October 2009

 

I can safely say that we all thoroughly enjoyed the Centenary celebrations. It’s great to see a large number of Morgans at a MOG event but this was on a different scale, with so many Mogs (3,200 I’m told) from far and wide. It’s always a pleasure to meet friends, old and new, and Dave & Kay, Keith & Brenda and Dianne & myself were delighted to meet up again with our German friends, Heiner & Gisella from Spain. Thanks to everyone who helped organise the celebrations and congratulations on its great success.

 

Unfortunately the vicious rumour about two inebriated TaffMog ladies rummaging through the waste bins on the campsite at Cheltenham has proven to be true. In their defence, they claim they were trying to recover an essential part of a coffee percolator, which had been mistakenly thrown away. Said part was successfully retrieved but we are now confirmed tea drinkers – well, when we visit certain members (names available for a small fee).

 

It shows how much George Williams was liked and respected within our centre as 37 TaffMoggers attended his funeral in Hereford.  The family had asked that as many Morgans as possible join the funeral cortege and 16 Morgans followed George on his final journey. It was very moving to see George’s +8, driven by his son Jeremy and with daughter Julie as passenger, following the hearse.

 

We decided to hold our Thursday noggin in August at the Golden Mile Inn instead of the Barn. However, the landlord must have heard we were on our way, so he closed the pub for the week and went on holidays! Chris & Helen did a serious pub-crawl of the area for an alternative and suggested the Barley Mow in Craig Penllyn near Cowbridge - a sweet little village of modest houses! Our August noggins are not usually well attended due to holidays, but in these austere times more people obviously stayed at home than went abroad and we filled the pub. The ambience was good and fortunately, everyone remembered to pay for their meal. They have a private room that we could use on other occasions. This could be a possible replacement for the Barn, which is proving a little unpopular.

 

I must mention Adrian who won a silver medal in the 100m freestyle swimming event at the recent Special Olympics. Also his friend Chris, who often accompanies him on Taffmog runs. He won a bronze in the 100m backstroke and a bronze in the 100m medley relay. Congratulations and well done from us all.

 

The usual members turned up at Usk and it was good to see so many Morgans in the car park. Thanks to Mollie & Brian for providing the raffle prize, which was won by Stuart & Jackie.

 

We had a good crowd meeting at Magor Services on the M4 for the start of Stuart & Jackie’s quizzical run. Jackie’s route instructions were explicit and well presented so we didn’t worry when Peter & Carol and their friends, Keith & Theresa, in the Lotus didn’t join on the tail of the convoy due to an urgent call of nature. Well, we should have been worried because within 1 minute of leaving the services they were lost! The ‘secret’ coding on the instructions, TL, SP, TR etc., meant nothing to them. The rest of us had a pleasant run via Chepstow to Tintern Abbey where we enjoyed ice creams while we waited…. and waited…. and waited. Eventually, they rolled in looking as if butter wouldn’t melt so we set off on part 2. Now, either TaffMoggers can’t read or they can’t see or they simply don’t care where they’re going as long as the road ahead is clear because within 200 yards of the car park half the group had gone wrong. The chances are that when the only alternative at a particular location is to turn left, TL probably means Turn Left! Once again however, true pathfinder qualities rose to the fore, and the group was re-united at the Angidy Ironworks. The remainder of the trip was quite uneventful with each of us keeping the cars ahead and behind in full view. We enjoyed the food and the skittles when our reigning champion, Jackie, became the evening’s wooden spoonist. However, the ladies kept their record intact with the prize for the best overall score going to Kath, with Dianne winning the prize for the quiz. David & Jean won the raffle. Since joining us they have attended all our events in their +8, despite the long journey from Kington. Well done, everyone. Thanks to Stuart & Jackie for another enjoyable event.

 

As always, the North Wales weekend, organised by Neil & Helen, was a resounding success. Ten cars with 21 members arrived at the Tynycornel Hotel on Tal y Llyn Lake for the Bank Holiday weekend, eagerly anticipating the scenic and challenging runs for which Neil & Helen are renowned. We were not disappointed. Additional excitement was this year provided by the route maps, which when ignored by our leader caused fragmentation of the group and much consternation until we were all reunited once more back at the hotel.

 

The weather was not particularly kind to us. On the Saturday, Dave & Kay proved to be the hardiest members, keeping the hood down in weather that would have put the wind up Noah. As a reward we set off without them on the Sunday morning but they managed to find us even without a route map or any idea of where we were headed. We all tried to emulate their stoicism of the previous day and were thoroughly drenched for our efforts. It was noted that Lesley chose to wear a Mercedes hat throughout the weekend – perhaps Paul had better have a word with Santa. Well done Tony for managing to stay up later than 10 o’clock on the last night.

 

We now appear to have a splinter group in the centre – people who choose to do strange things previously unheard of – strenuous power walking around the lake before breakfast – ych a fi! It was tiring just watching them from the comfort of our room.

 

Dogs, gates and the very friendly locals all added to the fun and enjoyment of this unforgettable holiday. Thank you Neil & Helen for all your hard work once again.