Welcome | TR Register Essex Group

October 2007

Bulletin 37

New date for Race Night

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the date of the “Race Nite” at Warley Village Hall has had to be changed from the 17th November to the following Saturday, the 24th November. Tickets for this ever- popular event are now available from Andy D. If you are unable to get along to one of our regular Tuesday meetings, give Andy a ring on 01245 492416 and reserve your places.

Temporary move from the White Horse

The Committee’s worst fears regarding our very popular venue at “The White Horse” were realised when we were informed that it was closing for re-development – despite what we had been led to believe a week or two earlier! Some very swift footwork by Messrs. Jennings & Tant found us re-located at “The Old King’s Head” in Stock for our September get-together – well done chaps. Both the bar and the car park were strained to bursting point as members piled in and the management has agreed to let us have sole use of the restaurant for our next meeting on the 23rd October. This will not solve the car park problem - which will almost certainly prove too small, come the summer - but we are hopeful by that time normal service may have resumed and we will be back at “The White Horse.”

Problems with reconditioned parts

Ernie T is going insane trying to locate a two-speed wiper motor for his newly restored TR5. So called “re-conditioned” units have been supplied by Moss, Revington and The TR Shop but none of these worked properly! Ernie has even tried swapping the motor from Andy D’s 5 “just to check it’s not something wrong with the loom”. This of course worked perfectly and confirms that the Trade’s standard of re-conditioning is disappointing – some may say “crap!”

New members for the Group

I am very pleased to welcome two new members to the Essex Group - Mark Springham and Nick Quill. Both Mark and Nick joined the Group at our stand at the Battlesbridge Show at the end of September. Mark has a very tidy TR6 and Nick is in the process of searching out a car. I hope he is as fortunate as John Pottinger who rolled up at the Show in his superb, newly acquired, 6. John spent quite some time hunting for a good example of the marque and his hard work has certainly paid off – the car looks and sounds great, John!

Battlesbridge in the sun

Although the weather in the few days running up to the show had been miserable, the Sunday dawned sunny and warm and it stayed like that all day. We had truly excellent support from the membership, with 27 gleaming TRs squeezed into our show ring (which had to be extended twice to accommodate the ever-swelling numbers) with Phill Lambe’s race-tuned 6 and its support vehicle and Brian Stokes’ partially re-built TR4a dominating the displays. Newlyweds, Mike and Seonaid Forrester’s long door 2 was conspicuous by its absence (it’s in process of having a Girling axle transplant) but they tipped up on Mike’s superbly restored 1955 Velocette 600 which also attracted a great deal of attention from members of the public. I have been a regular attendee at the September Shows (which are usually blessed by good weather) but I cannot remember any past Shows being as well attended both by exhibitors and the public. So many vehicles were trying to get into the showground that the organisers had to temporarily shut the gates on two occasions!

The whole day was hugely enjoyable and 18 of the Group decided that, when the Show closed, a quick whiz up the old A130 to a local “fusion restaurant” would end the day perfectly. A super Thai/Indian meal was enjoyed although it proved hard work persuading the Asian staff that not all sports cars are MGs!!

Up the creek with a Paddle!

Another superb turnout supported the evening cruise up the Thames onboard paddle steamer “Waverley” on Sunday 7th October. Ninety Members and their guests crowded onto Tilbury Landing Stage to board the “Waverley” for the voyage to The Pool of London. The vessel was quite crowded with passengers, who had booked the full day trip, but once we had passed beneath Tower Bridge and berthed at Tower Pier, the vast majority disembarked leaving only about 150 souls on board – the vast majority now being our party! Tower Bridge was opened again for our passage back down river to Tilbury and this time there was plenty of room to stretch one’s legs and properly explore the ship. She was built just after WW2 and is powered by a triple expansion steam engine driving the non-differential paddle wheels. She is a credit to the Trust which operates her and is incredibly vibration and noise free and cracks along at a comfortable 14 or so knots. A really excellent evening’s sightseeing was enjoyed by all and a big “thank you” must go to Life President, Terry Blake, for arranging such an enjoyable and unique experience.