SWTVC Bulletin Volume 2018 Number 4 (JUNE)
The SWTVC Website can be found at www.swtvc.org.uk and has up-to-date information about meetings.
Registered address of the SWTVC: 31 Roselea Drive, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 8HE
Committee
Ronnie Gordon: (Chair & Acting Secretary) 0141 956 2950 07906 042215
31 Roselea Drive, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 8HE
John Stewart (Treasurer)
Harry Sherry : (Webmaster)
member
John Young: (Membership Secretary)
Ian Stother: (Member)
Ronnie Johnston: (Editor)
Kevin Began: (Events Co-ordinator)
Dave Stewart: (Webmaster)
The opinions expressed in this bulletin are not necessarily those of the committee or any of its members.
EDITORIAL:
Let me begin by thanking those who have returned their Data Protection forms to me. However, we have now passed the deadline and there are still quite a few forms outstanding. I have attached a copy of the form to this Bulletin. If you have not yet completed this please do so and return to me at 8 Saibai Park, Blackwood, Lanark, ML11 9GP
I have received a note from Jacqueline Stother concerning a change of date for one of the concerts at St Cyprian’s Church mentioned in the last Bulletin.
The Scots Fiddle Music with Alastair Savage scheduled for Wednesday 4th July will now take place on Saturday 30th June and will feature Alice Allen on cello.
TOMMY BRYCE:
Most members will have memories of the late Tommy Bryce and his lovely old Citroen. You may be interested to know the car has been listed for auction by Morris Leslie in their classic sale at Errol on 9th June. (Thanks to Ian Williams for that.)
DRIVE IT DAY:
I am grateful to Richard Larter for this picture of some Citroens at New Lanark on Drive it Day.
New Lanark has an important place in Scottish industrial history and has been designated a World Heritage
site by UNESCO. This puts it up there with St Kilda, Machu Picchu and many American National Parks
It would be a good backdrop for a Vintage car rally and we may consider it as a venue for next year.
MAID OF THE LOCH BBQ:
The BBQ was a great success in spite of rather indifferent weather. It never actually rained but it was overcast and a bit chilly. The cars were lined up on the approach to the pier and attracted a lot of positive comment.
The BBQ was provided by an outside caterer which freed Liz Young and John Stewart from their customary culinary duties. The food was great and there was plenty of it. We will probably use the caterer again as it was good value for money.
The building housing the winch used to haul the ship out the water for periodic inspections was opened specially for us and the boiler steamed up to let us see the winch running. The winch is well over 100 years old and is still in fine working order.
The cars were informally judged with the following results.
Pre-war: Donald Fraser and Alex McDougall.
Pre 1960: Peter Martin.
Post 1960: George McDougall.
Thanks to Liz Young for the photos. (See website for full list,)
CLUB EVENTS:
Summer run and lunch: Sunday 5th August.
Bus run and afternoon tea: This will be in September, date to be advised.
Autojumble: Saturday 13th October.
AGM: Monday 3rd December.
Mid Winter Dinner: Friday 18th January.
MOTORING TRIVIA:
THE BLUE TRAIN BENTLEY:
As an old car enthusiast I find motoring trivia very interesting.
This is the story of what has become known as “The Blue Train Bentley”.
In the late twenties a few wealthy motorists became interested in demonstrating the speed and reliability of their cars by racing the Blue Train which was a celebrated French Railway service from Calais to the south of France.
This attracted a lot of public interest and manufacturers used it to promote their products in spite of racing being illegal. Surprisingly, even the staid Rover Company participated in this.
This dramatic painting by Terence Cuneo depicts Woolf Barnato, chairman of Bentley Motors and a skilled racing driver, in a race where he beat the train by four minutes.
Cuneo is noted for always including a “trademark “mouse within his paintings. It is not clear in this picture but, if you look carefully, it is running for its life a few feet in front of the nearside front wheel.
Although I find the story interesting I think it demonstrates the arrogance of wealthy people of the time. They were prepared to drive furiously through the countryside with no regard for the “peasants”.
For the benefit of motoring anoraks I should remark that the car shown in the painting, a Sportsman Coupe by Gurney Nutting, did not come into Barnato’s possesion until sometime later and the race was actually undertaken in a Bentley Speed Six by Mulliner.
AND FINALLY:
There is a story, probably an urban myth, about a man who used the family dishwasher to clean his alloy wheels. This cartoon takes the idea a stage further and the man
seems to be taking over the kitchen completely.
It is the detail I like: note the tools in the utensil rack, the head gasket on the wall, the oil drain bucket under the table and the block and tackle in place of the pulley.
That’s all folks, enjoy June and please return your Data Protection form if you have not already done so.
Ronnie Johnston.
Dear Member,
General Data Protection Regulations 2018