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CLUB RUNS

For thosewhowant to enjoy theirMGwith like-minded souls but in amore relaxed environment than either historic rallying or racing, then aclub run is o«en theperfect answer.Wehitch a ride on anMGOCcharityrun to bring youa flavour ofwhat’s involved. Wordsandpictures:AndrewStarkey

Go Clubbin’

One by one a steadystream of MGs arrived

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Before my invitation to Go Clubbin’ has you dashingout to buy a sparkly outfit and a whole bunch ofglowsticks, I should explain that I’m not talkingabout that sort of clubbing. I’m on about your localMG Owners Club, the haven for like-mindedenthusiasts and owners of the MG marque. I’mpretty sure that an awful lot of you reading this

magazine will already be warmly ensconced in the welcoming bosom ofyour local club, and will already be well aware of the benefits andcamaraderie gained from your membership. The trouble is, there are stillpeople out there who think being involved with such a group will bestuffy, not at all fun and, well, boring. If this is you, please read on forsomething of a wakeup call. If not and you already partake in clubactivities, keep reading anyway, because if your club is anything like thisone, you’ll be enjoying every minute of your membership.

I live in a village called Alsager which nestles on the Cheshire borderwith Staffordshire close to Crewe, so my local MG Owners Club is thePotteries and South Cheshire MGOC. I sought them out because I waslooking to make contact with several local clubs of different marques, inthe hope of finding interesting cars with interesting owners suitable forfuture features. On entering the club’s meeting place, The Red Bull onButt Lane, I received a very warm welcome and straightaway I waschatting with the members and discussing their cars.

Robert Nason, the Chairman, then let me in on exactly what the clubwas up to over the next couple of months. That’s when it dawned on methat this club wasn’t just somewhere for MG fans to huddle together andswap yarns. This band of people actively sought out opportunities tobring their cars and the MG brand in front of the general public. In doingthis, not only did they raise awareness and keep the brand alive, but theyalso raised money for charity along the way. I had to see this for myself.

The cars looked fantastic

against such landscapes

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January2016MGE 67www.mgenthusiast.com

Robert went through the event diary as if it were an invasion plan,explaining which shows they were attending and who was in control ofwhat. One event really caught my attention – the annual Charity RoadRun. This was an event that went much further than any static display,and one that you’ll see by the pictures here is designed to be enjoyed bythe members and their MGs. I asked to come along, and nobody raisedan objection in time so that is exactly what I did.

The morning of September 6 was absolutely glorious, lovely latesummer sunshine falling on the grounds and buildings of GawsworthHall, a beautiful location between Congleton and Macclesfield andtoday’s starting venue. I got there just before 8am, and already the keypeople were making ready pop-up awnings, a few tables and a welcomestall where all those taking part could collect their road book. Oh yes, aroad book, for this was no simple treasure hunt or mad dash to somelocal beauty spot for everyone. Instead it was a carefully devised route,planned by Robert and his wife Maggs, to take in interesting roads andpicturesque views. Directions were given by ‘Tulip’ diagrams of each turnalong with mileage between each instruction. There were notes too tohelp warn of any potential hazards such as a cattle grid, deep ford and soon. All in all it must have been a very time consuming document to puttogether, and demonstrated the great lengths to which people in yourlocal club will go in order to give members a great day out.

One by one a steady stream of cars entered the grounds of Gawsworthand took up residence on the lush grass in front of the house. Before longit had grown into a pretty impressive display of 60+ MGs of various ages,all sparkling in the morning sun. There were also a couple of non-MGcars in the line-up. These were brought by people who were betweenselling one MG and buying another, or who had their trusty steed insome form of disarray on the garage floor at home. Rather than beingunable to take part, they could use a substitute vehicle. One such couplewere Bill and Anne. They’d just parted company with their MGB due tomoving house, and so the family hatchback would have to do. This wasall very useful for me as I’d spent the previous few weeks trying to locatea good ZR that I could have used on the run and then kept for trackdays. My search had been fruitless, but Bill and Anne had an empty backseat and very kindly offered it to me as my observation post for the run.

Bill and Anne were great to be with and gave me a fabulous lesson inhow to navigate using the road book. We took our turn to leaveGawsworth, everyone setting off at one minute intervals. The trip mileagewas set to zero and Anne called out the mileage to the next change ofdirection accompanied by any relevant notes, and off into the wilds of thelocal countryside we went. Friendly conversation was interspersed with amileage call, a direction change and the occasional grumble of ‘Bloodycyclist.’ No doubt if we had been in a convertible, we might have heardthe occasional grumble of ‘Bloody cars!’ from the cyclists...

It’s not until you really look that you notice what beautiful scenery androads we have on our doorstep. Occasionally we’d either be caught by(or catch up to) another entrant. The cars looked fantastic against suchlandscapes, and it was lovely to see them being used on roads for whichthey were really intended. I really had a pang of envy as these superblyturned out shiny cars of our heritage motored through the countryside,

BillandAnneweregreattobewithandgavemeafabulouslessoninhowtonavigateusingtheroadbook

All in all we had coveredaround 70 miles of terrificcountry roads

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topless where possible of course. But then again, I was officially workingso couldn’t be seen to be enjoying myself too much!

A rest halt had been thoughtfully planned about half way through theadventure, giving everyone a chance to congregate, muse over the routeand break out the butties. Anne does knock together a pretty mean bap– Marks and Sparks ham no less. Anyway, even the interval had beenplanned to be in a truly idyllic location – Froghall Wharf in the ChurnetValley, which was really pretty with the Caldon canal beneath the hugewalled railway wharf.

Refreshed, relaxed and having enjoyed the beautiful setting, it was offagain with the faultless road book to take in some more of our best roadsstraddling Staffordshire and Cheshire, pausing occasionally to take in theview or grab another picture before finally winding our way back to thestart point where we could chat about what we’d seen. One couple hadturned over two pages by mistake and got lost, although they wereconvinced they had a page missing. I guess we’ll never know for sure, butthis sort of thing is what makes an event stick in your mind, bringing asmile to your lips long after the car has been put away and no doubt atopic for conversation at the next meeting. For now, though, it was out

with the wicker hampers and the check cloths again as travel rugs werestrewn around, tea, coffee (and maybe a bit of wine for the non-drivers)flowed and cakes and more sarnies were happily munched.

Rob Nason then took over proceedings during this most convivialgathering, getting down to the serious business of raising a bit more cashfor the club’s chosen charities. Lots of raffle tickets had been purchasedfor a whole host of donated prizes. No, I didn’t win anything, but thenagain I never do. It was then on to an impromptu auction for a couple ofmore select items before the day drew to a close.

All in all we had covered around 70 miles of terrific country roads,enjoyed fabulous views and truly iconic motor cars. In addition to this, ahugely impressive £3985 had been raised for a children’s hospice (TheDonna Louise Trust), The Clough Animal Sanctuary and The Staffs AirAmbulance. It was a perfect demonstration of what your local club isabout and how it can be the warm, friendly, family environment that youand your MG should be taking full advantage of to swap stories over adrink, get advice from fellow members, even buy and sell any bits andbobs. So whatever you do, just make sure you get to be a part of the clubscene. You won’t regret it. Now, who’s got a ZR they don’t want?

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