NORFOLK & SUFFOLK
ICENI BRANCH
NEWSLETTER
JUNE 2010
AREA 2 www.iceniminors.co.uk
Chairman: Owen Smith. 01493-488450 Vice Chairman: Martin Wallis. 07954-037460.
Secretary: Tricia Loades. 01508-520273. Treasurer: Jacky Lloyd. 01473-402465.
MEETINGS
There are no more indoor meetings held at Scole until October now, while we enjoy the rally season. Details of the next meeting will be in future newsletters.
Read on to see what we have planned for the rally season ahead. We hope you will join us at some of the events to celebrate the Branch’s 30th Anniversary.
RALLIES
25th July - Norfolk and Suffolk Branch Rally.
Banham Zoo in the new venue of our Branch rally this year. There is a lot to see and do at the Zoo including watching the animals being fed and coming face to face with the giraffes in Zarafa heights. Almost 1000 animals have their home in the Zoo from around the world. An adventure playground is available to also keep the children amused.
In the morning the Zoo will be holding its regular car boot sale. The entry fee to the rally is £3-50 which includes a memento of the day. Admission to the Zoo is extra, payable on entrance. You should all have received an entry form with the May newsletter, so please send them back to Tricia as soon as possible so we have an idea of numbers attending. If you would like another copy of the entry form either download it from our website at www.iceniminors.co.uk or contact Tricia who will send you one. For more information on Banham Zoo visit their website at www.banhamzoo.co.uk.
STANDS
30th August - The Lavenham Press Rare Breeds Motor Show.
This show is held on the bank holiday Monday and the venue is the Cricket Ground, Lavenham. This event is apparently quite popular and so could members wanting to attend let Tricia know by 25th July as we have to send our entry form in shortly afterwards. All vehicle attending will receive a rally plaque. There will be a Carnival Parade and 30 vehicles will be selected to go around the ring on the day.
If you are interested in attending please send details of your name, registration number, make, model, year and engine size of your car to Tricia, as we complete one form for all those attending on our stand.
5th September - Norfolk Gala Day.
Our Branch will be having a stand at this event at the Norfolk Showground. The Gala Day should have more attractions this year including the Circus Big Top with free performances and workshops. The usual attractions of the Car Clubs and vintage buses and old car rally, craft show and auto jumble will be joined by steam engines and Crufts championship dog show. So a whole lot of attractions to enjoy during the day.
Completed forms together with the £5-00 entry fee can be sent to Tricia who will send them off all together with a copy of the MMOC Public Liability insurance. If you need an entry form contact Tricia also.
RUNS
11th & 12th September - 30th Anniversary Run.
To celebrate 30 years of the Norfolk and Suffolk Branch, Vice-Chairman Martin Wallis, has put together another of his weekend runs. This time it has a farming theme and is entitled “Back to the Land”.
Starting on the Saturday morning we meet at Church Farm Rare Breeds at Stow Bardolph near Downham Market. We have a guided tour and talk by a local gamekeeper and there are plenty of animals to see. Visit their website at www.churchfarmstow-bardolph.co.uk for more details. We are then travelling on to Stanton Post Mill for a tour and talk. Stanton Post Mill is one of a few such mills left. We take in a lunch stop somewhere on the way.
Saturday evening sees us having a celebratory meal at The Cedars at Stowmarket. Overnight accommodation is available and Martin has provisionally booked some rooms at The Cedars. The price per room is £70 for a double/twin and £60 for a single, which includes breakfast. Let Martin know as soon as possible if you intend to book one.
The next morning we have a short tour of the area with a Ploughman’s Lunch and then a visit to the Suffolk Punch Trust at Hollesley Bay. Martin will be holding his auto tests over the course of the weekend, which includes practical work and quizzes. The price per person is £30 which includes entry to the places of interest, the evening meal on Saturday and the lunch on Sunday. Entry forms are now available either from Martin or Tricia. For more details contact Martin on 07954-037460 (evenings) or email martinwallis57@btinternet.com. This sounds like it will be a good weekend to celebrate our 30th Anniversary, so please join us if you can.
DATES TO REMEMBER
26th & 27th June - National Rally.
25th July - Norfolk and Suffolk Branch Rally, Banham Zoo.
15th August - Bowling challenge, Bury Bowl, Bury St Edmunds.
30th August - Lavenham Press Rare Breeds Motor Show.
5th September - Norfolk Gala Day.
11th & 12th September - 30th Anniversary run.
