JayPeG's Diary
2004
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JayPeG's Diary 2004 |
| January 2004
There wasn't that much happening in January. It was pretty indistinct weather wise - no real snow to talk of and therefore no opportunities for next year's christmas card photograph !. Spent some time revamping The MG Pit and adding extra pages. Trying to get the Runnymede site off the ground but havn't got the password yet. The SEF event was the Hogsback Hike on January 10th - a little drizzle was threatened buut failed to materialise , nevertheless it was tops up for quite a nice run through north surrey ending up at the Hogsback brewery where I had a little too many tasters ! Full report on the SEF site. FEBRUARY 2004 Held the first SEF pub meet of the year at The Chequers in Walton on the HIll. Pretty poor turn out - with only three F's and Rob & Elaine in their B. I got up too late for lunch but the others had sunday roast before setting off for The farimile at Cobham with tops down. Met some of the ZR website people who couldn't quite work out what three f's were doing amongst the zeds ! Had a run down to Seaford to work out the route for the MArtello Tower Tour in June. I had a rough plan and Liz careully made a note of the actual route and signposts, points of interest etc. Yhere is quite a lot to see and we did a little exploring on the way stopping off in eastbourne to see The Wish Tower and redoubt, the Fairlight country park above Hastings for a breather. Too late for the Smugglers pub at Pett Level as they stop serving food at 2pm ! Went on to Rye Harbour and tried for food again - they stopped serving at 2.30pm so it was into Rye itself where we found a small bar serving until 3pm ! Set off again across to dungeness stopping a Lade to find the Sound Mirrors. Took a walk across to them but couldn't really get that close thanks to a gravel pit !. Carried on through Dymchurch and Hythe when it was starting to get dark. Spotted a good start point at he imperial Hotel which I've now booked up. There are more Towers into Folkestone but we got totally lost in the dark and it was drizzling as well by then so decided to start the run from Hythe instead as Folkestone was too complicated to send a large number of MGF's through. Cleaned JayPeG off a bit ready for Stoneleigh on the 22nd. There was a POO where the organisers choose their favourite cars so I gave JayPeG a dose of show shine the day before. we'd arranged a convoy meeting at Cherwell Services - again there was misty rain and fog on the way up. Greta blast across country from Banbury to Coventry to memt up with some other F's from the MGRover.org BBS. Found them blocking a depot entrance by Coventry Airport and we all trooped into the show together. Met loads of other F people at the show and bumped into some Runnymeders at the F Register stand. Got rid of all the Martello flyers as well . Got bakc to JayPeG to find a piece of paper saying we had won the Pride Of Ownership award. Went to the MG Enthusiast stall expecting a small prizegiving to find a bearded man with a cardboard box handing out the , very nice, inscribed tankards.
Had hoped that The Essex Roadsters would bring their Hydragas pump with as JayPeG is 25mm down on one side and ablout 35mm on the other - they didn't so have booked into Trident to be done. Another £60 or so. Already had a couple of entries for the Martello tour by the end of the month ! March 2004 After Stoneleigh became a bit worried about water/air splashing back into the expansion tank - also found the oil level to be down and coolant down a little as well. Immediately thinking HGF but there were no other symptons (mayo in the oil etc). After thinking about it and asking some fellow SEFers thought it was probably down to the water pressure cap failing and the oil was down because I hadn't checked it since May !! Must remember to do that more often. Trident had the car on the 9th for the suspension and also to check the water problem - they confirmed a faulty pressure cap and replaced it - Total cost for pumping up suspension, wheel alignment and new pressure cap (plus diagnosis) = £106. The 6th was the MGCC SE Annual Awards Dinner. Not too many Fers present - just Elaine and Leslie both collecting awards and a copious amount of Gin and Tonic along the way. Derek Edwards is current chairman of the club and things were done a little differently this year. MG Sport and Racing's Tim King presented the prizes. As several people had won more than one award the names were read out and all the awards were given together. Another unique point this year were the awards themselves which consisted of mug trees with two South East Centre mugs for every prize won. As well as the awards for the class wins in two naviscats we collected the Lingfield Trophy for the Overall Winner of the 2003 Naviscats which was a pleasant surprise.
