Cambridge Austin 7

& Vintage Car Club

Summer Newsletter

July 2016

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Austin Seven & Vintage Car Club

A member of the Austin Seven Clubs’ Association Meetings held on the first Wednesday of each month at the Plough & Fleece,

in Horningsea - unless otherwise stated on the calendar of events.

President Mary Walker

Vice Presidents Gerald Walker Robert Leigh

Secretary Paul Lawrence

Editor Gill Davis

Treasurer Fenella Leigh

Committee Members

Alan Martin Michelle Lawrence

Newsletter Printing of Newsletter - with thanks to Mike and Jean Johnson And their Staff at PRINT-OUT, High Street, Histon.

Contributions For next edition by 12th September 2016, please.

Website Facebook

www.ca7vcc.co.uk Cambridge Austin 7 & VCC

The views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Club or Editor.

Cover Photograph

Tony Dron receiving his trophy at the National Austin 7 Rally at Beaulieu from Tony Southgate.

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AUSTIN SEVEN &VINTAGE CAR CLUB

NEWSLETTER – July 2016

Contents…..

From the Secretary….

It is with great sadness that we heard about the passing of Harold Mansfield back in June. Harold was a fountain of knowledge when it came to all things ‘Austin Seven’ and was well known for his immaculately turned out cars. Although he wasn’t a current member of the club he spent many years as a long-standing member and I am sure many of you will have fond memories of Harold and our thoughts are with his family.

Hugh Barnes and Nick Harrison have been working extremely hard developing our new club website over the last few months and I would invite you all to take a look at www.ca7vcc.co.uk. We will be making a special effort to keep this up to date in the future and I hope you will find it informative and useful to help keep you abreast of club activity.

Due to increased regular attendance at club nights, coupled with the limited parking often available at the Plough and Fleece due to other events going on there, has led your committee to start considering a new venue for our monthly gatherings. Nothing has been decided yet but we will keep you posted if there is a change to the current meeting place.

Beaulieu 5 Photographic Competition 18

Burwell Museum visit 9 Kop Hill 19

TOTIE 11 From the Archives 20

Tickford Austin 7 15 Caption Competition 21

A7VA Archive Report 17 Calendar of Events 22

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It’s been a good year so far with many of you supporting club events and there is much more to come. Keep an eye on that calendar of events and I hope to see you at a club night or other event soon,

Paul

From the Editor:

It seems to have been a fairly busy summer season so far and I am pleased to know that many of you have trundled your little (and big) cars out for some of our events. I am sorry not to have been on as many runs as I would have liked but family events have kept me busier than normal over the summer – but those I have ventured out for have been fun events.

This edition has reports on the National Rally at Beaulieu, the visit to Burwell Museum, the week-long Rally in Essex organised by the Essex Austin 7 Club and a lovely article from Mick Ward on his unusual “original” Tickford Austin 7. There is also an article by Hugh Barnes on the work the A7CA is doing on the Association Archives. Can I also congratulate Hugh on his recent election as Secretary of the Association – I am sure he will be a memorable addition to the job.

I have also included an article from the club archives – I have reproduced it before but I thought it might be of interest to our newer members to give them a flavour of earlier club activities!

Please also make a note of the date for our Car of the Year event to be held on the 4th September 2016 at Sue & Gerald Walker’s home in Cottenham. I am sure Paul will send out a reminder closer to the date. Can I also remind members to get your photos in for the Photographic Competition – details on page 18 of this Newsletter.

Other events coming up – the AGM and the Annual Dinner – please look out for further details soon.

Happy Motoring ……

Gill

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Beaulieu 2016

A short report from your editor –

Photographs courtesy of Nick Salmon.

The 54th Beaulieu Rally took place on Sunday 3rd July – but it is so much more

than a one day event. Many entrants take advantage of the Beaulieu weekend

camping arrangements and arrive on the Friday afternoon prepared to make it

a full weekend – yours truly included!

