An extremely interesting and enjoyable evening was spent by 15 members and friends at Court
Lane Vineyard in Ropley. Steven Flook, the owner, took great pride in showing us around his
beautiful vineyard and excellent winery. At only 2,000 bottles per year from 1.6 acres it
is one of the smallest of the 400 or so commercial vineyards in the UK and is made even more
of a rarity as he and his wife make and bottle their own wine from the grapes harvested each
year in only two days with the help of the local villagers. The visit was followed by a
superb meal at The Bush Inn, Ovington, kindly arranged by Neil and Karen. The weather was
kind, the company excellent, the cars all looked and sounded sensational, what better ways
can there be to spend an evening.
David and Pam's barbecue was blessed with brilliant sunshine and broad smiles from 25
very happy attendees, which included Keith, our chairman, travelling far with Avril to join
the crowd. David had retired the old feed trough barbecue having designed a new version
made up by his friendly panel beater to provide a flexible cooking area able to take five
people at a time. The food appropriately blackened was carried to all corners of their
splendid garden to be enjoyed with Pam's excellent salads. There was also time to enjoy a
swim and to see David's current projects, a splendid afternoon much appreciated by everyone
who attended.
Arriving early at the monthly meeting we were met by a raid from the local Healy, Sprite and
G clubs. The Fox & Goose car park was already busy from normal trade due to their excellent
garden facilities and so the extra cars were soon double banked making for a very vibrant
atmosphere. The evening being warm and sultry everyone was outside with the cars or in the
garden, leaving the bar almost empty.
So many cars arrived it was difficult to find any space.
Photo - Phil Rablin
The food was as good as ever and the numerous garden
tables made it possible to enjoy the food and also to maintain easy communication with the
enlarged group of enthusiasts. We counted a total of 14 Astons, 12 MG's and 8 Healy and
Healy Sprites transporting over 50 noisy enthusiasts, pleased with the opportunity to enjoy
the location and make new friends.
Photo - Phil Rablin
The last person to arrive was Mark who had travelled
over 60 miles from Wokingham to celebrate his birthday and to try out his newly uprated V8!
Being an Area 10 member he had increased the Club's representation at the meeting to five
Areas, which I believe, equals our record.
Please check your diaries
for the skittles on 31 October as Jennie will be collecting numbers at the next meeting,
Tom and I will also be trying to finalise details for an off-road weekend in Devon. If you
have any other ideas please speak to me at any time. Happy Motoring.
