:: [ S V V S Evening Meeting - The Plough,  Bletchingley - July 2010 ] ::

The Plough (10) on the A25 in the village of Bletchingley has been one of our most popular venues for an SVVS evening meeting. The write-up below is by Chris Cuss and the photos are by Bozi Mohacek. Please click on any thumbnail picture below to see the full size picture. To return to the thumbnails please click the Explorer "Back" arrow (top left of screen). 




     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     


     

THE PLOUGH BLETCHINGLY       by Chris Cuss.

Although the Plough has by far the most space for our vehicles, we have had more than our share of problems at this venue. Over the years the pub has run out of beer and when they had beer they ran out of glasses. In recent years the weather has been far from kind. This July the forecast was fairly settled so what could go wrong? We were on the point of leaving home when we heard a newsflash that an airport coach had overturned at the M23/M25 junction bringing closure to the motorway. In the event most of our members were winding their ways through the lanes and unaffected but we learnt later that Graham Appleyard spent the evening parked on the M25 and possibly others were affected. Years back the Plough saw the largest turnout of the year and this year continued the tradition with around 50 notable vehicles in attendance although, as ever, not all owned by our members.

Special mention must be made of Phil Sowry's delightful 1929 Austin 7 fabric bodied saloon that is now back on the road after a lengthy restoration. Phil admitted that the last time he drove to a club night in a vintage car was back in 1970! Having seen Simon Bishop's 1929 Singer Senior restoration completed within the last year it seems that our members are finally finishing all those long term projects. As seems the norm these days M.G.s were the most numerous marque present. This is only right as we have 42 listed in the register, indeed it is rumoured that a dyed in the wool Riley owner has finally seen the light and purchased one to bring the total to 43. In no particular order we noted Mike Gooch's 1931 Montlehry Midget; Roger Chamberlain's 1932 blown J2; Jeremy Bishop's 1981 BGT LE; Dave Kilner's 1952 TD Midget; Colin Mulford's 1954 TF; Rob Hubbard's 1975 BGT Jubilee; Thelma Alderton's 1948 Y type saloon; Ron Smith's 1963 Midget and an unidentified similar model. Second place in the popularity stakes went to Morris. Present were Ian Tiller's 1937 8 hp 2 seat tourer; Bob Drew's 1970 Minor 1000 saloon; Peter Dingle's 1923 bull nosed Oxford tourer; Chas Moody's 1929 flat nosed Cowley saloon; Mike Gorman's 1934 10/4; Derek Wright's 1970 Minor traveller and the inevitable anon.

Not having rear parking sensors fitted meant that the long rear overhang of Peter Clark's 1988 Jaguar XJS-C almost demolished a litter bin. Clive Bracey arrived in his 4½ litre engined Bentley tooting a bulb horn in the manner of Mr Toad. He was celebrating the fact that both he and his 1950 XK120 had made it onto the front cover of the current month's Classic Car magazine. We were delighted to see Terry Mistry and his 1947 Triumph Roadster once again, it seems ages since we last saw this car, immaculate as always. The other ever immaculate Triumph present was the 1940 Dolomite owned by Jon Quiney. Continuing with the theme of cars in concours condition Keith Piper sensibly parked his beautiful 1934 Aston Martin sports saloon on the tarmac rather than risk the undulations of the paddock. Chris Woods brought his rare 1947 Singer roadster that was parked near to John Chapman's 1937 Bentley drophead coupe.

The Riley brigade were represented by the 22T Falcons of the Brown family and John Manvers with matching paintwork; my 22T Kestrel saloon and Brian Lloyd Jacob's 22T Lynx tourer. Brian Pooley brought the only Alvis of the evening in the shape of his 1952 TA21 drophead. We saw a couple of Morgans; Michael Harvey's 1998 4/4 demonstrating how little had changed in the 50 years since Ken Berry's 1947 model was built. Moved back to the vintage era we noted John Kirkby's 1924 Humber saloon. From the same period Michael Ireland's 1920 Dodge tourer is now a regular attendee as is Tony Tester's 1929 Chrysler 75. The third large vehicle from across the Atlantic was a Ford Falcon saloon of 1960's vintage. Gary Lowsley brought his 1961 Austin Healey Sprite, Bill Ray was in the Jowett Jupiter special and Tim Ralph arrived in his 1966 Triumph Spitfire. Howard Palmer's 1934 Lagonda Rapier is everything that a post vintage Sportscar should be as is Ron Turner's 1934/5 supercharged Wolseley Hornet. David Smart's 1931 Rolls Royce 20/25 limousine is now a regular feature on my listings as is another 20/25 with a rather larger body - driver or car - it is for the reader to decide (why is everybody always pickin on me! Bozi) Amid all the larger machinery I almost missed Alan Reid's Austin 7 special. Back to post-war and the last car on my listings was Bob Cakebread's 1970 Volvo 131 Amazon saloon. The large Lexus Allard saloon that we saw at the Seven Stars last month appeared again wearing a 'For Sale' sign on its windscreen. Another attendee from last month was the World War II Willys jeep whose owner still manages to escape my clutches. Also noted were a 1950's Austin saloon that does not appear in the register. Colin Fytche has several similar and I wondered if it were a new edition. Desmond Peacock appeared quietly without any sign of an Amilcar, perhaps he had hidden a modern somewhere.

At around 9 o/clock there was a brief light shower but enough to cause those in open cars to think of heading for home least it got worse. It had been a most successful evening. A few days later I purchased a copy of the aforementioned Classic Car magazine with Clive on the cover. Interestingly whilst the photographs on the inside pages clearly show the SVVS badge on his XK120 it does not appear in the cover shot. Photoshop deletion or quick spanner work, Clive will have to explain.

Confused with Clipboard.

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