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SVVS
Evening Meeting - Bletchingley Arms , July 2023
Report by Bozi Mohacek
The Bletchingley Arms is on the
A25 in the village of Bletchingley and has been one of our most popular
venues for an SVVS evening meeting. The
Plough, re-branded as Bletchingley Arms, is opposite the dreaded speed
camera on the A25 with lots of passing traffic, - braking sharply. Our
visit therefore pulls in the general public and is also good for the Pub!
When the weather is fine it draws our best, or second best, attendance of
Members of the year.
Last year the weather for this meeting was the continuation of the year's
sweltering heatwave and of not having had any rain whatsoever for over a
couple of months, - and temperature of 40 Centigrade. This year, the
USA Death Valley temperature reached 55 Centigrade, and Greek Islands were
in the mid 45s, having historic heatwaves resulting in horrendous forest
fires burning down villages and hotels and driving tourists in
panic off the holiday islands and the mainland.
Not so at the Bletchingley Arms. Here the day had been grim and gloomy for
most of the time and it started raining at 5pm, and continued. The timing
for our evening meetings had been bought forward to 6pm so as to have the
benefit of daylight ours. Daylight by 6pm was gloomy and dark,
streetlights on, and we had that foreboding feeling that those who were
not at the meeting by 6pm were not going to bother.
This turned out to be the case. Mrs. President drove Mr. President Bozi
Mohacek to the meet in their Subaru Impreza modern SUV as he was in the
early stages of lacking a finger, and having a second broken one, which he
had somehow managed to get chopped off in the church rotary lawnmower. Photography
in the pouring rain by Mr. President required digitally challenged hand
hanging on to an umbrella in left hand covered in a plastic carrier bag
preventing the bandages getting wet, using the other for the camera.
Regretfully there was no spare hand for the normal pint of beer. Pleased
to say photos are of reasonable standard, if not that numerous.
This time when we arrived there was a handful of cars parked near the
grassy knoll which is normally the overflow area for our massed ranks of
vehicles. The Knoll was empty and the handful of vehicles grew from
meager five to the impressive flood of 16 cars; three real vintage cars,
and many of the others were 'vintage cars' built after the year 2000
including Air Conditioning and four wheel drive! Last year we had some 43
vehicles.
Our Magazine Distribution Officer, and official 'numbers man' Chas Moody
advised that in the end there were 16 SVVS cars and 25 SVVS Members
present.
The hotrod brigade, which sometimes join us on the night were noticeable
by their absence this year.
Please
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