Fishtail 453 – June 2018

It’s been a busy time at Thames Valley Centre since the last Fishtail report.  Events started off with four Centre members having an enjoyable, but cool, day at Brooklands with Dennis Edginton, our Chairman, featured astride his MSS on the first picture in Fishtail 452. The poor weather continued which resulted in our run to Stoke Bruerne being cancelled on 2nd May.  A complete change in the weather saw seven Centre members participating in the Fleet Lions Run on May 7th when shade and ice creams was the order of the day. This is a big charity run with well over a hundred bikes of all makes entered.

The Southern Classic Bike Show was on May 19th where our refreshed stand was awarded third prize and we had the pleasure of Jane and Roger Franklin’s company.  There was a lot of interest in the sporting bikes on display and many thanks to all who helped make the stand a success.

May 23rd was our annual Cheddar Gorge run with nine members and one guest riding to Cheddar where we met up with riders from Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Bristol and I believe Wye Valley?  My magneto was starting to play up so I was a bit late away from the coffee stop and missed the gathering at the foot of the Gorge. I understand about forty Velocettes were there and many then went back to Priddy where we had an enjoyable lunch at the Queen Victorian Inn.  This run seems to be getting more popular every year.

Our first run to Crofton Beam Engines followed on May 27th where eight members enjoyed the usual excellent coffee and cakes and a tour of the engines in steam.  Always fascinating – at least I think so!

June 13th saw 9 of us visiting Bletchley Park.  A very interesting day out; we could have spent a lot more time looking at the exhibits but the entrance tickets last for a year so we may well return.

Our biggest event of the year is our Show Off Your Bike Day which was held on June 16th at the Cherry Tree.  About forty five bikes of all makes were on display and the rain held off so we could all enjoy the barbeque laid on by the Cherry Tree. Steve Clark, one of our newer members, was so taken by the Bletchley Park visit that he appeared as Private Pike – stupid boy!  Added some fun to the day. The following awards and trophies were presented:

Best Rigid – Velocette Tim Simkins – G3 Colonnial
Best Spring Frame Velocette – Tony Mortimer – Venom Thruxton
Best Pre-1945 Non-Velocette – B Sarney – Rudge Special
Best Post-1945 Non-Velocette – Ivor Reyland – BSA Gold Star
Best Post 1972 Classic/Modern – Chris Winsby – Norton Commando
Arthur Lavington Trophy-  Geoff Bowen – Venom Thruxton
Ben Mallinson Cup – Dennis Frost – MKI KTT
Brian Harris Trophy – Steve Boakes – V2 MAC
Cherry Tree Shield – Dennis Frost – MKI KTT

Our regular club nights continue to be well supported with about twenty bikes at the last evening.

Finally, I have updated our email list in line with the requirements of GDPR.  If you would like to be included in our list please contact me.

Fishtail 452 – April 2018

The Thames Valley Centre AGM was held on Tuesday 9th January at the Cherry Tree in Stoke Row.  Twenty four members of the Centre were present which represents approximately 25% of the membership.  Dennis Edginton, our Chairman, welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a review of the year and thanked everyone for their support for the Centre and participation in events.  The routine business of the AGM was completed with the 2017 committee being re-elected for another year; Dennis Edginton, Chairman; Keith Cookson, Treasurer; Jon Dunsdon, Secretary.

The draft events list circulated before the meeting was reviewed and confirmed with a few minor changes to dates to avoid clashes with other know events in the area. The latest version of the events list has been circulated to the TV Centre members on email, uploaded to our Centre website and submitted to Fishtail for publication. We look forward to seeing members from other Centres joining us on our runs and hope we can beat last year’s number of 37 Velocettes at Cheddar Gorge this year.

I am in the process of reviewing and updating the email distribution list for Thames Valley, if anyone who is not on the current list wishes to be included please get in touch with me using the email address above.

Looking forward to the warmer weather and longer days and using the bike on our interesting programme of runs and events.

Fishtail 451 – March 2018

The recent bad weather has caused us to re-schedule our planned talks for March. We were fortunate that Stuart McGuigan from Criterion was able to come to our Club Night on Tuesday 13th March and give us a talk on the Velocette gearbox. About 30 members attended the night which shows how much interest there was in the subject. Stuart and John went through some of the features of the gearbox and although in the general the gearbox is very good they pointed out where you can get problems. Criterion are known for developing improvements for Velocettes and Stuart and John showed us a development prototype of a new first gear pinion which gives a lower first gear in the Series 12 gearbox without altering the other three ratios. This about to go on test and it will be interesting to hear how that goes. It should make bikes with Series 12 gearboxes more manageable in traffic. I personally found the restoration of a gearbox mainshaft which was worn in the sleeve gear area of great interest, it could be the solution to a problem on another bike which uses a gearbox very similar to the Velocette gearbox. Many thanks to Stuart and John for coming to our meeting and sharing their thoughts with us. We appreciate the time and effort they put into making the evening so successful.

