News & Chat

If anyone wants further information or an entry form please go to www.prestonmg.co.uk

We are pleased to report a record attendance for our annual Cobblestones Run held this year on the 28th June.

We were blessed with a hot and sunny day and the new venue for the start and finish of the event turned out to be a the right decision.

A total of thirty six cars set off from the Fair View Inn and the Cavalcade of Excellence followed a route that took us through some breathtaking scenery around Lancashire and West Yorkshire.

Various optional stops along the way allowed time for refreshments and breaks with the chance to talk to fellow MG and classic car enthusiasts.

The return to the Fair View Inn was greeted with a short sharp burst of heavy rain that only gave everyone a good laugh and certainly did not dampen any spirits.

The splendid carvery was served to all returning drivers and passengers who tucked into the fayre whilst the raffle tickets where drawn.

What a great day.

We must do it again sometime!

At North Manchester MGOC we all take turns in organising our monthly runs and this provides plenty of variety and routes to take. Our April run was the ever popular St Georges Day Run and was prepared by Jim and Joan Keating.

The day dawned to a spectacular sight as we entered the car park to see all the entrants lined up and ready for the off in brilliant sunshine.

Among this Cavalcade of Excellence were some welcome visitors with their classic cars including a three litre Austin Healey, an MGA, a Nissan Figaro, MGB's and a Midget - fantastic!

Our route took us into the Cheshire countryside with pre-planned stops at a large garden centre and a country park and with a final destination of the Lion Salt Works near Northwich. At the salt works we were treated to a narration about the salt making process and the background to the Lion works. Sounds boring but it was very interesting indeed!

What set this outing as a special day was the opportunity to meet new friends whom we hope to see again in the future. We really all had a great day out.

GRAHAM TAYLOR

At last warmer weather is returning which means it's more fun driving our MG's. But here at North Manchester we go out throughout the year anyway!

For example in March we all went on a outing entitled Harvey's Run. Now Harvey is only five years old but he is a regular on our Sunday run's accompanied by his parents Gary & Sharon and his younger sister Rebecca. So, where do you think the final destination point for Harvey's Run was? An ice cream parlour of course!

Harvey's Run took us over the Pennine's into Holmfirth and via our new favourite road down onto the A628 towards Barnsley. A cracking road and the Cavalcade of Excellence was in full throttle for a goodly few miles.

We arrived at the Yummy Ice Cream Parlour at Delph House Farm and we were greeted by hens and chickens running around the car park and the mooing of a herd of cows. A highlight of the visit however, was meeting up by chance with a fellow MG enthusiast from, I think, the Sheffield club who just happened to be visiting the farm in his emaculate bright red Jaguar 120. A nice chap and a nice car!

Our photo tells it all. A great day and great company.

Harvey is second from the right (front row)

Our first run of the 2009 season was held on a cold but bright day in January. Graham managed to keep his hood down for the first seventy miles but completed the last thirty or so home in a warmer Midget with its hood firmly up!

It was in fact Graham's run and the whole route was centred around a single road that runs from Holmfirth over 't tops to Tintwistle. It's a cracker and everyone commented on the views and moorland scenery. The final destination for the Cavalcade of Excellence was a retail outlet mill complex near Wakefield. First class.

Good news for the 2009 Cobblestones Run! We have changed the venue to the Fairview Inn which is only a mile or so away from our venue for past events. We tested the Fairview's Classic Carvery for our Christmas Meal and we can verify that it is a really good treat. The even better news is that we can reduce the entry cost to only £9 per person. So, we think that this is good news especially in the current economic climate. If you want to find out more visit our website or speak to Brian or Graham or, if you are "local", just turn up at one of our meetings.

Our events list for 2009 can also be viewed on our Events page or again contact Brian or Graham (see Homepage) and we can e-mail you a copy.

So, we hope we see you during 2009 at the "friendly club".

The North Manchester MG Owner's Club Christmas Party was held at a different venue this time. The Fair View Inn, with its classic carvery and full supporting menu, proved to be a good decision and everyone enjoyed the meal. In fact we have decided to adopt this pub/restaurant, close by the Spring Inn, as our new venue for our annual Cobblestones Run to be held during June 2009.

Our monthly runs take us in all directions from our start point near Rochdale and always have a destination that is of interest to everyone. So why not come along ?

MONTH: October
SUBJECT: Fran & Dave's "Fuel for Thought Run"
CONTENTS: Ghosts, Henry the 8th, Christmas goodies and flower style urinals in the gents! Wow!

A good crowd set off from the Spring Inn along with Ken and Stuart, a couple of new friends from the Sheffield MGOC, who had made a special journey over to us for the day, to top that we had two Ladies from Kingston Ontario who had made the journey especially to be with us!

The weather was dry and the MG's were in good order and the Cavalcade of Excellence wound its way through hills, villages and towns in Lancashire over to the impressive Samlesbury Hall near Preston. Here, Henry 8th, or someone who looked and talked like him, explained the finer points of this fascinating stately home to anyone who would listen. It seems that the place is haunted but nobody said boo to us!

Leaving the splendours of this 1325 AD built hall behind us we progressed on further afield to the Barton Grange garden centre near Garstang. here the Christmas displays made us all festive with cheer - and the cash tills did ring. Now, one of the more unusual aspects of this centre is its unusual stand-up plumbing arrangements in the gents toilets. Well, they're porcelain and shaped like Lilies, Roses and Tulips and it's most peculiar - but fun!

