Magnettes at Kingston Lacy
Although
not such an intrepid journey as Jose's Peking-Paris trip, I thought it was worth
recording that four Magnettes braved the weather to support the Dorset
Midget+Sprite club event at Kingston Lacy (27 May 2007) on one of the wettest
ever holiday weekends even by British standards. This heroic act was probably
more a triumph of unfounded optimism (oh well, the rain might blow over by the
afternoon...) since the forecasters had confidently predicted rain, wind and
unseasonably low temperatures for Sunday and Monday. Nevertheless we managed to
gather the complete Magnette range, with the ZBVs of myself and Peter Martin, a
ZB with Bob Hough and friends, and a ZA belonging to David from Sussex. This was
actually more of a display than the Midgets and Sprites, although the club had
obviously put a lot of effort into the organization beforehand and must have
been somewhat disheartened by the poor turnout.
When standing talking under umbrellas began to
lose its appeal we headed for the National Trust tearoom and watched the rain
from there, over coffee and some excellent flapjacks. I've recently fitted Avo
adjustable rear shock absorbers, and it turned out Peter had been looking into
the different options as well. As a matter of interest the Avo's work quite well
on their middle setting and have eliminated the rear-end clunks I experienced
when hitting bumps at motorway speed, but I'm still conscious of a slight
oscillation on some surfaces so may experiment with the other settings.
Both the tearoom and the main house were doing
brisk business with visitors. The house is noteworthy for the woodcarvings and
collections of Old Master paintings in the main rooms, and also for the number
of other rooms that are open to visitors, right up to the servants quarters. The
Japanese garden and other formal gardens were quite atmospheric in the rain, but
would have been worth spending much longer to see properly on a fine day. By
early aftenoon the Midget owners had packed up to go home, and we followed
fairly soon afterwards. I hope the Dorset area are not discouraged from staging
the event next year, as it's certainly one of the most picturesque venues I've
come across.
Stephen Tickell
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