As usual there was a Saturday afternoon run through the New Forest (organised

by the Dorset A7 Club) for those who wanted to take advantage of the occasion

- some chose to visit Lymington with the Saturday street market and vibrant

marina whilst many took the time to visit the Motor Museum and Palace House

as the rally ticket gives free entry. The Saturday evening barbeque was slightly

different this year as our usual “host”, the Winter Family, had a previous booking

which meant that they were unable to provide their usual buffet fayre. The

Beaulieu burger van provided the main course whilst some of the Winter family

(Paul, to be exact!) came with fresh strawberries to round off the meal and the

“usual suspects” provided the musical entertainment!

This year’s event included a special display of Sports and Racing Austin 7’s – and

there quite a few to see!! The Pre-War Austin 7 Club had a wonderful array of

Bert Hadley racers on display, David Morgan brought his Cooper Special and

John Gaskin was in attendance with one of the current 750 Trophy Racing cars –

the racing formula that is based on Austin 7s. The Trials section of the 750 club

were there to showcase their unique method of crossing the banking, and many

visitors took the opportunity to be ferried up and down in style! The Jack French

Garage project team where there also with the replica Simplicity they are

building to display in the garage when it is finally on display.

As the event featured Specials I took the opportunity to get my example out of

storage and, with the help (help! – completed on his own!!) of Gerald Walker to

get her up and running, I was able to enter her in the Rally. As she hadn’t been

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started or run for about 8 or 9 years, it was a miraculous feat of work – thanks

Gerald!

It turned out to be a long weekend for me as I had a family wedding to attend

on the Saturday in Beaconsfield, complete with reception in Chesham, I

managed to drive the M25/M3 four times over the weekend. In fact with

collecting the trailer and car before the event and returning the trailer

afterwards I managed a staggering drive of nearly 800 miles. No wonder I was

tired after it was all over! (But I wouldn’t have missed any of it!!).

Highlights of the weekend – Tony Dron won the John Pitchers Trophy with his

1932 Box Saloon, (see the front cover for a picture of Tony being awarded his

trophy by Tony Southgate – 750 President), a really good weekend weather-

wise, meeting up with old friends and catching up with all the news – but mostly,

the friendship

and

camaraderie of

the Austin 7

fraternity!

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Burwell Museum Visit

By Roger Burton

Melba and I attended the Burwell

Museum ‘Rollin’ Classic Car Day’ on

Sunday May 22nd in our 1933 Box

Saloon and were made very welcome.

The weather behaved itself and the

turnout was very good for a small

event.

Ian Slade with his 1927 Riley 9 Mark I

Tourer, Rod and Gill Griggs with their

Morris Minor Convertible and Sam

Bramley with the family Ruby also

attended from this club, and I think we

were all impressed by the range of

permanent exhibits at the Museum,

many of which were new to me since

my last visit with my trains in 2010.

Mick Ward would have been interested in the last remaining example of a

Burwell and District Bus Company vehicle, and there is a fine 1929 Fabric Saloon

with before and after photo-montage.

There are lots of

agricultural exhibits as you

would expect, along with

photographic records of

Burwell’s massive brick and

lime industries, of which no

trace now remains. The

same applies to its Railway

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Station, but the

restored windmill

around which the

museum is built is open

for tours on a regular

basis.

The most famous

butcher’s van on TV –

Corporal Jones’ van

from Dad’s Army –

together with Captain

Mainwaring himself provided an interesting exhibit, and, as the van is housed at

the Burrell Steam Museum in Thetford, it occurred to me that would make an

interesting Club Run! (Hint

taken – Ed)

Overall, Burwell Museum

gave us a very pleasant day,

well worth a note in the diary

for another time.

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TOTIE – or - The Only Tour Is Essex (and Suffolk!)

A fond memory by Gill Davis

In the summer of 2014, Janet Edroff and I took part in the 2nd Watermills &

Windmills Rally in Norfolk. The rally had many “Austineers” attending and one

couple from Essex came up with the idea to organise a similar event to showcase

the Essex countryside and to prove that the television series “The only way is

Essex” was not a true reflection of the county!! So – 2 years later, it was with

pleasure that Janet and I embarked on a week-long discovery of the beauty and

historical interest that Essex (and a bit of Suffolk) could provide.

We were staying at the Essex Golf and Country Club in Earls Colne where the

rally was based – a pleasant hotel on the outskirts of the village with comfortable

rooms, indoor fitness centre and swimming pool and reasonable car parking.

