Social Scene Report - TRaction Issue 342
Chris Thirtle writes: Autumn may have finally arrived, but we certainly can’t complain after enjoying an extended TRing season thanks to the Indian Summer. The ‘Last Run of the Season’, brilliantly organised by Jim T and Barry and Hazel C and intriguingly entitled ‘Rocks, Ravines, and Watter’, took place on the 9th October. Blessed with sunshine the intrepid participants set off from the Highfields Farm Shop in 14 cars (7 TR6's; 1 TR5; 1 BMW 2002tii; and 5 moderns) for a scenic tour of the Dales. The route included roads that even the ‘locals’ hadn’t found before as it skirted the western edge of Chesterfield and passed through the Cordwell Valley, before climbing to the moorland heights of Holmesfield, Owler Bar and Fox House where the convoy split for lunch at The Plough Inn and Strines Inn. Suitably refreshed, the tour regrouped and continued through the Rivelin Valley and up to Ringinglow before a final stop at The Moorlands restaurant for mid-afternoon refreshments where (after having witnessed some rather suspect ‘parking on the diagonal’ at the Mini-International) some ‘parking practise’ was undertaken prior to the photocall. As the same team are organising the next ‘Peaks Weekend’ (16-18 June 2023) then I think anyone attending can be assured of an enjoyable and interesting event so get those dates in your diary.
If you enjoy Group runs, events, and being part of a vibrant and interesting TR Group that ‘does stuff’, then please offer to take on a small piece of the work required to help keep it so. Many hands make lighter work for everyone… and I can tell you from personal experience, it’s enjoyable, satisfying, and a great way for us newer members to get to know some of the characters in the Group (yes, we do have a few and you know who you are!). For next year, we need volunteers to organise Club Runs, to post Group information on the Register website, and maintain the Group diary of events. Ample advice and guidance is only ever a phone call or WhatsApp message away, so go on, give it a try…..you know it makes sense. Speak to Dave B, Alan J, Dave W or even me (as a last resort given I’m a ‘twenty minuter’ myself) if you have some time to offer. You won’t regret it.
Don’t forget to get your names down, and rooms booked as required, for the Group Annual Dinner on 28 January 2023 at the Makeney Hall Hotel, Milford near Belper. Should be a cracking evening at a lovely venue, with food, good company, live music and even room to dance for those so inclined. Another date to bear in mind is the 15 January 2023 when tickets for the European Meet go on sale. The meeting will be in September 2023 and is back in the UK for the first time since 2010. It will be based at Chesford Grange, near Coventry, Warwickshire for the weekend meeting, then going to the Metropole Hotel in South Wales for the tour. Booking will be by the website and only 180 places are available so expect it to sell out quickly. Dave B is also looking for volunteers to assist at the event; I’m thinking offering to help could be a wise move, on the basis it will be in the organisers interest to ensure me and my TR stay the course…..
Inevitably though, as winter approaches, many TRs will soon be rested for their winter hibernation. Whilst some slumber under dust sheets others will be the focus of rebuilds, improvements and dreams of test drives in the Spring (but not necessarily the next Spring, or the one after….you know how these things go). Good luck to everyone taking on such a challenge and helping keep TRs out there in the real world. Whatever you’re doing, may you all have an enjoyable festive season and, if you’re on ‘the list’, may Santa be kind and bring you just the bit you need, at just the right time, in just the right spec, and may it fit just perfectly.
‘Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Goodnight’.
Diary dates:
11 January 2023 - Club Night – venue TBD
28 January 2022 – Annual Dinner – Makeney Hall Hotel, Milford, Belper
16-18 June 2023 - Derbyshire Dales Peak’s Weekend