17th October - Indoor Meeting, Scole.
21st November - Annual General Meeting, Scole.
MMOC RALLIES
13th June - West Norfolk Branch Rally.
This year the West Norfolk Branch are holding their Branch Rally at Sandringham. Entry forms are available from Mrs B Dunkley, 2 Linden Road, Clenchwarton, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE34 4EL. The entry fee is £5-00.
26th & 27th June - National Rally.
We are again having a Branch presence at Harewood House this year. Some Branch members will be camping together on the Friday and Saturday nights. If you would like to join us let Tricia know. Also some of us are travelling together on the Friday and back again on the Sunday, so again let Tricia know if you want to join us. We have a kitty for food over the weekend, so contact Tricia for details.
Over the weekend we will have a stand in Branch Avenue as a meeting point for members. If you would like to display your car on the stand contact Tricia. We are also trying to get a team up for the Branch Challenge which is called ‘Changing Wheels’. We need a team of four, so if you would like to participate let Tricia know. You are reminded to send in your details to the National Rally organisers by 12th June. The theme for the rally this year is the ‘Wild West’.
BOWLING
15th August - Ten-pin bowling challenge.
We have a rematch booked at Bury Bowl, Bury St Edmund’s. Again we will have two games of ten-pin and then a meal. More details will be in the next newsletters, but if you are interested in joining in let Tricia know.
EVENTS KNOWN
27th June - Toy and Train Collectors Fair, Beccles Sports Centre, Ringsfield Road, Beccles, Suffolk, NR34 9PF. Adults £2 and seniors £1-50. 10am to 2-30pm. Visit www.j-jwebbfairs.com or telephone 01522-698388.
3rd July - Mile Cross Community Festival and Classic Vehicle Show, Sloughbottom Park, Norwich. Entry is £3-00 which includes a plaque. Entries to be in by 12th June. Forms are available from Nick Walmsley, ‘Tryddyn’, Horning Road West, Hoveton, Norwich, NR12 8QJ. Telephone 01603-782758 (7-9pm only) or email austinick@btinternet.com.
11th July - Reedham Fete and Beer Festival. The Humpty Dumpty Brewery are again this year holding a beer festival combined with a fete. Amongst other entertainment there will be a model helicopter display. You can stay overnight and enjoy a barbecue on the Saturday evening. Pam and Owen Smith will be attending. The event on Sunday is between 1pm and 4pm. Contact Ann Thompson on 01493-701180.
11th July - Visit to Wing Commander Ken Wallis at his workshop at Reymeston Hall, Brian Norton of the North Norfolk Branch has arranged a visit to see Commander Wallis’ Auto Gyros. There is no charge for the visit, but Mr Wallis collects for charity. If the weather is OK there is the possibility of a demonstration flight. The North Norfolk Branch will be meeting up in Hingham at 10am. Contact Brian Norton on 01603-409927 for more details.
17th & 18th July - Nissan Figaro Owners Club Rally, Fritton Lake near Great Yarmouth. The theme is a 60’s weekend with fancy dress at a Saturday night barbecue. Mini’s will also be there. Contact Richard Routlidge on 01493-651272 or email soulvilleweekenders@hotmail.co.uk.
EVENT REPORTS
2nd May - Ipswich to Felixstowe Run.
Three Branch members met at the Asda Supermarket at Ipswich. They were Jacky and Brian Lloyd, Hilary and Bryan Gostling with daughter Charlotte and their new grandchild and Tricia and Jimmy Loades. It was drizzling with rain and remained like that all day. Quite a contrast to some of the other runs we have attended over the years.
We saw a few Morris Minors on the run, that included past Branch members and new ones, but unfortunately were not able to get to speak to them. Jimmy and I were put in with the commercials with our pick-up this year, so were not able to join the others on the run to Felixstowe. The only other Morris Commercial there was a GPO van, but we saw a few Morris Oxfords with a 4/50 and 6/80 Wolesley.
Walking along the seafront at Felixstowe, Jimmy and I bumped into long standing MMOC friends Doreen and Henry Cooper from the Essex Branch. They had travelled up on one of the buses from Essex. I don’t think there were so many vehicles on the run this year maybe due to the weather and I was disappointed that there wasn’t the special events celebrating the 40th run as promised. But the weather didn’t deter the people who waited to wave at us along the way, either under umbrellas or in their cars and the amount of people who looked at the line up at Felixstowe.
23rd May - 30th Anniversary event.
