paulerspury people july 2010

1Paulerspury People - July 2010

Summer 2010

The newsletter of The RRECPaulerspury Section

Paulerspury eople P

2 Paulerspury People - July 2010


Contents

Not a Lot of People Know That 4

Chairman’s Bit 5

Editor’s Comments 6

New Members Visit to Hunt House 21st February 7

Leather Seminar 6th March 8

Hertfordshire Pub Lunch 21st March 10

Rugby School Tour and Lunch 28th March 10

Visit to Johnson Matthey 14th April 13

St Georges Day Run 25th April 14

Lake District Rally 16

Future Events 21

Member’s Bits 23

Annual Rally and Prize Winners 24

Notes from The Secretary 25

New Members 25

Section Contacts 26

Paulerspury eople P Summer2010

The newsletter of the Rolls Royce Enthusiasts Club - Paulerspury Section

Front Cover Photograph:Barry and Ruth Gallafent’s Silver Shadow SRH19651 Outside The Old Rectory, Great Easton, Market Harborough, Leics.

The quality and quantity of the content of Paulerspury People is provided by our members for theenjoyment of others. If you have something to tell us about, do let us know, by email [email protected] and we will do our best to include it. Supporting photographs areespecially welcome. We are keen to revive ‘Me and my car’, so do let us know about yours.


Not a Lot of People Know That

The very first owner after the formation of the Rolls Roycecompany in 1906 was a minor celebrity: Paris E. Singer. Paris(he got his bizarre name because his globetrotting old man calledhis offspring by the name of the town where they happened tobe born - hence his brother Washington, also an owner) tookdelivery of a dark-green Rolls Royce with a rear entrance.Mr Singer was the heir to the Singer sewing machine millions,quite a few of which he lavished on Isadora Duncan, the dancer.Second in the Rolls Royce Hall of fame was Sir Oswald Mosley Bt.and third, a Guinness.

The ruler of Alwar owned six Silver Ghosts. Rolls Royce refusedto carry out certain modifications, so the old man, in anunbelievable fit of pique, had all six converted in to refuse trucks.

The most careless owner on record must be the un-namedCheshire businessman who reported to the company in 1909that he had lost his Rolls Royce ‘somewhere in Belgium’.


Chairmans BitOn checking my last ‘Chairman’s Bit’, I noticed I mentionedthat Linda and I had done the second recce for the LakeDistrict visit. Quite frankly, I’m amazed the event has comeand gone! Where does the time go to – I’ve no idea?

Having mentioned the Lake District Rally, I want to saywhat a great success it was. All the participants had agreat time and this is evidenced by the good write-upsput together by some of the members who came along.You can read them in this edition of the PP.

Another well-attended event was the New Member’s lunch in February. I decidedto combine one of our county pub lunches with a new member’s lunch and itworked very well.

The St George’s Day Run was a great success with many members and theircars attending. The day was ably organised by Alan and Margaret Fuller whohave never organised an event before. Many thanks to them for doing a grandjob. We could do with more members coming forward with ideas for events.Don’t be shy. Just let Jan Dolan the Events Organiser or me know your ideasand we can go from there.

Many interesting events are on the calendar for the season, not least the AnnualPicnic on Sunday 15 August at Claydon House. There are still spaces left socome along and make it a memorable occasion in the section’s 30th year. TheCognac Rally is also eagerly awaited by those who are going and is the firstEuropean Rally for the section in nearly five years.

Don’t forget to look on the section’s website and the PP for other events takingplace this year.

I mentioned in my last ‘Chairman’s Bit’ that I was setting up a Chairman’s Charityin aid of the RNLI Harwich Lifeboat during my tenure and it gives me greatpleasure to tell you all that, so far, over £700 has been raised for this worthycause. It’s down to you the members of the section for giving so generously andI thank you all very much.

I would like to take this opportunity to announce that Kathy Martin is giving upthe editorship of the Paulerspury People. Kathy (and Mick) has done amagnificent job over many years and I know many of you appreciate the sterlingwork she has done in preparing the PP and keeping us informed of what isgoing on in the section. I am sure that I speak for you all when I thank her for herefforts on our behalf.

Chairman - Chris Ball


We are fortunate that Barry Gallafent has come forward to take over theproduction of the PP. Barry lives in Milton Keynes with his wife Ruth and joinedthe section just over a year ago. He is a keen member who attends regularsection events.

