1993
August - MGC Day,
Avoncroft Buildings Museum
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How do you get a museum full of buildings? Simple. You take a lot of buildings of historic interest,
dismantle them brick by brick (or timber by timber) and re-erect them in a field laid out to look like a hamlet of several hundred years ago. Populate them with people in period dress who go about the business and trades of the day who can explain what it is they are doing. Includes a full-scale windmill that,
when it was no longer required at its then location,
would be jacked up,
a large cart positioned underneath it,
then pulled by dozens of horses to a new location.
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July - Coys Historic Festival,
Silverstone
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A little expensive but superb for a motoring enthusiast. Masses of displays,
track action,
celebrities,
and stands selling all things motoring. |
May - the inaugural Arden Heritage Run, to mark the opening of the Motor Heritage Centre, Gaydon
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Departing from Stratford-upon-Avon, Gaydon had only opened the previous day. We all parked in an arc around the front of the impressive art-deco building. Some amazing exhibits inside including the 'sawn in half' MGB GT, the MG SSV and earlier EXE record breakers. Previously most of the exhibits had been in storage and unseen by the public. Through his daughter we had got to know Ron Whitehead (who was subsequently awarded the MBE for his work in conserving the thousands of items and documents that go to make up The British Motor Museum) who showed us round one of the storage locations, Studley Castle. It was amazing to see all those historically significant vehicles sitting in the dark under dust sheets. One of the items I spotted was the (then) new K-series engine - but in one-cylinder form. I expressed surprise and asked Ron what it was used in. He said "It is the first development engine. All engines are initially developed as single-cylinder. You wouldn't want to go the expense of building a four-cylinder straight away only to find it didn't work out".
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