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 Weather Most Foul!
-- New Year's Day 2025
We can't say we hadn't been warned. The
weather forecast had predicted rain and high winds for the entire UK.
Outdoor Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh were cancelled and firework
displays in Blackpool and Newcastle were called off. Meanwhile in Surrey,
the Brooklands New Year's Classic Gathering had been rescheduled to
Saturday 4th January. We were heartened however, to hear that London was
going ahead with the New Year's Eve firework display and the annual New
Year's Day parade, so if they can do it why can't we?
The Lancia needed a run out anyway and seemed keen to brave the elements
but I wondered if anyone else would turn up at the Beehive? That thought
was soon dispelled when I spotted Clive and Myetta in their '66 Humber
Hawk nearing Woodhatch having driven from Fareham! On arrival I was
pleasantly surprised to see a 5-car line-up comprising two Austins, Keith
& Adrien's 1936 12/4 and Don & Jan's 1937 18/6 Shooting Brake
which had been painstakingly restored by Don from a collapsed wreck some
while ago, then three Rovers, Geoff & Bridget's '57 105S, David's '63
P495 and the '62 P4100 of Roger & Linda. On remarking at the spectacle
of seeing three Rovers, I was informed that Mike was on his way with a
fourth! Then Mike and Moira duly arrived …... in their quirky 2011
Nissan Cube! Not the expected Rover, but certainly worth a mention.
Neville positioned his '90 Jaguar XJS
near the car park entrance to avoid being blocked in, but this year there
were no such problems. Bad weather sometimes has its compensations, as
with the roads which were almost deserted! Roger had arrived early in
the1971 Dodge Charger, its lime green paintwork brightening up the dull
day and Sandra and Martin docked their '97 Peugeot 306 Pininfarina
cabriolet neatly between the Dodge and the writer's '72 Fulvia Coupe to
complete our little line-up.
Heroes of the day were three generations
of the Doughty family aboard the 1910 Renault 12/16 Char-a-banc,
comprising Michael, son Luke and grandchildren Henry, Felicity &
Florence, all suitably attired for the weather conditions, in accordance
with the immortal words of Alfred Wainwright, "There's no such thing
as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing."
It wasn't the sort of day to be kicking
tyres in the car park so everyone headed indoors to enjoy each other's
company and the delights of the pub food and drink. Overall, the weather
didn't seem as bad as predicted although the possible dangers were brought
to light when returning home on the A25 just before Oxted by the sight of
a large fallen tree blocking the oncoming lane which I had used for my
outward journey some three hours earlier!
Several SVVS members arrived in modern
motors for obvious reasons and attendance this year was about one third of
last year's number, but all credit and many thanks to those who turned up
despite the foul conditions. Let's hope we have better weather for our
future meetings. Well, it couldn't get much worse, could it?
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