NORFOLK & SUFFOLK

ICENI BRANCH

NEWSLETTER

AREA 2 www.iceniminors.co.uk

21st February sees the first indoor meeting of the year at Scole Community Centre, Ransome Avenue, Scole near Diss. We will be discussing our events for this year, so please come along and give us your ideas. The meeting starts at 2-30 pm and will be followed by a quiz brought along by Sian Charlton entitled ‘A Pot Pourri of Useless Knowledge’. Refreshments will also be served.

Our starting point for our run out on Drive It Day will be at Morrison’s Supermarket, Clip Bush Lane, Fakenham. We meet at 9-30 am for a 10 am departure. This year the run is being organised by the Marina lads who regularly join us on our runs. The route will be in the North Norfolk area. More details in future Newsletters.

As mentioned in January’s newsletter some of the Branch will be attending the 40th Ipswich to Felixstowe Run. The entry fee this year is £13-00 and entries have to be received by 28th February. As before we will be meeting up at Asda Supermarket, Ipswich just off the A14 at 9-30 am. Please let Tricia know if you intend meeting us there and we will wait for you. We will then all drive together to Christchurch Park. The run is over 13 miles and as it is the 40th one special celebrations are planned for the day. You can download the entry form from the Ipswich Transport Museums website at wwwipswichtransportmuseum.co.uk, following the link to events. If you want a paper copy instead please let Tricia know. Please don’t turn up on the day you must be pre-booked into the run,

We are to start near King’s Lynn with a guided tour and talk by a gamekeeper, then on to a working mill. We have an evening meal and party at Stowmarket and accommodation will be available. Sunday would be a visit to the Suffolk Punch horses and Martin will be holding his usual tests and questions along the way. More details as and when available. The Essex Branch should be joining us along the way as they also celebrate their 30th this year.

Things are slowly taking shape for our 30th Anniversary celebration at Tricia and Jimmy’s at Langley. On the Saturday night there will be a barbecue for Branch members. Sunday will see autojumble stalls and Bryan Gostling will be valuing vehicles at a small cost to Branch funds. We have a road run planned, various competitions with autotests and refreshments.

We invite members to give us their ideas as to what they would like to do on the day and also ask you for help with doing them. Autojumble stalls will be open to all classic car makes. More details as and when.

This year our Branch rally will be held at Banham Zoo. As well as all the attractions of the animals, there is a giant car boot sale in the morning. Again more details next Newsletter.

We have told the organisers that we will be attending this event with a Branch stand at Wellesley Recreation Ground. They are to send us entry forms when they are available. So if you would like to join us here please let Tricia know and she will send you a form. Entry fee is £5-00 per car and donations from the rally will be made to Macmillan Nurses.

As was mentioned in January’s Newsletter we will also be attending this event with a Branch stand. If you are interested in attending please let Tricia have your name and registration number, make, model, year and engine size of your car, as we have to fill a form in with those attending. Branch member Ian Hamilton attended the show last year and says there were a large number of cars there with a few Morris Minors and a few other British cars. There are lots of things going on and overall he said it was a good day out with some great cars to look at.

21st February - Indoor meeting, Scole.

21st March - Indoor meeting, Scole.

2nd May - Ipswich to Felixstowe Run.

23rd May - Autojumble, Langley.

30th May - Great Yarmouth Classic Car Show.

June - Bowling return match.

25th July - Norfolk and Suffolk Branch Rally, Banham Zoo.

30th August - Lavenham Press Rare Breeds Motor Show.

11th & 12th September - Anniversary run.

17th October - Indoor Meeting, Scole.

21st November - Annual General Meeting, Scole.

2nd May - Wymondham Old Timers Classic Transport Show, Pensthorpe Waterfowl Park near Fakenham. £7-50 per car including driver and one passenger which allows full access to all facilities. Additional passengers £7-00, plaques pre-ordered £3-00.

22nd May - Vintage Vehicle Day at the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden Aerodrome, Bedfordshire. As long as you pre book, car and driver get in free, with extra adults £10-00. You can download entry forms at www.shuttleworth.org/events.asp. Entries are to be in by 7th May.

6th June - Norwich Classic Vehicle Club’s Annual Classic Vehicle Show and Autojumble, at Anglian Home Improvements Social Club, A140, Cromer Road, Norwich. Entry is free. Contact Paul on 07944-990944. For Autojumble stand and car boot sale enquiries contact Bernie on 07546-580372.

13th June - Euston Park Rural Pastimes. £6-00 entry fee includes driver and one passenger, plus programme and brass plaque. Entry forms are available from Anne Greenfield on 01638-711237 or email orchardhouse23@aol.com.

