Midget and Sprite Club - Hampshire Chapter
As the date of the Great Bloxam Steam Fair grew ever close it was 'all eyes on the weather forecast' - nobody wanted a repeat of last year's mud bath (It's the same weekend as Glastonbury) !!!. It rained on Friday night but by the time things got under way on Saturday a strong wind got up and dried things out 'hang on tight to that kite Barry'. It was out youngest member's (Sam 20months) first proper taste of camping and he proved to be a petrol head in the making - a true chip off the old block.

Sam, Lou & Pete in Harriet's 1950 Willys Overland Jeepster

Our next outing was to Woodcote near Reading - Alf's favourite show (Real Ale tent). Heavy rain on the Friday evening threatened disaster and sent Barry & Jenny back home for a change of shoes, but the organisers 'managed' the showground very well and the show went off as planned. Unfortunately John and Vic had the misfortune to break down just as they left the gates and had to be recovered home - all fixed now though - a faulty distributor cap again! (Deja vu Gaydon).

The end of July and we have a trip out to show the cars at Brooklands Museum. We meet up on the A3 in warm sunshine, joined for the first time by Jeremy in his shiny red Sprite and we arrive in convoy - the 'girlies' looked a treat and attracted a lot of attention - as usual.
 
'
The Girlies' at Brooklands

A trawl through the autojumble turned up some treasure to be refurbed and sold in aid of the Barry Green Metal Bonnet Fund and everyone found something to interest them. We were surprised at how many different events are held there throughout the year and we may well return - we were told of a rally and lunch that may take place on New Year's Day so we'll keep an eye on the web site for more info.

We have a weekend off now and then it's Classic Wroughton for the first weekend in August followed by the Club Barbie at Alf and Lynn's - it's all go!

Well, we had the Barbie' and braved the weather for as long as possible The gazebo sheltered us from most of the wind, but we ran for cover when the rain started dripping through the roof - good here isn't it?
  Wroughton was probably the most disorganised show we have visited in a long time. The first challenge was to find the camping area - it took Alf and Lyn nearly half an hour and were on the verge of going home again when they found someone who could show them the way - and it didn't get any better. However two of our members found fame if not fortune. Alf was invited to take part in the filming of a television programme to be shown on ITV in the autumn while John (and his car) was photographed for Classic Car Mart magazine.

Alf the film star - please queue for autographs!

The last event on our Summer Calendar was the annual visit to Hampshire Pageant of Motoring at Broadlands in Romsey. We travelled there in the rain (nothing new there) but the sun came out shortly after we arrived. It was good to see Scottish Dave (recently renamed Kiwi Dave) who was back in 'Blighty' on holiday and we had a good day with lots of interesting people to talk to.

Club Nights have been well attended throughout the summer. Colin & Jude visited us from the Surrey section and it was great talking to them and hearing about the different events they had attended. We planned a visit to the Home Counties August meeting, sadly Terry & Harriet couldn't go because of other commitments and John & Vic fell by the wayside when their dynamo packed up en-route to the rendezvous point. However four of us managed to get there without mishap, we were made most welcome by Mark and the rest of the group and hopefully we will visit them again before too long.

Starting on Friday 23rd May we were to go to Priors Marsden in a convoy of six cars. The four Frogs and the two Midgets of Chris and Mike. We had already planned the route, so meeting Mike just south of Wantage was going to be no problem. Well, Chris needed a new bit of exhaust pipe before we left Alf and Lynn's, Big John didn't have Vic with him due to her being ill, and then an hour out, Alf and Lynn had to return for forgotten items! No problem! The icing on the cake was Mike having an electrical malady and us all sitting on the side of the road while as many people as possible stuck their heads under the bonnet generally sucking in air and trying to fix it!


L to R. Mike, Barry, Big John and Terry
Whilst we were sitting there a gentleman (John Gardner?) who used to work in the drawing office at Healeys stopped. Most interesting man, who later found us in the pub and brought Mike an electronic ignition module that he thought might help. Eventually after the rescue service had called for a flat bed truck we
  trooped off to the pub we were staying in. needless to say we were much later than we anticipated, but "hey that's classic motoring".

Alf had, by this time, caught up with us, and went on ahead, unfortunately going AWOL. We got back to the pub for a well-earned pint of Hooky, and eventually got the word on Alf. He had a broken half shaft, and was situated in a pub car park in Fenny Compton. Chris and Barry went back to help, and the rest of us made plans to get Mike to Spridget 50, and also talk to John. Little John and Ellen turned up - no Frog - in the MGF
The long and the short of Friday evening, was that Alf, Lynn and the Frog went home (the second flatbed of the day) to get it fixed and then come back and rejoin us on Saturday afternoon.
The long and the short of Friday evening, was that Alf, Lynn and the Frog went home (the second flatbed of the day) to get it fixed and then come back and rejoin us on Saturday afternoon.


Priors Marsden, the pub car park! Four Frogs and two Midgets
  Mike was towed to Gaydon on Saturday morning while the rest of us donned yellow jackets and hats marshalling the Spridgets in to their places.


L to R. Terry, Chris and Barry

Spridget 50 - Wow what an event!

We all had a ball, seeing so many similar but different cars. If you were wondering whether your car would look good in another colour, you could check it out, trying to fit a different engine/gearbox/pair of seats? Yes, you could probably find someone who had done it too! There were marauding French Frogs coming over the hill, as well as cars from all over. In the middle of it was Mike, who after much persuading, had his car converted back to ordinary electrics rather than the set up that had gone phut! Alf turned up at about 3:30, which was fantastic. And what a lot of nice people were there too. We got together for pictures, then left to go back to the pub via Burton Dassett, so that Mike could visit the place where his sister's Midget was photographed in the late 70's. Great fun and beautiful views, but windy!


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The New Year's Day meeting took place at the Cricket Hill roundabout on the A30……………

It all started well enough with Terry and Harriet arriving at The Poacher in time to put the banner up in readiness for everyone's arrival and John and Vic soon joined them in the Clan.

Advanced Party - arriving at the Poacher
However it all began to fall apart from that point when Andy the landlord decided to open later than originally planned, so not even a cup of coffee was on offer to keep out winter chills. Meanwhile Barry & Jenny were happily batting down the A30 when the engine suddenly died without so much as a murmur.
Alf, (mechanical Guru) in his Sprite and Lyn & Brooke (support vehicle!) came to the rescue and the advance party at the pub packed up the banner and came to join us.
Alf, (mechanical Guru) in his Sprite and Lyn & Brooke (support vehicle!) came to the rescue and the advance party at the pub packed up the banner and came to join us.

To cut a long story short the problem was diagnosed as a 'dead coil' and after the roadside repairs we all went back to Terry and Harriet's for coffee and cake and a much needed visits to the bathroom! Luckily we had broken down on the route used by a lot of classics going to the annual Phoenix bash in Hartney Wintney and we would like to say a big THANK YOU to all the people who stopped to offer help/advice/sympathy - it was appreciated.

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