Members present

Andy & Jennie Holyoak

Tim & Kathryn Sharp

Reg & Irene Bowler

Pete Hodgson

Pete Garlick

Martin & Sue Faulkner

Colin & Ann Skinner

Phil, Rachael, Sam & Hannah Gunn

David Guzzetta

Noel Hefford & Nicky Baker

John & Margaret Martin

John & Chris Day

Andy, Claire, Amy & Chloe Moltu

Roger & Gill Guy

John Edwards

Paul Bowler

Martin & Jenny Ward

Ruth Richards

Ben Ward

Helen Kirk

John & Angela Carter (visitors)

Meeting notes

Winter Ball

Sue Faulkner has written a great article on this. All I feel I should add to it is a huge

THANK YOU

to Reg for acting as guide for the whole weekend.

Tree planting

There was a tree planting session in the National Forest near Ibstock as part of Ian Evan’s retirement celebrations organised by something to do with the National Forest (sorry, don’t know exactly which organisation).

David Guzzetta and Martin Ward duly turned up to support Ian and watch the ceremony as members of a local TR group.

However, things were not as expected ….

The “organisation” hardly deserved the term. David and Martin, along with Chris Cunnington, Ian Evans and a few others, were all given spades and told to get digging and planting!!!

I would say it’s extremely unlikely Ian will ever forget that particular ceremony!

TS2

We have been told that TS2 is doing the rounds of all the TR Register groups, again, as part of Ian’s retirement celebrations. It is due with LTRG mid June.

LTRG v TSSC Race Night

I am told that the above took place as planned on Saturday 31^st March and was great fun. Sadly, though, LTRG did not come up with the goods and TSSC won the day (and the races).

Mallory Park Track Day

I am hoping someone will do a write up on this. I do know, though, that all those who went from LTRG had a fantastic day as usual.

However, I’m sure they were all extremely pleased NOT to be the owners of the extremely poorly TR pictured on the front cover of this issue of TRipe after it had lost an argument with the barriers. Apparently, it’s only a few short weeks since it had a complete rebuild. Oh dear. By the way, the driver was OK.

Here are some other, much less traumatic pictures of the day. There’s also a fantastic montage at the end of TRipe for you all to enjoy.

There are lots more photos to come but Andy has them stored somewhere and he’s away for a few days so I can’t ask him. We’ll print them next month. Something for you to look forward to.

I’m most impressed with Reg’s ability to wear a bowler hat through the roof of his TR! J

Paul’s Hog Roast

This is being held in Paul’s garden on 22^nd April. Tickets are £15 per head. The girls are running a bring & buy stall (all donations gratefully received please).

Please try to sell as many tickets as you can. You can either ask Paul for some or you can sell them and then let him know how many you want.

All proceeds are going to Marie Curie.

On the subject of Marie Curie, £1400 has already been raised/pledged which is excellent. However, Paul pointed out he needs £4,000 so there’s quite a way to go yet.

Terracotta

Martin has booked LTRG into Terracotta on Saturday 14^th April. If you want to go and you haven’t already put your name down, you should get in touch with Martin asap, 0116 271 6810.

Coventry Skittles Challenge

Still tbc.

Rachael’s next extravaganza

Rachael’s next show is Sweet Charity and is being held at Loughborough Town Hall from 5^th to 9^th June. Tickets are between £7.50 and £9.50, depending on which night you go.

LTRGers usually go on the Friday. Talk to Rachael or Phil at the next meeting if you’d like to go along.

Rachael’s shows are always highly recommended.

LTRG’s 2008 Non-Christmas Dinner

We have changed venue for the above and set the date.

Unfortunately, our excellent cook and the WMC in Kibworth have parted company but she recommended the Kibworth Cricket Club instead.

Reg and Irene went along to give it the once over and it has a big thumbs up. For those of you who don’t like yelling over the noise of the disco, we have use of two rooms - one for the disco, and one for chatting. Excellent!

However, it’s a very popular venue so we’ve had to nab ourselves a date already. It’s to be on Saturday 19^th January 2008. Pop it in your diaries J

1^st-3^rd June Kelling Heath

At the meeting there was some talk of this site being rather pricey these days - £27pn - so we were going to look into an alternative.

However, things have moved on a pace since the meeting, and Graham & Margie Ransome and Roger & Gill Guy have already booked their caravans in for that weekend.

So it now looks as though we’re back as we were and it’s a case of “Kelling Heath, here we come…”

TR Register Winter Ball

Having heard that last year’s ball was really good, 14 of us decided to give it a go this year and we weren’t disappointed. On Friday 16^th March, 5 cars set off from TGI Fridays in Coventry to be joined later in Wales by 2 more. The initial group consisted of Reg and Irene (TR4A), Andy and Jennie (TR6), Mick and Linda (TR6), Martin and Sue (TR6) and Colin and Ann (Vectra).

