TR Action Report London Group presented for issue 268

Well the London group certainly cast its net wide over last month, Roger & Sue Hogarth in ATR4A went North heading up to Scotland for their regular visit to that area with the TR Isles tour , Keith & Jean Parkinson went North West travelling up in their beautiful TR4 to Shropshire to fly the London Group flag with the Shropshire Group for their Camping weekend, Mark, Sarah, Bob, Su, Emma, Matt & George in a cavalcade of 2 x TR6 (one with trailer) 1 x TR7 and 1 X Stag joined up with the Derbyshire Dales group for their Camping weekend in the heart of England. They of course were joined by no less a vehicle than ATR4A piloted by Roger & Sue Hogarth, whilst on its way home from Scotland. Chris Gleeson in his Signal red TR5 headed south, clearly enjoying a gastronomic tour through the Aquitaine region of France, finally arriving in Biarritz. On a more local level Gerry Byrne and I joined some of the Windsor Forest Group for a drive up to the Hook Norton Steam Brewery, this was Gerry's longest run to date in TTR4A his TR4A at just over 200 miles, the car performed beautifully without a hitch. The following day in fact TTR4A was the first to arrive at our Ockham bites meeting place for our second monthly Pub run.

A select band of 5 cars which included Nick & Heather King in their striking Blue TR7 set off happily heading towards our favoured pub, however due to our visit coinciding with Father's Day the chosen destination was to say the least rammed! But never to be beaten, after visiting a few pubs, picking up some splendid cheese, looking at a couple of maps and of course the dreaded PDAs -"have you got a signal?" - we finally settled at the Scarlett Arms at Walliswood. After Gerry had used his undoubted charm we settled down for a really rather nice ploughman's in the great outdoors, shielded from the excesses of the weather by some strategically placed parasols! It was here that John and Erica the Route Meister's regaled us with stories of both their visit to the Jabbeke event, commemorating the 60 years since the speed record, and their visit to Maastricht to catch up with Alain Gaspard an old friend of Erica's. Alain has an amazing collection of Triumphs, so much so that it featured in the most recent Practical Classics Magazine; John was clearly amazed by Alain's collection which includes everything it seems from a mk2 Spitfire to a TR7 V8. He was however particularly taken with the double+ sized lock up garage that their Maastricht Hotel had included for them (as they had a classic car) with their room hire. When the conversation turned to talking about the Jabbeke event, they had nothing but praise for an excellently organised and well executed event. Certainly something I wish I had been able to join.

As I write the final preparations are being made for our annual camping weekend which this year is in the middle of the beautiful Mendips. The campsite is owned and run by a pub The Waggon and Horses, with a bed and breakfast within a 5 minute walk/10 minute stagger, for those who want to go on a camping weekend but don't want to camp, but more of this next month.

So if you fancy joining us for any of our activities or just fancy a natter over a beer you are all most welcome. You can join us on the 1st Thursday of every month at the Rose of York in Richmond or the third Thursday at an alternative venue (keep an eye on the web site), both kick off at around 9.00pm.