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.