THAMES VALLEY HOODS

Event Reports 2005 - Page 2

Stoneleigh - April 2005

The Stoneleigh show was a good day out for the Thames Valley hoods, The rendezvous' all happened on time to plan, and our convoy grew to 8 cars for the final lap to the showground. Apologies to all those suffering in my smoke screen, must find a cure for that soon.

Somehow we attracted others too, for as we left the A46 the view behind was an amazing conga of at least 20 hoods or similar cars. Oh ! the responsibility of taking / missing the right turns with all those depending on my navigation !!! Arriving at the gate there was no queue our way................did you see the queue from the other direction!

The guy on the gate shouted '' five quid for the wife mate'' ...........now, he was either a beggar, or running a creche for bored wives, or just collecting a hareem, whatever, i thought it was a miserly offer for my beloved of many years. I paid up and drove in, to find the Rhocar area already filling up fast. I parked next to a nice Superspec and the Thames valley made a nice single line up on the front ''grid '' of the ranks, and soon to be joined by our old mate Duncan in his 2B , down with his Dad from the Potteries .

We managed to tour the stalls and stands, do a bit of retail, plant a quick kiss on Gina, before returning to picnic by the car. ( See the hamper ? No boot, just a hamper !) . There was a lot of spectator interest in the thames Valley cars, a pleasing sight. Did anyone take any digipics of us there ? A few for the website would be appreciated as i left my camera at home.

Must mention Pete Cherry, if there were awards for excelling as a hoodie, he would be on the podium. Only last week he underwent an operation, and then spent the weekend camping at Stoneleigh. Well done that man !

Had an enjoyable drive home on 'A' roads instead of the M40, Steve went there as a two seater...........came home as a four seater with his purchases carefully strapped in.

And here's a first for me....................wifey slept a good deal of the way home !!, Obviously the excitement of the day caught up eventually !!!

Happy Hooding

JP.

No Caterham Skidpan this year ........ shame

Caterham autotest

Three Horseshoes Pub - Sunday excursion .....

A Pictoral record of our run out to a pub near to Stokenchurch just off the M40 on 8th May 2005. The Three Horseshoes at Bennett End is set in a very scenic location - famed for its Red Kites (not that we saw any !). Good food and a fine drive in fine weather, there was also the chance to get some photos for the Members Gallery. There has to be a story behind the telephone box in the duck pond ...............

The Three Horseshoes nestled in the valley.

Paul Gretton arriving

Paul's SubK on one of the first runs. Check out the phone box !

Newark '05 Kit Car Show - 20th June 2005

NEWARK '05

Well, keen to add to the engine bay collection of "Attendance Plaques" - I ventured North with Peter Ray in convoy across the flat and unnervingly straight roads that head towards Lincoln. There was to be a convoy of three - but Irene had been battling with London Underground efficiencies the night before after a night on the town (she and Danny did get to Newark in the end though).

The weather was fabulous - the temperature gauge consequently hovered nearer the "N" more often than I would have liked - must look out one of those "signs" so I can do away with the front number plate ! As my lad Spencer and I entered the Showground - we realised that the convoy of 2 had become a convoy of ONE (can you have a convoy of 1 ?) ...... Peter we assumed had taken the first entrance and headed into the public car park instead of the Kit Car line. How wrong we were ........

Peter had floored the throttle to catch up with us at a roundabout , clearly this took the throttle linkage by surprise because it failed ... big time. So , outside lane , no throttle and heart in mouth ...... Peter navigated to the kerb and hit the hazards . A couple of passing Kit Cars offered help - (as they do, great spirit) - but Peter had things under control - fixed in no time - he then, of course, headed off in the wrong direction completely !

I think, in the end, there were just the three of us from Thames Valley (might be wrong though) - even so , the club won the "Best Attended" award again and I believe a suitably clad lady did the honours for the photo call during the presentation (this I missed , but I'm sure Peter didn't !).

Attached Image

The Newark Kit Car show is a mix of : Kits , Classics, Steam Engines, Kit Manufacturers, Stalls and Crafts. Having been before we were looking forward to the "Robot Wars" Roadshow that had been a highlight of the last 2 years - but they were nowhere to be seen. Whilst wandering around we did spy some 4x4 Kits with "Attendance Plaques" going from 1990 right through to 2005 - so I've got a bit of catching up to do.

The journey back was uneventful - Peter raced off south on the M1 - while we took to the "A" Roads as soon as we could - great weather and good roads. Newark is a good event.

On pulling into the drive at home I did find that the side mount of the exhaust was coming loose - one bolt missing and one hanging on by a thread or two - so perhaps it's as well it was not a mile further away !

No digital camera on the day - so I grabbed the ones here from the RHOCaR site (where you'll find more write ups on the Newark Show).

Attached Image

Happy Hooding.

Very Best Regards

Graham Mintram

Robin Hood Pub - nr. Brackley - June '05

A pictoral record from JP ....seems to have been an area secretary "love-in" ..... John for Thames , Bob for West Country and John T for Herts !

The Robin Hood

Bob + Pauline

The "Gleamers"

John and Helen get cuddly

The Luncheon

Peter stands guard.

Sean holds on .. (dodgy handbrake Sean ? )

"Classic Car Saturday" - 16th July.

