Message from Peter: Spring Meeting April 10th / Castle Combe Action Day April 27th
Spring-time / Easter Greetings to all Upper Thames Branch members (tho' not many signs of Spring yet!!!)
As a reminder, our next quarterly meeting, the Spring one, is only 9 days away, on Wednesday 10th April – we'll be meeting at The Pheasant on the B4000 north of J14 of the M4 – if it's your first time, just head north on the A338 aiming for Wantage and take the very first left after about 1/4 mile, and The Pheasant is almost immediately on the right.
There are rumours our old venue, The Tally Ho the same distance SOUTH of J14 on the A338 has reopened as a village-pub once more, and I'm aiming to pop in there before we meet at The Pheasant to check it out, so we can discuss options for the future.
The first of the Castle Combe Action Days is on Saturday 27th April. I'm booking the Club in for 6 car-spaces, and there will be 12 individual entry passes, worth up to £15 each – I've got requests for 4 of these, so there are at least 8 still up for grabs. Please let me know NOW by return email if you'd like one or two (they are per person, not per car), and send me a first-class SAE, or if you're coming to the Spring meeting , bring it with you then.
Please note that I'm no longer able to book track passes for people – if you want to take advantage of these, please contact Castle Combe direct:
(http://www.castlecombecircuit.co.uk/...ingEventID=441)
We had a very disappointing turn-out for our Winter meeting back in January, with only 5 of us sitting down for our New Year meal, after I'd made a preliminary booking for 12 based on early indications of interest.
Please support your branch otherwise I will be stepping down from organising matters locally – you can support it by responding to eMails when sent to you (not that difficult, surely???) even if only to say you're not able to attend a meeting or event, by supporting our quarterly branch meetings, by joining us at the Castle Combe track events, and / or by supporting national events such as our AGM, Annual Rally, the Silverstone Classic Cars Festival, etc – oh, and by letting me know any ideas that would encourage you to get more involved with your club and its local-to-you branch.
I am very grateful to those that do support our efforts, and have done so over the years, some making valiant efforts including driving considerable distances to join in – your participation is very much appreciated, but we do of course require a certain critical mass to make organisational efforts worthwhile.
Rgds
Peter
Peter Scatchard
Secretary, Upper Thames Branch, MR2 Mk1 Club
The Old Barn, 51 Chawley Lane, Cumnor, Oxford, OX2 9PX
Tel +44 (0)1865 864 864, Mbl +44 (0)7775 631 044
peter.scatchard@motorcyclewriter.co.uk
Slightly confused new member
Hi,
I can understand your frustration with the lack of attending people with the local group. Although I must say that as a member of the forums since November and being in the area of the Upper Thames Branch (Newbury) this is the first time that I have seen any message posted within the forum area for the branch. By your message I assume that you also have an email list for organisational purposes but I was not aware of this or know how to join it.
I would have attended the January meet had I known about it (and was available) as I do wish to be an active member of the club. Since joining I have been very impressed with the friendliness and helpfulness of the group and have been blown away by some of the offers by fellow members.
I am now planning on meeting you on the 10th, I'm only just down the road although my mk1 (probably) won't be back on the road by then I can hopefully use the works van to get there. If you could let me know what time to attend I will see you there.
Unfortunately I am away for the Castle Combe Action Day on the 27th (I get back off holiday on the 28th) but I have already booked by tickets for the Silverstone Classic with Tom last week and will hopefully have the car restored and looking stunning for the show.
As various other meets become confirmed I will know whether or not I can attend and will be happy to respond to emails if I get them.
The only idea I have that would encourage me to be more involved in the local group is to update the page on the forum more regularly. The last post on here was in May last year, I didn't become a member until after then and had no idea that anything else had been arranged within the area.
If you tend to organise by email rather than through the forum it might be a good idea to put a sticky within the group area that tells people this.
Hopefully see you soon.
Terry
