Thames Valley Social Scene No. 354
It was an eventful summer with attendance at Cranliegh and Capel shows plus visits to the Brooklands Autojumble and Goodwood Breakfast.
On 2nd October we held our Tim Harding memorial run, this year to Basingstoke, 8 TR’s took part.
Mervyn, our previous group leader, attended the European Meeting in Switzerland in September and has kindly written the following report:
“Having participated in Euromeets before, this one, hosted by the TR Club of Switzerland, was one of the best. TVG members were Mervyn and Carla Rogers and Paul and Grace Sharp who joined the tour, both in TR6s. We were welcomed at the Seehotel Waldstatterhof, Brunnen on the shore of Lake Lucerne in beautiful sunshine followed by a cocktail reception lakeside later. There were 108 TRs from 10 countries and a lot of familiar faces. Saturday we took part in a 70 mile circular tour reaching the Klausen Pass at 1,952m, the scenery was amazing in the warm sunshine. On the Sunday everyone drove to Sarnen where we had lunch and said goodbye to members not doing the tour. After lunch the main tour started with a staggering 83 TRs. With the magnificent tour books provided, we all made our way to Tiefencastel, 115 miles to the east, where the weather turned cooler and damper. Day2 we did a circular route via the Albula pass (2315m) for a local cheese and cold meat lunch at Morteratsch, then took the funicular railway to Muottas Muragi (2456m) peak. On the way back to Teifencastel we climbed the Julierpass (2284m). Day3 we drove South to Lugano via the San Berardino pass (2088 m), arriving in hot sunshine. Lugano on the lake had a relaxed affluent atmosphere. Day4 took us around the lake coast roads into Italy briefly at Luino then continued along the coast of Lake Maggiore. Our final destination was Andermatt via The Tremola road that winds its way round up 24 hairpins on granite stones to the Gotthard pass (2091m). Day5 we drove another circular route via the Furka pass and the Rhone Glacier and here we visited the Ice Grotto at the base of the glacier. Day6 we woke up to 6 inches of snow and said our goodbyes to everyone before finding our own way back to the UK. Mervyn and Carla drove south west to stop in Monteux taking a motor train to pass through a tunnel under the Furka pass which was closed due heavy snow. Paul and Grace drove north via clear roads. This is a brief summary of a wonderful 2000 mile plus trip through stunning scenery. Our thanks go to the Swiss TR Club that organised such a great meeting and tour.”
Our regular meetings are at the Stepping Stones pub in Westhumble, Dorking (RH5 6BS) on the third Wednesday of each month from 20:00 and our Sunday lunchtime meetings on the last Sunday of the month at the Surrey Oaks (RH5 5DZ), starting at 12:00.
Upcoming Events:
1st January - Brooklands New Years Day meeting.