether or not we think we can get the numbers to make up a good display that warrants a club pitch. It is only really worthwhile organising a pitch if we can get at least six cars on it. This is why it helps us if members can let us know if they are interested as early as possible. We do appreciate that that is not always easy. Next, we have to be certain that at least three committee members are available for the show and can commit to being there. For any club organised event, committee members have to attend. We aim to always have three attending, just in case any committee member has to drop out due to unforeseen circumstances. And lastly, we look at the timing of events and their location. Given that we now have members that are quite far to the east and the south of our central area, we want to make sure we do some events that are more local for them.    

Our activities will break down into three broad categories, as follows . . . 

Regular club nights: We will have these as usual on the third Wednesday of each month.

Shows: As always, there are many to choose from and we might add or remove some along the way, depending on if we think we'll get the numbers to make a pitch worthwhile. Some are events that we have supported before, whereas a few are new for this year. Here then is the list: 

Carterton May Fair - May 6th

Austin Ten Drivers Club invite show at Atwell-Wilson Museum - May 26th

Faringdon Festival of Transport - June 9th

Yattendon - June 30th

Grove Charity Car, Truck and Bike Show - July 13th

West Oxon Steam and Vintage Show - July 20th - 21st

West Berks Classic Car Show - August 4th

Wanborough Country Show - August 17th

Shalbourne, August 25th

Collingbourne Ducis Church fete & Village Show / Tri-village tournament (includes Classic Car Show) - September 7th

Castle Combe Autumn Classic - September 22nd

Special Events: After the success last year of the special events that we laid on, we are aiming to do more again this year. Our difficulty, as always, is working out when we can fit these in. 

Drive it Day, April 21st.  Tony M is putting together a route for us that will take in some of the beautiful Cotswold scenery. Details will be announced soon. It'll be 80-100 miles, with a meal along the way.

Charity Event - We are currently in discussions with Julia's House Children's Hospice about how we might be able to assist them with a fund raising event. Next week we are having a meet with them to discuss possible options.  

Punting and lunch by the river - Aiming for mid April to mid-May for this. We don't need to book this far in advance, so we can do it at the drop of a hat when we can get members together and it looks like decent weather. 

Atwell-Wilson Museum, May 26th. For those wishing to visit the museum, it can be combined with the show we have been invited to attend by the Austin Ten Drivers Club. We'll take a scenic run there, too.  

Something for the wild bunch - After the go-karting and gliding last year, we want to lay on something exhilarating again. Ideas so far include: Archery, Axe throwing, Blind driving, Clay shooting, Hovercrafting, Rage buggies, etc. A decision on what we do will be based on member feedback.

Summer Party - Details to be announced, but as usual there will be an overnight stay, food, drink and dancing. This will also be to celebrate five years since we formed the club.

Christmas meal and celebrations in early December.

I'm keen to revive the idea of doing club car features. We discussed this last year, but time ran out. I still have a list of those that expressed an interest in this, so I will be in touch. If anyone else wishes to take part, then please let us know.

Don't forget, you can keep up to date on all our activities by visiting our Events page

We have tried to put forward a varied selection of activities in the hope that members will find at least some to be appealing.  If there is something that you'd like the club to do that is not on the list, then please let us know. If we can get enough interest from members for it and we can fit it in then we'll try our best to make it happen. 

Each year we get busier as a club and the work load increases. If any member/members would like to assist with event organisation, then please get in touch and we can discuss.

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Other news:

It's always exciting when we get a new car in the club and when it comes to our member Paul we never have to wait too long. I've lost count of the number of cars Paul has had in the three years I've known him. Is it 6 or 7! With his latest acquisition, Paul has really outdone himself. He's only gone a got a 1978 Plymouth Fury 'Tennessee Highway Patrol' car.

It's currently undergoing some work, but we are hopeful of seeing out at shows with us in the very near future. I can see it being a great draw for the crowds.

That's all for now. We have a great year planned ahead of us, so let's get out and enjoy it.

Times gone by and times to come

Published: December 23rd, 2023

‘Twas the night before Christmas! Well, not quite, as there are still a couple of days for final preparations to be completed, so don’t panic, not just yet anyway! For me, the best news of the season is that we have now cleared the winter solstice and soon we’ll be seeing lighter evenings again. I always long for those first few signs of spring. 

It has been another incredibly busy year for the club and in many respects a very successful one, although it has not been without its difficulties. Towards the end of last year, members began to ask if we could add some non-car related events to our calendar, so back in January the committee gathered together to discuss what might be possible. We know a lot of clubs that offer various events that are somewhat sedate in nature, but recognising what a wild bunch we have among our ranks, we wanted to add a few that might prove a bit of a challenge. Our aim was not to to cut the more traditional car club activities, such as shows and museum visits, but rather to fit extra activities around them, which is what I think we have succeeded in doing. By my reckoning, as a club we have done . . . ten classic car shows; eleven regular club nights; a Drive it day run/meal; a visit to the Haynes Museum; a gliding experience; a go-karting experience/race; two charity/community events (Moredon School and Richmond Retirement/Care Home); a club BBQ; a visit to the Classic Motor Hub; a trip to Le Mans (not an official club event, but arranged by club member Peter and open to all members); a visit to a race horse trainer’s stable; and a Christmas meal/celebration. In total, that is 32 events, which for a smallish club like ours is pretty good going. It’s always our aim to encourage members to get out and about in their classics and I think we have achieved that again this year. We would have done even more, but time and good weather ran out.

It was a sad start to the year, when we heard the news in March that our club mate and friend Eric had passed away suddenly. Eric had not been with the club for very long, but he threw himself into club activities with great enthusiasm, which made all of us who knew him through the club feel that he had been with us for years. What has been nice is seeing Eric’s wife Kathleen continue Eric’s support for the club by bringing along his rare Datsun 240c to many of the events we have attended this year. We know that Eric would like that.

As is typical, the year started slowly for most members. A few of us ventured out all through the winter, but things tend to be quiet until at least March. Some of the informal breakfast meets are good for shake down runs and blowing the dust off, but it was not until April that we saw our first official club show of the year, the Spring Vehicle Meet. Unfortunately, it was blighted by heavy rain, which kept many visitors and club members away. Angie and Graham, Jason and Graham B, did brave it, but I think that before too long they wished they hadn’t. Shows are never fun in the rain. 

Thankfully, as we neared the end of April, there was a marked improvement in the weather, just in time for an extremely busy weekend of club activities. Our inaugural club go-karting event took place on Saturday April 22nd, with eight members taking part, plus two guests. This was the first of our “new format” events and it turned out to be great fun. With qualifying, the best laps of the mid pack were all pretty similar, but out in front one man shone. Jason put us all in the shade with his lap times and I don’t think it came as much of a surprise to anyone when he won the competition. This is definitely one of those events that we’ll aim to do again if we can get the same level of support for it.

Following on the day after the go-karting, 14 cars gathered for what is always one of the club's best events of the year, Drive-it-Day. Graeme organised a route that took members into Henley-on-Thames, alongside the river and then out for a lovely meal in the village of Highmoor Cross, before the drive home. Due to the large number of members who take part in this event these days, we now have to break the convoy up into groups. This year, these were led out by Karen and Graeme, Pat and Tony, and Kate and Chris. As is usual for this event, there were some shenanigans along the way. Those in the know, will have a good idea of the ringleaders! 

Members supported Children in Need by purchasing Drive-it-Day rally plates, and the club and its members also donated £105.00 to the Wessex MS Therapy Centre. 

May is the month when the classic car season properly comes to life each year. We kicked-off with the Carterton May Fair on May 1st. Given that it wasn’t the nicest of weather, it was great to have a display of nine club cars on our pitch. 

Part of the club’s remit is to support charities and community projects by providing private displays of our cars. This is particularly important when it comes to care homes, where residents might find it difficult to get out to shows. We were therefore pleased to be able to put on such a display for the Richmond Retirement and Care Home, which specialises in dementia care.   

It’s in April and May that we tend to see greater numbers of members out at our monthly meets again, following on from the winter lull. By this time of the year, we usually see 30+ members in attendance. However, what is especially pleasing, to me at least, is that even in the winter when members usually leave their classics at home, we still get 18+ attending on club nights. This is a good indicator that the club for many members is as much about the camaraderie as it is about the cars. 

At our committee meeting at the start of the year, when we set about planning the calendar of club events, I think there was some scepticism regarding the proposed gliding experience. It was an unknown and as such we had little idea of whether we would get enough members to support it, but we needn’t have worried. On a slightly chilly evening at the end of May we got eleven members aloft for what I think most of us found an exhilarating experience. I know that some who took part were apprehensive, so all credit to you for giving it a go. 

Just a couple of days after the gliding, nine club members paid a visit to the Haynes Motor Museum, on a trip organised by Graeme. Many of our members have visited the motor museum at Gaydon numerous times, so it was nice to offer something different. 

Each year we try to strike a balance between doing the shows we have done in previous years and adding in some new ones. One of those new events this year was the Wiltshire Steam and Vintage Rally, also organised by Graeme. We put on our display of eight club cars on the Sunday, which was a good choice, as there was heavy rain the day before. Not taking ourselves too seriously is one of the hallmarks of our club, so when we saw the bumper cars it didn’t take long before a gang of us had jumped on them. 

Of all the shows we do each year, Yattendon at the end of June is one of a handful that is consistently good. There is always a fantastic display of classics and other vehicles and this year there were almost 500 to be seen. It’s a great location, a nice drive there, and well organised. We had a strong turnout of eleven club cars on our pitch. It’s all in aid of a great cause too, the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. 

There was no let up in the pace as we moved into July, with four club activities taking place in the first week alone. Peter, Jason and Stephen headed off on a trip to watch the classic racing at Le Mans. Sadly, Stephen’s Triumph Spitfire didn’t make it all the way and had to be returned home on the back of a recovery vehicle with a blown engine, but apart from that, a good time was had. 

With some of the gang down in Le Mans, others of us were enjoying the Aldbourne Classic Car Show and Doggy day. We had seven club cars on our pitch. In terms of the overall car show size, the event wasn’t as large as Yattendon, but the location and organisation were equally as good. We did have a slight hiccup, with a flat battery on Chris’ TR4, but we soon got that sorted with the help of a battery booster pack. 

Later that same week, club members Christine and Simon were kind enough to host the club’s BBQ. We had around 32 members come along, making it a great evening. The club funded the BBQ, by paying for food, soft drinks, and competition prizes to the tune of £177, but the hard work of cooking and tidying up was all done by Christine, Simon and their family. Many of our members brought along their classics for the evening, so we put on a nice display of club cars and held two competitions. These were: Car You’d Most Like to Take Home, which was won by Mike with his Suffolk SS100 Jaguar recreation and Best Presented Car, which was won by Sinclair with his Morgan. 

We rounded off an extremely hectic first week in July by supporting the Moredon Primary School and Nursery fete with a private display of eleven club cars, which was excellent given that the event was on a weekday afternoon and some members needed to take time off work to join in. 

Apart from at our first show of the year, we had been reasonably lucky with the weather, but all that changed for the West Oxon Steam Fair. We were expecting about ten cars on the club pitch, both on the Saturday and the Sunday, and so we were looking forward to a great weekend, but it was ruined by continuous heavy rain and strong winds. A small handful of us did make it there, but the ground was so muddy and waterlogged that we decided against showing. In terms of the weather, it was certainly the worst event I have been to in my ten years of car showing.

July came to an end with the sad news that Dave’s Suzuki SC100 Whizzkid had been hit side on by a car exiting a driveway. Thankfully, although shaken up, everyone involved in the accident escaped with only minor injuries, but the Whizzkid ended up a write-off. Dave did get an insurance payout that covered his financial outlay, but he, the club and the automotive world lost an interesting and rare car. We’ll certainly miss the Whizzkid at shows.   

Early in August we took up a kind invitation from friends of ours at the Cotswold Vale TR club to join them for a private tour of the Classic Motor Hub near Cirencester. We spent a very pleasant morning looking at all the high value cars for sale, as well as a small collection of incredibly rare cars that are part of private collections stored there. Afterwards, we rounded off the day with an excellent lunch at the Jolly Tar in Hannington. 

Just a few days later, we put on a club display of nine cars at the West Berks Classic Show. It’s one of the larger events that we attend as a club, and in recent times it’s been held at the Newbury Racecourse. However, this year the venue was changed to the Newbury Showground, which is even better in my opinion. As in previous years, the show was held in aid of Blood Cancer UK and in support the White Horse CVE was pleased to donate £150. 

Wanborough Village and Country show is another of the smaller events that we attend. In terms of the classic car display, the show is not that large, as space is limited to about 80 cars, but the organisers pack in so much more. Alongside the cars, there are steam engines, military vehicles, scooters and motorcycles on display. Each year special events take place in the main arena; this year we were treated to a falconry display and a motorcycle stunt rider. On our pitch, we had eight club cars on display. 

A week later, we displayed at the Shalbourne Classic Car Show, where Jason had arranged a club pitch for us. This is another of the club’s favoured events, not least of all because it provides a good opportunity for many of us to have quite a lengthy run out together. This year we had members attending from many different directions, Angie, Graham, and Paul coming from the east of our area, Jason from the south, and another eight cars from the north. With twelve cars on the pitch, it was one of our best displays of the year. 

With the number of car shows beginning to dwindle in September, we had hoped to slot in a couple of other activities at this time, a run to the New Forest and an afternoon Punting in Oxford. Unfortunately, it all proved a bit difficult to pull everyone together at the same time, so we have postponed these until next year. In some respects, I was pleased that we had a quiet month, because much of my time spent on club matters involved working out the pros and cons of switching the location of our monthly meets. Having conducted a survey of members, it was clear that we needed to find a new meet pub that could better serve our requirements. Penny, George and Jason were all instrumental in highlighting a possible new venue to me, which I then visited to see if it could work. It was then a case of working out how such a move would impact on members. Fortunately, every club member who expressed an opinion on the matter was in agreement that we should try the proposed move.

We did have one highlight in September, which was the club’s display at the Castle Combe Autumn Classic, arranged by Graeme and Jason. I’d never been to this event before, but I had heard good things about it from club members who had visited in the past. It turned out to be an excellent day out, with not only a static display of many interesting cars, but great classic racing to watch too.   

October saw us pay our first visit to the new monthly meet venue. With the terrible weather we had on the evening, I didn’t think we would have a good turnout, so I was extremely pleased that 23 members came along. And better still, all the feedback about the pub’s food and service was positive. 

By the end of October, other than the club meets that continue all year round, club activities have usually come to an end for the year, so it was nice to be able to visit the stable of race horse trainer Mark Usher, as arranged by Karen and Graeme. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay for the post visit fry-up, but I hear it went down extremely well. 

Our last event of the year was the club’s Christmas meal and celebrations, which took place on December 6th. With 28 of us in attendance it did get a bit rowdy at times, but members will be relieved to hear that we have not been banned. And thankfully nobody had to go home in an ambulance! 

As is our tradition, we followed the meal with a raffle, some speeches, a vote for the Knackered Spanner Award and the presentation, and lastly a quiz. 

Our thanks to everyone who contributed to the raffle, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year. Without the prizes you donate and the money from the tickets you buy, we couldn’t do a lot of the things we do in terms of subsidizing events and giving to charities. 

It didn’t come as too much of a surprise that the winner of the Knackered Spanner award was Dave for writing off his car. Although the accident wasn't Dave's fault, we are a harsh bunch. 

Then came the dreaded quiz. Despite all the moaning, the heckling, and the thrown food, I’m pretty sure that members love it. We had four tables of seven members each: The Canoeists (led by Alan); The Whizzkids (led by Simon H); Still Thinking (led by Jason, I think); and Tina's Table (led by Tina). It was another close-run thing at the end, with two teams on 11 points and two on 14 (although one team claimed a disputed 1/2 point to make it 14 1/2). This is a serious business! There were then 5 extra points on offer for the team that could put on the best star turn. Pete was up first for the Canoeists and wowed us with his full Father Christmas outfit. We then had a magic trick from Simon of the Whizzkids. Mike from Tina's Table gave us a song that was good, although after the 15th verse, he probably should have heeded the calls of "get off". Still Thinking played a wild card, which turned out to be me singing a little ditty. As I felt that my turn was the best, Still Thinking should have won the competition, but the language and insults hurled in my direction for suggesting that sadly made me bow to pressure. And so it came down to a tie breaker question for the Whizzkids and Tina's Table. Result: Tina's Table took the win. 

