British Hotchkiss Society
Past Events in 2013.
Spring Opener
When: Sunday 13th April
Where: Hampshire
Nestling in the verdant,rolling, downlands of Hampshire, Hinton Ampner House was a superb setting to celebrate our Spring Opener.
8 proper cars and some twenty or so persons met in pleasant, warm sunshine to enjoy the still beautiful blossom trees and the luscious new green growth of the surrounding southern Hampshire countryside whilst drinking fresh brewed coffee and chat endlessly.
Around 12 noon, we fired up our faithful steeds and drove a very convoluted route through the country lanes to end up at The Woolsack at Totford, some 9 miles east of Winchester. Here, after a leisurely supping of the local ale we adjourned to the charming oak beamed dining area inside and enjoyed thick French onion soup and truly excellent roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
The gathering broke up at around 1500hrs to wend our respective ways home.
This was a great start to the 2014 season and our thanks go to Peter Fryer for his organisation. Now for the June Drive in North Wales. On 6th. to 9th.June. (see Newsletter for details)
Peter Nunn
Celebration Run
Where: Oxfordshire, England
When: 2nd May, 2013
Twenty five years of fun and friendship - who'd believe it?
After coffee on the banks of Old Father Thames at Benson, we motored gently to Ewelme - a gem of a village! On foot, we admired the 15th century Church, the unique cloister and almshouses, and the Ewelme Foundation School (1437) nestling below, all funded by Geoffrey Chaucer's grand daughter. Alice Chaucer, a very wealthy widow, lived at nearby Ewelme Manor. With great foresight, she left £59.12s. 6d. in perpetuity to maintain the Ewelme buildings, with others, and today's financial equivalent successfully continues this work. Leaving all too soon, we motored along the lanes through delightful country to "The Mole" at Toot Baldon for a celebratory lunch. A short speech from our President Paul Hickson introduced Michael Edwards, who told us of the Club's inaugural meeting at nearby Le Manoir Quat' Saisons, which set the foundations for today's British Hotchkiss Society.
After twelve years absence, how good to see Alan and Gill Goodyear's 2050 Anjou saloon, pictured here.
Happy Anniversary!
June Run
Where: Isle of Wight
When: Friday 7th – Monday 10th June
Wandering O’er Wight,
Thirty-one club members and friends (plus two more on the Saturday night) spent a very enjoyable and sunny weekend on the Isle of Wight – once the thunderstorms had cleared on Friday! Based in Shanklin at the Keats Green Hotel, the average mileage driven each day was 29 miles, and the venues visited included Chessell Pottery Barns, Brading Roman Villa, Osborne House, The Military Vehicle Trust (which put on display, among other things, of a Hotchkiss gun), The Garlic Farm, Arreton Old Village and Carisbrooke Castle – all extremely interesting in their own way. The nine vintage cars behaved very well, and even the Edwardians managed to get up the occasional very steep, long hill. There is always a lot of talking, joking, eating and drinking at these events, and this one was no exception – the only complaint was that the whole weekend went far too quickly!
Summer Saunter
Where: Royal Berkshire, England
When: Sunday 18th August 2013
The rendezvous as ever for this event was the Blade Bone hostelry just outside Bucklebury in Royal Berkshire. Also, as usual it was under the control of that formidable team, the Tiptons.
Gill and I set off from The Solent in decidedly ‘iffy’ weather; there was a little dampness in the air and just a suspicion of blue through the clouds.
We scooped up Pam before heading north. Traffic was surprisingly heavy at the start but lessoned in direct ratio to the increase of blue sky. By the time we reached the Blade Bone it was a wonderful day and remained so for the rest of the day.
O.C. parking, David T. was on hand with his clip board and brightly coloured Hotchkiss Umbrella, waving it about like a demented Osborne House Guide to organise the parking as the numbers steadily increased to a very impressive 30 persons with 7 proper cars plus others. Missing due to holidays were the cars and bodies of Mr. and Mrs. President Paul and Peter and Christine Fryer.
Michael Edwards in the very pretty 1912 Model AB swept in, flushed with the success of his very recent filming in that car for a forthcoming edition of Downton Abbey which is due to be shown on Christmas Day*. The scene is where the chauffeur (Michael) holds the door open for new comer Lord Merton and then closes it again.! It’s a heady world when you are a star!
A splendid luncheon was enjoyed in the conservatory of the pub with much chatter and jollity.
People were enjoying themselves so much in fact that David had difficulty in encouraging us to leave and to drive on to “Two Hoots”, David and Erica’s charming cottage in the centre of the village for phase two.
Just an amusing aside from the recent excitement of the new baby. There are two churches in the village, the really picturesque one adjacent to David & Erica’s residence and a plainer one at the other end. The press were camped outside for two weeks awaiting ‘The Shot’ of the family attending church. Unfortunately they were outside the picturesque one but the Middletons use the other, so missed the event! Shame!!
Erica is famous for her Strawberry and Cream Gateaux and Scones at this event and consensus was that these were the best ever. Also Erica, whilst the oven was hot, baked a splendid birthday cake for Gill Goodyear and Helen Scott whose joint birthday it was that day. Their names where picked out in silver balls and assembled folk gave them a spirited rendition of “Happy Birthday”.
There was one bit of drama as we sat in this so English a country garden, the local cat gate- crashed the event but was chased firstly up a tree and then off the premises by the Nunn’s cat-hating white Westie. For a couple of minutes it was Bedlam, disrupting an intense game of Pétanque being played in one corner of the lawn.
Again, such was the enjoyment of the event, it was all too soon 5 o’clock and the gathering eventually broke up.
It was wonderful to see David looking so well after so long a time and Erica a little more relaxed than of late and we can only inadequately say ‘Thank you both for a truly happy and excellent day’.
Peter Nunn
* If it doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor!
Autumn Closer
When: Sunday 13th October
Where: Newbridge
On a cold and very wet Sunday morning, 28 members and friends met at the 16th century inn The Rose Revived in Newbridge, near Witney, for the renewal of friendships – and of course for the coffee, Danish pastries and/or enormous slices of chocolate cake! It was especially good to meet for the first time Richard and Jean Jones, Delage owners, and Ian Leighton-Boyce, an Armstrong Siddeley limousine owner.
After warming up and drying out a little, it was back out in the rain for a 22 mile meander around the local area through pretty villages such as Charney Bassett, Stanford in the Vale and Garford to our luncheon venue at Millets Farm Centre at Frilford– a very popular local attraction. We were lucky to be given a reserved area in the restaurant, which allowed us to hold a very successful raffle as well as enjoy a delicious 2-course lunch.
There was time after lunch to visit the Garden Centre, enabling several people to top up their supply of spring bulbs and to purchase Christmas presents. All too soon it was time to say farewell and go our separate ways. Thank you the two Michaels (Scott and Edwards) for arranging such a good Closer.