The Welcome Dinner was on the Sunday evening of the 12th June with the rally

proper starting on the next morning.

The rally followed the usual format of daily routes of about 100 miles exploring

the country roads and visiting places of interest. The daily routes had intriguing

titles, like

“West to

Audley End”,

“Lovejoy

Run”, “Halls

Run”,

“Constable

Country” and

“Blackwater

Run” so the

scene was set

for a good

week.

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Each day the

runs included a

coffee stop in

such varied

places as an

Antiques Centre

coffee shop, the

RHS gardens at

Hyde Hall, an

art gallery that

had an

exhibition of paintings by Dafila Scott (Scott of the Antarctic’s granddaughter), a

church in East Bergholt, a small café overlooking the rivers Stour and Orwell and

the Tiptree Jam Factory! The “places of interest” that we visited and discovered

were as varied

as the

titles of

the daily

trips

indicated.

Audley

End,

always a

favourite

place to

visit;

Lavenham

and the

famous Guildhall where we were invited to park in the Market Square and enjoy

the village: Ingatestone Hall, the home of Lord & Lady Petre (a thought for a club

run!); Constable Country and Flatford Mill and finally, Maldon on the Essex coast

followed by the Grade1 listed 13th century Knights Templar Barns at Cressing.

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The weather proved

to be “not too bad”,

and Janet and I

managed to keep the

hood down on her

Opal for four and a

half of the five driving

days – the problem

was that we bragged

about it so we were

very disappointed to

have to put the hood

up in the rain on the

final Friday afternoon! That will teach us not to be so cocky!

The company of rally participants was as varied as only an Austin Rally can

provide with lots of old friends, some Cambridge Club members and some “new”

friends who I hope will

have enjoyed

themselves so much

they might try more

rallying! The

“company” meals

were all at the hotel –

the Sunday Welcome

Dinner, a Wednesday

evening barbeque

(that didn’t go

completely to plan!!)

and the Friday evening

Farewell meal. There were plenty of pubs and hostelries not too far distant to

suit even the most delicate palate for those evenings where food was not

included which gave us more time to explore the area.

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Overall the event was a

great success – nobody

had a terminal problem

with their car, although

Hamish Alger had a not

so near miss with white

van man (and Hamish

was stationary at the

time!) but no lasting

damage. The daily routes

were good, the lanes

small and interesting,

although some entrants mentioned that with the convoluted routes they found

them quite tiring, and the

company was exceptional. I

understand plans are well in

hand for another event in

2018 – so watch this space

for the pre-advertising!!

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My 2nd love affair!! - a 1933 Tickford Austin 7

By Mick Ward

I bought my Austin 7 Tickford just 40 years ago in April 1976, having seen an advert in The Motor Sport. Some members of the Midlands A7 Club (we used to live in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands) had been helpful in trying to educate me into the variety of models & prices that were becoming available. Little did I expect to find the car that I did, which I excitedly bought in BC 1976 (“BC” is ‘before children’) and I was only successful after an extra month of negotiations in which the price went up 50%!!

Back in the then 1970’s,

everyone expected me to restore it - but I resisted the comments

and questions,

AND jolly glad I did. I had spotted there

was something

quaint about original

unrestored even in those days – which now-a-days is very accepted, with good use of the word – “patina”.

To ensure I have a better year A7 wise I am pleased to report that Gerald Walker was employed to provide his knowledge & expertise to sort out a few issues with her. He agreed that I should go over in January & February earlier this year - his workshop is heated! I normally don’t venture into my garage in the winter time because all the tools are so cold - yes I know – I’m a whimp!

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I have also taken the decision to replace my Avon Triple Duty ‘Sidecar’ tyres that have done me proud – bought by myself new in 1976 & with that ‘period’ style pattern so they seemed to me to be about the best choice at the time for the 3.50 x 19 wheels. However we are now spoilt for tyre choice, as in addition to Avon there are now the Longstone & Brockley tyres available; I’ve plumped for the Longstone.

As part of my preparation to check the condition of the rims, I had not accounted for taking over an hour just to get one old tyre off! This was despite me having brought the wheels into the kitchen some 48 hours beforehand just to warm the tyres up! I also notice that my own strength at handling the tyre levers is reducing somewhat!