Without doubt, 2023 has been the busiest year in the club’s history. We have packed in more events than ever before and had a strong influx of new members. We welcome Nigel, Mike, James, Simon, Geoff, Madelaine, Graham, Caroline and Derek. Our aim remains to not allow the club to grow to more than around 75 members and so at the current rate of growth we could well reach that figure by the end of next year.

With the increase in members, we now have an even greater diversity of vehicles within the club, which all adds to the interest. We have also had some members change cars or add second and third cars to their collections, so now there is nearly always something new to see at club meets. Here are some of the new vehicles that joined our ranks this year . . .

Apologies if I've missed any. If I have, then it's probably due to not having a photo on record. It's not always easy to keep track. If you would like to see more of our activities throughout 2023, then please take a look at our club restrospective film . . . 

We never forget that as a club we are nothing without our members. It is all of you that makes it what it is. From the committee, we thank you all for your support.  There are a few members that deserve an extra mention this year for their help.

Alan: Thank you for putting forward numerous ideas for club events and for coming to the rescue with a spare part when a friend of the club had damaged his car.  

Cyan: Our thanks goes to Cyan for help with transporting the club flags.

Christine and Simon: Our thanks to you both for all your work in hosting the club’s summer BBQ.

Karen and Graeme: Thanks to Graeme for organising Drive-it-Day, our display at the Wilts Steam and Vintage Show, the Haynes Museum trip, and the visit to Mark Usher’s horse racing stable. And our thanks to Karen, who helped out with Drive-it-Day and the Mark Usher visit in particular.

Mark:  Our thanks to you for help with transporting the club flags.

Peter: I know that the support you provided to Jason on the trip to Le Mans was greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Back in the dark days of covid (remember that?), I joked in one of my news reports that we could still meet up if we classed ourselves as a support organisation.   Funny thing is, in essence, I think that that is exactly what a good club should be, regardless of what it is focused on. I know that behind the scenes, many of our members have helped each other, not just with car issues, but with other things too. It makes me wonder if there is a way to formalise this when it comes to car breakdown and maintenance problems. It would need more consideration and feedback from members, but perhaps a directory of members that can be contacted for help is a possibility.

We are already beginning to formulate our plans for next year, with an emphasis on what extra benefits we can offer members. If you have ideas about what more we can be doing to support you, then please let us know.  It has always been our aim to make certain that members get what they want from the club. We hope that we have succeeded in this and that the club continues to be a happy distraction from some of the difficulties life throws at us.   

From all of us on the committee, we wish all our members (present and past) a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2024 is just around the corner and there is plenty to look forward to, not least of all, a celebration of our 5th anniversary.  See you all down the road.  

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Published: October 25th, 2023

Watching from my window and seeing the green leaves of summer transformed into a striking array of yellows, reds, golds and browns, I’m reminded that soon those leaves will fall and winter will be upon us. Autumn’s beauty is not lost on me, but already I miss those warm days, enjoying time with club friends on a weekly basis. Of course, club activities do not come to a complete halt through autumn and winter. Our monthly meets continue all year and although we do not typically organise show attendance between November and March, I know some members continue to show on an individual basis whatever the weather. However, by now, the majority of us will be tucking our classics away under cover until the warmer days return.

A lot has happened since the last news report back in August, so grab a snack, a cup of coffee or tea, or maybe even something a bit stronger, and sit back while we take a look at what the club has being doing over the last few weeks. 

We start with August club night, back on the 17th of the month. August nearly always sees a strong turnout of members and this year was no exception. It was great to see most of the regulars and some members, such as John in his Triumph TR5, who for various reasons are not able to make every meet. We also welcomed new members Caroline and Derek in their beautiful Triumph Stag. Another highlight, was the welcome return of Penny and George's Daimler Dart, that had been off the road for several months undergoing work.

August’s meet began a busy couple of weeks for the club, as just two days later we had a pitch at the Wanborough Village and Country show. As is usual for this show, most of us met beforehand at a location a few miles down the road from the event and then convoyed in together. We would have had a display of twelve cars, but sadly four had to pull out, due to breakdowns and family commitments. Nevertheless, we put on a strong club display of eight cars and it was great to see Guy’s Toyota MR2 making its first appearance at a show with us.   

In terms of the classic car display, the show is not that large, as space is limited to about 80 cars, but the organisers pack in so much more. And alongside the cars, there are steam engines, military vehicles, scooters and motorcycles on display. Each year special events take place in the main arena; this year we were treated to a falconry display and a motorcycle stunt rider (not at the same time!). There are arts and crafts stalls to visit, as well as a flower and vegetable show. All in all it is a great day out. 

Just over a week later, we displayed at the Shalbourne Classic Car Show, where Jason had arranged a club pitch for us. This is another of the club’s favoured events, not least of all because it provides a good opportunity for many of us to have quite a lengthy run out together. This year we had members attending from many different directions, Angie, Graham, and Paul coming from the east of our area, Jason from the south, and another eight cars from the north. With twelve cars on the pitch, it was one of the best displays of the year. Karen and Graeme, Kathleen, Nigel, Chris and I convoyed in together. We did have a bit of drama en route, when the Datsun 240c cut out and had to pull over. Thankfully, it seemed to be a minor fuel filter blockage and before long it had cleared.

It’s difficult to know how many classics were on show at the event, but I’d estimate 300+. Among those, there were quite a few rarities, not least of all among our own ranks.  Below are a few of my favourite photos from the day.

As we find each year, the number of events start to tail off in September and with that we turned our attention to other matters. One thing we had been meaning to do since just before the weekend of the West Oxon Steam Rally was to get Chris’ Gilbern Invader Estate moving again, so on a blisteringly hot day early in the month Chris, Tony and I set to work on it. We were already aware that the fuel pump wasn’t kicking in and there was a suspicion that it had failed, but with a bit of tinkering, we soon established that it was the wiring at fault, just a loose connection. Fingers crossed for Chris that this will be the last of these niggling issues and we’ll see the car at plenty of events next year.

September’s club night was a bit quieter than usual, with many of the regulars away. It was also marred by the poor quality of the food served up at our usual haunt, which was a great pity, because after many months of problems we had hoped that things were improving, but sadly that was not so. After the meet, we conducted a survey of members, asking for their thoughts regarding whether we should make it a priority to find a new venue for club meets. Everyone who responded said that we should. We had in fact been looking at local alternatives for over a year, but it’s never been easy to find somewhere suitable. However, given the most recent poor experience at our usual venue, we now pulled out all the stops to quickly find other options. Within a couple of weeks we had found somewhere that seemed to tick all the boxes, but at the last minute they informed us that we could not have the third Wednesday of each month, which is the night that we have always met on. This was a deal breaker, as we felt it would be too much to change both the venue and the meet date at the same time. And so it was back to the drawing board. At the previous club meet, members Penny and George had mentioned a possible venue, but I’d already taken a cursory glance at it and dismissed it as not having a large enough car park. Then, after looking at aerial views on Google Maps, Jason mentioned the same pub to me as a possibility. A few days later I was passing and thought I’d have a better look around. On closer examination, it did look like a possibility, so I popped in to talk with the staff. What struck me immediately was the positive attitude from everyone I talked with. We discussed the car park and they came up with options to make it suitable for our needs. It certainly had potential, but we pride ourselves on being a democratic club, so the next thing we needed to do was to work out the impact the move would have on members. As it turned out, 57% of members live closer to this proposed new venue than the current one, and of those that would have to travel further, nearly all were less than an extra 15 minutes of travelling time away. Armed with that information, we put the proposed move to a vote. Around 80% of members responded and of those, 100% were in favour of trying the new venue. 

For the last couple of years, we have looked at adding the Castle Combe Autumn Classic to the list of club events, but it never made the final cut. This year, we decided to give it a try. And I’m pleased that we did. What a fantastic day out! It is far more than just a car show, it’s an excellent day of classic and vintage car racing, in the same vein as the Silverstone Classic and Goodwood Revival, but smaller, less expensive, and without the long queues. It also doesn’t require a great deal of walking, as the club stands are right alongside the track, so we were in the middle of the action. If it makes the list of club events again next year, then I highly recommend giving it a go. Thanks to Graeme for some initial preparation, but mainly to Jason for pulling it all together and making it happen, when it looked like it might have to be scratched. 

With everyone who had voted to switch the venue of our monthly club meet in agreement, on October 18th we took the plunge and held our first meet at the new location. Other than in the days of Covid, when we couldn’t meet, this was the first monthly meet not at our usual location (where many members also met in a previous incarnation of the club) in over ten years, so it was a big step for us. One of the many great things about the new meet pub is that we have our own private room to gather in, a club room if you like. October can be a quiet month, so I wasn’t too sure that we’d get many members coming along, but we were extremely pleased to see 23 turn out to show support for the move. I’m sure we would have had several more, but some members were on holiday at the time. And best of all, the food and the service, according to almost all the feedback (one member didn’t enjoy the burger source), was excellent. These positive reviews convinced us that we should also book the venue for our Christmas meal, details of which will be distributed to members soon. 

As some of you will remember, we had hoped to pack in an afternoon of punting and a drive down to the New Forest before the year closes, but time seems to have run out for these. It was difficult to find a weekday when all those interested in the punting would be available and now, of course, the weather is against us. Perhaps we'll have more luck with these events in 2024, if they make the list.

And so we rounded off our year of events (not including club nights) with a visit to the stables of a well known race horse trainer in Lambourn, arranged by Karen and Graeme. It was attended by nine members and 4 guests. Our thanks also to Graeme for cooking the bacon rolls, which were provided by the club, although sadly I missed out on those as I had to head home a bit early. 

All that remains now for the rest of the year are the November and December (Christmas meal) club nights. That means that my next report is unlikely to be published until late December, when we’ll look back over the year. For now, at least while the rain lets up, enjoy this season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.   

Ups and Downs

Published: August 9th, 2023

Classic car ownership can at times feel like a rollercoaster ride, a series of ups and downs. One day you can be bowling down a French autoroute heading for Le Mans, the next you can be wondering how long it’ll take to have your car trailered back to the UK and how much the blown engine will cost to repair. One day your engine can be ticking over as sweet as a nut, the next you can be scratching your head wondering why it won’t start. One minute you can be driving down a country road on a summer morning, the next minute your pride and joy can be ruined by the inconsiderate actions of another driver.  Yes, classic car ownership can bring great joy, but it also has the potential to serve up a great deal of misery. Each of the scenarios just outlined have happened to club members and friends in recent weeks.

Late in July, club member Dave was heading down to the Simply Japanese Car Show at Beaulieu when he was hit side on by a Mercedes leaving a driveway. Thankfully, although shaken up, everyone involved in the accident escaped with only minor injuries, but Dave’s Suzuki SC100 Whizzkid suffered substantial damage. No decision has been made yet by the insurers as to whether the car is to be written off, but Dave says that the body is twisted and there are ripples in the roof, so the signs are not good. Quite rightly, in situations like this, our initial and main concern is always for the physical welfare of those involved, but we invest so much time, money and emotion in our cars that the impact of their loss should not be underestimated. I know that in Dave’s case, the Whizzkid was a car that he had wanted as a youngster and since purchasing it he had spent a considerable amount of money on improvements. 

People that feel no special affinity for their cars will wonder what all the fuss is about, but for some of us, our cars are more than just a means of getting from A to B. My wife often gets annoyed with me when we meet up with my older family members and friends that I’ve known since childhood, because before too long the topic of conversation will always turn to cars. I’ll say to my Uncle, for example, “Do you remember struggling to get up the 1 in 4 hill at Porlock, with the clutch slipping on the old Triumph Dolomite?.” And then we’ll go into a long conversation about cars. We’ll talk about heading off on holidays, he and my Aunt and Cousin in his MK1 Cortina and my parents and I in the Austin A40 Farina. This was in the days when cars and roads were so slow that it would take an age to get anywhere of note. There were very few motorway services (in fact, there were very few motorways!), so we’d pull over on the roadside, get out the camping stove and have a brew up on the verge. I suspect most people of my age and older will be able to relate to this and will understand that cars can mean more than just a form of transport, they are wrapped up with memories of family and friends and of good times. Whether this love affair with the motor car exists in the same way for younger people I don’t know, but I imagine that it doesn’t and to some extent I can understand why. Children have it drummed into them at school that petrol and diesel cars are an evil, governments of all shades bow to the pressure exerted by a highly vocal minority and wage war on the motorist by imposing ever more restrictions, and the costs associated with driving are enough to put off many a young person. And on top of all that, over the last thirty years or so, the cars being produced are on the whole completely soulless, a range of jelly mould shapes in a range of bland colours. It’s no wonder that many people feel that the joy has been sucked out of motoring. Those of us that love classic cars do so I believe, in part, because they remind us of the joy that motoring once was and help us recapture that feeling. Classic cars stir memories of when motoring excited the senses … with the sound of the engine, the smell of hot oil (Castrol R was always a favourite), and the way the cars looked and handled.

No doubt the car that hit Dave’s Whizzkid will be repaired and back on the road in a few weeks and the driver of it will think no more of the incident, but Dave has lost something more than just a metal box on four wheels. And not only that, but the automotive world has lost something quite rare, as there are only a small number of Suzuki Whizzkids still on the road. It’s a sad loss to the club as well, because the car was always one of the most popular with visitors to the club stand at car shows. 

Now, I’m by no means an expert when it comes to climate, but I’m getting sick of hearing that it has been the hottest July on record (worldwide), whilst at the same time looking out of my window and seeing little but rain. Poor weather is the enemy of the classic car owner and the classic car show organiser, as was evident when we attended the West Oxon Steam and Vintage Show in mid-July. Typically, the show is one of the highlights of the year for the club, as several members camp from the Thursday to the Monday. As we do each year,  Pat, Tony, Kate, Chris and I set up the club’s campsite on the Thursday before the event. 

We were expecting about ten cars on the club pitch, both on the Saturday and the Sunday, and so we were looking forward to a great weekend. However, we were already aware that the weather forecast looked ominous. Thursday remained dry and reasonably warm, but overnight the rain came in and was pretty much continuous throughout the Friday, and by the evening the event field was a mud bath. By this point I’d already decided that I wouldn’t be showing the Caterham, and that if I showed at all, it would be my nearly 20-year-old Land Rover. My mind was made up when I returned to the field on the Friday evening and struggled to reach the campsite area even in the Land Rover. Nevertheless, we made the best of it and went on a Fish ‘n’ Chips run. By this time, we’d also been joined by Rachel and Mike, who were very brave to put up their tent in quite wet conditions. At around 8pm, Kate headed for home, leaving the rest of us to “party” for a bit longer, but the fun was broken about 30 minutes later when Kate called to say that she had a puncture on the road into Bampton. Tina and I went to see if there was anything we could do, but it turned out that both front and rear near side tyres were split. We can only think that it was caused by hitting a pothole. It took a few hours for the breakdown service to arrive, so Kate didn’t make it the last few miles home until gone midnight.  It wasn’t a great start and it wouldn’t get much better. 

I returned to the event venue early on the Saturday morning, following a night of more heavy rain, to find that most vehicles were now being towed onto the field. Again, I got through, but it was touch and go in places. Looking at the state of things, I suggested to those members that had said they were coming that it would be better to wait until Sunday to see if conditions would improve. We had two classics up in the camping area, Mike’s Daimler Dart and Chris’ TR4, but neither fancied venturing down to the show area. I’m not sure they’d have got back even if they had of got there. And so we spent the day huddled in the large gazebo, sheltering from the rain and the 40+ mile an hour gusts of wind. I have to say, it wasn’t the best time I’ve ever spent at a car show, but at least we were there with friends, although Chris was not in the best of moods, having just suffered open wallet surgery for two new tyres. 

