D I D Reports 1

It was another record-breaking year at the Royal Oak with an estimated 150 vehicles of all kinds filling both the pub car park and the overflow area next door.

Over 50 different clubs were represented with vehicles ranging in date from the 1930s to modern 1980s classics on two wheels, three wheels and four wheels.

The pub lived up to its reputation, supplying excellent food and drink all day from breakfast to early evening and a good time was had by all.

Military Vehicle Trust jeeps and owners stopping to look at the map as we rejoined a surfaced road. It is our little gang from Blackburn (Lancashire) out for a drive on Sunday. The weather nearly stayed fine and warm

The Club set out from Brandon and paid a visit to the 100th Bomb museum at Thorpe Abbots just the other side of Diss - this is free entry and so very interesting. 24 members where on the run

After visiting the museum we then drove to Flixton Air Museum at Flixton parked in the museum car park and went into the Flixton Buck for a Sunday roast…..then back into the Museum to view all the exhibits - it was again full of history and really interesting - both places are free entry but they do ask for donations - all the volunteers work so hard to keep the museums up-to-date and provide shop facilities and tea and coffees - a lovely day out and we were generally lucky with the weather a brilliant day out….

For Drive-it-Day 2010 the Newbury based West Berkshire Classic Vehicle Club events and membership secretaries collaborated with the Atwell-Wilson Museum in Calne, Wiltshire, to run the ‘Wiltshire Five White Horses’ rally. Atwell-Wilson kindly provided the illustrated ‘tulip-style’ route books annotated with a variety of points of interest, a post-run barbeque (for which the weather brightened cooperatively) and admission to the museum, all for a very modest charge. Over twenty cars and more than 40 guests, including visitors from neighboring clubs, participated in some or all of the optional list of activities.

Photo by C. Kent, Events Secretary - Participants gathering at Atwell- Wilson Museum Calne prior to the ‘5 White Horses Run’

We had two runs planned involving members from the various branches. Those from the South East met in a wet and misty South Queensferry below the Forth Rail Bridge before heading to the Bo’ness Railway Museum and meeting up with the Central and South West areas, totalling thirteen in our display as the sun came out.

The Tayside area met in Dundee with members of the VSCC Fife group to drive up one of the Angus Glens to Glenisla

This year’s Drive It Day  run to Delgatie Castle near Turriff was a great success. We met some cycle racers on the way to Auchnagatt and about 40 tractors between Auchnagatt & Stuartfield on their way to Fyvie Castle.

There were a lot of Stuartfield inhabitants in the street waving at us. I counted 51 cars at the Happy Plant and we filled the car park at Delgatie Castle.

Delgatie Castle was described as a “hidden jewel” by one of the drivers. A lovely soup and sandwich lunch and a tour of the Castle with excellent service from the staff of the family run attraction.

Owners of any pre-war Austin were invited to support runs from six start points across the county and North Devon. Those from west and mid-Cornwall stopped for coffee near Wadebridge and local publicity attracted a number of people to come and view the cars there.

Their prescence was complemented by the post-war cars of the Bude Motor Club who were also in the village.

Visited Powderham Castle, Kenton near Exeter.

Three TRs from the TR Register Kennet Valley Group and one from Glavon had a circular drive from Aldbourne. We joined the FBHVC at Bishopstone for a look at other cars and a bacon roll. After a chat to some other drivers we continued our run and stopped to walk and look at the Uffington White Horse. We drove on through the Lambourn Valley and stopped on the Ridgeway to watch a radio-controlled plane club in action before returning to Aldbourne for a cream tea. We were really lucky to have a warm, sunny day to enjoy open-top driving

We had our Drive It Day at Weald & Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton, Chichester.

We had 174 cars turn up and two Motor bikes. It was a great success and looking forward to next year