replica WW2 Spitfire. Out past the old
Cowley works, where the modern Mini is
made, before the usual run through the
rolling hills and chocolate box villages of
Oxfordshire, into Gloucestershire and to
the even more chocolatey box village of
Bourton on the Water and the Cotswold
Motoring Museum.
The museum might be small in terms of
floor area but has heaps of exhibits and
memorabilia, the stone walls are nearly
entirely covered by enamel garage and
advertising signs, the genuine article and
not modern tin reproductions.
Every year seems to bring more
MG anniversaries to celebrate or
commemorate. Not only do we celebrate
90 years of MG but it is also a hundred
years since the outbreak of the First
World War (doesn’t time fly!) and seventy
years since the D Day landings. We stood
on the wide beaches of Normandy where
kiddies played on the beach, oblivious to
the rusted remains of part of the Mulberry
OUR CLUB AND
SOCIAL MEDIA
Harbour and the drama of June 1944.
Then we drove to Dieppe where row
upon row of war graves were a sobering
reminder of Operation Rutter.
There is, of course, a MG connection.
Apart from the Abingdon factory being
turned over to war production, many
of the American GIs fell in love with
the quirky little sports car (as well as
English girls!) and many MGs crossed
the Atlantic. When peacetime production
commenced the TC became, “The sports
car that America loved first”, and earned
valuable export revenue.
I recently had a phone call from a
chap in Canada. He has a TC, one that
he bought from its original GI owner
who had shipped it from England. The
current custodian now wants to bring it
over here, to drive it on its home roads
before selling it back in England, in its
home country. An interesting history and
I could be tempted. I had better go and
sweet talk or, more likely, grovel, to my
friendly (!!!!) bank manager.
Yet another anniversary. Sixty years
ago Roger Bannister became the first
person to run a mile in less than four
minutes. History was made at the Iffley
Road track in Oxford, not all that far
from Banbury, on 6th May 1954. I have
tried in vain to find a MG connection and
have consoled myself with the thought
that Sir Roger, being of impeccable taste,
probably drove an MG !
Jeffrey Turnbull
Our world is a constantly changing place
and I don’t have to tell you that. The
invention of the personal computer, the
World Wide Web (www), the mobile phone
and other instruments of communication
have revolutionized how we contact each
other. The way that we now receive news
and communicate directly with each other
is so vastly different to even half a century
ago. Remember the days out on the road
when you had to look for one of those red
phone boxes, stop the car and fumble for
enough change to make a phone call? Wasn’t it always the case that the phone book
was torn up or missing and often the phone had been vandalized?
Social media has come to the challenge and youngsters and the computer savvy
were the first to embrace the new and constantly changing methods of instant
communications – it took those of us who are a little more senior longer to catch up.
In recent times, thanks to our past Club Captain, Steve Begley, we have been linked
with the outside world through FACEBOOK. We have two Facebook sites – ‘The MG
Car Club of Victoria’ and ‘The F n Z Register’. Both groups are active and I’d like to
remind you that they are your sites – for those who would like to check them out and
contribute to the pages. They are the perfect way to catch up instantly with what
other MGers are up to, thinking about or working on.
There has been some controversy over the use of social media and certainly, in
the wrong hands, it can be misused badly – there have been many cases of broken
relationships through this medium of contact. I do believe that Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram sites, for example, offer a method of communication not seen before. They
are starting to mature successfully and the linking of iphones has added yet another
dimension. Who knows where all this is leading.
It is certainly not intended that our Facebook pages take over from Wheel Spin but
I consider them to be an adjunct to compliment Wheel Spin and give the opportunity
for Club members and others to add information or make contacts in an instant.
Gotta go, the Barcelona GP is about to
start. Lewis is on pole but will he maintain
the advantage?
So, until next time it’s good night
from me and it’s goodnight from her.
Goodnight.
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For those on computer (and isn’t that most of us these days!) please check in to
our pages. You are most welcome to add, contribute and comment – they are your
pages.
The links are as follows: www.facebook.com/MgCarClubofVictoria
and www.facebook.com/groups/394581510556321/
M.G. Car Club Victoria
Check it out!!!!
JUNE 2014
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