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Nick Holland in his ’magical’ MG ZR taking part in the well-attended ‘Bright Yellow Car Convoy’ through Bibury on 1st April

A good turn-out again for the March club night with around 50 people turning up for a bit of a get-together. Steven and Diane turned up armed with forms for the Ducklington Steam & Classic Show and also forms for the Abingdon Air and Country Show and encouraged those who were interested in attending either of these to collect a form and send it off to book a place. Tony Nash has offered to organise the first Club Run of the season, the Airfield Run, and this will take place on ‘Drive It Day’, Sunday 23rd of April. The meeting place for this run will be the car park at Smith’s Industrial Estate on the Burford Road at the top end of Witney at 10.30am. See the page at the back of this newsletter for the map showing the meeting point. The Smith’s estate was originally the site of the old Witney Airfield used during the first and second world wars and is an excellent starting point for this interesting run which will finish at the café on the active Airfield at Kemble. More than 500 Spitfires and 500 Hurricanes were repaired at Witney Airfield in the Second World War so it played a big role in the success of the Battle of Britain and the war effort. The site was closed down in 1949 and taken over by Smiths Industries to build car heaters. It would be great to have a good turn-out for this, the first club run of this MG year. Jean had advised that she had been able to make arrangements with the golf club to provide our ‘Fish & Chip’ meal which we missed out on when the Lamb & Flag closed unexpectedly last November. It was though a good idea to have the meal at the same time as the AGM which, of course, in this coming April club night. So, in order to get the meal booked, Jean was noting down the requests from those present that club night. Initially, there were only a few responses on the night and by email and Jean was getting concerned.

However, following the sending out of a late email reminder about ordering the meal, there are now almost 70 of us going to be sitting down on Club Night and tucking into our Fish & Chips. Lovely !! Michael finished off the evening with another of his quizzes which always creates a great bit of banter.

Surely, we will have time for one despite it being a busy April Club Night / AGM. Let’s hope so -----------------------------------------------------------------------

The club’s Annual General Meeting is the platform for keeping the club members aware of club activities, assets, Finance and future intentions. It also a time of looking back at the MG year just gone and getting ourselves set for the new MG year ahead. There have certainly been some changes and some sad losses of valued members and change is certainly something we have had to endure as the years role by. The AGM also provides the opportunity for the members to get more involved in the running of the club as each year, the current club officers either stand down or put themselves up for re-election to the positions available. The committee positions are as follows…. Area Secretary (chairperson) Membership Secretary Finance Officer Events Secretary I would actively encourage members to consider these positions and either stand for election, propose a member and / or vote as appropriate on the evening. The AGM is also the time for renewal of the Club

Membership Fees which, as previously

mentioned in last month’s newsletter, are held again at £10 per annum per household (individual member or couple).

Please remember that those who were

fully paid-up members throughout 2016 will have

a £5 deduction from their ‘Fish & Chip’ meal at this AGM to compensate for the missed celebration meal at our November Birthday club night. Recent or new members who have not paid the full membership for 2016/17 will have to wait until November this year for their £5 deduction, I’m afraid. As previously mentioned, our AGM is not a ‘long- drawn-out‘ affair and will not spoil the enjoyment of our usual ability to have a good natter. See you there...

Dozens of yellow car owners have held a rally in support of a pensioner's bright yellow car, which was blamed for ruining the view in one of Britain's most picturesque villages.

A convoy of 100 cars drove through Bibury on the 1st of April in an act of solidarity towards Vauxhall Corsa owner Peter Maddox, 84.

Mr Maddox’s yellow Vauxhall parked in a picturesque Cotswold village was blamed for ruining hundreds of tourists' snaps. Numerous visitors have taken to Twitter claiming it "ruins" the view and is a "shot spoiler". Bibury, near Cirencester, was once described by William Morris as "the most beautiful village in England". The 17th Century cottages of Arlington Row are featured on the inside cover of the British passport and are some of the most photographed dwellings in the country. Some people who visited Bibury claimed that the bright yellow car ruined their view of the village which somehow led to vandals thinking it was a clever idea to damage Mr Maddox’s Corsa.

His car was heavily vandalised with the word ’MOVE’ scratched into the paintwork, various other panels scored and scratched and a side window and rear windscreen smashed. In all, damage was estimated at £6000 and the car was written off. It has since been replaced with a grey car. It was this vandalism which lead to the organisation of a yellow car run in support of Mr Maddox and his little yellow car. Yellow car owners came from all over the south of England such is the power of the internet.

As you will see from the photo on the front of this newsletter, Nick Holland took part in his yellow ZR.

