:: [  S V V S Evening Meeting  -  The Three Horseshoes, Sidlow  -  August ] ::

Rapid onset of darkness heralded our last evening meeting of the season.  The following text is based on the SVVS Magazine report by Chris Cuss and photos were taken by the Landlord of the Pub, Brian Ridge. Please click on any thumbnail picture below to see the full size picture. To return to the thumbnails please click the Explorer "Back" arrow (top left of screen). Pictures have been prepared for speed of loading, and the page has been sized to be viewed at 800 x 600. Being a damp evening, photos were taken with very little light, so have been lightened for easier viewing.

     

Last year I recorded 34 cars here and in 2002 the tally was 33. So it was disappointing that this year the score was only 19 and, of those 19, only 7 were pre-war. As with everything else wrong with this August it was easy to point the blame at the weather. The day had been mainly grey with scattered heavy showers that worsened as the afternoon wore on. Thankfully the evening stayed dry but there was a distinct chill in the air and it was very damp underfoot so even those who attended did not stay too long. The friendly landlord was very busy photographing as the cars arrived which was just as well as the usual SVVS snappers were unavailable.

     

 Closest to the entrance was the imposing 1929 12/4 Austin saloon owned by David Smart exhibiting the body style commonly referred to as Perpendicular Longbridge. Much sportier was Nigel Walder's 1928 12/50 Alvis sports model. Continuing the sporting theme we recorded Desmond Peacock's 1923 Amilcar Petit Sport. Alan Rothwell brought his very tidy 1972 MGB roadster and from the same year came Raymond Hobbs Rover 2000 TC saloon. Colin Fytche arrived in his 1954 Austin Somerset, a model that has become quite rare these days; Derek Wright's Rover 110 was showing off its new age related registration number for the first time. 

     

Experts on M.G. saloons were able to check out the differences between the Hon Ed's 1947 Y type and Dave Keen's 1953 YB. Dave Kilner arrived in his 1952 M.G. TD Midget followed by Ron Smith in his 1963 Midget. When we add John Sheldrake's NG roadster that is based on an M.G.B it was definitely an evening for Abingdon's finest. Brian Glover was in the passenger seat of his Triumph Stag that still wears its rally plate from last May's trip to foreign parts. Tony Tester exercised his majestic 1926 Chrysler Imperial whilst Fraser and Linda arrived in their 1938 Wolseley saloon. The only two Rileys were my 1935 12/4 Kestrel saloon and Graham Brown's 1937 12/4 Adelphi. 

     

Other Riley owners present were my passengers, John Manvers and Brian Lloyd Jacob, plus Robin Vince and Bryan Shepherd who came in a modern, as did a fair number of other members.On the way home we had to stop at the traffic lights by the Tadworth roundabout. Looking in the rear-view mirror I was surprised how misty it had become. Then the penny dropped; the mist was from our exhaust. A quick halt at the next bus stop confirmed the worst, the head gasket had failed. Luckily I had a spare and with a little help from my friends the head was off and the car running again within 24 hours and able to attend the Edenbridge and Oxted show on the following Monday.

     

Philip Russell brought his Morris 1000 Minor now sporting racing numbers and beginning to look a little bit of a poser mobile, (as this is the second time he has attended doubtless the Hon. Tres. will be collecting a sub from him soon - nothing like a good stir, eh Tony ! ) The other Minor present belonged to R. C. Drew and thankfully his modifications remained rather more discrete. And so a rather damp summer drew to an end. We shall be meeting at the Hand in Hand for the next 8 months, see you there. 

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