By late Saturday afternoon, it was looking increasingly likely that the event would be cancelled and that was confirmed on the Sunday morning. It was a great pity for everyone who had made it along, but especially for the organisers who had invested so much time, effort and money into staging the show. They made a valiant attempt to keep the show going, but in those conditions on that field, it was impossible. As we broke the campsite down on the Sunday afternoon, the sun did come out, but it was a case of too little, too late. It’s ironic that at the same event last year the concern was extreme heat, when we feared 40c+ temperatures. Is it climate change, or just typical, ridiculous British weather? You tell me.

A few weeks back, the club received a kind invitation from the Cotswold Vale TR club to join them for a private tour of the Classic Motor Hub near Cirencester on August 3rd. As some members will know, in a previous lifetime our club was called the Vale of the White Horse TR club and was for TRs only, so it was nice to meet up with some old friends. Our thanks to them for making us most welcome. For those of you who have never visited the Classic Motor Hub, it is well worth a look. There are a lot of high value cars for sale there, as well as a small collection of incredibly rare cars that we got to view as part of the private tour. See: https://classicmotorhub.com

After the visit, a few of us headed off for a very pleasant meal at the Jolly Tar in Hannington. It rounded the day off nicely. 

Just a few days later, on August 6th, we were on the road again, this time for the West Berks Classic Show. Originally, we were not going to have a club pitch at the event this year, due to not having committee members available to organise it, but several members said that they would like to do the event, so we managed to change our plans at the last minute and go. It’s one of the larger events that we attend as a club, and in recent times it’s been held at the Newbury Racecourse. However, this year the venue was changed to the Newbury Showground, which is even better in my opinion. It didn’t feel as cramped. Several members met beforehand and then picked up others along the way, as we progressed to the venue in convoy. We were then joined by other members at the event. In all we had nine cars on the club pitch, including Geoff in his Mini who was attending his first show with the club. Thank you to all of you who helped us to put on a great display. 

As well as the hundreds of fantastic cars to be seen at the show (photos of some that caught my eye above), there were plenty of stalls to peruse and a falconry display to entertain. 

As in previous years, this year's show was held in aid of Blood Cancer UK (https://bloodcancer.org.uk). In support, the White Horse CVE was pleased to donate £150. 

We have two more shows lined up for August, that’s Wanborough on the 19th and Shalbourne on the 27th, so still lots to do. Moving into September, there are fewer shows, so once again we’ll focus on other social activities. Our run down to the New Forest is still planned, as is our afternoon punting in Oxford. We might also add another go-karting day if we can get the numbers for it.  

Onwards and upwards!

Hitting our stride

Published: July 10th, 2023

Having recently passed the midpoint of the year, now is a good time to think about what we have coming up in the next few months, but before that we take a look back over the last few weeks. It’s been a particularly hectic time for the club since my last news update, so there is a lot to cover in this report. 

Hot on the heels of the club visit to Haynes Museum early in June, our newest committee member Graeme followed up that success by organising a pitch at a new event for us, the Wiltshire Steam & Vintage Rally. It’s one of those events that spans the weekend, but we chose to attend only on the Sunday. In terms of the weather, I think we picked the right day, because although there was some light drizzle, we didn’t experience the heavy downpours seen the day before. We had a reasonable turn out of eight club cars, made notable by the first appearance of Cyan’s VW Camper on a club pitch at a show, rather than at a private display event. It was an interesting show, but a bit smaller than I was expecting. I suspect that the poor weather forecast stopped a lot of classic car owners from venturing out, but there were some gems among what was there. A highlight, for me at least, was the appearance of Mike Vardy’s 1905 Fiat Isotta Fraschini, which is powered by a WW1 airship engine. What a beast of a car! Looking at it, the first question that many would ask is, how many horses reside under that endless bonnet? Surprisingly, the answer is only 250bhp, but what is startling is that the car produces around 3,000 pound-feet of torque at the rear wheels, propelling it to 127mph. However, there’s a downside to all that torque. Mike says that he gets through a set of tyres in about 4,000 seconds. That’s a new set per just over an hour’s driving. 

Alongside the attractions of steam engines and classic cars, there were a handful of fair ground rides. We were parked quite close to these and suffered an overdose of mainly 1980s music, but we decided to make the best of it and get a few club members out on the bumper cars. A fiver doesn’t go far at a fairground these days, but what time we had was great fun. Although, for much of it I did feel like I had a big target on my back with a couple of members gunning for me! Nevertheless, in many respects the bumper cars made the day, as can be seen in the film. Thanks to Graeme for organising. 

Next up was the Yattendon classic car show on June 25th. We’ve supported this event for several years now and it never fails to impress me. It’s a combination of things that I like about it … its great location, the large number of classics on display, the organisation, and the ease of working with the organisers. And of course, it’s all in aid of a very worthy cause, the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

We typically begin the day with a pre-meet of club cars and then convoy to the event through some beautiful countryside. This year was no exception, with five of us meeting early morning in Stanford in the Vale. Unfortunately, Mark’s TR7 arrived exhibiting some power loss issues, which after some head scratching and a conflab, we all felt might be down to contaminated fuel. Given this, Mark headed home, and since draining the old fuel and replacing with fresh, there have been no further problems.

With one car down, four of us headed off to collect Kathleen in Wantage along our route and then Jason in Hermitage. Once all in place at the event, we had a good display of 12 club vehicles. It was nice to see Nigel’s Renault Alpine GTA V6 joining us at a show for the first time and once again Cyan’s VW camper was a welcome addition, not least of all for the awning, which offered some shade on what turned out to be a very hot day. 

One of the great things about being part of a small, tight-knit club like ours, is seeing how members are always keen to support each other. This was evident at Yattendon, when one of our gang fell ill late on in the afternoon. There were lots of offers of help, which I know were greatly appreciated. We always look out for each other.

Talking of awnings and hot days, we have had some questions about the club’s gazebo situation. We do in fact only have the one gazebo, a rather small 3m x 3m one. Our committee member Chris D owns a much larger gazebo, which he kindly provides for the club to use when we do weekend events, such as the West Oxon Steam Fair. This large gazebo is really only of use in a camping area, because it is too big to be placed in a show area. For several years the club got by not having a gazebo of its own, but at the Ducklington event last year, the weather forecast was for extreme temperatures of possibly 40C +. This gave the committee a lot of concern, because we knew that there would be no shade in the show area. With that in mind, we started looking around for a small gazebo. It wasn’t easy to find one that wasn’t too expensive and that was close by so that we could collect it quickly, but in the end one came up. It did require a run out to Newbury for it, but at only £76.30, it was a good price. Members who used it that weekend were certainly grateful for it. Since then, we have not had much need for it, although it would have been nice to have at Yattendon. However, there are a few issues with using gazebos at events. Some shows will not allow them (even at Ducklington last year, they didn’t really want it in the show area), so we do have to have discussions with organisers beforehand about gazebo use. However, our main issue is with transporting it, as it is too large for many of our club cars. With that in mind, if any member has a car large enough for it and is likely to be at most of the events we do each year, then they would be most welcome to take charge of it if they wish to. It would in fact be doing us a huge favour, because I’ve no room for it in my garage and I know Chris could do with the space in his, where it currently resides. This issue of transporting club items doesn’t just apply to the small gazebo, even the sail flags are too large for some of our cars. This sometimes means we have to ask members if they can carry them. In the last couple of weeks, Cyan and Mark have both come to the rescue, so our thanks goes to them for helping out. For the moment, the flags are back with me, as I am undertaking repairs to the carry bags.

A week on from Yattendon, we put on a club display at the Aldbourne Classic Car Show and Doggy Day. It’s not an event that I’ve done before, but I’ll definitely be doing it again. We had seven club cars on our pitch, including Dave’s Triumph GT6. It was great to welcome Dave back to the fold, after him having been out of the country for several months. In terms of car numbers, the event wasn’t as large as Yattendon, but the location and organisation were equally as good. And I want to thank the organisers for accommodating us so well. It made for a lovely, relaxing day. There were only two slight hiccups. Firstly, at the start of the day, when one of our members didn’t make it to the pre-meet location, after getting lost because of a SatNav problem. Then, at the end of the day, the same member suffered a flat battery when it was time to leave. Fortunately, the event wasn’t too far from my home, so it was a quick dash back to get the large battery booster pack and return to get the car started. Some days there is just no escaping Sod’s Law! I'll not mention any names, but how's the new battery performing Mr. D?

We would have typically had more cars on show at Aldbourne, but a couple of our stalwarts, Jason and Pete, were off at the Le Mans Classic event. With a round trip of approximately 700 miles ahead of them, I know that there was some trepidation about the adventure, which had been in the planning for several months, but on Wednesday June 28th, Jason in his Triumph TR6, Pete in his MGTF 160, and their friend Stephen in his Triumph Spitfire, headed off for Newhaven to make the overnight crossing into France. All made it across safely, but sadly the Spitfire suffered a big end bearing failure as the cars approached their destination. Fortunately Stephen had done the right thing and put breakdown cover in place, so the Spitfire was rescued and he did eventually make it to Le Mans for the event, albeit in a Peugeot. Apart from that putting a dampener on things, Jason and Pete tell me that it was a fantastic trip and great event. And thankfully, both made it home safely. Long trips in classic cars are always likely to show up weaknesses, but that’s all part of the adventure. Well done to all of you who braved it. As Robert Louis Stevenson, said: "Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour." I doubt that will make Stephen feel any better about the hefty repair bill he is facing, but at least he’ll always have a good story to tell. 

Aldbourne kicked off a busy week of club activities, as just three days later, we gathered for the club BBQ, which was kindly hosted by members Christine and Simon. We had around 32 members come along, making it a great evening. The club funded the BBQ, by paying for food, soft drinks, and competition prizes to the tune of £177, but the hard work of cooking and tidying up was all done by Christine, Simon and their family. Our thanks to you all.

Many of our members brought along their classics for the evening, so we put on a nice display of club cars and held two competitions. These were: Car You’d Most Like to Take Home, which was won by Mike with his Suffolk SS100 Jaguar recreation and Best Presented Car, which was won by Sinclair with his Morgan. Well done to you both. My car seems particularly unloved, because just like last time, it didn’t receive a vote in either category.

Subsidizing social events such as the BBQ is an important part of our club’s remit. We have seen some clubs that build up tens of thousands of pounds, if not hundreds of thousands, in their coffers, but rarely support club activities. Our view is that after fixed costs have been covered, surplus funds should be spent on subsidizing club events and supporting charities. 

We had a day of rest after the midweek BBQ, before supporting the Moredon Primary School and Nursery fete with a private display of club cars. Alongside classic car shows, we are always looking for opportunities to support charities and community activities in this way, so we were pleased to receive a message from the organisers of the fete asking if we could help. Given that the fete was to be held on a Friday, I wasn’t sure if we would be able to muster the troops to put on a good show, but I needn’t have worried. We had eleven club cars on display in total. Special thanks to Pete for bringing two of his along and to Paul who had a torturous drive out to reach us, taking over an hour and a half, as he navigated his way around traffic jams and diversions. It was particularly good to have Paul join us, as he’s only just got his Pontiac GTO back after several weeks away undergoing repairs. Despite the long drive, he still looked a very happy man. 

With June out of the way, we now turn our attention to the second half of the year, which looks to be just as busy, if not more so. July 1st is always our subscription renewal date and we are extremely pleased to report that we retained 95% of members and grew by 18% over the year to date. We can probably accommodate another 20-25 club members, but I don’t think we’d want to grow much more than that.

Our next event is the West Oxon Steam Rally on July 15-16, where we will have a club pitch over the two days. Several members will stay overnight, camping. As is usual at this event, we’ll have a get together on the Friday and Saturday evenings and have supper. We kick off August, on Thursday 3rd, with a private tour of the Classic Motor Hub at Ablington, thanks to an invite from the Cotswold TR Club. August events also include the West Berks show at Newbury, Wanborough Show and Shalbourne Show, but more about those in our next news update. We are also now working on plans for the New Forest run and an afternoon punting in Oxford. Club member Alan has also come up with a list of events and activities we might like to consider, including Microlight flying. Providing that we get enough interest from members, then nothing is off the table, but it might be tight to squeeze in too much more this year.

That’s it for another club news report. We might have passed the midpoint of the year, but there are still lots of good summer and autumn days ahead, where we can be out playing.  We’re only just hitting our stride.   



More Than Just a Classic Car Club 

Published: June 4th, 2023

Back in March 2019, when we established the White Horse CVE, we were a small group of friends who wanted to create something a bit different from the classic car clubs we had previously been involved with. Several of us had had unhappy experiences of national, single-marque clubs, so we had a reasonably clear idea of what we did, and what we didn’t, want from our club.

Firstly, it had to be a multi-marque club, and secondly there had to be a strong social dimension to it. It’s this second element that we are continually developing, as it only comes with time spent together and with shared experiences. To that end, this year, more than ever before, we are introducing new activities which do not necessarily need to involve the cars. Classic car shows will always form the backbone of our yearly calendar, as we know that many members enjoy them, but we are always striving to add something extra.

Of course, it’s not possible to get the balance right for every member, but I hope that we get pretty close for the majority. That’s why member feedback is vital. Whether it is negative or positive, we always want to hear the views of our members. Last week I had a chance to catch up with one of our members who we do not see that regularly as he lives on the far outskirts of our patch. We were speaking about the gliding experience evening (more on that later), as he wanted to join in but it clashed with something else. At the end of the conversation he said, “This is the best car club I’ve ever belonged to, because we don’t just sit around talking about the cars and we do more than just go to classic car shows”. I have to say that that made my day, because that is what we are aiming for. It's the social element and the range of non-car related activities that make us more than just a classic car club.

May, as it always is, has been busy. We started out with the Carterton May Fair, covered in the last news update, and followed that up on May 14th with a private display of club cars at the Richmond Retirement Village and Care Home in Letcombe Regis. We particularly like putting on displays such as this as it gives people who might not be able to get out to car shows the opportunity to see our classics. We had a good turnout of ten cars and I’ve been told by the manager of the organisation that those that came out to see the cars enjoyed the show. We were joined on the day by prospective new members, Simon and James, both of whom have now joined the club as official members. There was a slight panic on the day before the event, when one of the owners of a car to be displayed managed to shear off a wheel stud, but thankfully Alan came to the rescue with a replacement. It's another great example of how club members work to help each other.

Back in the Swing of Things

Published: May 3rd, 2023

It’s always a bit of a struggle to find news content over the winter months, but as soon as we hit the last couple of weeks of April things really take off. This year is no exception. In fact, I have so much news material, that I’ll need to do at least two updates this month to keep on top of things. Not that I’m complaining; I prefer it busy.

April’s club night was slightly more quiet than usual, with only 19 members attending. I’m not sure if that was due to some members being away on holiday, or the threat of rain on the evening. It might have even been because it was the club’s AGM, and members didn't want to listen to me drone on! On the plus side, we were joined by several prospective new members, so let's hope that I've not put them off.

Talking of the AGM, as is our tradition, we managed to rattle through it in double quick time. Our thanks to members who voted in person and to those that voted by email. Accounts and AGM 2022 minutes were approved and the previous year’s committee was re-elected by all who voted. A separate vote was conducted to elect Graeme to the committee and we are pleased that he was unanimously voted in. Welcome Graeme. All members should have by now received the minutes of the AGM. 

April has a habit of sending some club members into a bit of a panic, in the realization that shows are just around the corner and our cars are not ready for the season. I’m as guilty of this as anyone, but I did at least get the Caterham serviced and an MOT in the nick of time. Sadly, my TR is still awaiting repairs. It becomes quite easy to forget to get jobs done on cars over the winter, when events seem a long way off, but time can creep up fast.