So after using a Gransden village garage to remove the other 4 tyres carefully, I cleaned up the wheels; especially on the INSIDE of the rims, which were remarkably rust free. They had all been shot blasted & powder coated 40 years ago.

Then a cunning plan I hatched as I offered to take Jean out for lunch! – but up in Bawdry in South Yorkshire!! Oh – yes, the Longstone’s tyre premises were also there in Bawdry, who duly fitted 5 new tyres for free - carefully without scratching the rims! I was impressed & if you ask Jean she may concur that we did have a nice meal (‘soft belly of pork’) on a sunny February day out! So now hopefully this will enable me to take her out for a few A7 runs this year, as she’s not happy on the back of my 1949 Norton 16H motor bike !

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Austin 7 Clubs Association Archive Project.

The Archive Project has made some good progress in the last 3 months. The digitisation of our first tranche of materials by Hampshire County Council has gone very well and on the 21st July a small ‘hand over’ ceremony took place at the Council offices in Winchester with members of the Hampshire County Council Archive staff and members of the Project team with 2 Chummies in attendance. Hampshire are proving to be an excellent partner and have delivered images to a remarkable standard. We are delighted with the work they have done for us so far. Our Web Master, Chris Charles has embarked on the development of a series of pages to be added to the Association web site to enable these images to be viewed. This will include the current collection of Handbooks and Parts list along with the Trophy collection photographed earlier. These pages will be added to over time as we digitise more of the collection. A ‘pre-release’ version of Chris’ work will be available to view at the Open Day at the archives at Lubenham on Sunday August 14th. The Archive will be open from 10am – 4pm and we will have a number of exhibits which will give an insight into what the Archive holds. The archive is held at the Triumph Six Sports Car Club HQ, Main St, Lubenham LE16 9TF. There is plenty of parking on site so why not come in an Austin 7 and make a day of it. All are welcome and we would be delighted to see you. Hopefully this will have seen this in your Club Magazines before the date!

We have also prioritised our next tranche of materials and will be sending the collection of Show Brochures etc., to Winchester in September.

In physical terms, the Archive is now much better organised and the complete collection has been gone through and arranged into logical groupings. New and more appropriate homes are being sought for Archive material we hold that is unrelated to the Austin 7 (e.g. some of the Stanley Edge collection that relates to his military work during WWII). As part of the organisation, the collection of photographs has been sorted into one area and work has started to go through them in detail. They will be ordered first by year and we will create an initial count of the total number of photos we have and commence cataloguing them. This will be quite a considerable piece of work for the ‘Thursday Working Party’ and may take some time. Volunteers are always sought and I’m delighted to welcome local A7 owner, Alan Garaghty to the group.

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We are still very much in need of the services of a Digital Archivist. This is a very important position for the Project and for the Association generally in the longer term. Please, if you have the required skill set (see the advert in Grey Mag 2016B, p 11) or would like any more information, I’d be delighted to hear from you. My email address can be found at the bottom of this article.

Don’t forget, we publish everything related to the Project on the Archive pages of the Association web site, so you can follow the Project’s progress in detail there. At the same place, you can now sign up for an occasional e-mail newsletter we are planning to start issuing to keep you all abreast of our progress.

Hugh Barnes - archiveproject@a7ca.org

Photographic Competition 2016

The title for this year’s competition is “Out and About”

As usual the competition rules allow for no more than 3 entries from any

member of the club and the photograph must be taken by a club member!

The photograph should be taken between 1st September 2015 and 31st August

2016 and can be submitted to any committee member in any format (electronic

or print).

The competition winner will at announced at the AGM.

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Kop Hill Climb

17/18th September 2016

The 750 Motor Club will be having a Club Stand at the prestigious event this year, organised by the North Herts Centre, and you are invited to come and join us.

Come and display your pre-1976 car in the paddock and enjoy a day (or two) of nostalgia and fun. If you do have a car as young as 1991 you may also be able to display on the club stand. The event is not far from Great Missenden where Sir Herbert Austin was born and there will be a run from Gt Missenden Church, where he was christened, to the Kop Hill on the Saturday.