A very wet and windy March 14th saw us at the MGCC South East's Spring Naviscat. There were actually quite a few hardy souls who turned up to brave the elements !. Barry & Sue were there (from the SEF) in their F to keep us company. A couple of Z cars, spattering of T series and the ubiquitous Bs of course made up the rest of the field. Full report is in EVENTS as normal. How did we do ? .......Well we were equal first on points in our combined class of all soft top cars but snuck into second place on the tie break as we didn't get the vclue at the most westerly point ! We did manage 19 points which put us in second place overall to Barry & Sue who managed a magnificent 28 points !!!! (but had three deducted as they were late back !) The last few days of March saw JayPeG getting the first part of a spring clean. Sticking to Meguiars this eyar - so a rubbing down with Scratch X followed by a coating of Deep Crystal Polish and finally a couple of coats of Gold Class wax soon shook off the winter dullness Took JayPeG into Trident to have the suspension pumped up as it had collapsed on one side again. Also had the coolant checked as I'd noticed a lot of splashing in the header tank - apparently this is normal so there's noting to worry about. APRIL 2004 April is looking to be a busy month with some MG stuff every weekend. First up was MG Day at Brooklands, just around the corner from us. I had intended to have an SEF Pre Meet but not enough people wanted to come along - there were only three SEFers in the end. The day itself was good though - reports in Events Review and SEF site. Brooklands Photos ;-
The following weekend was an SEF Spring Run. I had tried to keep this one as simple as possible which meant no complicated directions. Petersfield to Newick - straight along the A272. A good number of F's turned up and Rob & Elaine in their B - lunch was at the New Inn in Newick where we sat outside and watched numerous classic cars drive by on a bank holiday Monday. Stopped off at Sheffield Park gardens on the way back.. Full report on SEF pages Yet another F Register event next weekend - a lengthy drive up to Market Harborough for the Heart of England Run. Unfortunately the weather was not the greatest and the day ended at Belvoir Castle with persistent and sometimes heavy rain. Full report in MG Events as usual. The end of the month saw us heading up to Scotland for the Highlander 2004. We took a couple of days either side of the event to get up there and back again which was sie as it is quite a long way !. We covered about 1,600 miles in all over all sorts of road conditions and the F didn't let us down once - unlike three other cars who had to be trailered home ! Full report of the Highlander event can be found in MG Events but I've included a few extra more personal pictures here of the days either side.
MAY 2004 Another busy M month ! First off the Highlander ra into the begninning with us finally getting back to Surrey on the 5th May. The following day was an SEF meeting at a new venue - The Talbot in Ripley - a bit closer to home for money and it turns out to be quite a good venue - we'll be back !. Adjusted my shifts at work to be able to go to The Basingstoke Festival of Transport with RMGOC. It had been wet couple of days prior to the event and the morning was a bit grey as well - unfortunately this meant the event was cancelled due to sodden ground and we were turned away. Went back to Brooklands for about 11am and watched the last few MGs leaving for Brighton at the start of the Regency Run - should have done that one instead !. Needed a couple of new tyres for the front of the F - Now having done about 35,000 miles on them they were getting a little thin particularly on the inside. Got two Dood Year F1s for £177 at merityre in Chertsey BUT - two problems - they sheered the ridges off my locking wheel nut and I had to buy a new one (they reduced the price to cover that) and when I got home I noticed a dent in the centre of the alloy wheel caused by the wheel nut remover. Still not sure what I'm going to do about that. The wheels are in need of some refurbishment ayway. The 23rd May was the MGOC National Event at Brands Hatch, We had entered the concours but it was cancelled due to lack of entrants - only 6 in total ! No one seems quire sure what has happened there. Instead they asked if they could use JayPeG in the 80 Years of Road and rack display in the MGOC Marquee. We agreed but it meant getting there before 8am and not being able to leave until 6pm which proved not to be a hardship as it was a full day out ayway. We also got hospitality and could watch the racing in comfort with a beer !!
The following day was a RMGOC about the M"5 which was interesting. The following day was a private trip to The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire organised by Bob from the SEFers. Five red Fs went and TimJ was the only different colour, being green. We were supplemented by a red Mini Cooper and Bobs Disco. Great opportunity to climb all over the Lancaster and sit in the pilots seat of a Dakota as well as getting a close up look at five Spitfires and Two Hurricanes. Fantastic day out - thanks Bob.
Two more events still to go in May - I told you it was a busy MG month. On the 29th we were invited to join Nigel Hedges and the Bournomouth MGOC at Athelhampton for lunch with Terry Waite. AS this was also our anniversary we took the opportunity to have an unusual celebration - reivew is in MG Events. Managed to avoid hold ups by skirting around the top of the New Forest as there had been an accident on the A31 at Bournemouth that delayed Terry by nearly an hour !. Thank goodness for overhead gantrys on the M27 which gave early warning. Another great day with Pimms on the lawn and salmon buffet and got a book signed by Terry. IN the evening we headed over to hampshire to meet up with the family for Rob's 40th Birthday.