One of our members returned home from a show last summer, stopped his 1960s Ford Mustang outside his garage, and then couldn’t get it started again. He has spent several months investigating the issue and replacing parts in the hope of solving the problem, but all without luck. Mike, Jason and I popped over to lend a hand and eventually discovered a problem with the valves. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a head off job. One of the things I like most about our club is that members will always try to help each other if they can. We might not always be able to fix a problem, but sometimes an extra pair of eyes and a bit of moral support is enough to make progress.

Another great thing about being part of a club like ours is getting to know a variety of cars. Last year I mentioned to our member Simon D that I’d not been in an E-Type Jaguar since I was about six years old. Like many children in the 60s and 70s, the E-Type was my dream car, and I still view it as a thing of absolute beauty. And so when Simon dropped me an email to ask if I’d like to have a ride out in his car, I jumped at the chance and I was not disappointed. It really was everything I had imagined and now I want one, although that’s unlikely unless I win the lottery. At least dreams are free. On the drive, I talked with Simon about doing a feature piece on the car for the club’s website, so hopefully in the summer we’ll get together again and do that. It’s something I’d like to do for all our club cars at some point.       

Our inaugural and eagerly awaited club go-karting event took place on April 22nd, with eight members taking part, plus two guests. We arrived at the venue for 9.30am, had the briefing (where we behaved like naughty school boys in class), got suited up and went out for a 15 minute qualifying session. As is evident from the timing sheet, the best laps of the mid pack were all pretty similar. However, the qualifying also showed that there was only one man to beat. Jason had told us beforehand of his karting exploits in his younger days, and when he showed up with his own helmet, well, we all knew we were in trouble. He really did fly around the track, with a qualifying time that was one second faster than Graham in second.  In the past, some of us have called Jason “Flash”, due to the fact that he is pretty steady out on the road, but now we are going to have to start calling him it without any sense of irony.   

Looking over the qualifying times, as we took a short break before the race, I felt reasonably confident of a top five finish, so much so that I hired a camera to record it. That was a mistake; the evidence of my appallingly bad race should never be seen, but as I’ve now mentioned it, I suppose I should at least show some of the footage. I now have to accept that I’ll never be the next Stirling Moss, although I still swear that they gave me a dodgy, under powered kart. Or, it could have been that my left foot was slightly resting on the brake as a went round. Sadly, none of these excuses really hold up, so I just have to accept that I was rubbish. I’m fully expecting a ban from the Caterham club if they ever hear of this. 

Fortunately, all those that took part seem keen to do it again, so perhaps later this year I might get a chance to redeem myself, or just confirm my worst suspicions. I’d also like to make a public apology to Graham at this point, who I passed under waved yellow flags and then held him up for a while. 

Congratulations, then, to our champion, Jason, Graham S in second and Shaun in third. 

Following on the day after the go-karting, 14 cars gathered for the club's Drive it Day event. This is a favourite event amongst members, and one that I always look forward to and enjoy. Sadly, this year, Tina and I were unable to make it along, which was a pity, because we knew it would be a great day. Graeme had organised the route and a pub to eat at, and Pat and Tony and Kate and Chris D had agreed to lead two of the three groups. Before the day was out, I was already hearing tales of the shenanigans that had gone on. Pat and Tony led out group one of four cars, with Jane and Sinclair, John, and Jason in tow. Group two consisted of Karen and Graeme, Nigel, Chris H, Ian, and Simon H. And last out, led by Kate and Chris, were Pete C, Simon D, Rachel and Mike, and a potential new member, Graham.  Group three, the last out, somehow managed to arrive at the halfway point pub before the other two groups. Whether this was due to straying from the suggested route, or making sure they drove up to the speed limit at every opportunity, I cannot comment. Whatever the case, they also made it back to base before the other groups, too. Pat and Tony brought their group to the halfway pub perfectly, and everyone then awaited the arrival of Karen and Graeme’s group. They didn’t have to wait too long for the group to show, but somehow they’d become separated from the lead car. It seems that when Graeme realised that his group was missing from behind him, he pulled over to wait, but the other members found their way to the pub on their own. It just shows that the old saying about the “best laid plans” is true. Despite that slight hiccup, the day was a great success and everyone had a great time, I’m told. Our thanks to Karen and Graeme for organising the day and finding a lovely place to eat. Thanks too to Pat and Tony and Kate and Chris.

I hear that Karen made Graeme drive the route no less than five times before the day, so that they could be sure they’d got it right. It might sometimes seem that we just chuck these events together, but there really is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to prepare. 

Members supported Children in Need by purchasing Drive it Day rally plates, and we also donated to the Wessex MS Therapy Centre. The centre has been a great support to Jason in his battle with MS. £55 was raised on Drive it Day, and a further £50 was donated from the club and its members who contributed their karting subsidy. That makes a grand total of £105.00. Thank you all.

It’s been seven months or so since a large number of club members have got together for a car show, so it was nice to be back in the swing of things at the Carterton May Fair on May 1st. We had nine cars on our pitch, which wasn’t a bad turn out, especially given the changeable nature of the weather. Despite the Met Office promising it would be warm and dry, it didn’t materialize quite like that. It was a little chilly at times and there were a few light showers, but nothing to send us scurrying into our cars. Brollies sufficed. 

As always, it was a nice, relaxed event, with things other than cars to look at and do. Along with our club cars, there were a few Fords in attendance and several MGs. Special mention should also be made of Chris' Gilbern Invader Estate, which, after spending several months undergoing repairs, made its first appearance at a show.

With it only being the beginning of May, it might seem that we have plenty of time to get booked in to events, but not so. We need to start thinking about the events that are taking place in the coming few weeks. Next up is the Richmond Retirement village and care home, in Letcombe Regis, where we are putting on a private display of club cars on Sunday May 14th. At the moment I have nine cars booked in for this, so there is room for several more. I’d ideally like to fill all the spaces and put on a great show, as many of those living at the care home cannot get out to visit shows. Also, we are looking for members who might like to give a short talk after the show about their car. Come on, don’t be bashful.

Towards the end of May or early in June, we are still aiming to offer the gliding experience. To date, we have nearly ten members confirmed. I’d like to get a couple more so that we can get a group discount, but if we cannot, then we’ll still go ahead.

On June 3rd, the visit to the Haynes Museum is on. Graeme is organising this one and really does need final numbers now. If you haven’t expressed an interest already and would like to go, please let us know ASAP.

Then on June 11th, we have a pitch at the Wilts Steam and Vintage Rally.  This is another event that Graeme is organising and once again we need final figures for those wishing to attend with the club.

June 25th is Yattendon. This is always one of my favourite shows, and it’s a nice run there, too.

You can find details of all these events and more on our Events Page, https://www.whitehorse-cve.com/events

Well, that’s it for another news update.  Spring and summer doesn't last forever, so let's get out there and enjoy it.

Calm before the storm … and I’m not talking about the weather

Published: April 14th, 2023

We might not yet be enjoying all the delights of warm spring weather, but I get the feeling that it’s not too far away now. Once the mid-point of April is passed, warmer days usually follow soon behind, and correspondingly the classic and specialist car scene roars back into life with full force. That’s not to say that the winter has been completely quiet. Club meets continue throughout the year, and there are a handful of shows and informal breakfast meets that take place in the winter months, but there is nothing like spring and summer for enjoying the cars, especially for those of us that do not have luxuries like a car roof or heater. 

All credit to show organisers that put-on events early in spring, because in terms of rain this is perhaps the most risky time of the year. Sadly, the Spring Vehicle Meet at the Newbury Showground, which took place on Monday April 10th was blighted by heavy rain. We had planned to have a club pitch at the show, but the rain kept many away. Club members Angie and Graham, Jason and Graham B, did brave it, but the numbers overall were massively down compared to what would be expected at the event on a fine day. It was such a pity, as I know the efforts and expense the organisers go to in order to put on this excellent event. Fingers crossed that it will be back next year, and the weather will be accommodating. Thankfully, it was not a total washout, as some members retired early and headed to a local ale house for a spot of lunch and a good catch up.   

We start next Wednesday evening with our monthly club night and club AGM. Members should have by now received the AGM agenda and details of how to vote. I will be sending this information around again shortly, just in case anyone missed it. We’ll try to rattle through the AGM quickly, as for the first time this year, I expect we’ll have a good turnout of cars, so we’ll want to spend time looking them over in the car park and chatting.

On Saturday April 22nd it’s the club’s first go-karting event. With eleven of us taking part in this 30 lap Grand Prix, it should be great fun. It’s already bringing out a few competitive natures, so it’ll be interesting to see who wins and who gets black flagged for dodgy track antics. If you are not booked to take part, but would like to come and watch, drop us a line and we’ll provide details. 

Next weekend is a double header for us, as the day after the karting, the club is taking part in the annual Drive it Day event. This year, Graeme (who is standing to join the committee at the AGM) has organised a lovely route of approximately 70 miles that takes us through Henley-on-Thames, and from there we’ll wind our way back out into the countryside and stop for a meal halfway. We have sixteen member cars taking part so far, but there’s room for more. This year, as usual, the event is staged in aid of Childline/NSPCC. All the profits from the sale of Rally Plates (get yours here . . . https://www.driveitday.co.uk/shop) go directly to support the Childline Service. However, the club will be collecting on the day on behalf of the Wessex Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre (Registered charity number: 800851), a charity close to Jason’s heart. Visit: https://www.wessexms.co.uk

Film: Last year's club Drive it Day outing was well supported. Here's a little reminder. As you can see, we had lots of fun, despite unfounded claims of cheating!

On Monday May 1st, the club has a pitch at the Carterton May Day Fair. This is a lovely, informal event, with lots more than just cars. I have seven club cars on the pitch at the moment, so we could do with a few more for this one.

And finally, for the coming thirty days at least, we are putting on a private display of club cars at the Richmond Retirement Village and care home on May 14th.   We have room for sixteen cars and would really like to fill all the spaces. As a club, we feel it is important to display our cars to people who might not otherwise be able to get out to see them. Please support us in this event.

As we look forward to the exciting and packed year of events we have lined up, it’s also a time to reflect. Many of our members will now be aware that we lost our fellow club member Eric on March 12th. He was a kind man, with a gentle sense of humour, who will be greatly missed by all who knew him and by the club. Jason, Simon H and I went along to Eric’s funeral earlier this week to pay our respects and say our goodbyes. It was a sad day, but it was nice to learn more about Eric's life. Eric’s wife, Kathleen, is aiming to keep his beloved Datsun 240c going and is hoping to be able to join us at events. We know that Eric would have loved that.

Come on then, the waiting is over, it’s time to get the show on the road.   

White Horse Classic Vehicle Enthusiasts: AGM 2023

Published: March 6th, 2023

We hereby give notice that the White Horse Classic Vehicle Enthusiasts’ 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Wednesday April 19th 2023 from 8pm at the Horse & Jockey, Stanford in the Vale, Oxfordshire, SN7 8NN. 

Details will be sent to our members shortly and will also be available on the Members' page of this website.

Pre-season planning

Published: January 31st, 2023

It hardly seems like anytime at all since we closed out 2022 and yet here we are with January almost at an end. Normally, we wouldn't start pre-season planning until the middle of February, but this year we wanted to get a head start. This is particularly important as we add in more events. We have also noticed that many of the car shows we attend are asking for commitment earlier in the year, so we need to be on the ball.

Last week some of the committee gathered together and devised a provisional plan of activities for the year ahead. These plans are not set in stone, but it helps to at least have a guideline to work to. Here, then, is what we came up with. 

Our activities will break down into three broad categories, as follows . . . 

Regular club nights: We will have these as usual on the third Wednesday of each month.

Shows: We have opted for the following based on member feedback, committee availability and anticipated support from members. As always, there are many to choose from and we might add or remove some along the way, depending on if we think we'll get the numbers to make a pitch worthwhile. Here then is the list: 

Spring Vehicle Meet, April 10th.

Carterton May Fair, May 1st.

Wilts Steam and Vintage Rally, June 10th and 11th.

Yattendon, June 25th.

Aldbourne Doggy Day (and Classic Car Show), July 2nd.

West Oxon Steam and Vintage Show, July 15th and 16th.

Wanborough, August 19th.

Shalbourne, August 27th.

Castle Combe Autumn Classic, Sept 23rd.

Special Events: Quite a few members have indicated that they'd like to do things with the club other than car shows. The committee is also keen to do more social and non-car related activities, so we have come up with a few options that we hope will appeal. Here then is what we have: 

Go-karting, late March or early April. We have already had positive feedback from several members about this, so if we can time it right, I'm hopeful we can see 8-10 members taking part. If you haven't already, please let us know ASAP if you wish to take part, so we can work on a date that suits all. We can combine this with a nice drive out there. And if you are not taking part in the karting, there is the option of Escape Rooms to challenge you, or you can just come for the drive out and watch the lunatics if you wish. 

Drive it Day, April 23rd. Hopefully we'll beat the 16 cars we had last year! Route will be announced soon. It'll be 80-100 miles, with a meal along the way.

Gliding experience/trial lesson, mid April to mid-May. Not one for the faint hearted this, but we wanted to add something in that's a bit different.

Haynes Museum, early June. It's a good run there, so for those wanting to be out driving, it's a good one. 

Private displays, details will be announced when in place. 

Punting, late Aug. If you've never been out on a punt through Oxford before (on the Cherwell), then this is something you might like to try. There's room on punts for six, so we could hire what we need and have a run down to the Vicky Arms for a drink and meal.

New Forest Run, early September. Several members said that they like the idea of a long drive out, either to the New Forest or the Coast. We opted for the New Forest, as we had the strongest positive feedback for that and we felt that parking would be easier. We have identified a nice place for a meal, or we might decide on a picnic.

Late Summer Party. Mid September. Details to be announced, but as usual there will be an overnight stay, food, drink and dancing.

Christmas meal and celebrations, early December.

It's certainly going to be another packed year. We hope members will find something they like in the proposed list. Before we know it, the weather will have improved and we'll be out and about having fun again (I know some of you brave ones who have the luxury of a roof and a heater already are!). 

Happy motoring 2023.

Closing of the year

Published: December 24th, 2022

As I grow older, it seems to me that the years go by at an ever-increasing pace. It really does not seem like a year ago that I sat down to write the close of year report for 2021. This year, in particular, seems to have flown by, partly I think due to how busy it has been with club activities. A quick tally up reminds me that as a club, in 2022 we displayed at eleven shows, held eleven regular club night meets, and staged six special events. There was a time back in the summer when there was hardly time to catch breath between events. Surprisingly, after the inactivity due to Covid in 2020 and the first half of 2021, things returned pretty much to normal with a bang in 2022. 

Our club year started with some low-key activities in March. A few members attended the Thruxton Circuit breakfast meet, while others of us headed to Hook Norton for a breakfast gathering there. These were not official club events, but impromptu shake down runs. Our first official club show in March was at the Winchester Autobarn and what a nightmare it was. Several of us had a good run down there, but when we arrived it was jam-packed, so much so that people were parking nearly a mile away. Some stayed to make the best of it, but most of us turned around and headed home, avoiding the police who would arrive a little later and start handing out tickets for illegal parking. 

April saw one of the highlights of the year, the annual Drive-it-Day event. Our route took us through nearly 80 miles of some of the best countryside our area has to offer and it was pleasing to see so many members taking part. We split the cars, sixteen in total, into the three groups to make the run more manageable. Each group headed off a few minutes apart, so as not to create a long convoy. Of course, as anyone who knows our club would expect, there were some shenanigans along the way.  We are a daft bunch most of the time, but despite that we managed to raise £140 in aid of Childline.

It's always great to kick off the season with a nice spring day, a good showing of classics, and lots of laughter with friends and that's just what we got with Drive-it-Day this year.

Early May was particularly busy, with three shows coming in quick succession. Lechlade Vintage Rally was the first of these. On over two days, we had the misfortune to pick the day when the rain set in. It was a pity, because it was impossible to see the show at its best, but that's all part of classic car showing. We kept calm and carried on, but only until just after lunch. Fortunately, the next day we were greeted by sunshine and had a good show at Carterton, where we had ten cars on our pitch.