Barry has already implemented some drastic changes and has lots of excitingand interesting ideas for the PP, but it is also your newsletter so please sendanything of interest to him for inclusion. I’m sure you will join me in wishing himwell as the new editor.

Barry prefers email submissions to [email protected]

All that remains for me now is to say happy summer motoring and if the weatherat the Annual Rally was anything to go by don’t forget your warm woollies andgloves!

Chris BallEditor’s CommentsHello everybody. Some of you may know me and others not yet, but welcome toyou all. I have been entrusted with the care and production of Paulerspury Peopleas your new editor and being quite a new member, I am delighted and privilegedto have been so.

Thank you to Kathy Martin who handed over the reigns to me. Kathy becameTreasurer in a most difficult time for the section and still managed to producefull editions of the PP. I hope relinquishing this task proves to be a relief and nota worry for her!

I hope you like some of the changes that have been implemented so far, I thinkthe inclusion of colour throughout will make the publication far more enjoyableand do justice to some of your wonderful photographs.

Since publishing is my background, it is my aim to produce and distribute bothPaulerspury People and The Flyer at no cost to the section. This will provide awelcome boost to our funds and I am certain, can be spent in others ways andperhaps to greater benefit.

Paulerspury People would be nothing without the content which I understand iswillingly supplied by members organising or attending events and seminars,and I would greatly appreciate your continued support in providing such wonderfulcopy to me. Email is my preferred method of receiving articles or photographsand although most formats can be accommodated, Word documents, JPEG’sand PDF files are most welcome.


Expanding the content of Paulerspury People, I would like to include articles ofinterest outside the section perhaps, or on member’s vehicles if you feel theyhave a particular story to tell, a famous owner perhaps or a sinister past! Whoknows, but all submissions will be welcome for consideration. Of course if youcome across that photograph of one of our marque in peculiar use orcircumstances, do send it in.

Well that is all from me this time, I look forward to your support.

Barry Gallafent

New Member’s Lunch 21 FebruaryOn Sunday, 21 February new and existing members met at the Hunt House. Ihad decided to incorporate a new member’s lunch with one of our four-countylunches. The weather was bad, but it was good to see so many people turn outon such an awful day.

One of the new members who attended, Clive O’Neil, summed up the day andis quoted as follows:

‘I joined the RREC about a year ago, but didn’t really feel as though Icould participate until I bought a suitable car before Christmas, althoughit has been hibernating ever since. I decided to attend the Member’sOpen Day at the Hunt House, but it was snowing quite heavily. As I gotnearer to Milton Keynes it did brighten up but there was still snow on theground at Paulerspury when I arrived. I was introduced to Chris Ball atthe entrance, given a name badge and then met some of the othermembers over a cup of coffee.

It was then time to go into the lecture theatre for a brief introduction to theclub and the section for the benefit of about 12 new members, followed

From Left to rightNew members Paul & Judith Frowde, Barry & Ruth Gallafent, James& Wendy Gordon-Colebrooke, Keith & Pippa Davies, Clive O’Neilland Kay & Mark Warnock at Hunt House

by a tour of the Hunt House.This included the readingroom, the workshop, a smallmuseum and a look at thevery extensive archivecollection, as well as someinteresting memorabilia andother fascinating exhibits,photographs and by-gones.

Eventually it was time tobrowse the shop beforeheading off to the ‘Betsy


Wynne’ where a very nice lunch was enjoyed. The weather had clearedup by now and it was a very pleasant afternoon journey home.

I certainly hope to go along to other events as the year progresses, sothanks very much to all the committee members for arranging it and Ihope to see you all again soon.’

Indeed, I am pleased to say Clive and other new members have attended eventssince and it’s been good to see them all again.

Chris Ball

The Leather Conservation Centre on 6th MarchWhat a shock to the system this event was. Every thought I ever had aboutleather has been thrown out the window. I don’t really know where to begin. Iwill try to relate some of the technical side of the visit but please excuse me ifthere are some inaccuracies. This will be because my ancient brain can nolonger absorb facts as fast as it used to.

The day started off all right with 20 RREC members eager to learn how to makethe leather in their cars soft and succulent. We had members as far afield asYorkshire, so great the interest was. Yvette Fletcher, who runs the centre on theNorthampton University Campus, explained that the centre was founded in 1978and based on their requests for help from all over the world, she believes theyare the only organisation in the world specialising in the conservation of leather.She set the scene for the day when she explained that she would demonstratethe techniques for repair and re-colouring of leather but announced that the bestway to look after leather was to do nothing to it. There was general disbelief fromall of us dedicated hide-food aficionados. Before we would understand why, we

had to be told somethingabout leather and itsproduction.

