Athelhampton House
Members of the Z register were invited to the Bournemouth and Poole MGOC
annual picnic at Members of the Z register were invited to the Bournemouth and
Poole MGOC annual picnic at Athelhampton House in Dorset on 10 August. Although
the weather was warm and dry, the only two Magnettes there were mine and Alan
Slack's (both Varitones). Nevertheless we were made very welcome by Nigel Hedges
and the other MGOC organizers. As well as opening their event to the wider MG
community, the club donates the proceeds each year to their local charity,
Dorset Scope.
Athelhampton is a picturesque Tudor manor owned by the Cooke family, who have
been hosting the picnic for several years. The majority of the cars were MGBs,
Midgets and MGFs, parked at the back of the house. We were on the drive at the
front along with a select few 'T' types and MGAs. This was a perfect setting for
photographers, while Alan and I discussed the finer points of Varitone trim (and
why I still haven't got round to refitting my roof gutter chrome). We also met a
new Magnette owner, Matthew Semple of the MG 'M' group. He's still having to
make do with an MG Maestro while his ZA is being restored...hope to see it at
next year's Register events.
The established format of the gathering is fairly unstructured, to give time for
people to chat and explore the house and gardens, but is punctuated at intervals
by the flamboyant Mr Hedges encouraging everyone to join in the raffles, Teddy
bears picnic and duck race (not real ducks, just plastic ones which are released
'en masse' into the River Piddle). Although you might find some or all of these
ingredients at other non-Magnette events, I think it's well worth the effort to
attend Athelhampton because of the particularly warm welcome, the attention that
our cars get, and the various interesting ways to separate you from your cash
which are all in a good cause. In previous years there's been a bigger Magnette
presence, including owners from the Dorset area, so it would be great if we
could repeat that next year.
Stephen Tickell
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