A week later, we displayed at the Basingstoke show, where the good weather helped draw in large crowds.  Several things about Basingstoke make it a standout event for me. It is always well organised, with marked out areas for clubs, there is always a great number of interesting vehicles on display, there's a good autojumble, and in some ways best of all, it's a nice run there.

For many of our members, the drive to events is equally important as the event itself, especially when we go in convoy and meet along the way. Although, sometimes I find that organising these can turn into a bit of a military exercise.

June kicked off with the Faringdon Festival of Transport, where we had another strong showing of ten cars. This is a relaxed event, with no restrictions regarding the age of vehicles that attend, which makes for an interesting mix. There's no pre-booking for the event, which is great when organising members to attend.    

For most of us it was a fun event, but not for Dave and Joyce, when their Suzuki Whizzkid developed a clutch problem and had to be removed on a recovery vehicle.

Following the years of Covid restrictions, it's pleasing to see club night attendance growing again. In the summer months, we now see 30+ members coming out. It's partly a reflection of people feeling more relaxed about Covid, but also due to the growth in membership.  This year our numbers expanded by approximately 30%. We welcome all our new members and hope that you get all that you want out of the club. 

June's Summer Party was another highlight of the year for me. A light drizzle didn't do us any favours on the Saturday, but it was wonderful to see everyone turn up in their classics despite the weather. We put on a nice show of cars, but before too long we headed inside to start on the liquid refreshments. We had laid on a private function room for a couple of hours in the afternoon, where members could sit, chat and enjoy a free glass of prosecco. Later, we had a good meal, before getting down to some serious dancing.  Planning will soon be underway for the 2023 Summer party.

Another of the more relaxed events that we typically attend is Yattendon. This year's show had the biggest collection of cars that I'd ever seen at the event and I imagine it is going to continue to grow. One of the many things I like about the show is that it is free for those displaying and the public visiting and yet just through donations and sponsorship it manages to collect a heathy amount of money for charity.  

I suspect that for many, the defining memory of July 2022 will be the record-breaking temperatures. When most sensible people stayed indoors to keep cool, many club members were sweltering in the midday sun, parked up in some dusty, earth scorched field.

At this point I have to confess a red mark in my copy book. Since we formed the club in March 2019, I'd not missed a single club event, but just occasionally something more important comes along. For me, it was the birth of granddaughter number 3. A visit to see her up in Scotland was certainly worth taking time off of club duties for, although I have told mum and dad that if they intend having more to make sure they aim for the winter months!

It was Aldbourne Doggy Day that I didn't make it along to and by all accounts it was a good event. If I can get our two year old Doberman to start behaving properly, I might take her along next year to show along with the car. Club member Paul did that this year.   

The West Oxon Steam Rally (Ducklington) is considered by the club as its home event. Several committee members camp there for a few days and it proves to be a good venue for our club BBQ. However, this year's event was difficult due to the extreme heat. A few days in advance, there were warnings of 40C+ temperatures on the weekend of the show. It was a concern, so the club purchased a small gazebo to give us some shade and it was well worth it.

One of our aims as a club is to provide support for local charities, by offering to put on private displays of our cars. With that in mind, we are always looking for ideas about how we can do this, so it was great when club member Tina suggested Swings & Smiles in Thatcham, an organisation that provides activities for children and young people up to 18 years old with a wide range of disabilities and special needs, as well as supporting their families.

We were pleased to be able to help by staging a show of seventeen cars for the public to come and look around. In total, the event raised over £700, a hundred of which was donated by the club. And I suspect a significant proportion was also donated by individual club members to this very worthy cause.  

A week later, we were back in Berkshire for the West Berks Classics Show at the Newbury Racecourse. We had a good run there, meeting members at different points along the way, so that we could enter in convoy. There was a strong turnout of cars, which was amazing, given that it was another scorcher of a day. It was so hot in fact, that several members, including myself, bailed out not long after lunch, and headed for a pub by the river, where we could find a nice bit of shade and while away the afternoon.

Next up was Wanborough, a small, quintessential English village country show, which for its size, certainly packs a lot in, particularly for families and younger children.  Wanborough was also the scene of our second club car breakdown at an event this year. This time it was Paul's newly acquired Pontiac GTO. It turned out to be a faulty ignition, but we didn't know that at the time. In the end, we got the car underway with a push start and Paul made it home safely. 

We rounded off a typically busy August with a display of eleven club cars at the Shalbourne Show, where there is always an interesting selection of vehicles to see. It's another of those events where the drive out in convoy is a highlight.

For 2022, we added some new member benefits, which you can read about here, but I think the real benefit of a club like ours is the friendships that are made and the support that it offered. One of the most extraordinarily kind gestures this year was the donation of tickets to the Goodwood Revival by two club members. These tickets were then offered by auction to club members, allowing us to raise funds for the club and giving the lucky winner tickets at a much reduced price of £120 for two.     

As we moved towards the end of September, the events calendar began to thin out, as it always does at that time of the year. However, we still had a few "special events" in the pipeline. The first of these was a visit to Combe Mill,  a working industrial museum, which offers visitors a good insight into what work was like in Victorian times on a rural estate. We had been asked if the club would put on a private display for visitors and we were happy to oblige. 

In October, we were invited to visit Fiennes, a specialist restoration firm. This proved extremely popular with members, to the point where we had to organise two trips and even then not everyone who wanted to attend was able to. Given the popularity of the visit, we'll perhaps aim to do another late next year.

In our usual fashion, we closed off the year with a Christmas meal, a quiz and awards ceremony. We had an excellent turn out of 30 members on the evening and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Embarrassingly, none of us thought to take photos, so all I have is a few blurred stills from a short bit of film I shot.  OK, strong liquor might have played a part!

It was a close-run thing between the top two quiz teams, the Badger Biters and Jason and the Argonauts. The Badger Biters actually got the most correct answers, but Jason and the Argonauts played a wild card and put up a star turn who delivered a little ditty all about one of our very own members. This earned them just enough points to take victory.  Honourable mentions go to The Ratbags and The Knuckleheads.

We had a surprise winner of the prestigious Knackered Spanner award. Well done to Simon who won for his run in with a badger (now, sadly, an ex-badger) earlier in the year.

With the increase in members this year, we now have an even greater diversity of vehicles within the club, which all adds to the interest. And alongside that, many members have either added second or third cars, or replaced cars, so now there is nearly always something new to see at meets.

Apologies if I've missed any new club cars. If I have, then it's probably due to not having a photo on record. It's not always easy to keep track.

That, then, is just about it for our look back at 2022. To sum up, the club has bounced back to where it was in terms of activities pre-Covid. Nearly all our members take part in club events through the year. Covid remains a concern, but I suspect most of us now take the view that to lead a near normal life, some risks have to be taken. Of course, those risks are greater for some members than for others, so caution will always be necessary. Our membership has continued to grow and we anticipate another leap in numbers next year, perhaps to the point where we'll need to place a cap on it rather than grow too large.  Sadly, we did lose some members this year, a couple due to living some distance away, which made getting to club nights difficult, and a couple left us due to a disagreement. I always regret the loss of members, friends, and hope to see them out and about next year.

We try to strike a balance when it comes to club funds, between donating to charities and subsidizing club events. I'm pleased that this year, we donated £240 to charity and subsidised the Christmas meal by £10 per member taking part, Summer party by around £5 per member taking part, and club BBQ by around £5 per member taking part. That's pretty good, I reckon, when the subs are £24 per individual member and £30 for joint members. 

Feedback from members indicates that we should do more charity / special display events and more drive outs, in place of some shows. Early next year, we'll be laying on a go-karting day for members, so look out for details of that if you'd like to take part. And if you have ideas for club activities, please just let us know, as we are always open to suggestions. 

I know that many of our members have struggled with health conditions this year and other issues of a personal nature. Hopefully, the club has been a happy distraction from some of the difficulties life throws at us.

It just remains then, to wish all our members (present and past) a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  We look forward to 2023. It'll be bigger and better and with a bit of luck free of breakdowns.

And that, as they say in the film industry, is a wrap!

Festive Season Ahead

Published: November 14, 2022

Typically, by this time of the year, many of us will have tucked our classics away for the winter months, but the unseasonably warm weather we are experiencing is certainly tempting me to get out for a run or two. Of course, we do have some members that continue to use their cars all year round. If you are doing so, please send in photos for these news reports. It’s always good to see what members are doing with their cars away from the club.

As a club, we tend to steer away from shows in the winter months and instead focus on social gatherings. It’s not as hectic at this time of year as club life is between April and September, but we still find things to keep us busy. Club meet nights are the backbone of these social gatherings and it’s aways nice to see a good turnout of members in the winter. October’s meet saw twenty members in attendance, which although some way off summer figures, is still very healthy.  

We did look at doing a couple of shows in October, but after such a busy year of events, we decided to look at other options. Early in the month, six members took a run out to the M4 Karting classic breakfast meet. There was a nice, eclectic mix of cars to see, and when not looking at the cars, we watched the karting. It was great to meet with Ben and Julian, our hosts at the event, and to talk about possibilities for club activities at the venue. That gave us an idea for a club karting event, which we are now in the early stages of planning. Already there is a lot of interest from members in this, especially from three who have told me that they have done a bit and have been karting champions! Watch this space … and in the meantime take a look at what M4 Karting has to offer. https://www.m4karting.com

There is nothing to be said of the Queen’s life that hasn’t been said a thousand times before, I’m sure, but I think it is worth reiterating that she only came to the throne because of chance events. If it had not been for the abdication of Edward VIII, Elizabeth would have lived her life in relative obscurity. Aged only twenty-five years old, Elizabeth was crowned Queen and she made a promise then to carry out her duties and serve her country and people for the rest of her life. It was a promise that she kept for the next seventy years. Her Majesty the Queen has been a constant and consistent figure in all our lives and that will be missed by many, I've no doubt. We paid our respects as a club by posting a photograph of the Queen on the homepage of our website and by changing the background of the club’s logo to black for the period of mourning.

As some members will be aware from the club’s Facebook group, I’ve been plagued by computer issues over the last few weeks, which meant that I couldn’t post news updates. This has led to a backlog, so this report has a lot to cover. Starting with the most recent club event and then working back, on Sunday September 18th we put on a private display of club cars for visitors to Combe Mill.  

Located next to the River Evenlode and built in 1852, Combe Mill is a Grade II* listed building. The mill was originally powered by a waterwheel, until 1886 when a beam engine was installed. In about 1922, that engine stopped working and lay idle until its restoration. In 1969, a party from the City and County Museum at Woodstock began restoring the engine and boiler, and in 1972 the engine was successfully steamed for the first time in many decades. Combe Mill is now a working industrial museum, which offers visitors a good insight into what work was like in Victorian times on a rural estate. One of the volunteers and a director said, “One of the special things about the Mill is that all the machinery is in exactly the same position as it was originally, which is very rare”.  Alongside the various working steam engines, including the beam engine, there is a working forge where visitors can have a blacksmithing experience. Our club visit was as part of a special events day, which included a craft fair, stalls, and Morris Dancers.

For club members, we arranged two pre-meet spots, one at our usual club venue and the other just a couple of miles from Combe Mill. After the first pre-meet, we split into two convoy groups and headed across country for approximately 21 miles. Chris D led out the first group of five cars and by all accounts behaved himself, by not running off into the distance as he has a want to do! Five minutes later, I followed with a group of six. We picked up the last of the gang at the second pre-meet point and headed for the Mill.

We all arrived at the venue together and on time, although not all in perfect working order and complete. Somewhere along the route, Paul C had lost a hub cap from his Pontiac GTO and Jason’s Triumph TR6 was dropping oil and had developed a running issue.  I know from my own experiences that it’s difficult to enjoy an event if worrying about your car, so I could see that Jason was pre-occupied with concerns. It was soon established that the oil leak was coming from a cracked oil cooler, but as there was still plenty of oil in the car, that didn’t seem to be the cause of the running issues. Of course, modesty forbids me mentioning that it was me who spotted the cause of the car being down on power. It turned out to be a split vacuum hose to the metering unit. That was an easy and inexpensive fix, but sadly a new oil cooler will be a bit more costly.  Apart from Jason’s woes, the day went well … great venue, great drive out, great weather, and as always great company. If enough members are keen, perhaps we can arrange a group blacksmithing experience there. As club member Pete C said, “We could knock up a few parts for the Triumph TRs”. We certainly seem to need them at the moment!

On the plus side for Jason, he had a fabulous day at the Goodwood Revival on September 16th. Back in late July we had an extraordinarily kind offer from two of our members, who donated to the club two sets of two tickets for the Revival meet. We auctioned these tickets and Jason won one of the sets with a bid of £120, an amount that is considerably less than the original cost of the tickets, so he did very well.  Jason’s tickets also included two roving grandstand passes allowing admittance to any grandstand. Our benefactors wish to remain anonymous, but Jason asked me to pass on the following: “I’m extremely grateful to the members who donated these tickets, as a visit to the Revival has been on my bucket list for a long time. It’s a once in a lifetime experience and if it hadn’t been for these tickets, I might never have got the opportunity to go”.

Jason took his friend Stephen along, who acted as chauffeur for the day, allowing Jason to enjoy the full ambiance of his surroundings with the help of several G&Ts I’m told.  “As well as all the fabulous cars on display and on the track, it was wonderful to see everyone in period costume. I went in a 1940s style outfit. One of the highlights for me was meeting up with an old school friend, Billy Bellinger, who was racing a 1963 Cooper-Ford T61 “Monaco” in the Whitsun Trophy.  I got to follow him on to the grid for one of his practice sessions,” said Jason. “Another highlight of the day was meeting Sir Jackie Stewart.”

Those of you who have been following club member Garry’s concours show successes this year, will know that on September 11th he won his fifth competition out of five and in doing so took the overall win in his class. Unfortunately, it didn’t all go smoothly. After a ridiculously early start to the day and a long drive down to Exmouth to take part in the event, Garry sailed through the judging, but when it came to leave, his Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth struggled with lack of power issues, which resulted in a return home at around midnight on the back of a recovery vehicle.

I’m sure it didn’t put too much of a damper on the day and knowing Garry I suspect the issue has already been fixed. (Update: Garry has since stated that the Cossie is still suffering from a number of issues, so isn't back on the road yet).

We look forward to seeing the cup soon after it has been presented. It now remains to be seen if Garry will be competing in concours events again next year, either with the Cossie, or with his new Ford Focus RS. Winning can certainly be addictive, but it’s also a lot of hard work.



Early in September, club members Chris H and Cyan visited a classic car show on the Isle of Wight, which they both highly recommend. And Chris was particularly pleased to meet Sarah Crabtree, who used to appear on Bangers and Cash. 

Photo credit (left): Cyan.

Late last month saw a flurry of club events. On August 28th, we put on a display of ten club cars at the Shalbourne Classic Car Show. As always, it was a nice, relaxed and well organised event, with a good selection of classics on display. As we often do, the bulk of the display team met at the usual club venue, before driving in convoy to the event. To Shalbourne it was about 25 miles, for which we allowed 45 minutes. Just outside Shalbourne, we met up with a couple more members, and then convoyed in together, so we could get parked up for 9am.  

Just over a week earlier, on Saturday August 20th, we were at the Wanborough Village and Country Show, with a display of nine club cars.  This was a bit of a difficult event to organise a pre-meet spot for, as members were coming to it from all directions. In the end we decided to meet just outside Wanborough and then travel the last couple of miles together. Although it’s not a large event in terms classic vehicles on show, Wanborough offers other attractions, including arts and crafts stalls, a dog show, and a main ring display, which this year was “Pedal Power vs Parkour”. "Combining the skill, balance, and power of a trials rider and the finesse of a gymnast / parkour athlete", says the blurb.

Of course, these days, an event for us isn’t complete without a breakdown of some description, and for Wanborough it was Paul’s turn in his Pontiac GTO. It had some starting issues earlier in the day, but as the event was drawing to a close, it wouldn’t start at all. Several of us gathered around to give our thoughts, but nothing we came up with did the trick, so in the end we gave the car a bump start, which was no mean feat given the size of it. Thankfully, Paul made it all the way home without difficulty and later discovered that the problem was with the ignition switch. 