The above picture shows a fabulous mix of yellow cars including TVR, Lotus, Lamborgini, Fords, Ferrari etc., etc.. which gathered up at the Cotswold Wildlife Park

after the run through the village had taken place.

The protest involved close to 100 vehicles and the event was such a success that there’s already talk of making it an annual event. In other great news Vauxhall claimed that it would name their yellow colour in honour of Peter, renaming the bright colour Maddox Yellow. Needless to say, Peter Maddox was well pleased with the event and the news from Vauxhall

IF IT’S ALL THE SAME TO YOU,

…… I THINK I’LL GIVE IT A MISS !

Pete O’Hare sent me this information as a warning to those of us who have an ‘up-and-over’ garage door…

Pete says….

“Please send out a warning to anyone who has an up & over garage door, as I had a break in on the rented garage that I keep the RV8 GT in. A neighbour alerted me on Sunday

morning about the garage door being open. Luckily the car was locked & nothing was stolen, although I half expected the extra spare RV8 alloy wheel & tyre to be gone. What the thieves had done was to pop the two plastic catches (at the top of the door) out of the striker plates, because when I checked the handle mechanism it was still locked. Somehow, they still managed to get in even though an additional panel at the top of the door frame stops direct access with a screwdriver. I would advise anyone with this type of door to add additional locking security either inside or outside fitted lower down so the door cannot be pushed open should someone manage to force the top locks.” This is certainly wise advice Pete and hopefully it will prompt members to check out the security of their garage.

I wouldn’t book your car for repair by this guy.

He’s not liable to be around for long anyway.

Things are now moving at a faster pace with regard to the organisation for our annual event, MGs IN THE PARK which, as you know will be held on Sunday the 4th of June at the Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford.

Advertising has been ongoing although we have not been successful with some of the classic car publications in persuading them to highlight our event.

However, as Nick Holland reminded me, social media in the form of Facebook and other applications and some forums on internet are what people tend to use these days to find out what is going on although some of us oldies are not yet fully switched on the these forms of communication.

Anyway, MGOC have been running our advert for the last couple of months and this will go on until their publication of ‘Enjoying MG’ hits our doorsteps at the end of May.

The Park is booked, Traders invited and Liability insurance in place. All the club equipment which is stored at Bob & Jane Fisher’s house in Wanborough has to be moved to my garage at the start of May as Bob and Jane have temporarily moved to Dorset for some 18 months or so and will not be involved in the event this year.

As has been the case over the last good few years, setting up of the site will take place on Saturday, the 3rd of June and I would certainly be grateful for support from members in getting things in place for our big day.

Please let me know if you can help on the 3rd and/or the 4th of June.

PLEASE NOTE……

DON’T FORGET THE CLUB AIRFIELD RUN WHICH TAKES PLACE THIS MONTH ON ‘DRIVE IT DAY’, 23rd APRIL AND WILL START FROM SMITHS INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, BURFORD ROAD, WITNEY at 10.30am. A MAP OF START IS SHOWN AT THE END OF THIS NEWSLETTER.

How’s your garage door? MGs IN THE PARK

Vera’s Kitchen

10 Burford Street,

Lechlade

Gloucestershire

GL7 3AP

Tel 01367 252677

Visit this cosy tea room in a 17th Century

stone building on Lechlade’s main street.

B & B accommodation is also available in

very smart courtyard rooms.

Trip advisor says…. “Vera’s kitchen … Best cafe in Lechlade”

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Abingdon Road,

Steventon,

OX13 6RW

Give Steve a Call on

01235 833970

Got a problem with your MGB, MGC, MGB V8, RV8 or Midget?

Could your MG do with a bit of a tidying up, an engine overhaul, a bit of TLC or even a fresh coat of paint?

Or, what about power steering fitted to your MGB? Now, there’s an idea!

Proprietor and club member, Steve Illing, will be able to help you with your treasured classic MG.

Steve’s knowledge and understanding of MGBs, Midgets is second to none and he holds the MGOC 5 Spanner accreditation. ACR

is also named as the official fitting station in the region for the MGOC Power Steering Kit.

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College Motors

Unit 4

Sturt Farm Ind Estate A40 near Burford Oxon, OX18 4ET Call Simon on 01993 823560

MGF – ZT – ZS – ZR – Rover 75 – 200 - 400.

Spare Parts, Servicing and repair specialists

College Motors offer a highly reliable auto spare service and can supply excellent spare parts for

cars such as engines, gear boxes, wheels, tyres, alloys and more for ……………Get directions on the website www.rovermgspecialist.co.uk

MEETING POINT FOR THE CLUB AIRFIELD RUN ON SUNDAY 23rd APRIL