With the weather improving and the days getting longer we are looking forward to getting out on our bikes more. Our first planned ride is to the Rural Life Museum at Tilford with the South Hants Centre and we then have regular rides planned for the rest of the year. Details can be found in the Events Section of our website or the Fishtail Events Diary.

Fishtail 450 – January 2018

The Thames Valley Centre AGM was held on Tuesday 9th January at the Cherry Tree in Stoke Row.  Twenty four members of the Centre were present which represents approximately 25% of the membership.  Dennis Edginton, our Chairman, welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave a review of the year and thanked everyone for their support for the Centre and participation in events.  The routine business of the AGM was completed with the 2017 committee being re-elected for another year; Dennis Edginton, Chairman; Keith Cookson, Treasurer; Jon Dunsdon, Secretary.

The draft events list circulated before the meeting was reviewed and confirmed with a few minor changes to dates to avoid clashes with other know events in the area. The latest version of the events list has been circulated to the TV Centre members on email, uploaded to our Centre website and submitted to Fishtail for publication. We look forward to seeing members from other Centres joining us on our runs and hope we can beat last year’s number of 37 Velocettes at Cheddar Gorge this year.

I am in the process of reviewing and updating the email distribution list for Thames Valley, if anyone who is not on the current list wishes to be included please get in touch with me using the email address above.

Looking forward to the warmer weather and longer days and using the bike on our interesting programme of runs and events.

Fishtail 449 – December 2017

At our club night on Tuesday 14 th November we had a presentation by Allen Millyard on the Flying Millyard motorcycle. Many of us have seen this 5 litre motorcycle at shows and other events around the country. Allen showed how he made the parts for the engine utilising two aeroplane engine cylinders he had acquired. Having made the engine and modified a car gearbox he then went on to make the frame. After talking about the Flying Millyard he showed us some of his other projects including his RC374 six cylinder engine. What an amazing piece of work. He is a very talented engineer.

Our last run of the year, the Reading Toy Run, on 10 th December was unfortunately cancelled due to bad weather. The forecast wind and rain turned to heavy snow. Alternative arrangements were made for the Christmas gifts to be delivered to Dr. Barnado’s in Reading.

I hope the roads are clear for our Christmas Dinner at the Cherry Tree on 12 th December. Our next club night on Tuesday 9 th January 2018 will also be our AGM. I look forward to seeing many of our Centre members there when we will elect a new committee and agree our runs and events for the coming year. I hope everybody had a great Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

Fishtail 448 – October 2017

There have been three events since the last report, the first being Kop Hill Climb over the weekend of Sept. 16/17 th. A rather showery two days at Kop Hill this year failed to put off both Riders and members of the Public. Fifteen Velocettes ‘rode’ the Hill over the 2 days which included 8 VOC members on their machines ranging from a 1927 KSS to a 1963 Viper. On both days we had between four and six Velocettes on the display stand which attracted a substantial number of questions and interest from the Public and other Entrants. A very busy two days with a great deal to see.

A special thanks to Bill Grimes (London) for his support on Sunday and it was also really good and much appreciated to see Roy Springate on both days following his accident. Both helping on the Display stand along with other Thames Valley Members.

The next event was our run to the Crofton Beam Engines Steam Gala on September 24 th . Nine members enjoyed the coffee and cakes on arrival (just as good as ever) at Crofton after a pleasant ride across country from Padworth. There was plenty to see at the Steam Gala with both beam engines in steam, several traction engines, vintage cars and tractors and a market on the canal boats moored at the lock. We have enjoyed going to the steam gala for several years and it has become a fixture in our events calendar.

The final mid-week run of the year was on Wednesday October 11 th . This was a run along some of my favourite roads across the Berkshire Downs starting at Streatley and visiting Wantage, Lambourne and Uffington White Horse before stopping for lunch at the Grocer Chef in Ardington. Just after the stop at the Airborne Forces Memorial at the end of Harwell runway Richard Hayler suffered a rear wheel puncture. It was an interesting hour getting it fixed and Richard made it home without further problems.

The next major events for our Centre are the Christmas Dinner on Tuesday 12 th December and the AGM in the New Year.