JULY 1979
DORSET AUSTIN SEVEN CLUB
THIS MONTHS MEETING THURSDAY
JULY 19th 8 p.m. Nags Head Ringwood.
Evening run to the Mariners Rest at West Moors. Depart 8.30 pm
EDITORIAL
I thought disaster had struck this month when my
file of newsletters and other info disappeared, but luckily I have just found
it stuffed in the children's toy box (they must be frustrated at daddy not having
an Austin on the road!)
At last we are seeing some weather for the sunshine
roofs and the soft top brigade. Bernard had his Chummy hood christened by the
Berkeley Castle rain. It seems that Beaulieu and Berkeley weather is
predictable good and bad.
Did you see Richard Hamly
hit the "Echo" front page with his petrol saving military tourer?
Austin motoring will certainly come into its own now that petrol prices are so
high. In fact, if you think about an Austin Seven it must be the cheapest thing
to keep on the road, beating even a Morris Minor. We are very fortunate in
having such a good supply of new spares available at a realistic price.
From time to time I hear members saying that if they
do not have a car on the road they feel out of things, almost an outsider. I sympathize
with their feelings (I have not got a car on the road myself) and I think that
some of them need more encouragement at club meetings and a greater sense of
belonging and it is essential that we do give a “them” and "us" atmosphere. It does work both ways and the club
needs to know your feelings - what do you want, how can we help, and what are you
looking for as a club member? Please tell us on the committee so that we can make
the club better for all of us.
In April I produced a list of members and their
cars. I want to take that one step further and publish an informal progress
list of unfinished cars with details of outstanding work and requirements etc.
As a last thought from the soapbox I feel we need to encourage
more new members. It has been said that we have covered our area fairly well
but I am sure with discreet advertising at static rallies we could increase our
membership to over sixty. To me, more people mean increased experience,
technical knowledge, new committee members, and more social life. What do you think?
My apologies for the delay in sweatshirts but they
should be available soon.
Lastly a useful tip I discovered the other day if
you have a Seven with a "droopy" number plate on the luggage rack
(e.g. 33/34 Saloon) don't try and hammer the steel rivets, instead dot punch
the perimeter of the spacing washer between the rack and number plate brackets.
An "automatic" Eclipse punch does the job very well spreading the washer
makes it grip and you have a rigid number plate again.
NEXT MONTH’S COMMITTEE MEETING
Thursday 2nd August, Tyrrell’s Ford.
BEAULIEU REPORT
With its predictable weather, July 1st saw
National Rally at Beaulieu. DA7C was
well represented with most of our members’ cars in attendance and it was good
to see Murray Pacey about again chatting to his friends in the arena.
Initially most people made a bee-line for the autojumble
and spares to see what they could pick up .I was surprised to see the range of
parts that Keith Roach & Co are producing at Wood Green near Fordingbridge
– not far to go for your new body! It
seems that given a basic chassis you can end up with a complete replica.
I managed to boost my Austin library with a copy of
“The Motor Sport Book of the Austin” which leaves “Whatever happened to the
Baby Austin?” to complete my collection – anyone got a spare copy?
Did you see that beautiful two-berth folding caravan
which Jack Ascot was towing with his ’28 van?
Surely the ultimate combination!
Beaulieu gives us all an opportunity to check on
certain features of the more original cars and by chatting with their owners to
locate sources of trimming material and craftsmen to assist in restoration
work.
On the awards side, Lawrence Rideal got a Highly
Recommended for his ’31 Box and Nigel Ricardo a 1st Class for his
Nippy. Well done!
PHIL
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LIST
OF EVENTS
14th/15th July Lytchett Matravers Rally
21st July Netley
Marsh Rally
25th July HCVC Treasure Hunt
29th July Dodington House, near Bristol
4th/5th August Alderholt (DA7C camping)
11th/12th August Yeovil Festival of Transport
18th/19th
August Camping weekend
Longbridge Rally. Leave Ringwood 9 am
Saturday, return Sunday evening. Details
from Glyn
8th/9th
September Beaulieu Autojumble
21st-23rd September Stourpaine Bushes
BERKLEY
CASTLE
5
o'clock Friday evening, the Ruby fully loaded with the four of us
and the dog plus a.fully loaded trailer. We set off
for a rendezvous with Gary Munn
on the Salisbury road just past Ringwood. Gary falls in behind and we make our
way via Devizes, Chippenham and Malmesbury to the rally site at Berkeley
Castle. Gary travelled the 90 miles on only three cylinders as number two plug
kept oiling up. We arrived however without mishap and pitched our tent in a
beautiful setting overlooking the castle, which, incidentally is the oldest
inhabited castle in England. Just as we were preparing our evening meal, John
and Cynthia Page arrived in their Mulliner Box Saloon and they soon had their
tent pitched alongside ours and Gary's.
The following morning, Saturday, Gary and I decided
we ought to get some petrol for the run home, as many garages seem to close on
Sundays these days. So after a breakfast of bacon & eggs for me, I think
Gary had Royal Scott biscuits with fish paste! we set off
in search of petrol. We eventually found a garage that was open
after a round trip of 25 miles. We also purchased a gallon of scrumpy cider.
After lunch, and a couple of pants of cider Pat and I decided to go round the
castle, which was very interesting and worth the visit. When we got back to the
tents (we woke up Gary!) we had a cup of tea and then it started to rain. Roger
Ballard arrived in his Box with Hugh Evens and friends in their Rubys and they
got a bit damp whilst pitching their tents. Shortly after Bernard, Jackie and entourage
arrived, Bernard driving his Chummy, and Jackie driving some foreign rubbish, sorry,
I mean their modern car. I was amazed at
how quickly Bernard pitched their camvas palace. It
is really enormous; I think he also bought his three piece suite.!
We all got together at the dance a little later,
and enjoyed dancing to the jazz and square dance bands. The evening was only
slightly marred by one of the younger members (not Gary), who shall be
nameless, getting very drunk on scrumpy cider.
The following morning, Sunday, we awoke to the noise of rain beating
on the roof of the tent, typical Berkeley weather. It cleared up a bit after breakfast, and we
took the cars over to the rally field, and received our instructions and
judging paper, as we all had to judge our own class. I thought the standards were
very high, there were some really lovely cars in my class and the others told
me theirs were equally good. The Dorset A7 club did very well, Bernard taking 2nd
in his Chummy and Gary also took 2nd with his 1930 Box, Rigel Ricardo 2nd with
his Nippy and John Page 2nd with his Mulliner. All in all, a very pleasant weekend, though the
weather could have been better. At about
10 o’clock we took down the tents, and got everything packed away in the trailer,
finally leaving the rally at about 5 o’clock. We. had decided to come back via
Bath and had a very good ran all the
way, arriving home at just after 8 o'clock,
GLYN