Finally for May was the SEF Ist Aniversary run to goodwood. Surprised everyone with a mini Scalextric Grand Prix which fitted nicely in the boot of the F !. Weather was a little iffy but managed to have hoods down most of the time. First run not fully organised by me - thanks Kev !. Entries now coming in for the Martello Tour - should be on course for about 35 cars - Have re done the route now and got the Tulips organised - just have to print it all up now.
JUNE 2004 Service time for JayPeG - whilst cleaning a couple of weeks I'd noticed some fluorescent green liquid around the rear nearside hydragas unit. The service confirmed my fears that it was leaking and a replacement was needed - at £120 plus labour on top of the service costs. JayPeG cost me £480 at the end of the day ! Other than that there was nothing else wrong thankfully.
Well I wasn't too far wrong - we had 36 entrants pre booked for the Martello Tower Tour and a couple on the day BUT some dropped out or broke down as well so we ended up with 34 cars and over sixty people on the lawns at The Imperial Hotel in Hythe. It was good day - started sunny but ended showery. Thanks to my marshalls Kevin and Steve the parking was exemplary and made for a nice picture. Bob provided the flag with which I waved the participants away and hooted them with an antique car hooter !. Took masses of ink printing the Tower Guide and Route maps but it was worth it in the end. Full report in MG Event Reviews as always. Took JayPeG to Centerparcs at Longleat for a rest - you can't use cars in the complex so JayPeG sat outside forlorn in the car park all weekend whilst thirteen of us enjoyed a slightly damp weekend on the trail of the lonesome pine.
JayPeG by the chalet at Center Parcs We also went on the Surrey run towards the end of the month meeting up at Bocketts Farm at Fetcham so it wasn't too far to go. Weather looked threatening but turned out fine in the end - interesting pieces of decimated rabbit on the field where the start was held - not to everybody's taste ! Rob & Elaine came along in the B and we "enjoyed" a cup of Robs tea complete with teabag after stewing for about four hours ! Ended up a few miles away at Painshill Park - pass this every day just about but have never visited - full of old follies - and that was just in the MG parking ! At the far end of the month it was Silverstone International - which actually was this year as we entertained the MG Car Club of Antwerp at the evening barbecue and some BBS people from germany. Spent a week polishing and titilating JayPeG for the Pride of Ownership competetion - main threat was a blue TF which was also in the comp last year - Got the class winner award for the second year running so all that effort paid off.
Top Gear - got the chance to go and see Top Gear being filmed at Dunsfold on the 28th with the MGs on Track crowd. Met up at The Seahors pub in Shalford before driving down to Dunsfold in a row of Fs and one or two non Fs including Victoria's monster Range Rover ! Loads of people in the crowd on a hot afternoon for nearly five hours of filming in a small studio/hanger with lots of lights - not surprising some of us felt a little hot & bothered. Interesting to see how the show was put together and Bob managed to chat to Jeremy Clarkson about using a Chinook in a future episode ! Seemed quite positive and Bobs details were left with a production assistant. Did actually get on screen briefly by a short section about a land rover although Phil Brindley got the best shot - Lorna you shouldn't have moved !
JULY 2004 Ir's been awhile since I wrote up the diary section - it's now October !!. I'll try and remember what we got up to back in July though. The main event of course was Silverstone MG80 which was a brilliant weekend made all the better by the huge barbecue on saturday night which attracted over 100 F people and was right next to our tent ! Helped out on the car parking on the saturday and then on the F register stall which was quite good fun. The sunday was competition day which meant up early and polishing off the rain from the night before - at least I didn't have to drive 80 miles to get here !. There were some other Fs in the POO with one blue car a particular threat but we managed to win the trophy again for the second year running. Overall though entries were well down on previous years which is a worrying trend. Full report on Silverstone is in MG Event reviews and on the SEF site. Before that we ran the F Register stall at Hever Castle for the South east Centre Summer gathering. After a bit of kafuffle over paying to get in we set up the stall and ran a couple of condition competetions amongst the twenty or so Fs on thefield. A vote for the F of the Show was won by me and JayPeG - JayPeG was not entered in the South East concours this year but was on display on the stand instead. I also ran a "Working" class POO for all the Fs not entered in an official competition or on display - some drivers made an effort and filled in the form , others didn't. Liz and I judged the cars and awarded the prize to Barry West in his silver TF although recent it was kept in great condition and used a lot as well. Picture appeared in a later edition of Safety fast. Surrey Run - despite being advertised on SEF website and in the itinerary dod not attract many of the group. Myself , Kevin ans Rob & elaine in their MGB went. It was a good run - eighty miles to get from Bocketts Farm at Fetcham to Painshill Park at cobham with a stop for lunch near Chiddingfold. Been out & about with Nick, from work, looking at an MGBGT. He's thinking of joining the MG clan but is currently a Rover P6 fan. AUGUST 2004 First Friday was the red Eye Run. Eleven cars winding towards Brighton in the dark. Good run. Organised by Bob with some help from Neil this year we followed a more thought out route. Full review on SEF site. Went up to Abingdon for the White Horse Run - an F Register event but it didn't attract the usual amount of cars - about half the number in fact. Was it the holiday season - or because it was the fourth time we'd done this run ? Run was a little shorter than normal and we reached Littlecote House by early afternoon. At the end of the month it was the Abgindon Works Car Show - the first time we'd been to this one on the banks of the Thames - The Show attracts quite a few cars and parked up circling the arena made for quite a good display. The only competition was a small Gymkhana but plenty of shiny metalwork on display.