With all these recent breakdowns in mind, this year we’ll be introducing the “Knackered Spanner Award”. I’m nominating the following and asking for seconds …

Dave W, Suzuki Whizzkid. Breakdown at the Faringdon Festival of Transport. Dave had trouble getting the car going from the pre-meet spot but did make it to the show in the end. However, problems with the clutch required a recovery vehicle to be called and Joyce and Dave left the event to the sound of cheers from the crowd.  

Garry T, Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth. Breakdown at Exmouth concours show. It got there, won the competition, but didn’t make it home due to a faulty sensor. Arrived home on a recovery vehicle after midnight.

Paul C, Pontiac GTO. Breakdown at the Wanborough Show. Faulty ignition switch meant that the car had to be bump started, but it then got Paul home after an hour plus drive.

Jason, Triumph TR6. Breakdown at Combe Mill. Two issues, cracked oil cooler and split vacuum hose. Repair to vacuum hose allowed Jason to get home under his own steam, although several stops were needed along the route to fill up with oil.

Chris D, Gilbern Invader Estate (there aren’t many on the road), various issues. It hasn’t broken down at a show yet, but then that’s only because it hasn’t got to a show yet. Issues include clutch, brakes, electrics, and bodywork. Now on its second tour of local garages, it's undergoing work. It’s a toss up as to whether Chris or the car breaks down next!

Back to the shows, on August 7th, the club displayed eight club cars at the West Berks Classic Car Show, which took place at Newbury Racecourse. As always at this event, there were a large number of cars on display, and a good autojumble to browse. However, instead of the rain that has been a problem at this event in previous years, this year it was the heat. It was a scorching hot day and by about 1pm several members had mentioned the word “pub”, and so by 2pm, many of us were on our way to a watering hole by the river that was only twenty minutes away. A cool, refreshing drink was most welcome that day, and we spent the next couple of hours chatting in the shade.

Our thanks to all the show organisers this year for being so accommodating. We appreciate the hard work that putting on a show entails.  

It’s certainly been a busy few weeks, but in the last few days there has been a slight chill in the air, signalling that we are approaching the end of car showing season. Of course, this doesn’t mean that club activities end. We are always looking for things to do that members will enjoy, so if you have any suggestions, please put them forward for consideration. Likewise, if you wish to supply write ups of events you’ve attended, or provide photos to use on the club’s website, please do so.

Although we do not have any more car shows planned for this year, there are several other events in the pipeline, starting with our regular monthly meet tomorrow, September 21st. With the daylight hours growing shorter and the clocks going back in just over a month, this meet will be the last this year that many of us will bring out the classics to, but we'll be going right through the winter in our daily drivers. We also need to be thinking about a Christmas gathering. It’s not that far off now!

Smiles all-round

Published: August 3, 2022

With August being a particularly busy time for club activities, it looks as if we'll need two news reports this month in order to keep on top of all that is happening. 

As a club we are always keen to support local charities, especially in a tangible way, and so when club member Tina D was asked by a friend who is involved with Swings & Smiles if it would be possible to put on a small car show in aid of the charity, Tina asked if we could help.  Swings & Smiles provides activities for children and young people up to 18 years old with a wide range of disabilities and special needs, as well as supporting their families. As such, it is exactly the type of organisation that we aim to assist.

Back in April, Tina and I headed over to Thatcham to meet with Jo, the senior fundraiser at Swings & Smiles, and to assess the premises in terms of suitability for a small display of club cars. After a bit of measuring up by eye, we reckoned that the space available would hold up to about 20 cars. We then started looking at available dates. With so many car shows on through the summer and with Swings and Smiles own busy calendar of events, it wasn't easy, but in the end we decided on Saturday July 30th. 

Early in July, I took a second run out to Swings and Smiles, this time with a tape measure, just to be sure of the space available and to consider risks for the risk assessment. It also gave me a chance to look at potential pre-meet points and estimate timings.

We were pleased, but not surprised, that a large number of members came forward to support this event. And we know that we would have been over-subscribed if it hadn't been for car problems, health issues, and other commitments. We were sorry not to see those of you who would have liked to have made it along, but couldn't. As it was, we had a wonderful turnout of 17 cars, which was just about perfect. We could have squeezed in another 2 to 3 more at a push, but I think that would have been uncomfortable.

Everything went pretty much to plan on the day. My timing for the second meet point (for those coming from the north west) was a little off, as we went a bit fast and arrived 5 minutes early, not that it caused any problems. Our main pre-meet point for all cars was in a layby along the A4. We did pretty well with that, only losing one car along the way.

From the layby, the plan was to convoy to Swings and Smiles in three groups of about 5 cars each, but we ended up as two groups. My concern was that if too many of us went together at the same time, we'd have cars stacking up at the venue and block the road before we could park them, but that didn't happen and all was well. Our cars, including the one we lost earlier, were all in place by 11.30am, ready for the event to start at midday. 

It wasn't easy to gauge the number of visitors to the event, but there was a steady stream and all seemed to enjoy looking around the cars and talking to our members about them. Of course, as is often the case when our members get together, we also spent a lot of time chatting with each other and having a good catch up.

Above left: Peter's Scimitar gets lots of attention from visitors and members alike. Above right: Did someone mention "MGs". Photos credit: Tina D.

Jo, from Swings and Smiles, said of the event: "It went really well and we raised £700 including your donation. Thank you for all of your support."

As well as the £100 donation from the club, I suspect many of our members made private donations, too. Special thanks goes to Tina D for bringing the suggestion to the club in the first place. Graham B also gets an honourable mention for being the flagbearer for this event, as do Tina and Toney, Karen and Graeme, and Kate and Chris who helped with the convoy, and Dave W for guiding the second group of cars in.  It's a great example of how we can work together to make a bit of a difference. Fantastic job!

Last, but by no means least, a special mention for my wife Tina who helped with some of the initial parking at the event, but mainly for putting up with my car obsession, the time I spend on club activities, and me in general.  

Newbury Today report: https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/car-show-raises-hundreds-for-special-needs-charity-9267540/

Other news 

Club member Garry has continued his winning streak in his first year of concours competition. He has now picked up four out of four wins and is closing in on taking the 2022 overall winner cup in the novice class, with his Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth. We are all backing him.

Earlier this week, Chris and I loaded his Gilbern Invader Estate onto a trailer and took it to a garage, in the hope that they will be able to sort out a suspected fuel issue and improve the brakes. With luck, we might still see the car at a show or two this year.  

Talking of Chris, or "Granddad", as he is affectionately known to some of us, there was a brilliant moment at Swings and Smiles, when Graham B asked him if the luggage rack on the back of his TR was actually a "detachable Zimmer frame". It's banter like that that sums up what we are all about.

Some like it hot

Published: July 22, 2022

One thing we can be absolutely sure of is that when it comes to the British weather there is rarely a happy medium to be had. A couple of days ago, while I was sweltering with the rest of the country in record breaking temperatures, I was happy to see that the forecast for the July club meet night was for cooler weather. However, my delight was short lived, when I spotted that a heavy band of rain was coming our way. It put a few members off of bringing their cars out, but we had a great line up nonetheless. Plus, we were pleased to sign up five new club members. Welcome to Kathleen and Eric, Penny and George, and Carsten.

Our new members brought along their cars, a Datsun 240C, which I understand is very rare these days, and a Daimler Dart (making a matching pair).

Unfortunately, the evening was spoiled a bit by hearing the news that our member Simon hit a large badger on his way home, which caused some damage to his car. Thankfully, Simon is OK, although the badger is sadly now an ex-badger. 

Both the club and its members have had a busy few weeks, making it difficult to know where to start when writing up this news report, but I've decided to cover the most recent events first.

Just last weekend, the club put on a display at the West Oxon Steam and Vintage Rally in Ducklington. This is a regular event for us, as members of our committee have family ties with the organising committee, so we like to support it. And for those of us that love steam engines, it is a great couple of days.  Some of our members arrive at the site on the Thursday before the event and start setting up the club camping area, where traditionally we have a BBQ on the Saturday evening.

Given that on both days of the event the weather forecasters predicted 35C+ temperatures, we felt it sensible to purchase a second club gazebo that we could place next to the car display for easily accessible shelter. It certainly helped.

Over the two days of the event we had eight club cars on display, plus a non-member who later joined the club, thanks to some arm twisting by Peter. It was a smaller display than we expected, due to several factors, including the extreme heat, clashing commitments, and a couple of members falling ill with Covid a few days before. I must admit, I felt quite listless and out of sorts over the entire weekend, due to the weather, but it was nice to catch up with friends and to meet new ones.

Our thanks to all the members who were able to make it along. And also, special thanks to Kate for not going too mad after coming back from doing all the shopping for the BBQ to find Chris and I sat in the beer tent at 10.30am. We were the first in there! Thanks too to Chris for doing all the cooking on Saturday evening, and to Pat and Tony for sorting out the camp and providing facilities. Last, but not least, thank you to members Rachel, Mike and Pete who camped out and helped the committee break down the large gazebo and clear our camping area after the show finished.  

Here's a little film of the weekend . . .

We didn't realise it at the time, but this show marked the last appearance of Garry's MKII Ford Cortina 1600E at a club event. Due to health issues that cause Garry pain after driving the car, he felt it was time to sell. Unsurprisingly, it only took a couple of days before a buyer was found, so that was good, but I know it was also a sad moment for Garry and Jane. People who just view their cars as a means of transport will never understand, but for us who truly love our cars, we see them as part of the family. We'll all miss "Tina E" at club events, as she always attracted lots of attention. Garry put in a great deal of time and effort to improving and maintaining the car, and always presented her in fantastic condition.   

Thankfully, Garry and Jane we'll not be leaving the world of classics, as they still have the Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, and we are watching this space, as I fully expect another classic car in their stable soon.

Garry's Cortina was not the only car we have said goodbye to since the last news update. One of our most unusual club cars, Graham's Ford Granada Hearse, has also departed. Of course, Graham still has his V8 powered Granada MKII Saloon to be going on with. And then we come to a man that changes his cars more often than anyone else I know. In the past year and a bit, Paul has had four American classics. I thought that his beautiful Ford Galaxie 500, known as "Ethel", was going to be a a keeper, but she's moved on and been replaced by a Pontiac GTO. I've known people that change their socks less often!   

Every year, around the end of February, the club's committee gets together and looks at the show calendar. We begin with asking for feedback from members about which shows they favour and would like to do with the club. Some members are able to tell us their plans, but most are undecided about which events they'll do through the year. We also have to take into account which shows committee members are available for. Geography plays a part too, because we now have members that live on the extreme edges of our area, and we like to do a few events on their doorstep if possible. We tend to do some tried and trusted events each year, plus a handful of new ones. One of the key things for us is to do shows where we are confident of getting a good turnout of club cars. After all, it's not much of a display if we only have 2 or 3 cars on show.

However, we appreciate that we need to keep things fresh and offer members activities other than just showing. I had this very discussion with a member today, who would like to see us doing more runs, more charity events, and more social activities. It's a view that I'm in full agreement with, but we obviously want to know what the wider membership are hoping to get out of the club. If you tell us, we'll do our best to arrange it, providing enough members want it. As we move into the latter part of the year, we'll devote an hour or so at a club meet to discuss these matters, so start thinking on it now.   

Talking of new shows that we added to the club calendar this year, back at the start of July the club put on a display at the Aldbourne Doggy Day (and classic car show). It was not an event that we'd heard of before, so our thanks to Paul (that chap who keeps changing his cars) for suggesting it. I was unable to attend myself (first club event I've missed since we formed), as I was away visiting my latest granddaughter, along with her older sister, who I had to spend some time with explaining why Car SOS is better to watch than something  called "Peppa Pig".

By all accounts, the Aldbourne show was a great success. We had six cars on our pitch.

Each of us have shows that we favour, and among mine is Yattendon. I always find it relaxing and because there is no pre-booking required or strict rules about when to arrive or leave, it is extremely easy for me to organise our club attendance and pitch. It's free to exhibit and free to enter too, something that is becoming a rarity.

This year the event proved more popular than ever, with in the region of 600 vehicles attending. And it raised an amazing £3421.00 for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

Alongside all these club activities, members have been busy at various other events. Garry's success with his Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth in concous competitions continues. He's now picked up his third win out of three competitions, and this is only his first year talking part.

It seems that the American type prom is a popular thing these days, unlike back in the 1970s when I was at school. It's traditional to arrive in style at these events and some members having been acting as chauffeurs on a private basis. Sadly, this is not something we can do as a club arranged activity, as we'd not be insured for it, but it's a lovely thing for members to do off their own back and a wonderful way to get youngsters interested in classics. 

Chris and I did a little more work on the Gilbern Invader Estate, but without much success, as the car has developed a fuelling issue now, and so it looks like another trip to the garage. 

Members Dave, Mark and Simon visited the Le Mans Classic, and as I've not heard much from them since, I suspect they are still recovering.   

Well, that's all for another news roundup. We have lots in the pipeline, starting a week Saturday with a private display of club cars for Swings and Smiles, a charity in Thatcham which supports children with disabilities and their families. We hope to have around 20 club cars in attendance, so it should be a great day. 

We have a new batch of club window stickers arriving soon, so please remind me if you need one, either as a new member or a member with a new car.

Hopefully, the worst of the heatwave is over, because although some like it hot, there are limits.   

Summer Solstice

Published: June 21, 2022

It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly the midpoint of the year sneaks up; one minute we are battling drizzle and high winds as we move into May, the next we are passed the height of summer. This year it seems to be flying by at an even greater pace than usual. Time's winged Chariot rumbles on and serves as a reminder to get out there and make the best of our days.

Many of our members have been doing just that, with visits to shows, drive outs, and other events over the last couple of weeks. For the club and many of its members, last week was particularly busy. It began on June 11th with a club display at the Faringdon Festival of Transport. 

Faringdon is local to many of our members, so I was not surprised that we had a good turnout of twelve club cars, ten of which displayed on the club pitch. All went well to begin with. We gathered at the pre-meet point on time (although I got a lot of stick for being the last to show), had a chat for a few minutes and then began the short drive to the event. It was at that point we realised that one of our cars, a Suzuki SC100 "Whizzkid" was not moving and was having difficulties. Eventually, the car limped the two minute drive to where we had our club pitch, but with problems engaging gear, it was clear after a little investigation that a Recovery Truck would be needed. It's the first time in quite a while that we have lost a club car at an event, the last being a Triumph TR6, so of course the owner, Dave, got a lot of good humoured ribbing over it. We might take the piddle out of each other, but one of the many things that I love about this club is that members will help each other out if they can.  It was just a pity that on this occasion nothing could be done to help.       

I'm pleased to report that Dave has now managed to source some difficult to find parts to repair the clutch and the Whizzkid will be back with us again soon. 

Apart from the set back of losing a club car, the Faringdon event was a nice relaxing day out. It's a laid back show, with no formal arrive or depart times, and no pre-booking. Our thanks to the organisers for laying it on. It's also a bit different, in that it had an unusual mix of classic, modern, and performance cars, making it an event for everyone. Also, because it is a local event for the club, we got a lot of interest from potential new members.

Following on from Faringdon, we held our June monthly club meet on the 15th. Glorious weather brought out a good many club cars and we had a great evening catching up with each other. It was also the first club outing for Pete's Reliant Scimitar, a car that's not easily missed! We had sixteen cars in attendance, so many in fact that it was impossible to get them all in one photo.  

Our club's Summer Party (or very late Christmas Party, to be precise), took place on June 18th. It's been a long time in the making. After our hugely successful post-Christmas weekend away in January 2020, we were all ready to repeat it early in 2021, but Covid put an end to that. We thought things were looking good for January 2022 and committee members began exploring potential venues, one being Stanton House, as suggested by club member Karen. It seemed a good option and we put things in motion for a party, but as January approached we could see a new strain of Covid on the rise, so with only three weeks to go, we decided to postpone the party until the summer. 

