May 2009 - Branch News

What a beautiful day we had for our Drive it Day run out we had 16 cars in total consisting of 4 x Travellers, 4 x 4 Door Saloons, 3 x 2 Door Saloons, 1 x Convertible, 1 x 1953 Morris Oxford, Ix Morris Mini Cooper, 1 x Morris Garages Midget, 1 x TR2. The run went without any real problems although the sign that was missing for Newdigate from the roundabout on the A24 did cause some people to go around for a second time, but all in all a very enjoyable day, Leonardslee Gardens was absolutely stunning with the Rhododendrons and some of the early Azaleas coming into their first flush of flowers, the rock garden also included varieties of Acer trees, all of which are a particular favourite of mine, hopefully we will have a similar tum out for the Seaside Run planned for August 23rd.

The next committee meeting, to be arranged.

I should like to see one or two branch cars so that we can have a bit of a show to publicise our branch, the Events marked with an asterisk indicates that I have spare application forms available, and I shall be attending most of the events listed myself, therefore if you would like to travel in convoy to events please let me know.
Anyone wishing to be part of the Club stand at the Capel Show on Sat 15/8 please let me know if you have not already as I will make a branch booking for the stand size and I need to know numbers please.
Don't forget to see Gill with your application forms for our Rally at Denbies in May.

May:
Sun 24/5 Surrey Hills Branch Rally at Denbies Winery Dorking
Apply By: 20/5
Sat ISun/Mon 23-24-25/5 Cuckoo Fair Laughton.

June:
Sun 716 Surrey Hants Border Branch & Southern Area MMOC Rally at Milestones Museum Basingstoke.
Sun 21/6 Hampshire Branch Rally, Portsmouth Hants.
FrilSatlSun 26-27-28/6 National MMOC Rally Sparkford Yeovilton.

July:
Sat 11/7 Fly Navy 100 Air Show RNAS Yeovilton (includes the Red
Arrows) * Apply By 19/6
Sun 12/7 Dorset Branch Rally Ringwood Dorset.* Apply By on the Day Sun 19/7 Groombridge Place Tunbridge Wells. * Apply By 19/6.
SatlSun 25-26/7 Ringmer Steam & Country Show Ringmer near Lewes. * Apply By 26/6
FrilSat/Sun/Mon 31/7 to 3/8 West Somerset Railway Steam Fair Taunton Somerset. * Apply By: 31/5

August:
Sat, Sun 81\ 9th/8 Autorama Tunbridge Wells Apply By 10/7
Sat 15/8 Capel Show Capel Surrey.
Sun 23/8 Run Out A Day at the Seaside to Goring for Fish, Chips, Ice Cream, Knotted Hankies, Picnics, Kite Flying ect, bring the little
ones' and have a fun day out. Please Note New Date for this event.
Sat, Sun, Mon 29,30,31 st/8 Festival of Transport Hellingly Apply By 1/8

September:
Sat/Sun 5-6/9 Isle of Wight Branch Rally Havenstreet Station. Sat/Sun 12-13/9 Laughton Show Laughton Near Lewes.
Sun 20/9 Kent Hop Gravesend.
Sun 27/9 Area 6 Joint Branches Picnic Watercress Line Ropley Station.

October:
Sun 4/10 Surrey Hills Autumn Colours Run Out

Next Branch Night at the Black Horse will be 8.00pm Tues 2/6/09.
If anyone wishes to contribute an article for inclusion in to the next news letter please contact me.
Happy Minoring Regards Tim
Contacts: Tim 07925382706 or tthorndale@hotmail.com Gill 01737 219466 or gillfoot@ntlworld.com

Branch News

Looking forward to a new season of events the Surrey Hills Branch will be hosting a run out on Drive It Day Sunday 26th April 2009, at the date of writing the exact route has not been decided but it is expected to be a circular tour in the Surrey /Sussex area of approximately 50 miles, if you are interested in joining us on a day when we will all show off our cars to the general public with great effect please contact Tim on 07925382706 or E Mail tthorndale@hotmail.com to advise your potential interest and find out the meeting / start point, there will be a small admin charge on the day of £2-00 / car.

The Surrey Hills Rally will be held at Denbies Winery, London Road, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6AA. Sunday 24th May starting at 10am, we will be having the usual Raffle or Tombola or both, there will be self judging forms for all entrants to judge each others vehicles to decide 1st, 2nd and 3rd in show with Prize giving at 3pm.
Chertsey Minors will be in attendance for those essential spares and service kits, plus all the attractions of the Denbies Winery including the Internal and External Tours of the winery and grounds, the Internal tour has an excellent 360 degree surround cinema that explains the estate and contains some excellent ariel views of the North Downs followed by an internal train ride explaining the wine making process, then onto wine tasting or if teetotal grape juice tasting, we have been able to negotiate a 10% discount on the production of your MMOC Membership Card in the superb cafeteria which is all under glass.

There is also a gift shop and sales of the wine produced and blended on the estate, I can thoroughly recommend the white wine Surrey Gold for those of you with a sweet palette, and finally there is also a herb and kitchen garden centre. So come along relax, something to do rain or shine and enjoy this corner of Surrey.
Rally Entry is £4-00 / Car, Please Send SAE for an application form to Mrs Gill Foot, 21, Hitchings Way, Reigate, Surrey RH2 8EN. Or E Mail tthorndale@hotmail.com to avoid some postal charges.

Unfortunately in April we are going to have to say goodbye to one of our founder members already, as he is returning to live in South Africa, he will be sorely missed at our branch and committee meetings and we wish Albert all the very best for the future, and there will always be a place for him in the Surrey Hills if he comes back to visit.

The Surrey Hills Branch Morris Minor Owners Club meets on the first Tuesday of the month at 8.00 pm in the Black Horse Public House situated on the A217 in Reigate Road near Horley, Surrey. RH6 0HU.

Welcome To Our New Blog.

The Surrey Hills Branch MMOC (Morris Minor Owners Club) was formed in June 2008. It comprises of some sixteen members so far. 

As the Chairman of the Branch Club, I would like to welcome you to the site and encourage you to read and leave comments for others to review and discuss.

The site is intended to keep you informed of the events, rallies and meetings of the Surrey Hills Branch MMOC. It is a place that you can come and find out about Morris Minors specifically and other classic cars made by British Leyland.

All that remains for me to say is "Enjoy our site and Happy Minoring!"

Tim Thorndale

Surrey Hills Branch MMOC Chairman

Contact Details

If you would like to contact the Surrey Hills Branch MMOC regarding anything from joining the Branch Club to finding out information about meetings or Run Outs/Rallies please use the email address below.

Email the Branch: surreyhillsmmoc@gmail.com

Branch Run Out October

Our Branch Run Out was hailed as a success and was enjoyed by all, 15 cars in total made the run with some coming from Surrey Hants Border Branch and Hampshire Branch of the MMOC as well as a good friend of ours from Sevenoaks, the cars where 4 x Travellers, 3 x 2 Door Saloons, 3 x 4 Door Saloons, 1 x mm van, 2 x BMC Minis, 1 x Morris Oxford  and 1 x Garages Midget. I have been contacted by the Editor of Minor Matters requesting that I pass on details of future events for publication, he is very active with in the newly formed Runnymead Branch which used to be know as the Chertsey Branch, so we may get some further visitors from ther next year.