SEPTEMBER 2004 September saw the SEFers having a meeting at The Fairmile pub in Cobham - I'm gradually getting the meetings closer to home. Surprised to find that John & Lyn Ponting had driven down from Welwyn and Bob & Jacquie from Worthing as well as Neil from Didcot - it's nice that they make the effort to come all that way. Biggest event was the Dambusters -three days in Wales. Great weekend with some good driving in the valleys and ranges. We went down to Ross on Wye for another day at the end of the trip as we had a couple of weeks off work. Full report in MG Event Reviews.
The following weekend we headed over to the continent for a few days. Had tog et a new tyre on the nearside rear as it was wearing badly on the rim. Got it from Chertsey Tyre care again. Parked in Staines in the afternoon. Left car in the driveway until evening. Put it away. Got it out again early next morning to find a huge dent in the rear wing - must have got there at one of those places but I think it may have been whilst it was on the driveway as we didn't notice it earlier. The story of the ding is HERE Had a great time in France where we drove down from Calais and stayed just outside Honfleur. Drove further down the D Day beaches to Arromanche where we saw the Mulberry Harbour then back via Bayeux and Caen to Honfleur. Weather was OK and we managed hood down most of the time. Stayed at la Romantica Hotel - swiss style over looking the Seine estuary.
When we got back I got the Flying Dentman to work magic on the Dent and it has now disappeared !
OCTOBER 2004 October was the month of the first F register Treasure Hunt type event. Kevin had knocked together a great themed event involving British and russian spies. Unfortunately it was a bit wet and rainy as we met up for lunch so we curtailled the event a little bit but it was still enjoyable hunting down clues in the drizzle ! Also did some ten pin bowling at Guildford as something a little different - again it was a damp evening but we managed to get six together for a fun evening - next year we'll definitely give Kevin a handicap as he swept the floor with us !. Havn't really done much outside of F circles with the car although we did tackle the Autumn Naviscat from Petworth with the MGCCSE. It proved to be difficult and for the first time we didn't make it in to the prizes. Looking forward to barry & Sue's event next year.
NOVEMBER 2004 Our last run of the year - ably organised by Dave Alexander and Michelle on their first attempt. Unfortunately Tim and Rebecca had a mishap when they crashed their car within about a mile of the start. We didn't know at the time but poor Rebecca had broken a small bone in her foot but still gamely finished the run in the passenger seat of Kevin's car. The car was declared a write off and Tim is now looking for TF to replace it. It certainly added some spice to our final run of the year !. Not sure if Dave & Michelle want to tackle another one again soon though !.
DECEMBER 2004 The end of the year already - the weather in the doldrums - christmas approaching - Time to think about end of year round ups. The F Register natter was at Burcott and I failed to get enough cars together for a run to the event so we made our own way there - About 25 Fs turned up for lunch and complicated method of paying - I don't think the landlord will make the same mistake again ! Nonetheless it was good to get a lot of Fers together at the end of the year and we met up with several we hadn't seen for a while. Got a surprise when we were awarded the Tanswell trophy for F Register Members of the Year !! Next up was the SEF christmas do where I'd decided to go Cajun at The Old Orleans in Guildford. Bit off more than I could chew when I accidentally nibbled a red hot chili pepper - thanks to copious quantities of lager managed to cool down a little bit. Had a good turn out and I think everyone enjoyed themselves - also gave out the "Hot Wheels " awards with our own member of the year being Kevin Watson. No car problems apart from it getting dirty as I keep having to use it for work !.
That's it for 2004 - see you next year !
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