MG EVENTS

2004

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Welcome to Page SEVEN of the 2004 Events Review pages

Here you'll find written reviews and photographs of many MG events throughout the year

Click on the small photos to get a larger version.

All reviews & Photographs by Tim Morris unless otherwise specified.

Nineteen Fs and a BGT gathered in the field next to the Dog House Hotel near Abingdon for the start of the fourth F Register White Horse Run.  Although numbers were slightly down on previous years the runners were still eager to head off in to the Wiltshire countryside having been fuelled on bacon butties and hot tea. Run organiser Philip Prout waved us off with the aid of his crutches , having recently undergone a knee operation, as we left the Dog House and headed for our first white horse.

This area is well known for it's mystical and pagan connotations and our first horse was the oldest and most famous of them all - cut into the hillside at Uffington. We drove beside Dragon Hill, a man made mound where local  legend has it that St George Slew the dragon on the summit (despite him actually being from the Middle East !). You can't keep a good legend down for on the summit is a bare patch  where the dragons blood spilt and grass has never grown. We had slight shortage of horses this year - the next had faded into the hillside and was only just visible and the one at Marlborough college kept well hidden behind the trees. Still on the mystical theme many people stopped at Avebury for lunch and a walk around the huge stone circle before setting off past another massive man made mound at Silbury hill - across the road lay the burial grounds of West Kennet Long barrow. If you didnt fancy the queues for lunch at Avebury then there were plenty more pubs along the route for that sunday roast.

The first four Fs to arrive at Littlecote House near Hungerford were all green and set the precedent of parking on the gravel circle in front of the house. They were soon joined by the rest of the cars. Tea and biscuits were laid on and after a minor organisational hiccup over payments we all enjoyed a sip in the ancient oak lined hall.. Littlecote is now a Warner Leisure Hotel and as such was busy with residents taking an interest in the cars during breaks from their many other activites ranging from bowling to Archery. After a stroll around the grounds it was off to leave the quiet of the countryside to face the rigours of the M4 again on the route back home.

There were several runs from surrounding locations to get you to the Abingdon Works Car Show - some closer than others. We joined the one at Knowl Hill, Maidenhead which attracted half a dozen cars and was the furthest afield. There were others much closer including one from Abingdon which went to....Abingdon. However it did take 45 miles to actually do that and attracted the largest amount of cars  - about 25. All the routes  took the MGs through scenic Oxfordshire countryside and, in our case, through a haze of flailing chafe being flung from a roadside combine harvester on the approach to Abingdon. It was out with the sponge and leather  as soon as we arrived at the riverside showground to try and clear the mess away. 

What a delightful setting with the old bridge over the Thames and the tranquil waters running beside the show site, walkers along the riverbank and cruisers plying the river. The organisers even added some drama when the nearby lock gates jammed trapping a pleasure boat and passengers inside. They were closed most of the day whilst divers were summoned to free them causing a backlog of boats waiting to pass through. At least they could spend the time at the adjacent Abingdon Works Car Show and browse the hundreds of MG gleaming in the sunshine between the light showers.

Abingdon, of course, is the spiritual home of MG and this show marked the 75th anniversary of car production moving to Abingdon. MGs were produced here from 1929 until the axe fell in 1980 and many of those cars were gathered today. In addition to MG there were examples of Austin Healeys and Rileys and exemples of the special tuning department including a good selection of race prepared Mini Coopers. In addition to some rare coopers was a Triumph 2.5pi used in the 1970 World Cup Rally and the powerful Metro 6R4 which drew a lot of interest.

Around the field cars were parked in their own model areas with the Bs providing a large display on one side of the arena. A long line of MGas bordered another side and the T types filled up a further side. Amongst them were examples of models in smaller numbers - some nice S type saloons, Triple M cars, a small collection of midgets (where have they all gone ?) , a handful of modern Z types and a good selection of MGF/TFs on the Longbridge side of the field where the owners could listen to the modern music of local rock band "Later". The promised MGR dealership was notable by it's absence so we were unable to browse the modern collection of MG cars for sale. There were other traders here selling everything from books to bits for your MG - a wandering clown and bouncy castles for the kids, the local Lions group had a stall and for the racing enthusiasts there was a large Scalextric track on which to test your skills.

The only competitive area was in the arena where a fun gymkhana took place in two sessions interspersed by a parade of selected historic vehicles. Of course being in Abingdon many of the past workers of the factory get the opportunity to view there past products close to home and several people could be seen walking around looking wistfully at the cars. With little left of the old factory now the cars themselves are the remaining heritage of the Abingdon years.