In contrast to the weather at the Ipswich to Felixstowe Run our event at Langley was blessed with sunshine all the weekend. And wasn’t it hot? When we set up everything on the Saturday the sun was beating down on us and remained that way for our barbecue in the evening. Twenty members, family and friends enjoyed themselves outside on the meadow, where our resident chef Brian Lloyd was busy at the barbecue.
Over the course of the weekend we had a total of 43 cars join us. These ranged from MG’s to Nissan Figaro’s, Ford Consuls, Anglia’s, Granada’s and Cortina’s, as well as a range of different models of Morris Minors. Plus we had 3 Morris Oxfords attend, two of them MO’s. Branch members past and present attended along with two of our founder members Chris Smedley and John Frye, who brought his black Minor along. All entrants and members attending received a rosette to commemorate the Branch’s 30th Anniversary. These were in the colours of the BMC rosette, red, white and blue.
People attending had ten competitions to take part in and the winners were as follows:- Lucky Programme was won by Alison and Mike Jones who had travelled all the way from Maidstone in Kent to join us. (But not in their Morris as it was too hot.) They won £10 which Mike said will go towards all the spares he bought at the event. Although not members of the MMOC, they saw the event advertised in the Classic Car Weekly (as did a lot of the other car owners), they took away some forms with them to join, as they thought we were all a friendly bunch. So Kent Branches could be seeing Alison and Mike with their 1966 traveller soon.
Guess the weight of the cake was won by Rosie Matthewson. Rosie guessed 6lbs 7½oz and the actual weight was 6lbs 8oz. So well done, she was nearly spot on and hope she enjoys the cake. Guess the name of the bear was won by me, Tricia Loades, with the name of Patty being drawn out and I received the bear as the prize. Guess the weight of the pick-up was won by Nigel Hopkins from Norwich and Nigel wins a fluorescent vest. The photograph competition was also won by Nigel with 5 out of 10 parts identified correctly. Nigel received a photograph album as a prize. The parts “grope” competition was again won by Nigel Hopkins with 11 out of 12 parts correctly felt! Nigel won a petrol can on this one. Well done Nigel and thanks for having a go on a lot of the competitions.
Find the Faults on the traveller was won by Richard Scott from Colchester, who had 9 out of 10 correct answers. Richard received some torches as a prize. The 12 mile Treasure Hunt was won by new Branch members Mary and David Stancer from Poringland with all 25 questions correctly solved. They received a travel rug and chocolates as a prize. The winner of the auto tests competition was Jimmy Loades who won a set of combination spanners. So well done to you all and hope you enjoy using your very practical prizes.
Thank you goes to Brian and Jacky Lloyd, Owen and Pam Smith, Martin Wallis, Bryan Gostling, Paul Collison and Gordon and Angie Leaver who helped tremendously over the weekend, and to everybody who brought raffle prizes, there certainly were a lot, and who helped in any way. We hope everybody who attended enjoyed themselves and didn’t get too sunburnt (like me). Thank you especially for everybody who helped with the refreshments and the bacon rolls. What a lovely smell they were wafting across the meadow. And lastly a big thank you to my husband Jimmy who let us use the meadow and put a lot of effort into setting up the field and setting some of the competitions. What would I do without you?
We gained two new members who joined on the day (details elsewhere in the newsletter). So all in all a lot of hard work, but a good event to celebrate our 30th Anniversary. We even raised £100-00.
To add to our celebrations a photographer from the Beccles and Bungay Journal came along to take photos of our event, some of us with our cars. Past member Rodney Nessling and his wife were photographed with their 1950 Series MM as was myself with ours. Barry Kirby also had his photo taken with his 1000 saloon. We were all featured in a page spread in last weeks Journal. Even appearing on the front of the Bungay edition of the paper.
30th May - Great Yarmouth Classic Car Show.
This event was unfortunately cancelled, so nobody attended.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
If you would like anything included in the July newsletter then please let Tricia know by 27th June.
Recently we have had our website updated, so take a look at www.iceniminors.co.uk.
We have found out from Rosie Hamilton that we can accept as members of the Branch, people who don’t belong to the MMOC. So at the 23rd May event we welcomed William Harrison and his wife as our first non-MMOC members. They come from Saxlingham Thorpe near Norwich. We also had Frank Murray from Bradwell join us. So welcome to you all and we look forward to seeing you at some of our events during the year.
Thank you goes to Greg Chandler who has brightened up our Branch logo. This new version will appear shortly on our new Branch banner.