Later with twilight fast approaching and the MG's asking to be tucked up in their garages for the night it was a safe return journey home.

Thanks to Fran & Dave for a great day out.

This September we enjoyed two great runs courtesy of four of our north Manchester members.

The first outing was an evening run organised by Brian and Debs that took our cavalcade of excellence up and over the hills out of Lancashire and into West Yorkshire. I think I can speak for all those who took part on the night in extending our congratulations to Brian and Debs on an outstanding little route that led us through some spectacular scenery and eventually onto the Pack Horse Inn and a hearty hot meal. Lovely grub!

The second run was organised and planned by Ian and Trudy and took place on a warm and dry Sunday late in September. By coincidence we left Lancashire again and headed into West Yorkshire travelling through towns and villages and across open expanses of moorland where we had a chance to open up the throttle a bit. Lunch was at Shibden Hall and comprised of a picnic on the lawn. A tour of this old building was undertaken but Brian and I just ate our ice-lollies on a wooden bench and savoured a Last of the Summer Wine moment! We left the Hall and proceeded still in formation over the hills again and arrived at Oxenhope Steam Railway. Now we have been here before but you just can't miss the opportunity to see an engine with a full head of steam performing and, true to form, one arrived in the station platform while we were there. Superb!

Before leaving for the return leg we had the opportunity to come to the aid of a biker who unfortunately had broken down in the station car park. Despite valiant pushing by Brian and Graham the bike failed to proceed. However, Gary came to the rescue with a set of jump leads produced from his car boot.

It was an unusual sight to see Gary's Midget starting a 750cc motorbike side be side. Nice to be able to help another enthusiast.

The day started fine and dry and continued to be so as, it must be said, a smaller than expected number of cars set off for our now annual Treasure Hunt and BBQ.

Jim and Joan did the honours this year mainly because they won the event last year.

So as you might imagine the idea of the Treasure Hunt is not to win, whilst still trying to make it look like you tried your best.

The questions this year really tested the entrants, with 4 stops en route, a garden centre two Exhibitions/Museums and an Aquarium.

The people on duty must have wondered what was going on as person after person asked the same questions.

So it came to pass that the Cavalcade of excellence finally arrived at Jim and Joan’s residence. The BBQ was enjoyed and our version of the Birds nest stadium in Beijing waited for the start of the games.

We may not have expended as much energy as our glorious Olympians but we did have lots of fun competing in Darts, Lawn darts, Mini Golf and Quoits.

After the Gold Medals were awarded the only thing left to do was announce the winner of the Treasure Hunt.

Dam it was me, so next year the BBQ will be Hosted by Brian & Deb – mental note must try harder not to win.

Instead of organising our July monthly run we joined our close friends and MG neighbours at Bury MGOC for their annual Black Pudding Run. This was a prearranged swap because they had entered our Cobblestones Run that took place during June. So we returned the favour.

I am sure I can speak for all the North Manchester crowd in thanking Bury MGOC for the warm welcome we received at the event. The organisation was superb and the run was great. The route took the Cavalcade of Excellence around all parts of Lancashire with interesting views and places of interest and then back to the start point for refreshments and a barbecue. The hot food was definitely welcome after the bracing day due to high winds and low temperatures!

In order to maintain a long-standing tradition, Kelvin, who is one of our members, managed to get a puncture by hitting a boulder that ran out into the road before he could avoid it. This maintains his "will I break down again" success rate of 100%.

All are welcome to join North Manchester MGOC for our monthly runs that take us all around our area with interesting destinations and routes. Alternatively, call in for a chat at our monthly meetings at the Spring Inn in Rochdale.

We are glad to report another great Cobblestones Run held during June with a near record number of entries that filled the car park at the Spring Inn start and finish point.

Despite a threatening sky the tenth Cobblestones Run Cavalcade of Excellence proceeded on a route into Yorkshire and around some picturesque scenery and interesting stop-off points including narrow boats, steam trains, a heritage centre and retail shopping. Some were lucky and missed a shower or two - some weren't!

However, all arrived back to a piping hot meal in the restaurant to witness the raffle draw. What a draw, we had so many prizes that it took about half an hour to get through all the winners and to give out the prizes. The selected charity the Springhill Hospice, situated just around the corner from the venue, benefitted from the generosity of all who took part.

We trust that all who participated enjoyed the event as much as North Manchester members did.

Anyone who owns a Midget and is sometimes disappointed to see the model outshone by larger MGB's etc at shows and concourse events will have had a field day at the Spridget 50 event at Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon In May.

The organisers expected around 1,000 Midgets and Sprites to turn up and I for one would not doubt that they achieved their goal. What a day and what an event - superb!

Notable cars where the many examples in absolute first class condition and the V8 version that I wouldn't have thought would be possible but there it was. But I personally liked just browsing around the car parking areas and looking at all the smiling faces and everyday cars.

The museum itself is certainly worth a visit and seems to have been changed since I last went some years ago. A full history of autos from the early beginnings until the present day.

I took loads of photos and it is difficult to select one to illustrate these words. So, to solve the problem I am showing my own Midget on the crest of a hill plus a few others.