Roy Thomson, a retiredleather chemistryspecialist, gave us adetailed introduction to thehistory and production ofleather. He first showedus some 20-odd differentpieces of leather from allsorts of beasts. Hepassed round for us to feelLooking and Learning at the Leather Conservation Centre


the leather of everything from cows and sheep to the inch thick leather from ahippo and the delicate skin of a toad. He explained that skin in all vertebrates iscomposed of collagens and would normally putrefy along with the rest of theanimal if it is not treated. This is where tanning comes in. Tanning stabilises thecollagen coils so they do not pull apart and cause the leather to disintegrate. Inthe old days of vegetable and alum tanning it could take up to 4 years to processthe skin from animal to leather. Modern chrome tanning, of course is much faster.Our older cars (pre 1960s) have vegetable tanned leather using oak bark, whilemodern furniture and cars have chrome tanned leather. Alongside the changesin tanning over the years, the coatings have moved from nitro cellulose in the 19th

century through pigments for the pre-war cars to acrylics and polyurethanes forthe cars of the 1960s and 1980s onwards. This took care of the morning session.

Following lunch and having explained the basics of leather, Roy & Yvette spentthe afternoon talking about the treatment repair and restoration of leather. Thebest place to keep leather is apparently in an unused and unheated 2nd bedroombecause the humidity and temperature would be perfect for the longevity of leather.As “her indoors” does not let me keep my cars in a bedroom, clearly somecompromise must be reached. The secret is moderate humidity and temperature.Ideally leather should not be stored in a dehumidified garage for example. Theywere adamant that feeding leather with hide food to try and get back the “softfeel” was damaging to leather. ‘Leather is dead skin and cannot be fed’ was theirconstant mantra. Firstly, our older cars never had “soft” leather due to the finisheson them so to try and feed it would achieve nothing. Worse, however, the “foods”will weaken the collagen bonds that the tanning process creates and cause it toseparate and split! There were just a few simple tips like should the leatherbecome wet at any time, do not leave it to dry in the sun or use a heater to dry itas it will harden and shrink irreversibly. Let it dry under natural conditions.

There then followed a practical session, when we were shown how to repairsplits and fill and restore leather which had deteriorated and we experimented onsamples of degraded leather, matching colours and cleaning and recoating variouscar leathers which had been brought in by members. I was surprised that PVAglue is the favoured material for use on leather patches.

What a fascinating day! I do not pretend to cover everything we did but I hope Ihave highlighted the key points. We all were grateful to Kathy Martin for arrangingthis course and her very noble efforts in keeping us fed and watered. I feelcertain that once these stories get round there will be a demand for a repeat ofthis course.

Well done Kathy!

Chris Bellringer


Hertfordshire Pub Lunch 21st MarchOn a glorious sunny day we assembled at the Fox and Hounds in the prettyvillage of Barley. Another two miles east and we would have been inCambridgeshire.

After a convivial time gossiping in the bar, we all tucked into a good lunch withhearty helpings of food.

Mealtime over, we crossed over the road to Mr John Foy’s workshop where wewere intrigued by the renovations being done on several stripped down oldcars. Amongst the various models being brought back to their former glory werea Bentley 1937 Drophead, a Swallow Jaguar and a Standard Convertible. TheStandard looked magnificent in her newly painted livery of red and cream.

The star of the show was an impressive navy blue Austin 6 20hp proudly ownedby David Davis.

Thanks to David and Diana for arranging such an interesting and nostalgic day.

Wendy Gladwin

Visit and Lunch at Rugby School – Sunday 28 MarchWe had a wonderful visit toRugby School. It was apopular event with over 80members from the EastMidlands and PaulerspurySections. We were veryfortunate with the weather– it didn’t rain, but it wascool on the outside parts ofour tour.

We drove down BarbyRoad, through theQueen’s Gate, which was opened by the Queen on 12th May 1967 to celebratethe school’s 400th anniversary. When the Queen tried to unlock the gates, thekey bent and another had to be used. The Queen’s (bent) key is in the museum(it appeared to be solid gold, a soft metal). It was quite a tight fit to drive our carsthrough those gates!

