General shot of this years line up of Fairthorpes (picture courtesy of Lauren Colling)
This years Fairthorpe Gathering was held at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation at Woodley near Reading on August the 4th and once again we were blessed with dry weather at the event though I gather a couple of the further travelled participants got caught in some heavy rain as they made their way home at the end of the day. A quick tot up before the event brought the prospect of 12 plus cars but on the day 8 Fairthorpes made the trip plus the very well presented Tornado Talisman of Tony Brooks.
Tornado Talisman of Tony Brooks
Although car numbers were down there were a lot of people in attendance, with other Fairthorpe owners past and present looking round the cars and renewing old acquaintances. My own EM 789 ERO finally has a coat of paint on it following several years of use in a combination of gelcoat/filler but it was decided to trail it down as we had a gazebo, Fairthorpe spares, photo albums as well as several platefulls of sandwiches and cakes for those who had talked up an appetite during the day!
Gary Julian`s EM2
First to arrive was Gary Julian in his Mk2 EM which is hardly surprising as he lives less than 5 miles away, it was great to finally see the car as it has been off the road for several years. Steve and Lauren Colling were the next arrivals in their immaculate Mk2 complete with freshly painted wheels, the change of colour on them certainly suits the car Steve.
Paul Well`s EM
A familiar car with an unfamiliar face was the next to pull in, Paul Wells turned up with his EM, this car was formally owned by Fairthorpe registrar Willie Simpson and was a regular at many club events in years gone by.
Brian Jackson`s Dolomite Sprint engined EM Mk2
Others arriving in Fairthorpes were Bob Balding, Brian Jackson and Jenny, Barry Stock in his rare Mk5 EM and final arrival was Richard Holden all the way from Leeds, a total of 201 miles one way! This meant that Barry Stock was denied the furthest travelled award despite having travelled 164 miles from Ammanford in Wales.
Barry Stock`s rare EM5 with hood up in anticipation of the weather he was to go through on his way home to Wales!
This year the John Green trophy was being presented by John`s son David Green, himself a Fairthorpe owner he had also bought along his son who was celebrating his birthday and his mother Myrna which meant we had three generations of the Green family at the Fairthorpe event which was a good tribute to John who was works manager at Fairthorpe and designed the Electron Minor.
Richard Holden`s very nice EM1, winner of the John Green trophy
The recipient of the other award which was for the Best Fairthorpe as voted by those there on the day was Steve Colling, his car looks better every year despite having to spend all it`s time out in the open with only it`s hood and sidescreens on it as there is no garage at Chez Colling.
There were several very smart cars there on the day and it is getting harder every year to win this award. This year Sarah and I had donated a nice silver plated trophy in memory of my Father Frank Collins who passed away last September, Steve was the first recipient of the Frank Collins memorial Trophy which was presented by Frank`s wife Audrey Collins. Both these trophies will be presented each year at the Gathering and the winners received nice replica trophies which they get to keep.
Interior detail shot of Bob Baldings EM1
Also present were Barry and Honor Gibbs, the club president nursing a bandaged head following a recent operation, former registrar Charles Armstrong Wilson and Des Emery, all former Fairthorpe owners. Also Dave Bumstead, Julian Armstrong, Marcus Bradbury, Alan Cooper, Brian Waters, Alan & Shirley Green and Carl Langridge (current Fairthorpe owners all). Other club members who joined in on the day were Derek Bentley, Anna Hill and Brian Shaw, if I have left anyone out I apologise as there were so many people I talked to on the day.
My EM1, built from a kit in 1958 by my father Frank Collins
I would like to give special thanks to my wife Sarah for all the effort she put into providing the food consumed by everyone, it is very hard to spend the whole day chatting about cars on an empty stomach!
I hope you all enjoyed the day and that you will all be back for the event in 2014.............Martin
No comments:
Post a Comment