And so, last Saturday just after lunchtime, we began with a private display of club cars. It would have been fantastic if the weather had of played ball, but sadly there was a bit of light rain and heavy cloud cover, which rather spoiled the opportunity for photography. Nevertheless, in true White Horse spirit, we made the best of the situation.

I was told afterwards by the hotel staff that the guests very much enjoyed our display, which was nice to hear. 

At 3pm, we retired to a private function room in the hotel, where we were greeted with a glass of Prosecco, although by that time many of us had already found the bar and the partying was well underway. It was nice to have a function room for a couple of hours to gather in and it would have been even better if the weather had been good, because we could have made use of the terrace.  Nevermind! 

Our room for the evening meal and disco was nicely set out, and they must have been forewarned about us, because there was another bar in there, which meant staggering distance was kept to a minimum. 

There was some bad news early in the evening, when the DJ told me that he wasn't able to play the club's theme tune, "Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West". I was particularly upset, not for myself so much, but for club member Chris, as it's his all time favourite song and I know he looks forward to dancing to it.  

After the three course meal and lots more liquid refreshment, we held a club raffle, with the main prize being a bottle of Champagne that was kindly donated by Colin and Lisa. Then it was time for some dancing. I like to shake a leg myself and get as many people up dancing as possible. I think we did pretty well. Breakdown Dave came on with some impressive moves, so much so that I might be calling him "River dance" from now on. We even persuaded Mark to have a boogie for the first time in twenty years. 

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, Chris appeared on the dance floor just as "Ernie" came on, and you could definitely hear the hoof beats pound. The DJ had found it in the end!

A few us made it for a late nightcap, before finally wrapping up just before 1am.

We missed those members who didn't join us for this one, but we hope all of you who did come along enjoyed it.  Thank you all for making it a success. Great company and great times. 

Other matters

We have Yattendon car show this weekend, Sunday June 26th. I've arranged a pitch for up to twelve cars and have about eight so far. If you'd like to come along, please get in touch ASAP. The other major event we have coming up is the Ducklington Steam Rally (plus club BBQ), on the 16th and 17th of July. I have only six cars confirmed for this so far and I need to give organisers details soon, so please let me know if you wish to display there with the club and haven't told me already.

Following on from club member Garry's concours win (reported earlier this month), he's taking part in another one this coming weekend, so he's been busy preparing. We wish him every success with that.

And lastly, club subscriptions are due on July 1st. They remain £30 for joint membership and £24 for individual. Please contact me info@whitehorse-cve.com if you'd like to renew. 

Jubilant June

Published: June 5, 2022

After a hectic couple of weeks at the start of May, not too much has happened on the club front of late. May saw another great turnout of club members for the regular monthly meet, although thankfully most left their classics at home due to heavy rain and thunder storms. It's great that even without the cars, so many members come along for the social element of the club. We were joined on the evening by new member Cyan, who we welcome.

Although things have been quiet for the club, our members have been working on their cars and out attending events. Those of you who follow these news updates will remember that club member Garry has been preparing his Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 4x4 for his first concours competition, which took place on May 22nd. None of us who know Garry's attention to detail were surprised to hear that he won his class. Congratulations Garry.   

I'm not known for keeping my cars particularly clean, so I can only imagine the level of dedication required to maintain concours standards. The early starts alone would put me off doing these events!

Our Jason has been living it up at the Vintage Nostalgia Festival in Stockton, Wiltshire, which took place over the Jubilee weekend. Having seen Jason's previous efforts at camping, we were all a little worried, but I'm pleased to report that he got the tent up, it stayed up through the night, and remarkably it got packed away (unlike last time, when it ended up in a bin!). Only downside to the weekend was a split radiator hose and loss of coolant on his TR6.

Members have also been out and about at the Herts Auto Show, Ragley Hall, Castle Combe Steam Rally, and the Sir Robert McAlpine railway museum, to name but a few events. It's not always easy to keep up with what members are doing, as there's so much going on.

As well as new members joining us in May, existing members have added to their classic car collections. Chris H has purchased a Triumph TR6 and Peter C has purchased a Reliant Scimitar, both of which we look forward to seeing at club events soon.

Looking ahead in the short term, we have plenty to keep us busy over the next few weeks. Later this week Garry and I are heading over to Chris D's to help with some more work on his Gilbern Invader Estate. Hopefully we can improve the braking and get it starting a bit better. We'll also be doing an oil and oil filter change.

Next Sunday, the club is at the Faringdon Festival of Transport. On Wednesday 15th June it's our regular club meet. And then on June 18th we are holding our summer party. We'll start the party with a display of club cars in the grounds of the manor house, then have a gathering in a private room for pre-party drinks, before the evening celebrations.   

With a little luck we'll be blessed with better weather through the rest of June, as so far it's not been great. Whatever comes our way, I'm sure it won't dampen our spirits too much. Despite the rain, I hope all our members and friends have had a fantastic Jubilee weekend.

You don't have to be mad, but it helps!

Published: May 10, 2022

It's not often that I write two news updates in a month, but after the April foolery of Drive-it-Day just over two weeks ago, we were straight into some May madness on the first of the month, with a visit to the Lechlade  Vintage Rally and Country Show, which took place in Clanfield.

Poor weather is considered by most classic car owners to be the enemy, so when we have a club event planned we begin watching the forecasts a few days before. We check the Met Office's long range reports, follow rain radars, and even ask our resident meteorologist Dave for his predictions. Then, if the weather does look poor, we ask members the night before the event, if they still wish to go ahead with it. For Lechlade, all the indications were for drizzle and chilly conditions, and we were not wrong. Despite that, nearly everyone decided to give it a go.

It all started well. We had found a good pre-meet point, which was suggested by Garry, and all ten club cars that were expected arrived on time. We had a pre-meet chat, exhibition passes were handed out, and then we set off for the showground. Once there, it was the usual routine of finding our pitch and setting up the flags.  Sadly, it was pretty clear that the drizzle was set for the day, which meant that many of us took to our cars to keep warm and dry.  A major part of what makes showing together great fun, is being able to sit around in a circle behind our cars and have a chat, so once that is removed it makes for quite a miserable day.  I felt particularly sorry for Angie and Graham, and for Dave, who had driven a fair distance to be there. At least it gave Dave his first opportunity to display his new Suzuki SC100 (Whizzkid) with the club.

Of course, poor weather, means fewer visitors to the show. Lechlade was extremely quiet compared with previous years. There were only a small handful of other classic cars on display and several of the traders and exhibitors didn't even open up it seemed. It all felt washed out and a bit dishevelled. Thankfully, at least for those who attended on the day before and the day after, the weather was better on those days. We were just unfortunate with the day we picked to go.

On show days like these, I suspect we all ask ourselves why we do it. I reckon we must be slightly bonkers to get up early, just to sit in a muddy field in the rain. And yet, despite the conditions, I found myself wandering around the show, looking at all the characters, those tending their steam engines, others waiting for the next pop of their little Lister engines, and still more huddled in cars, and I felt at home, back with the type of people I like. I also felt thankful that we are all free to go a little mad again.

< - - - That's Chris over there (or up above if you are viewing on your phone), affectionately known as "Granddad". With his see through brolly, his mug of coffee and his club cap at a jaunty angle, he's not going to be beat by a bit of rain. Photo Credit: Garry.

In saying all that, not too long after lunch time, we all packed up and headed home, knowing that the very next day, many of us would be out and about again, this time for the Carterton May Fair.  Our fingers were crossed that the weather would be a little kinder to us.

May bank holiday Monday delivered up an improvement in the weather and so we were off again. The Carterton May Fair is a bit of an oddity on our show calendar, because the car show is only a small part of it. However, there's lots for children to do and see, and a car boot sale for the shoppers among us. It's also held in aid of Save the Children and for that reason we have supported it for many years. 

Once again, we had a great turnout of members, with ten club cars on display.  Given that our club cars made up the bulk of the classics at the event, we got a lot of interest from visitors. And what a lot of visitors there were. It was as busy as I'd ever seen it. Dave W's Suzuki was a big hit with the people passing by, I noticed.

We were pleased to welcome new member Martyn to the club and to see his Panther Lima, and it was also great to see Nigel at the show, now that his Trident is on the road.

On May 8th, the club made its first appearance at the Basingstoke Festival of Transport. Many of us had been before, either with other clubs or on our own, so we knew we would be in for a treat again. We were not disappointed. There were hundreds of interesting vehicles, stalls, an autojumble, and thousands of visitors, more than I'd ever seen before at the event. And the weather was just about perfect too! It was a day that went like clockwork for us from start to finish. Even the early start couldn't spoil it for me.

As we had members coming from different directions, some came alone, while others met up beforehand in order to convoy in. Those of us out to the west met in our usual pre-meet place and everyone was there and ready to leave by 7.30am. It was a good run down the A34 and through Newbury onto the A339 to Basingstoke. Just before Kingsclere, we collected Karen and Graeme at what used to be Nellie's Dinner and continued on. 

Our aim was to be onsite for 9am, but we made such good time through Basingstoke, that we were there at about 8.20am. A few members who had hoped to join us on the day were unable to make it and were missed, but we still managed nine cars on our pitch. We also had three members there who were displaying on other pitches. Basingstoke is one of those events where you have to be onsite until a given time. I have a bit of a dislike for being "trapped" at an event, but because this was such a great show, the hours passed extremely quickly. In all honesty, there were so many people milling about, it would have been impossible to move vehicles before the event closed, so I can fully understand the reasoning. 

There was so much to see at Basingstoke, that I could have easily made a two hour long film and not covered everything. What I did capture just gives a flavour of the event.

Since Sunday, I have been in touch with the organisers to thank them for all their hard work and to say that we definitely want a pitch again next year. I'm hopeful that by then the club will have added more members, and we can have a display of at least 16 cars.

In between all these events, it's been a busy time for the club and several of its members. We are getting ever closer to the club's Summer Party on June 18th. There has been an excellent response to this and we now only have a few places left. If you'd like to come along, then June 1st is the deadline and do keep in mind that if you do not book your room quickly they might all go. 

With regard to our Drive-it-Day event, we now have a final figure of £140 donated by club members, the club and friends of the club to the NSPCC/Childline. Thank you to everyone who was able to take part and who contributed. 

We are always looking for ways to help our members and one of the things we have been investigating is member discounts. To that end, I recently made contact with the Motorists' Discount Centres head office to ask about the possibilities. They were extremely helpful and very pleased to offer our members 10% discount on purchases from the shops in Oxford, Reading and Swindon. Members will need to produce their club card in order to claim the discount. Please visit: https://mdc-auto.co.uk

Please note: This discount information is correct at the time of writing. However, offers such as this can be cancelled at any time, without prior notice. 

Club member Garry has been beavering away preparing his Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth for the first of several concours events he is taking part in. We'll all be following his progress and wishing him success.

Garry also took time out to help Chris D with a few issues he is having with his Gilbern Invader, namely its lack of brakes and a few electrical problems. I went along as apprentice, and found my calling as a wheel gun man!  We made good progress, but now we are awaiting some parts to be delivered, before we can get back to it.  

Well, that's it for another report. We have club meets coming up and we'll be adding more shows in along the way, so watch this space.

Silly Season

Published: April 26th, 2022

One of the many things that I enjoy about our club is that our members never take themselves too seriously, which is a good thing, as we have more than our fair share of jokers in the ranks!  And there's nothing like warm, spring weather to bring this good natured humour to the fore when members gather together.

Our April monthly meet is always the first of the year when we see a good collection of club cars appear, and this year was no exception, with 11 cars and 22 members/potential members attending. We missed those members who could not attend on the evening and look forward to seeing them again soon.

Three of those that came along on the evening are prospective members, and two of those have now joined the club. We welcome Della and Simon with their Lotus Excel (the first Lotus in the club, and a great addition).   

After the usual round of tyre kicking and looking over the cars, especially the new ones, we headed indoors to begin the dreaded AGM. Unless we really have to, we don't do formal in our club, so our aim was to get the proceedings done and dusted in double quick time. At 8.30pm on the dot, the stop watch was started, and two minutes later the AGM was closed. It was a feat that I have to say I'm rather proud of, given that I had to run the gauntlet of heckles! Despite that, the previous year's minutes, the accounts, and the proposed changes to the club's rules were approved by all members attending, and the committee was re-elected. Minutes of the meeting will be sent to members in due course. 

One of our regular members, who I know doesn't enjoy formalities, said it was one of the best club nights he has attended. There certainly was a great buzz about the evening. A prospective new member asked me on the night why the committee formed the club and why we run it on a voluntary basis.  My answer to him was that it is for nights like these, when we look around and see members enjoying the camaraderie and having a good laugh together. There really is nothing wrong with a bit of silliness. 

Following the AGM, we raised a glass to celebrate Tony M's upcoming 80th birthday. We hope you have a wonderful day on May 10th, Tony. We also thanked our treasurer Kate D for keeping the accounts in order. 

On a more serious note, the week before the April club meet, club member Tina D and I headed out to Swings and Smiles in Thatcham. Tina had been asked if the club would be able to put on a display of cars there, so we went along to meet the staff and talk about options. Swings and Smiles is a great cause, as it supports children with special needs and their families. We feel that it is a suitable venue for a small display of cars, as there's a large hard standing area at the back with space for about 20 we estimate. Our aim is to put on a private show there on Saturday July 30th. We already have about 15 places booked, so I'm looking for another 5 club cars. Let me know if you wish to take part.

Back to the silliness! On the last Sunday in April each year, many classic vehicle owners take part in a special event called "Drive it Day" (DiD) to promote the cars and to collect for charity.  For us as a club, we feel that DiD should be exactly what it says, with the main focus being on getting out in the cars and putting a good few miles on the clock. To that end, committee member Chris D and I set off in February to find a nice route. We came up with 76 miles through the glorious Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire countryside. The suggested route included fast A roads, tight and twisting B roads, market towns, pretty villages, prehistoric sites of interest, and rolling hills.

Unlike in previous years when we have met at the White Horse hill, this year we began the day by meeting at the usual club monthly meet venue. All those taking part arrived at around 10am, by which time the sun was shining and the day was beginning to warm up. With 16 cars doing the tour, we felt that the safest way to conduct things would be to split into three groups, 2 of 5 each and 1 of 6. The first group, consisting of a Jaguar XJ6, a Lotus Excel, a Morgan, a Jaguar E-Type and a Triumph TR6, was led out by club members Karen and Graeme. My thanks to you both for stepping in last minute to do this.

About 5 minutes later, our second group, made up of a Triumph TR4, a Daimler Dart, a Morgan, a Jaguar E-Type, a Ford Galaxie, and a Triumph TR7 were in position and ready to be led out by Kate and Chris D. Chris deserves a special mention here. In previous years, Chris has gained a reputation for sailing off into the distance and losing the cars behind him, but not so this year. In fact, this year, one of his party managed to overtake him and then get away. Extra points to Paula and Simon for that one!

My group, consisting of a Caterham 7, a Ford Cortina MK2 1600E, a Ford Mustang, and Triumph TR6, and a Ford Granada, were last out. We were in no rush, so we had a leisurely chat before strolling over to our cars and heading off.

We are still not quite sure how it happened, but by a strange quirk of fate the last group out managed to return to the end point a little ahead of the other groups. This was by pure chance, or course, and those in the last group were stunned and shocked, and shocked and stunned, by the suggestion that some shenanigans had taken place. All I can think is that a wrong turning must have taken place somewhere, that led to this strange state of affairs. After all, there's no place for school boy antics in our club ... we are not Top Gear presenters!   

Following the drive, which I hope everyone enjoyed, we were joined by another club member with his Triumph TR4, and we set about putting on a display of cars for local people, with the aim of collecting in aid of the NSPCC/Childline. Donations from the club, its members, and visitors to the show were in the region of £140 (final figure to be confirmed). Thank you to everyone who contributed. 

With Drive it Day now behind us, we switch our focus to making final plans for a busy first week in May. On Sunday May 1st, the club is displaying at the Lechlade Rally in Clanfield, where we'll have 12 cars on show. Then, on Monday May 2nd, we have a pitch at the Carterton May Day Fair, this time for 10 cars. And just under a week later, we are at the Basingstoke Festival of Transport. 

