Pub Fun

As well as the VSCC evening he organises at The Versons near Ledbury, Mark Garfitt introduced lunchtime pub-fun there on August 15, which attracted some 70 pre-war modes of transport. Among the fine assembly of the older cars we counted six Bentleys, a Speed Six and five three-litres, including onetime Frazer Nash exponent Peter Sutcliffe’s smart three-litre. Hamish Moffatt came in his OM to look for a suitable field before flying-in in his Gipsy Moth, Dick Habershon who won the 1949 Itala Trophy race in a GP Delage turned up, and Densham brought Palmer’s Squire. American cars numbered a Chandler saloon, Edwardian Buick, and Hupmobile tourer. Felton’s fine 2.9 Alfa Romeo was in the care of Graham Burrows as Rodney was at the Nurburgring, and oddities were the Sima-Violet, a Morgan cyclecar and the Crouch-Helix. The Ulster A7 trio arrived from Wales.

Among the exotics were six GP Bugattis, which seem to be used more and more as road-cars these days. and a smart 327/80 dhc BMW. The GP Bugattis were the Type 51s of Lord Raglan and Alan Riley, John Lewis’s T35C, Sir John Venables-Llewelyn’s T35, Mike Marshall’s T35B and Sally Marsh’s T35T in the care of Mark Garfitt. Rarities were Nicholson’s 1912 Lancia Eta motor-carriage and Mitchell’s 1914 20/30 Austro-Daimler. Impossible to list them all, but Le Mans Aston Martin, a cluster of Alvis, Rileys and Lagondas and Chapman’s Wolseley Hornet Special were admired.

Lawrence Humphries from Usk was wearing his 1933 suit to match his Y-model Ford 8 saloon. David Sewell’s Brescia Bugatti, Conway’s T44, a GN, 14/40 MG, even a 1939 Rover — it was a good gathering! The prizes, in bottles, were donated by Landlord Fred and Ginny Comber, that for longest distance going to Ken Selby, who drove his “Cream Cracker” MG TA (ABL 964) from Cardigan, proving that his 30 years of ownership hasn’t defeated it. Keith Knight’s 1924 Chevrolet and Richard Belleville’s 1924 Morris one-tonner flat-bed that cruises at 28mph took bottles as the only commercial vehicles, as did Ray Moses (Ariel) and Ian Parsons (Scott) for riding there, and Hamish for aviating to the venue. Let’s do it again! W B