In the space of two weeks, the MGCCSE has attended and/or organised three fantastic events.
BROOKLANDS EASTER GATHERING: Two of those events took place at the same venue – Brooklands! Beginning with the New Year’s Day Easter Gathering on the 16th Members headed down to the birthplace of British Motorsport to celebrate the New Year. Why? Well, this was the traditional New Year event that should have taken place on 1st January but was postponed due to the uncertainties of Omicron at that time. Instead, it landed on Easter Saturday and as a result much better weather! This also had the bonus of bringing many more cars out which would otherwise have been SORNED in the depths of Winter and would not have appeared on 1st Jan. The place was packed with around 1000 vehicles on site and over 5000 people attending enjoying a myriad of different models of classic and vintage vehicles. An added bonus was live music from Be Bop Boulevard in the Paddock, extra food and coffee outlets around the site and a generally great atmosphere. The South East was represented by the T-Type Register which gathered on what is known as the Concorde Lawn and the MGF Register which were in the “moderns” section in The Heights Parking area. Both Registers had around 20 cars each making it a good turnout for the South Easters.
WATTS GALLERY: The next Saturday the MGCCSE had arranged a visit to Watts Gallery in Compton near Guildford. Over 20 cars gathered in the car park at the Gallery for an early season spot of culture. George & Mary Watts were the Beckhams of the Victorian era – a celebrity couple with houses in London and a country retreat in Compton. Limnerslease is the house in the country and it contained studios for both George and Mary respectively. The house has recently come into the full ownership of the Trust looking after the site and several rooms, including their studios, are now open to visit. They also built a gallery in the grounds which holds a fantastic collection of their work and a chapel a short distance along the road with a stunning painted interior. The cafe was put into good use by members and others took picnics into the grounds for a lunch stop.
BROOKLANDS MG & BRITISH MARQUES DAY: This event took place on Drive-it-Day and there were plenty of classic British marques on display around the Brooklands site to celebrate. In recent years Brooklands reduced the number of single marque days so this combined MGs and Morgans and many other names from the British Motor industry of the past.
MGs were the most plentiful though and the South East Centre had a gazebo and stand in front of the camouflaged doors of the Aircraft Factory. It was a great position and allowed us to display many different types of MG. The main feature was an MGB timeline from a 1962 model through to the last LE and even a bit of a cheat – an RV8 to finish the line off! Older MGS were in evidence with some C-Types, a beautiful red J2, a couple of K3s and a beautiful PA Airline Coupe driven up from the Isle of Wight. The SE T-Type Register sported a good turnout again and the display was completed by an early MGF, two red MGAs and a trio of MG Magnettes (Farina types).
Elsewhere there were MGs galore parked around the aircraft of all models and eras. On the finishing straight there was a large contingent of Morgans and a good mix of Triumphs, Rileys, Singers, Humbers and a club of Middlebridge Scimitars with one being signed by Princess Anne (a member of their club).
Take a look at the MGCCSE YouTube Channel where you will find videos from the Brooklands days –
