Special days....they stay with you...
Sunday August 15th dawned reasonably brightly...it was a good omen for the day to come.
This time around Zeb and Black Betty had a very cautious drive over to Jake, Jane and Roland's due to her little contretemps over a cream-crackered aircon compressor clutch mechanism....so much so she almost found herself sorned for the rest of the summer...
However, she and I discovered we have friends of the utmost generosity and kindness...
Jake, Jane and Roland had clearly worked hard over the preceding Saturday to get everything organised and ticketyboo...lawns were indeed mown, pigs definitely slaughtered, grumpy farmers tied up and hidden in a big dyke (ya see what I did there?
), driveways cleared and spare cars parked at the bottom of the garden, neighbour's driveways cleared and signs put up for all those uninitiated into the waywardness of Satnavs once one hits Lincolnshire.... 
It was a ten am start, so Martin and I thought we'd better be there for 9am to help out with the preparations....early though we were....well, ok, Martin was early, I didn't get there until 20 minutes later
....things were well in hand! Was Starbug far behind? Well, no, not really......having said that, he did appear to get lost coming up the driveway......anyone who has been to Jake's will see the humour in that! Still, he eventually appeared in a lovely 75 Tourer. We were soon joined by a very fine fellow of an aircon specialist who knew his aircon better than your average Lincolnshire farmer knows cabbages. Now, this guy hadn't just come along to do regases....though he managed three besides what he did for me...Roland and he immediately ran off with my car keys and disappeared with Black Betty into the garage..Martin then sidled inside carrying a large cardboard package....the subject of which had resulted in several hilarious Pms / Emails from Martin to both Jake and myself over the course of the last few weeks...
At this point...a certain BartonRover made an appearance....one minute he wasn't there...the next he was...I never saw him arrive All the way from Essex too! A heck of a way! And what a nice chap he is too... 
Erudite, humorous and a stickler about his chrome door handles...t'was a pleasure to see you there sir!
Whilst everybody else, now joined by Mick and his camera and Stubie with his 10 Psi tyres, (being a 75 it hadn't affected the handling on the bends one iota..) as well as some of Jake's friends who clearly needed converting to the MG Rover camp, we then had the honour of sampling the Wilson family's culinary expertise..ably lead by Jane...in the shape of monster bacon, egg, mushroom and sausage butties the like of which one does not encounter often....suffice to say, they did for both breakfast and lunch! Not only that, but they were followed by the best Victoria sponge I have ever had the delight to eat! All washed down with copious quantities of tea and coffee.....Roland is a lucky man...a delightful wife who loves cars, puts up with a husband and son who get covered in oil for fun AND she bakes like an angel! - Not being sexist in the least...I am sure she could replace a clutch master cylinder just as well as she bakes...
The sun shone, the craic was good, the food was excellent and, in amidst all this tyres were pumped up, advice was given, stories were swapped..and meantime, inside an hour and a half, Black Betty was healed....a new compressor all the way from the USof A..via Shirley...was fitted, oiled and gassed...thanks to Martin's original 'mad idea' and fantastic generosity...which he carried through to its conclusion and thanks to Jake, Roland and Jane's organisation and kindness in getting it fitted. Guys..I remain humbled by you all... (The old compressor clutch has to be seen to be believed by the way!)
Sadly, Martin had to shoot off home due to work commitments....and believe it or not, before the rest of us had even left the meet, Martin had got back home to Brum and was on the road again for London! Damn those V8s can fly! Speaking of which...Martin's V8 ZT-T had gained a few modifications since the last meet....namely a stainless exhaust which sounded epic and a BBK 78mm inlet which made the old two valve engine somewhat more eager still! This particular ZT-T is really starting to turn into something exceptional under Martin's ownership! I can't wait for the next instalment Martin.
Soon after Martin left, JohnWh and his girlfriend Amy arrived in a black diesel 75 with blacked out windows and a menacing gleam to her...(no, the car was menacing not Amy!) John's initial nerves (and hangover) at meeting this motley bunch were soon forgotten after a butty and getting his cruise control sorted thanks to Stubie. A lovely couple and a pleasure to have met you both...
Roland got a drive in Mick's V6 auto ZT and seemed suitably impressed with her...next up,
with the V8 fixed it would've been rude not to take people for a wee ride...must say, it was the first time I had been out in her with 5 adults on board...it didn't seem to slow proceedings down by too much..... she sounded much better than when I had arrived that morning! (The two skeletons bonking in a dustbin had been completely eliminated.) I think peeps enjoyed the ride...
Mick finally succumbed and took the V8 for a gentle trundle up the drive and back...I went with him.. ...bless him, he was as good as gold..no handbrake turns and no bouncing off the redline...that said, he tells me that this was principally down to the car being a manual... 
As is always the case, all good things have to come to an end sadly. But, once again a fantastic time had been had by all, at a fantastic location with some of the best people one could ever hope to meet...
So a great many thanks to our hosts who, I know, went to a great deal of effort to make the day a success...it really was appreciated by us all...
and, as always, it was an absolute pleasure to catch up with old friends and meet new ones....
….and the ride home was the icing on the cake for me.....
(If I have missed anyone / anything...massive apologies! let me know and I'll update this epistle..)