It was nice to see that all the Branch members enjoyed their meal at the Greyhound, Ixworth. We were divided up into four tables and were given a Christmas cracker each kindly supplied by Chris and Shirley Mitchell. Then members were handed round a raffle ticket each for our Secret Santa. Just before the meal Chairman Owen presented Secretary Tricia a silk flower arrangement wrapped in cellophane and a card signed by the members present, for her work as Secretary for the last 25 years. Tricia accepted with a thank you and said it didn’t seem like twenty-five years.

After our roast lunch of either chicken or beef we pulled out the raffle tickets for the Secret Santa presents. Thank you to all members who brought along the presents. Brian Lloyd then presented the ‘Member of the Year’ shield. His choice this year was Jimmy Loades who he said had been a great help to him and Jacky with their pick-up last year. A very surprised Jimmy said thank you.

The third person to be presented with something was Owen. When we were bowling back in December Tricia had caught Owen in an action shot on her camera and she presented Owen with a framed photograph. To round off the meal the ladies were each given a bunch of carnations kindly brought by Owen and Pam. So we would like to say thank you to all those that attended, brought things and presented things and made the meal so enjoyable.

Several Branch members were up and about early on 24th January at the Norfolk Showground. Luckily there wasn’t the snow around that had been in recent weeks, as Martin was bringing a pick-up for restoration and Jacky and Brian were coming in their recently restored pick-up from Ipswich to display on the stand.

We had a busy few minutes putting up the banner, lights and display boards, as well as setting out our regalia and forms. Chris Mitchell had kindly made some models displayed on wood for us to sell and they went very well. Chris also brought a tin of sweets for passers-by to sample. Jacky and Brian kept us supplied with tea, coffee and cup-a-soups, while Pam had brought a cake, drink and balloons to help celebrate the 30th Anniversary.

Pam and Owen also brought along some of their collection of model Morris Minors to display. Gordon and Angie Leaver (who also brought a cake) and Ken and Debbie Allen came along to visit the stand. Geoffery Halstead our new member from Diss also came along and introduced himself. While Bryan and Hilary Gostling had an autojumble stand over the aisle from us. We gave away lots of forms and sold quite a bit of regalia, so not a bad day out. Thank you to everybody who helped and brought along things to help with the stand. We even had our own in house mechanic, who tirelessly worked on Martin’s pick-up throughout the event!

If you would like anything included in the March newsletter then please let Tricia know by 21st February.

Don’t forget to visit our website at www.iceniminors.co.uk and see more details of our events coming up as well as photographs and reports of our past events.

Desmond Brick from the Essex Branch has asked if anybody can help out with a convertible for a wedding in Billericay on August 7th. Contact Eve Alabaster on 0151-727-3270 if you can help.

After sending the Newsletter by email, it seems that some of you cannot open the document sent in Microsoft Works. There are only a few that can’t open the document, but it seems that the majority of you could receive it in Microsoft Words. I wonder if anybody has this on disc so I can put it on my computer or can tell me how I can go about getting in on the computer. If you can help please let me know. In the meantime those who can’t open the Newsletter attachment I will continue sending you a paper copy.

We are now in the process of ordering some more Branch tee shirts. If you would like to buy one let Martin know your choice of colour and size.

15th & 16th June - Barnsley Jogle.

We have been asked to promote this event by the Barnsley Branch. The run is from John O’Groats to Lands End in 24 hours. If you would like to take part contact Barry McKenzie on 01142-468357 or email barrie@barnsleyminors.co.uk.

We have received a card and letter from Chris Smedley thanking the Branch for her mirror presented at the Annual General Meeting. Chris said she was surprised at the presentation, but that it brought back many happy memories of her and her husband Carl’s time in the Branch. Thank you Chris, we hope you will join us at some of the 30th Anniversary events this year.

I would like to say a big thank you for the lovely flower arrangement I was presented with at the New Year lunch. It came as a big surprise to me. As you know I have been Secretary of the Branch now for twenty-five years (actually it seems like 125!). I was elected as Secretary in November 1984 when I was nineteen (now you can work out my age!) and I had only been in the Morris Minor Owners Club for about two years.

Since then the years have slipped by very quickly and the work involved with being Branch Secretary has now become part of my life. I have met a lot of fellow Minor Owners and made a lot of friends over the years. It has been fun and I thank the other Committee members (past and present) for their help, which keeps the Branch running, now in it’s 30th year. Between Jimmy and I we now own five Minors, one Austin and a Morris Oxford. Coincidentally I have now owned the Oxford for twenty-five years. So you should see us both out in some of them this year at events.

Jimmy would also like to say thank you for the ‘Member of the Year’ award. Brian Lloyd had chosen him as he had helped him with his pick-up throughout last year and he also helps me with the Branch events. We would both like to say that we like helping and wouldn’t do it if we didn’t like to. Thank you all again. Tricia and Jimmy Loades.