In other club news, we will soon be contacting members who are joining us for the Summer party on June 18th for full payment to cover the meal. And don't forget, club subscriptions are due on July 1st. Where else could you get this much silliness for only £30 (joint) or £24 (individual)?  

On the road again

Published: March 31st, 2022

March is traditionally the month when the winter covers come off the classics and the trickle chargers are disconnected in anticipation of another year on the road with the club. For five members, the first outing together was to the Hook Norton Brewery breakfast meet on March 13th. This wasn't a planned club visit, but rather a spur of the moment "let's get together and go" decision. It was great to be out with the gang again, despite the slightly chilly and damp weather. 

With the heavy rain we had in the week following the Hook Norton run, I wasn't expecting much of a turn out for our March monthly meeting, so I was pleased to see seventeen members, one having just joined. Welcome John. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and it was particularly nice to see members that had not been able to join us in a few months for various reasons. As always, we missed the company of our friends who could not make it along.

Three members who are located in the south of the area and one who lives to the east of our patch (not pictured) got together on March 20th for a visit to the Thruxton Circuit breakfast meet and stopped for some liquid refreshment on the way home.

With March drawing to an end and the sun coming out, we decided to squeeze in another breakfast meet before the show season really kicks off. We'd been to the Winchester Autobarn gathering in late 2019 and enjoyed it, so it was great to be heading back there. Club members Dave and Jason planned to head straight there as they live in the area, while four of us travelled down in convoy, after all meeting up at Chieveley Services. All went to plan, until we arrived. I estimate that the venue can hold about 200 cars. Unfortunately, 400 to 500 turned up, which meant that cars were parked on the side of the road in all directions for up to 3/4 of a mile away. It's a great shame, because it's a good destination and the Autobarn is an interesting place, but clearly the organisers were overwhelmed by the numbers. As I understand it, the police arrived later in the morning to try to get things in order.  I'm not a fan of events that require pre-booking, but in order to avoid such a situation again, I think the organisers will have to go down that route in the future.

Late April and early May is when the show season really gets going and we have lots planned. On April 20th, it's our monthly club night and I suspect many members will be bringing their classics out now that we've entered good old British summer time. It's also our AGM. In the next few days I will send out the agenda for this.

Drive it Day is on Sunday April 24th. We have a route of about 75 miles planned and will be finishing with a meal and private display to raise funds for ChildLine. If you've not already told me that you'd like to take part, please get in touch, info@whitehorse-cve.com

On Sunday May 1st, we'll be at the Lechlade Vintage Rally and Country show, in Clanfield. Again, let me know if you'd like to be part of the club display.  And on May 2nd, we are at the Carterton May Fair and Car Boot Sale. We have places for ten cars, and a couple of places still available.  Let us know if you'd like one.

A week later we are at the Basingstoke Festival of Transport. The club has a pitch for twelve cars and all are filled, but I might be able to squeeze more in, so if you'd like to join in contact us ASAP. 

It's been nice to see photos of several members getting out and about over the last month . . .

For those of us that like our classic car magazines, we've negotiated a club discount of 10% for individual issues or subscriptions to Classic.Retro.Modern magazine at . . . https://classicretromodern.com.  Club members can claim this discount by contacting me for the discount code.

It's going to by a busy, busy year and I hope to see you all on the road again soon.

And we're back

Published: February 22nd, 2022

Rarely has the expression, "In like a lion, out like a lamb" in relation to the month of March seemed quite so apt, and we are not even out of February yet. With the exceptionally high winds we have experienced over the last few days, I'm sure we are all feeling a little battered and finding it difficult to believe that winter is coming to an end, but as we move through this week the outlook is more tranquil. Daffodils are popping up all around and spring (officially speaking, of course) is just a few short days away. 

March is a great time to get the classics out for a few shake down drives before the show season begins in earnest, and with that in mind, club member Garry reminded me that the Winchester Auto Barn is holding a breakfast meet on Saturday March 26th. It's a good run down there, and a nice venue, with some interesting cars on display. Plus, it's the weekend that the clocks go forward, so what better way to celebrate the start of good, old British Summer Time. If you'd like to join us for this run and meet, then please let me know, info@whitehorse-cve.com   

Having felt it necessary to cancel our January monthly meet due to the high levels of Covid in circulation, we got back into the swing of things in February with our usual club meet. As expected, it was a quiet one for us, with only thirteen making it along, but great fun nonetheless. It was good to see two potential new members joining in with the fun. We are a tight-knit bunch and it's easy to forget that visitors and new members might feel on the outside of things for a few months, but we do our best to be welcoming by chucking everyone in at the deep end! 

Following on from our work in January to compile a list of all the classic car events we could find taking place in our area, some of the committee gathered together to narrow the list down to those shows we would aim to attend as a club.  It's no easy task, as there are many good ones and this year in particular a lot of them clash with each other.  We finalise this list according to a number of considerations. Firstly, we look at feedback from members as to which events they favour and tell us they wish to show at. Then we consider the location of events. Our membership now extends over quite a large area, from near Burford in the north, Reading to the east, Andover to the south, and those west of Swindon. We feel it important to choose events that are close to the edges of our patch, as well as ones that are more central to it.

Here, then, is the list of events that we have selected for a planned club display, not including monthly meets, mid-monthly meets/runs, BBQs hosted by members, visits to places of interest, etc. 

Drive-it-Day, Sunday April 24, 2022: Always a great start to the show season, this year we'll be winding our way through approximately 75 miles of beautiful Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire countryside, taking in some interesting sites and the best driving roads the counties have to offer. And to finish, a nice meal. Full details of the suggested route and plan will be sent to members soon. Let us know ASAP if you'd like to take part.

Lechlade Vintage Rally & Country Show, Sunday May 1, 2022 for club display

Carterton May Day Fair and Car Boot Sale, Monday May 2, 2022 

Basingstoke Festival of Transport, Sunday May 8, 2022: There are strict booking guidelines for this one, so please let me know early if you want to display with the club.   

White Horse CVE: Summer Party, Saturday June 18 and Sunday June 19th, 2022: We still have places left, so drop us a line if you want to join in with this bash.

Yattendon Classic Vehicle Day, Sunday June 26, 2022

Aldbourne Doggy Day (plus classic car show), Sunday July 3, 2022

West Oxon Steam & Vintage Show, Saturday July 16 and Sunday July 17, 2022: This is the club camp out and BBQ, all of which adds to what is one of the best steam fairs of the year. 

West Berkshire Classic Vehicle Club Classic Vehicle Show, Sunday August 7, 2022

Shalbourne Classic Car Show, Sunday August 28, 2022

Northleach Steamshow, Sunday September 11, 2022

We understand that it is not always easy for members to let us know months or even weeks in advance if they can come along to these events, but if you think you might like to then we urge you to state your interest as soon as possible. I am currently arranging pitches at these shows and it is easier to drop cars from the pitch than to add them at a later date if necessary. Contact us at: info@whitehorse-cve.com

Of course, this list above is not set in stone. We monitor the weather and take a final decision about attendance on the day before, or even on the morning of the event. There will also be several more events added to this list, based on further feedback from members. I fully expect that we'll end up doing at least another 4-6 shows on top of those listed above.  You can find a full list of shows and other club activities on our Events Page.

And finally, March sees the third anniversary of the founding of the club.  Despite the set back of Covid, I think we have achieved a lot in that time. Our membership has grown at a steady pace, to three times as large as it was at inception and at the same time we've retained that friendly, small club atmosphere. Here's to many more years of the White Horse CVE and its fantastic members.

The club's anniversary also means that AGM time is nearly upon us. Over the last couple of years, restrictions due to Covid meant that we had to hold the AGMs and elections by email exchange. This worked well, but we believe that all things being equal a proper meet in person is best for an AGM, with voting by show of hands. That will be our process this year and we hope to see as many members as possible taking part.

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     White Horse Classic Vehicle Enthusiasts: AGM 2022

Published: February 22nd, 2022

We hereby give notice that the White Horse Classic Vehicle Enthusiasts’ 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Wednesday April 20th from 8pm at the Horse & Jockey, Stanford in the Vale, Oxfordshire, SN7 8NN. 

Details will be sent to our members shortly and will also be available on the Members' page of this website.

Just around the corner

Published: January 25th, 2022

With January seeming to drag on forever, it can be a struggle at this time of year to find much enthusiasm and inspiration, so it's great to see some of our members getting out in their cars and others being industrious by making repairs or improvements to theirs. 

Club members Paul C, Angie S and Graham S, have been out and about at events through December and January, proving that although it is much harder to find classic car shows at this time of year, it's not impossible. It's finding the motivation on cold and rainy days that's the tough bit. Well done to those of you that do.

Club member Garry T has been extremely productive, working on both his cars through the winter. His Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth has undergone a lot of detailing work over the last few months, to the point where it's ready to compete in a few concours shows this year. I have a feeling it'll do well, particularly because of Garry's eagerness to get things absolutely correct. A good example of this is the blue clips (seen in the photo below) on the Cosworth ... Garry matched the original colour of these and then sprayed the clips.   

That was the week that was

Published: September 6th, 2021

Wow, what a whirlwind of a week the club has had. With the lifting of Covid restrictions and events delayed from earlier in the year now being crammed into the last days of summer, it was always bound to happen that we'd be busy, so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised at the fact that we found ourselves doing five shows in just seven days at the end of August and into early September.  At least the week before that was slightly quieter, with the only club event being a BBQ kindly hosted by Kate and Chris. Thanks to our hosts and to everyone who attended.   

Shalbourne

Traditionally, the Shalbourne Classic Car Show always took place in the second half of September and many of us thought of it as being the last event of the year in terms of having a club pitch. However, more than once, the event was hampered by poor weather and so last year it was brought forward to the Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, and this year was the same. Holding the event in August does improve the chances of better weather, but the downside is that it now clashes with several other very good shows. Nevertheless, Shalbourne remains a firm favourite of mine, due to its setting, the type of cars on show, the drive there and its relaxed nature. As well as the cars, there are food stands, a beer tent, music and other attractions.

We had six club cars on display, two Daimlers, a Jaguar, two Triumph TRs, and a Caterham. It was particularly nice to see Chris out at a show with us for the first time in a couple of years, now that he has ironed out the last few niggles with his Daimler.

Over recent years, when displaying with Mark and his Triumph TR7 V8, I've noticed the increasing amount of attention the car receives. This is something that is pleasing to see, as for too long it's been an under appreciated classic. Mark tells me that values are starting to rocket and I can see why.

After many of the events we attend, we receive enquiries about joining, but at Shalbourne it was nice to be approached by someone who was keen to join there and then. Pete joins us with a Jaguar XK8 and a MG TF (the first MG in the club!).    

Thank you to all our members that were able to make it along to this one, Chris, Jason, Karen, Mark, Mike, Rachal, and Peter. 

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Following on from Shalbourne, on the day after, Monday August 30th, we were off again, this time to the Buckhamshire Railway Centre in Quainton, for the Pre 1978 Classics Rally. This event, proposed by Garry, was a new one for us and turned out to be a great day. The club display gang met early at Peartree roundabout and from there went in convoy to the event.  Club members Chris, Garry, Jane, Paul and myself were joined by prospective members Angie and Graham for the day. It was great to meet them both. Thank you to all of you for coming along.   

There was a good display of vehicles, most of which were British from the 1930s to the 1970s. A particularly rare site was three World War 1 Army lorries. One thing that struck me was that there were only two Triumph TRs on show, Chris' and mine. This is unusual, as typically there are a lot. 

Of course, the big attraction of the event was the steam trains, which visitors and exhibitors could ride on. Graham even got to blow the whistle!

This is a great event for the family, especially if you have young children or grand children that you'd like to introduce to the joys of steam trains.

I imagine that this event will become a regular one on our calendar.

Club BBQ and private show ... "Wodstock"

I was thankful to have the Tuesday as a rest day, after being out and about on the Sunday and the Monday, but there wasn't too much time to relax, as the very next day, Wednesday 1st September we held the club BBQ and private display, kindly hosted by Christine and Simon in their paddock. As well as a good display of vehicles, we also used the opportunity to have a fun competition with two categories, Car Members Would Most Like to Take Home and Best Turned Out Car.

Along with hosts, Christine, Simon and family, we were joined by club members Graham, Guy, Jason, Karen, Mike, Peter, Pete, Rachel, Tina, Tina, Toney, and also by some of Simon's friends. I even met a chap who has a local business that specialises in Caterham's and other track cars, so as I have a few niggles with mine I'll be giving him a call soon. 

With regard to the competition, the winners were Paul with his Austin 7 in the Car Members Would Most Like to Take Home category and Karen and Peter with their immaculate MK2 Jaguar in the Best Turned Out category.  

Our thanks to everyone who made it along. We missed those members that couldn't be with us on the night. Most of all, a big thanks again to Christine and Simon. The keg of beer was a bonus.

I cannot finish off this section of the news update without mentioning Daniel's dumper truck. It received more votes in the competitions than my Caterham, which received a big, fat zero! I suppose it is a more practical vehicle in many respects, so I shouldn't have been shocked.   

Brizefest

Many of our club members are keen to support our armed forces, so in recent years we have attended both the Benson RAF Families Day, and Brizefest at RAF Brize Norton. This year we opted for Brizefest on Saturday September 4th, as we had several members wanting to attend.

Sadly, this year's event was not the best organised for classic car exhibitors that I've seen, and unlike in previous years there was a lot of traffic congestion on the road where the entrance to the base is. We found ourselves queuing to get in for over an hour, and the lack of toilets close to the car exhibits was also a problem. It always feels with this event that the classic cars are a bit of a sideshow. On the plus side, the RAF staff that I dealt with when arranging the club pitch couldn't have been more helpful, and as well as the cars to see, there are aircraft and other attractions on the day. Although I have to say, the cost of food was extortionate. I was going to buy some donuts for the display team, so I asked the vendor the price and he said "£2". "For how many", I replied. The answer ... "One"! "No thanks", I said, "they haven't even got jam in them". 

It was also quite an odd mix of cars, although it was great to see a few Marcos' and a Lotus Europa, both of which are on my "one day wish list".      

For me, there were two stand out moments of the day. Firstly, the low fly over by a Spitfire, or was it a Hurricane, or was it one of each. My eyesight isn't good enough these days to be able to pick out the differences at a distance, and all I can see on the photos I took is a dot somewhere over yonder. Secondly, there was David's attempt at getting into and then out of the Caterham. He succeeded, but it was a bit of a struggle. I only wish I'd have filmed it!

As always, what made the event for me was spending time with club members, so many thanks to David, Jack, Jo, Mark, Pat, Simon and Tony who made up the display. It was particularly nice to meet Jo for the first time and I hope to see you at more of our events soon. 

Whereas Shalbourne and the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre had a predominance of 1930s to 1970s British cars, and Brizefest had many brand new performance cars, the Spring Vehicle meet was a true mish mash. There were lots of classic British cars and an almost equal number of American classics too, I reckon. There were also a few wacky, rat-look cars, that although they are not my thing, I cannot help but smile at. 

I'm a great believer in giving credit where credit is due, so I think it's important here to say a huge thank you to Jennie and Dave for making this event happen. They pay for it out of their own pockets and shoulder the risks of losing out if it's not well attended. And thanks too for making it easy for me when I showed up without my entry form!

Also, thanks to club member Garry for sorting out the details with this event and for getting us a great spot for the pitch. 

Well, that's just about it for another club update. It's been a hectic few days, but great to see so many members out with their cars, and also great to meet new people. We have had two new joiners this week.  Summer might now be at an end, but we still have events lined up. There's the next club meet on September 15th, Yattendon on September 19th (contact me if you want to join the club display), the Aston Martin visit scheduled for October 5th, and we are still hoping to get in an end of year picnic before we start to put the cars away for the winter. 

As for me, well, I'm going to bed for a week to sleep it all off.