Rugby School


We parked our cars in two lines between the headmaster’s house and the Chapel,overlooking the playing field. The cars ranged from a number of RR 20/25hps toa 2004 Bentley Continental GT. I felt the GT looked different (out of place?)compared with the 20th Century Club cars. Interesting cars included a red RRCorniche convertible with Spirit (1996) alloy wheels, two RR Silver Wraiths(including Adrian Denham’s), four Silver Cloud/S models, a S2 Flying Spur, twoSilver Dawns and two Bentley MkVIs, Rodney Lewis’s 1996 RR Silver Spur, aBentley Arnage Red label (in dark blue!) and a RR Silver Seraph.

Our tour was in the area bounded by Barby Road, Lawrence Sheriff Street andDunchurch Road. It includes buildings constructed mainly in the Victorian eraand the large playing field. Most of the classrooms are on the other side ofBarby Road.

We started with coffee & biscuits in a large and high Victorian room, which wasoriginally a classroom – very historic, like the rest of the tour. We were dividedinto three groups, my guide being Rusty MacLean, the school librarian andarchivist (he was extremely knowledgeable and excellent). Our first stop was inthe other corner of the Old Quad. We ascended a stone spiral staircase to analmost square class room. Within the room was a second floor with books allaround the walls. The ‘stained glass’ window had pictures of headmasters mainlyfrom 19th Century. Along one wall, there was a display of desk tops which pupils

Top Left: The New Quad with some of its classroomsTop Right: Inside the Main ChapelLeft: At Lunch in The Old Big SchoolAbove: A Bentley S2 Flying Spur, A Rolls Royce Silver Dawn,A Rolls Royce Silver Spirit and a Bentley R type

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had inscribed with their names. We went back into the Old Quad, where wewere shown a pump dated 1814. In the famous book, Tom Brown was duckedunder this pump.

Next, we visited the Memorial Chapel, which was erected in memory of RugbySchool pupils killed in the 1st World War. All 686 names are inscribed in plaqueson the wall, including the famous poet, Rupert Brooke. One appreciates theslaughter of this War when 686 pupils is more than the total number of pupils inthe school (aged 13 to 18). Over 350 Old Rugbeians were killed in the 2nd WorldWar. Then we moved to the Chapel, a large and high Victorian Gothic buildingbuilt by Butterfield 1867-72. The famous headmaster, Thomas Arnold is buriedjust below the Chancel steps. It has a large organ of 3,700 pipes. From here,we moved to the playing field. First, we stood outside the Headmaster’s house.Its garden is almost a floor above the road (where we stood), and there is asmall door. When the door is open, the Headmaster is available for consultationby pupils. The outside wall, to the garden, has a plaque to William Webb Ellis,and a roundal built into the road. In 1823, the boys were playing a game similarto Soccer when William Ellis took the ball into his arms and ran with it – foundingRugby Football.

We moved to Queens Gate (explained earlier), and then ‘The Mound’. This is aBronze Age burial ground. From 13th Century it was surrounded by a 20ft widemoat (it was drained in 1847). In 1797 the island was the scene of a pupils’rebellion, when they blew off the door to the headmaster’s classroom and burnttheir books and desks on the Close! They were protesting at bad food andbeating of a boy for possession of gunpowder! The local militia were called, andthe boys retreated to the Mound. The Riot Act was called, which gave the militiathe right to fire on civilians. Subsequently, some boys were expelled – later tobecome renowned military leaders!

Our final visit was to the museum, essentially two rooms with pictures andexhibits, including a picture of Rupert Brooke, his brother (who also died inWW1) and mother. It was a fascinating tour by an excellent guide – and wewon’t forget listening to him beside the Queen’s Gate, with a very cold windsweeping across the playing field!

Finally, we went to a very good lunch in the Old Big School. This was built in1815, and has the dimensions of equal width and height but twice the length. Iteasily accommodated 80+ RREC members and their lunch.

A really excellent visit. Many thanks to our organisers, Adrian Denham, DavidBritton and our fascinating school guide Rusty MacLean.