The prices are:- Paddock Display - £20.00 for one day and £30.00 for both days for both driver and one passenger.

Further details can be found on the official website (kophillclimb.org.uk)

When booking please use the drop-down box to register as a 750 Club entrant.

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Extract from CUA7&VCC Newsletter 1968

Originally submitted by Peter James

ACHIEVEMENTS ’67 – ‘68

August ’67 Received nasty letter from Bristol County Council accusing me of

pouring gearbox oil down their drains.

September Put car in ditch to achieve 95% braking efficiency on MOT

October Arrived at Cambridge minus two cylinders. Have you tried sticking

Corks in spark plug holes?

November Rebuilt engine at G & D (George & Dragon) All parts guaranteed

washed in river water. Demonstration of acute under steer at

Milton Driving Tests.

December Redesign front axle turning into Hertford Street at speed.

January Tripped over nice warm oily piece of camshaft while walking on

pavement. Verified it as mine by matching with other half clearly

visible in the sump.

February Film debut at Coton Autocross. Engine by kind permission of R.

Walker Esq. Nasty policeman doesn’t believe my tax fell off last

week and confines the car to G & D for rest of term.

Next day perfected steering using good solid wall in Richmond

Terrace.

March Stepped into one side of the car but was so drunk that I fell out of

the other.

Purchased crash helmet.

May New engine by Ray Walker.

June Awarded an Honours Degree in demolition and rock climbing at

Milton Driving Tests.

Win A7 class in club rally. Some people put this down to distinct lack

of brakes.

I must commend my navigator who never once attempted to jump

from the car at any stage.

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Break crankshaft in London. My thanks to Mr Griffiths for sweating

and “..........”

July Change engine again and prepare for Beaulieu.

Ruin small sister’s tent at Beaulieu. Practice run at Haverhill for next

CUA7VCC autocross.

August Outright win at next Autocross. Largely due to genuine attempt to

commit suicide over woman.

September RETIRED

And as a little extra – a Caption Competition ………. Any interesting answers/suggestions to the Editor (camionette@hotmail.co.uk)

or on a postcard to 11, Linton Gardens, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. IP33 2DZ

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Calendar of Events.

Sunday 4th September. Car of the Year. To be held, by kind invitation, in Gerald and Sue Walker’s garden in Cottenham. Barbeque, driving tests, annual awards and a great atmosphere for all the members and their families. Do mark this important club event in your calendar.

Wednesday 7th September - Club night at the Plough & Fleece.

Sunday 25th September – Duxford Imperial War Museum. A chance to join up with our friends from the North Herts Centre on their outing to this great museum. Much has changed at the museum in the last few months and it is a chance to catch up with Austin friends from North Herts. Details to follow so watch this space and your email in-boxes. Wednesday 5th October – AGM. Further details will be published nearer the date, but do put the date in your diary for this important club event. Wednesday 2nd November – Club night Wednesday 7th December – Club night with “added bonus”. Michelle Lawrence is organising a “building” exercise to challenge your dexterity skills. Come along and be amazed (or amused!!) Sunday 1st January - There are various New Year’s Day Meets in the area. Why not round off the holiday season with a drive out to celebrate 2017. January/February 2017 – Club Annual Dinner. Watch this space for details of this event. Wednesday 4th January - Club night

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Other National & Local Events that may be of interest in 2016: Date Event Organiser/Contact

3-4th Sept International Autojumble Beaulieu Motor Museum www.beaulieu.co.uk

9-11th Sept Goodwood Revival Goodwood

10-11th Sept 750 MC Summer Festival at Rockingham Raceway. 750 Trophy Racing plus Austin Parade Lap on the Sunday

750 HQ Contact: Giles Groombridge Tel: 01332 814548

25th Sept Autumn Ramble. Road Run to Duxford Museum

750 North Herts Centre Contact: Stuart Jenkins Email: jenkins49a@btopenworld.com

The 750 Motor Club Austin Championship events calendar is published on the Austin 7 pages of the club's website: www.750mc.co.uk Do you have a favourite event you want to advertise …… we have the space!! And don’t forget we will continue to meet on the 1st Wednesday of every month at the Plough & Fleece in Horningsea.

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