We stopped at a great pub Colin found for us for lunch, with good food and even better views, and he even laid on entertainment while we ate – two very loud low-flying Tornadoes. Thanks Colin! We arrived in Llandrindod Wells mid afternoon, having travelled all the way with lids off. It was good of the hotel to have painted their outside walls green to match Reg’s car, although they didn’t quite get the BRG shade. Nice effort, though. Tim and Kathryn (sensible car) arrived early evening at the hotel, but Tony and Ruth (TR6) didn’t make it until late evening, having left late then gone the pretty way to somewhere equally unpronounceable that also starts with L. Satnav is a wonderful thing, especially if you programme it to take you where you actually want to go. We were very pleased to see them when they did finally arrive.

The hotel made us really welcome and looked after us superbly all weekend. They had set aside separate rooms for the TR activities, which is just as well as there were over a hundred people there. Friday evening started with welcome drinks and a brief outline of activities, as well as a goody bag for everyone. The men decided to fly the local group flag by wearing their black Leicester shirts, nicely set off with white bow ties. Very smart indeed. The buffet meal, tasty and plentiful, was served in what was to become the TR restaurant for the weekend. The evening set the tone for the whole weekend – friendly and relaxed with lots of talk about TRs.

The main events took place on Saturday. One of the things in the goody bag was a map of the suggested run-out, which most of us decided to do after our (very) full English, sorry, Welsh breakfast. Apart from the Sharps and Skinners, who, being TR-less, decided instead to do their own thing, the rest of us went off into the mountains. What a treat! Most of the route was on narrow, winding, sometimes steep roads, through wooded areas, with lots of sheep and baby lambs (aaah!) in the more open parts. It was good to see so many red kites (birds, not toys) flying around. The cattle grids certainly got the old suspension rattling nicely (that’s on the cars, not the people, although I can’t speak for everyone!) The roads were great fun to drive on, especially the Devil’s staircase, and the weather (sunshine organised by Reg, thank you) made it even better. We had several photo stops to admire the views, waterfalls, and even a large reservoir tucked away up in the mountains. The scenery was stunning. At one stop we also met the local vintage Vincent motorcycle club enjoying their run-out. After mutual admiration of each other’s vehicles, we finished the tour with lunch in Llandovery. Local cakes were purchased, before making our way back through the Brecon Beacons. There was one nasty moment on the way back when some idiot in a Eurobox, obviously intent on breaking the sound barrier and probably his own neck, came shooting past us all without leaving enough room to get back in. Luckily he got away, aided greatly by an oncoming car who had to brake sharply to let him through. Breathing sighs of relief, we arrived back at the hotel in time for dance lessons. (Yes, you did read that correctly!).

In preparation for the evening do, there was a dance session laid on to prevent those of us with two left feet from making utter twits of ourselves later. The teachers were none other than Mick and Linda (any more secrets we don’t know about?!). The class was hugely enjoyable as we were taught the finer points of Swing Jive. Mick and Linda have obviously missed their vocation, since they proved to be more than up to the job of pointing us all in the right direction in time to the music, teaching us about rock-steps, ladies’ passes and Charleston steps (yes, we were paying attention!) All good fun.

Feeling suitably pleased with ourselves, and well ready for a rest, many of us settled in optimistically to watch England beat the Welsh at rugby. The hotel had even set up a large screen TV, but, as you know, the rugby gods decided it was not our day, encouraged no doubt by the large group of hairy, leather-clad guys from a Chopper motorbike club, also staying at the hotel and cheering loudly for the Welsh. It was all good-natured, a shame the result wasn’t what we wanted.

Highlight of the weekend was the dinner dance on Saturday evening. Far be it from me to suggest that our menfolk are occasionally sartorially challenged, but what a transformation! It was a real pleasure to see them all dressed up in their DJs. We ladies didn’t let the side down either, clad in our posh evening frocks. There was a suggestion that we all turn up to the next group meeting dressed in our finery, but on balance we thought our usual jeans and jumpers were more appropriate. The seating plan for the meal mixed everyone up, so couples sat with people we didn’t know. This was a really good way to socialise, and find out that there are others out there who are equally passionate about enjoying their cars as we are. The 5-course meal was excellent, and the speaker very funny. The raffle was won by Martin and Sue, who got a big power washer, which seemed a great present until we realised just how much space it took up in the car! Andy and Jennie also won some fancy choccies. Then it was time to show off our dancing skills for an hour or several into the wee small hours. Overall a fantastic evening.

After perfect TR weather on Saturday, it was a bit of a shock on Sunday to see the snow blowing briskly past the windows at breakfast. Fortunately, it eased off a bit as we loaded the cars. At least we could fit the power washer in with the roof up. The snow/sleet/hail/rain continued fairly consistently, and often sideways, for much of the journey home. We had planned to do a bit more sightseeing en route, but after a welcome coffee stop, it was decided to get home before the weather did anything else unpleasant to us.

Five cars convoyed back (yes, we did see Tony get off the A46 at one point, only to get back on again straight away – seems to be a Satnav theme here!). After dispersing at various places along the way, we arrived home mid-afternoon.

The weekend had all the requisites for success – good company, good food and hotel, TR talk, and enjoyable activities. I can only describe the whole experience as excellent and we can’t wait to do it again.

Sue and Martin