David Towers


Visit to Johnson Matthey – 14th April We were somewhat early sowe sussed out the vastpremises of Johnson Mattheythen drove into the town ofRoyston to find some lunch. We found the BanyersRestaurant which was brightand clean with freshly cutspring daffodils on the oak toptables. The staff were verywelcoming and polite and thefood was excellent. At 2p.m. Joyce and I arrived in Johnson Matthey’s reserved parking for Rolls Royce/Bentley, closely followed by Peter Nightingale, Graham Swallow, Michael Digbyand Chris Leigh. We then all walked round to the Reception where we were issuedwith visitor passes, and both cameras and mobile telephones were confiscated! We were then introduced to Dr. Jeremy Gidney who is J. Matthey’s EuropeanTest Resources Manager. He gave us an half hour introductory talk. JohnsonMatthey are the leading U.K. manufacturer of car catalysts, those for commercialvehicles are manufactured at their Swedish plant. They employ 8,500 Worldwide,and of those 1,250 are employed at Royston where 500 million catalysts havebeen manufactured since mid 1980’s. Johnson Matthey also are concerned inthe refinement of gold, platinum and silver. Dr. Gidney then escorted us through the Testing Laboratory for Scooters andmotor bikes where they were testing Honda and Yamaha. From there weentered their Diesel Engine Testing Laboratory where they have in excess of£500,000 worth of computers. They also have four wheel road testing equipment,and we saw one engine being exhaust gas tested up to 900 degrees C. At the end of our visit several Johnson Matthey employees asked if they couldview and photograph our cars. We have asked Dr. Gidney to email us a copy,which so far has not been forthcoming. In all, a very interesting tour if somewhat over my head. Our thanks in particularto Dr.Jeremy Gidney and also to Johnson Matthey.

Peter Parsons

Graham Swallow heads the line up outside Johnson Matthey


St George’s Day Run 25th April

Friday and Saturday were such wonderfully sunny days so who would havebelieved it would have rained on Sunday? Well it did, but that did not dampenthe spirits of our section who turned out in force for the annual St George’s Dayrun. In all there were thirty member’s cars, supported by seventy-three membersand guests, a very commendable effort indeed.

On arrival at The Falcon in Bletsoe,members lined up their cars facingthe road under Alan’s strictguidance, producing a formidabledisplay of British engineering andstyle for all to see. Coffee andChef’s home made biscuits wereserved inside, providing just a littlesustenance for those who had lefthome without breakfast perhaps,whilst outside, even more carsarrived. An impressive turnout at The Falcon, Bletsoe, our starting point

Soon after 11:00 we were under starters orders and several groups began tomove off clasping superbly detailed route sheets, offering the option of the fullforty-four mile drive or the shorter twenty-seven mile version.

We opted for the full route and quickly found ourselves in the company of twoother Shadows belonging to Mark and Kay Warnock and Rob and Jackie Preece,enthusiastic new members like us. The rear of our group classically brought upby Keith and Pippa in their Silver Cloud 3. Soon we were ambling through theBedfordshire and Northamptonshire countryside enjoying some spectacularviews, at one point travelling on a road higher than the village Church steeple! Arapid descent took us down past the Church and along a beautiful river frontage-very picturesque indeed. After passing through the furthest point at Oundle, weheaded south once more briefly joining the busy A605 before turning left for thefinal leg of our journey.

Our destination was The George ofSpaldwick, a beautiful country pub andfine dining restaurant. The George wasoriginally built as a private residence forthe Dartington family, opening as acoaching inn in 1679. Here we arrived tofind many of our number with their carsalready lined up outside the pub front.Keith Davies shows off his new top hat


With the sun now shining, the cars were being admired by a host of locals, pubcustomers and even the Chef!

Called to order by Alan and Margaret shortly after one o’clock we moved insideto the dining room, which we can proudly say we filled completely. Such wereour numbers that additional dining space had to be used adjacent to the mainroom to accommodate us all. The venue was excellent, as was the food.

Never quiet for long, Chairman Chris announced Diana Davies who delightedus with an amusing verse, this was followed by young Thomas Hennessey andhis very eloquent insight in to how the Red and White flag of St George cameabout. This culminated in the fact that proudly worn on a soldier’s chest, itprovided an excellent target for the enemy!

After lunch each lady was presented with a floral gift, which had been beautifullyhand crafted in red and white. Now for many it was time to depart, whilst otherstook to the outside seating, some enjoying a last chat and others anxiouslystudying road atlases in order to find their way home.

The weather (eventually), the cars, the venue and the company, all came togetherto make this day so enjoyable but of course none of this would have beenpossible had it not been for the considerable hard work put in to the organisationof it by Alan and Margaret. Our thanks, and I am sure that of all attendingmembers and guests are sincerely due to them for doing such a wonderful job.

Some early arrivals at the George at Spaldwick (Inset: The cross of St George adorned by all)

Barry and Ruth Gallafent


Lake District Rally – May 2010

Wednesday 26th MayIt was a beautiful start to the day for our long drive up to Cumbria and the LakeDistrict. Chris and Linda had arranged for us all to stay at the RampsbeckCountry House Hotel on the western shore of Ullswater and we were lookingforward to our stay very much.