Saturday 16th July 2005

"Classic Car Saturday" held at The Bull Standford Dingley.

There were about 30 cars in total but sadly only two Robin Hoods, my own and Graham Bowden's. The 2 Hoods attracted a lot of attention from vistors and other car owners alike. We were blessed with golden sunshine throughout the day.

The next "Classic Car Saturday" will be on Saturday 20th August from 12pm till 3pm. I hope more of the Thames Valley Hood's can join us next time.

Chris Newlands.

Graham Bowden also went and sends his report :-

The Pub has a large car park and overflow field. The "event" basically happens on the field. There are a number of marques who seem to make it a club meet. Triumph TR , MG and Jags abound. Many of the cars are fairly exclusive. My favourite - The Fraser Nash - but includes a Volvo, AC Ace even a MG Midget. This was the first attendance by RobinHood. We caused some noise and many wanderers stopped to have a look, while Chris and I sat under a tree with a glass in our hands.

Note for next year .... the pub grub is a bit steeply priced !

Uxbridge Show - 17th July 2005

The Rotary Club 22nd Annual "Uxbridge AutoShow" took place in West London on 17th July. A convoy of (I think 8) Hoods gathered from various directions to roll into the heat bowl that was Uxbridge - with JP at the head of the pack, we were relieved to find good signage guiding us in !

We arrived to find the Surrey Hoods already in place with gazzebo aloft. Our turn ........

Once the 4 hammers were put away again (why do Hoodies carry these things ?), it was time to fire up the smoke signals and burn some food.

JP had brought some "Show" information cards for us to wax lyrical about our cars on for members of the public to gaze upon. These revealed some surprising facts ..... Bob reckons he has 2.1 Litres in his Hood .......... perhaps next time you could add age of owner to the card John ?

My lad Spencer and I headed for the show cars just before the cremation started, the number of cars was astounding , 3 very big field full of all sorts of ages , sizes , conditions and values. A highlight for us was the motorbike display team "Over the Top" - we saw both their shows. The first was "hotter" than they planned - as it involved fireworks and grass that was tinder dry - the sight of the display team running around with fire extinguishers , buckets of water , bottles of water , planks , boots and anything else they could get hold of to put out the 50 or so fires that had settled around the arena will stay with me for quite a while !

When we got back to the cars - all had abandoned ship to look at the other cars - so we hosted the Mayors visit to our stand (she was being shown around by Mr "Rotary Club") , nice lady - impressed by the size of the exhausts ! (?) .

Having taken another tour of the show - we returned weary fellows at about 4pm - to find ours the last remaining Hood on the pitch -it had been a VERY hot day - and obviously the older generation had given up the struggle (joking guys and girls ,,,, joking).

Graham Mintram.

Cotswold Wildlife Park - Burford August '05

Peter Ray sent along the attached shot from Cotswold Wildlife Park , Burford - his to the left and Steve's with an impromptu cover in place on the right.

The All Ford Rally - Sept '05.

The All Ford Rally for pre '65 Fords of all kinds took place near Abingdon at Dalton Barracks. 7 Hoods collected in the car park of our monthly meet in Gozzards Ford before descending on the public car park @ Dalton. A great mix of Fords and an Army 4x4 track that challenged a few Landies made for an entertaining afternoon. The showers though were heavy and a good drenching was had by all ! Peter Ray sent along a phone image which I've played with - any shots of the show itself lads ? Very Best Regards Graham M.

Click the image !

Pete Cherry came up trumps with this shot of the fleet assembled prior to departing for Dalton Barracks. We were obviously off form that day - I think only 3 bonnets got lifted !

Homecall - Jon Sawyer 2005.

Jon is off to Uni. so things have slowed a bit since the Homecall during the summer! The car has I believe been for an SVA and come away with some "improving points" and the lads were able to give Jon some tips on how to address them. The 6 or so Hoods that stormed into Whitney made enough noise to make themselves known so Jon's neighbours know what to expect once he gets on the road.

Thanks to Graham Bowden for images of the day :-

Exeter Kit Car Show '05

Peter Cherry is in his first "summer" of using his Hood after years in the garage. I recall the first clutch of Kit Car shows I visited in my first proud year and Peter is no different - though travelling through Minus 6 deg. by choice might have tested even my resolve !

Peter sent along the following report from the 20th November 2005 trip to Exeter. If you're out and about in the Hood please do as Peter did and send along any words and photos - we're still after both for the Brands event ? ! ?

"Hi Graham - a report for the website!!

Regrettably, mine & Peter Ray's wires were crossed for the day's trip. I waited at Hinksey Interchange on the A34 for ten minutes - then away as I wanted to make M5 J19 for 0900. Alas it wasn't to be.... freezing fog for 30 miles and no hood on meant the demisters couldn't keep the screen warm enough and I had to keep stopping to de-ice. The carb kept icing up on the primary choke until the fog cleared. But I didn't get to Gordano till after the Bristol mob had gone. So out with the flask and a coffee to warm the hands. Got to the show at about 11, missed getting a slot in the line-up, so pics tell it all. Also pic of the lightweight with a Zetec shoe-horned in!!

Good show, quieter than other Exeter ones I've attended.

Regards,

Pete."

An area group of the RHOCaR club - all things Robin Hood Kit Cars