Words from Ian Parkinson who, with help from his wife Maria, organised the event.
Compton Abbas, Dorset. 5th to 7th August 2016
This, the third G&G started off on the Friday afternoon when the early arrivals met up in Shaftesbury at the top of Gold Hill. The spectacular setting for the “Hovis Ads”.
We enjoyed a coffee, others started on the beer early as we enjoyed the view of the Dorset countryside.
Friday evening and around 20 of us enjoyed dinner at The Half Moon pub.
Saturday morning dawned quite early for those of us camping. However, a cup of tea or two and we were ready for the short drive out to Compton Abbas Airfield for a cooked breakfast to set us up for the day.
Throughout the morning those who had been staying in local hotels arrived and we had been given a great parking area on the airfield. Quite a few South West and Dorset members came and I had good conversations with Peter Miller and Bill Wilson.
There was an excellent turn out of Morgan Three Wheelers with an almost even split of old and new. At lunch time many went on a run out into the lovely countryside with a stop for a pint along the way.
Throughout the day planes vintage and modern were coming in and out and the many visitors enthused over our Morgans as usual. A really nice surprise for me was when Club member Nigel Reid took me up for a flight in his 1930 Gypsy Moth, wow what a nice experience that was.
Saturday evening and a large group had dinner at The Grosvenor Arms, this was somewhat of a disappointment with slow service and the food did not match what we had the previous night. Still the evening was lively and we made the most of it.
Sunday morning the campers had breakfast at the Airfield before we all met up and had a brilliant run across the Dorset Hills to Blandford Army Camp and The Royal Signals Museum.
This was an extremely interesting place to visit with a nice little NAAFI café too.
Visit over and we all said our goodbyes as we departed for the journey home. The only known casualties were a five speeder with a rear wheel puncture and a V Twin with a broken stub axle. The general consensus was that we run another G&G in 2017 so we are looking to hold it at Robin Hood’s Bay in Yorkshire with a choice of Hotel or Camping. Watch The Bulletin and website for advance details.
A few words and some fine photos from Bill Wilson:
“In my opinion, between them Ian and Maria made an excellent job of getting the Morgans and Morganists organised and lined up neatly so as to present the best possible face of the club to the unsuspecting world!”
Hover over the photos to read a little about them or click on one then scroll through the gallery.
And a great video too! From Robert Stennet.