Sunday August 15th dawned reasonably brightly...it was a good omen for the day to come.
This time around Zeb and Black Betty had a very cautious drive over to Jake, Jane and Roland's due to her little contretemps over a cream-crackered aircon compressor clutch mechanism....so much so she almost found herself sorned for the rest of the summer...
However, she and I discovered we have friends of the utmost generosity and kindness...
Jake, Jane and Roland had clearly worked hard over the preceding Saturday to get everything organised and ticketyboo...lawns were indeed mown, pigs definitely slaughtered, grumpy farmers tied up and hidden in a big dyke (ya see what I did there?
), driveways cleared and spare cars parked at the bottom of the garden, neighbour's driveways cleared and signs put up for all those uninitiated into the waywardness of Satnavs once one hits Lincolnshire.... It was a ten am start, so Martin and I thought we'd better be there for 9am to help out with the preparations....early though we were....well, ok, Martin was early, I didn't get there until 20 minutes later
....things were well in hand! Was Starbug far behind? Well, no, not really......having said that, he did appear to get lost coming up the driveway......anyone who has been to Jake's will see the humour in that! Still, he eventually appeared in a lovely 75 Tourer. We were soon joined by a very fine fellow of an aircon specialist who knew his aircon better than your average Lincolnshire farmer knows cabbages. Now, this guy hadn't just come along to do regases....though he managed three besides what he did for me...Roland and he immediately ran off with my car keys and disappeared with Black Betty into the garage..Martin then sidled inside carrying a large cardboard package....the subject of which had resulted in several hilarious Pms / Emails from Martin to both Jake and myself over the course of the last few weeks...At this point...a certain BartonRover made an appearance....one minute he wasn't there...the next he was...I never saw him arrive
All the way from Essex too! A heck of a way! And what a nice chap he is too... Erudite, humorous and a stickler about his chrome door handles...t'was a pleasure to see you there sir!Whilst everybody else, now joined by Mick and his camera and Stubie with his 10 Psi tyres, (being a 75 it hadn't affected the handling on the bends one iota..) as well as some of Jake's friends who clearly needed converting to the MG Rover camp, we then had the honour of sampling the Wilson family's culinary expertise..ably lead by Jane...in the shape of monster bacon, egg, mushroom and sausage butties the like of which one does not encounter often....suffice to say, they did for both breakfast and lunch! Not only that, but they were followed by the best Victoria sponge I have ever had the delight to eat! All washed down with copious quantities of tea and coffee.....Roland is a lucky man...a delightful wife who loves cars, puts up with a husband and son who get covered in oil for fun AND she bakes like an angel! - Not being sexist in the least...I am sure she could replace a clutch master cylinder just as well as she bakes...
The sun shone, the craic was good, the food was excellent and, in amidst all this tyres were pumped up, advice was given, stories were swapped..and meantime, inside an hour and a half, Black Betty was healed....a new compressor all the way from the USof A..via Shirley...was fitted, oiled and gassed...thanks to Martin's original 'mad idea' and fantastic generosity...which he carried through to its conclusion and thanks to Jake, Roland and Jane's organisation and kindness in getting it fitted. Guys..I remain humbled by you all...
(The old compressor clutch has to be seen to be believed by the way!)Sadly, Martin had to shoot off home due to work commitments....and believe it or not, before the rest of us had even left the meet, Martin had got back home to Brum and was on the road again for London! Damn those V8s can fly! Speaking of which...Martin's V8 ZT-T had gained a few modifications since the last meet....namely a stainless exhaust which sounded epic and a BBK 78mm inlet which made the old two valve engine somewhat more eager still! This particular ZT-T is really starting to turn into something exceptional under Martin's ownership! I can't wait for the next instalment Martin.
Soon after Martin left, JohnWh and his girlfriend Amy arrived in a black diesel 75 with blacked out windows and a menacing gleam to her...(no, the car was menacing not Amy!) John's initial nerves (and hangover) at meeting this motley bunch were soon forgotten after a butty and getting his cruise control sorted thanks to Stubie. A lovely couple and a pleasure to have met you both...
Roland got a drive in Mick's V6 auto ZT and seemed suitably impressed with her...next up,
with the V8 fixed it would've been rude not to take people for a wee ride...must say, it was the first time I had been out in her with 5 adults on board...it didn't seem to slow proceedings down by too much..... she sounded much better than when I had arrived that morning! (The two skeletons bonking in a dustbin had been completely eliminated.) I think peeps enjoyed the ride...
Mick finally succumbed and took the V8 for a gentle trundle up the drive and back...I went with him..
...bless him, he was as good as gold..no handbrake turns and no bouncing off the redline...that said, he tells me that this was principally down to the car being a manual... As is always the case, all good things have to come to an end sadly. But, once again a fantastic time had been had by all, at a fantastic location with some of the best people one could ever hope to meet...
So a great many thanks to our hosts who, I know, went to a great deal of effort to make the day a success...it really was appreciated by us all...
and, as always, it was an absolute pleasure to catch up with old friends and meet new ones....….and the ride home was the icing on the cake for me.....
(If I have missed anyone / anything...massive apologies! let me know and I'll update this epistle..)