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Monday 30 September 2013

On Sunday The Woodside Morris Men visited the White Horse Inn at Hedgerley

Autumn in Hedgerley sees the changing of the Seasons in more than one or two noticeable ways. One being the sudden introduction of three Beautiful British White Cows from the City of London's 'Burnham Beeches' estate to the Parish Councils meadow just behind the pub. 

This Winter Holiday visit gives them some fresh pasture as well as helping to enrich the soil and treading in the Wild Flower seeds to enhance the beauty of the meadow in the spring.



Sunday was also the last day of the Woodside Morris Men from Watford's Summer program of Dance sessions.

This last event too place at the White Horse Inn at Hedgerley, Bucks and we were fortunate enough to be there to watch their programme lasting one and a half hours.


A Copy of the Seasons Programme

http://www.woodsidemorrismen.com/


 They wear a colourful outfit with these cross braces and wooden badges 

 One of the Three Accordion Musicians 

One of the Colourful Straw Hats.

The Dancing was located in front of the old White Horse Inn



 The group has 7 Dances with Sticks and 4 with Hankies.


Some of the Dancers 'Wags' (their name) enjoying the sunshine and lunch. 

 One of the new members apparently arrived without his kit.

Lively Dancing with Sticks 


 The Musicians



Part of one of the Hankie Dances.

Sunday 22 September 2013

I Visited The Kop Hill Climb Today.


P.S. The Kop Hill Facebook page posted this amazing photo taken by Steve Campbell from the top of Kop Hill which is even higher than the roadway. It show very well just how popular weekend has become. A wider angle lens would have shown that this shot only covers half of the area.


The Kop Hill Climb has been growing in popularity and in the supporters that they invite, all in the name of raising money for charities.
This year the event was 'Popularly Crowded' as the next 4 pictures show. 
Good News for the Fund Raising.







Arriving at The Kop Hill Climb

Owing to a misunderstanding about timing and Dog Walking, I had to come on  my own or not come at all. There was no way I was going to subject the Mog to that dusty old Corn Field car park so it was in the Jag I set off at about 11.30, arriving there at 12pm. (we don't live that far from Princes Risborough, where Kop Hill is located)  

Imagine my surprise when I found that the Corn Field was absolutely full and an overfill area was large and beautiful field full of Lush Green Fresh 'Silver Clover', used for animal feed, next door where we had to park today due to the massive increase in visitors this year. 
Use of these fields is donated by the landowners, The Hampden Estate

 Huddled together in the lush Clover.

 Even  the Oldies and Exotics, normally in a Special Cornfield area had to park here today.

  This special edition Land Rover Defender is by Invision

 On the way to the entrance (where the cost had doubled this year from £5.00 to £10.00) The Motorcycle and Scooter park reflected this staggering increase in visitors this year.


 These chaps came prepared for non existent 'soft ground' with their protective stand pads.

Just inside the gate is the regular sight of this massive Auto Jumble Stand.

I made a quick visit to the 'Hill Climb' before crossing the road into the Paddock area to look at the main Paddock of Vintage Cars. The depth of the crowd meant a squeeze up to the railings to get a few quick shots of the Start Line.


 Imagine my surprise when there in the queue were Peter and Michelle Chapman in their recently purchased Morgan 4/4 4 seater. Peter is also the new Deputy Chairman of the Morgan Sports Car Club


 One of the Famous Dick Skipworth, Ecurie Ecosse Jaguars, the collection is sadly about to be auctioned and therefore probably broken up. 
The deep hedge, which makes getting clean shots very difficult 



Could this be Morgan Owner Arthur Mason's Yellow Plane flying overhead? 

 There were numerous Vintage and Veteran Motor Cycles in the Hill Climb (94 listed in the programme) but as with the cars, to show them all would make the Blog Page far too large. 

Here are a selection

This 1926 Neracar C. Its Front Suspension was interesting using a similar 'Sliding Pillar' system to the Morgan Cars.
  


 This Brough has an interesting In Line Flat Twin Engine.

 A Pair of Sunbeams with a Velocette behind them.

Another pair of Brough Superiors.

This beautiful Tri Norton had its own Gazebo.


 This beautiful Norton with the 'Short Run' fuel tank was in the display area 
 A Water Cooled Scott just returning from its run up the hill.

A 1961 Arial Arrow in superb condition.

Now for some of the dozens of Cars.

A Beautiful 1925 Bugatti Type 30 

This one is called a Fronty-Ford Indianapolis 

A 1923 Delage-Bequet

A 1921 Vauxhall  E Type 30-98 Velox next to a 1922 Bentley and Citroen B2 Wickerwork.
The All Yellow 1919 Hispano Suiza H6B has a 6500 ltr engine. 

 Beautiful Big Bentleys.


A 1922 Citroen B2 Wickerwork Special was a labour of love for someone

 A 1926 Austin Open Road.

 A 1925 Lancia Lambda
 Two of Five 1930's BSA Trikes with V Twin engines

 This Lagonda was one of my favorites. 

 One of two 1935 8 Cylinder 4.1 ltr saloons
 A Pair of Wolseley Hornet Specials

 My favourite 1934 Riley Ulster Imp 

1934 Morgan Jap Engined Super Sports 
(Thanks for the correction to Martyn Cullen owner of  a 1930 Super Sport Aero 'The Elk' )




The artist featured below was busy sketching the two tone on the left

Part of the Magnificent line of Rolls Royce Silver Ghosts. 

This little Berkeley B105 4 wheeler has the Enfield 700cc Twin engine. It went very fast up the hill later.

 1961 Jaguar Proteus C-Type in front of a D-type

 The Brooklands Museum Team brought along the magnificent John Cobb 24 ltr 12 cylinder Napier-Railton Special   

 1966 Jaguar E Type 


One of the cars on the Historics Auctions stand 

The Aston Martin GT Car 

 The Rolls Royce Owners Club display area.

a 1937 Morgan 4/4 Flat Rad. One of the early 4 wheelers.

It was time to grab a sandwich and coffee for lunch. The teams on the Crumbs stall were doing a grand job selling lovely fresh sandwiches and made a delicious Cappuccino.  


I decided to look around the stand and on my way I chatted to the Berkeley Owners, having had one myself in the 1960's.


The White Three Wheeler below is just like the one we had.

Moving on I came to the Paddock of the Gravity Racers who would be completing their challenge later in the afternoon. These three belonged to a local Scout Group.


Having a Practise Run.

The Ecurie Ecosse Collection owned by Dick Skipworth has been a star attraction each year at Kop Hill. Sadly it is going up for auction soon and could well be broken up unless a very wealthy collector buys the whole set including the transporter bus.




 Jackie Stewart's Car 


 Miniature Model and Life Sized versions.


Eventually, the Spitfire and the Hurricane from the Battle of Britain Flight flew over a few times . I decided to make a video with my small camera as the best way to record the event. I have loaded it to my Facebook Page so here is a link if you would like to see them.


 Lastly I went to watch some of the cars lining up for their run, before crossing the road to the hill for a few last photos before heading home. There were so many cars to see and so much to observe.




































Marshalls from The British Motor Sports Marshals Club who were doing a sterling job.











These cars with the Rally stickers from the La Gira Andina Rally were the subject of blind auctions for a ride up the hill in the passenger seat. None of these sold for less than £70 a ride.





Some of the cars taking to the hill.















Heading Home for another year.



Best Wishes
Frank