We joined the dreaded A17. ‘Dreaded’ - because it is 60 odd miles of slow,boring, lorry laden, single carriageway, threading its way up to Nottinghamshire,through the Fenlands of Lincolnshire and smelling, in turn, of either onions orcabbages that seem to be the main crops grown in the fields alongside. It’s likebeing in the middle of a stew!

The A1 by comparison wasflowing freely, so freely thatwe caught up with Dannyand Val Yates in theirCorniche and whizzedpassed them (with hornblowing and waving ofhands) and we had a goodrun up to where we turnedoff to join the A684 whichtook us across the beautifulYorkshire Dales viaWensleydale. We stoppedfor lunch at a muchrecommended fish restaurant, The Wensleydale Heifer in the village of WestWitton, and continued our journey, by this time in the rain, to join the M6 atSedburgh. Then it was the home run, up to Penrith and the relatively shortdistance to Ullswater and the Rampsbeck Hotel - and a welcoming cup of teawith our fellow rally participants.

Later, we all met in the lounge for a ‘welcome’ champagne reception and it wasgood to catch up with those friends we had not seen for some time. We werethen called into dinner, for the first of many great evenings together.

Thursday 27th MaySo, the first morning in the Lakes so to speak. The day’s itinerary read andunderstood, car cleaned, courtesy of the Chairman (the things he’ll do to get awrite up!). What could go wrong? The noise around the breakfast tables indicatedthat the rest of the group was as excited as I was. It was all going so well thendisaster struck. The Chairman had forgotten that he was the official Keeper of the

At home in the lakes outside the Rampsbeck Hotel


Marmalade. No marmalade and breakfast was nearly over. Having duly informed theChairman of his faux pas he scurried up to his room and returned within seconds, redfaced, bearing the marmalade. Phew, it doesn’t get scarier than that.

The day’s itinerary consisted of a“gentle” drive to Windermere, boat trip,then a visit to the Lakeland MotorMuseum. The drive took us over theKirkstone Pass, a challenging drivegiven the width of the car and thenarrowness of the road. Theinstructions said “watch out for anysheep on the road”. I was moreconcerned about the caravans andother drivers to worry about a fewsheep! But we arrived safe atWindermere in good time for the boattrip. This was a couple of hours of relaxed sightseeing with a buffet lunch.Windermere is an interesting lake, having been, and still is, used to provideManchester with fresh water. To do this the level of the lake has been raisedtwice, by 54 feet and then in the 1930s by a further 96 feet. The lake is now over

place to visit. A couple of hours is not enough though, especially when theChairman persuaded the owner to let some of us look at the artefacts still waitingto be restored and displayed. It was from here that a certain photograph waspurchased (by our chairman of course) which would make Mr Sykes blush!Apparently it’s for “the men’s shed” Well Linda you won’t be seeing much of Chrisonce it’s stuck up in there!

A superb meal in the evening had been preceded by canapés and drinks andwas followed by even more drinks, plus a lot of banter and laughter. Thingsdon’t get much better than this.

200 metres deep but not as deep asthe sleep Danny Yates and otherswere in after lunch!

After docking back at the quay wedrove to the car museum. This is anold museum that has just moved tospanking new premises, which displaythe exhibits to perfection. The museumhas 30,000 exhibits consisting of cars,bikes, vans, badges, and all sorts ofmotoring memorabilia plus a sectionon Campbell. It is an absolutely great

Was it the gentle rocking motion or a pint or two of Bluebird alethat sent these merrymakers of to sleep?

No Madam, I am not an exhibit, I am a visitor said Jim


Friday 28th MayWithout “The Struggle” we negotiated Kirkstone Pass and found our way toConiston village. Once there parking was held up by our Chairman’s car failingto proceed, but he was powered into the Sports Club parking by 7 Rolls Royceenthusiasts. We left Chris sorting out LOU and led by Linda we went first to thecemetery to visit Donald Campbell’s grave where Linda left one of our rallyplates to commemorate our visit.

We then walked on to Coniston Brewery. Half of us entered to be shown round,the other half having to wait at The Black Bull pub which was a bit rugged forthem! The Brewer gave us a run down on their process although they don’tbrew on Fridays and were just cleaning up. They produce approximately 720gallons a week and brew 8 different ales and these are distributed to the adjacentBlack Bull and other local outlets. I tried the Bluebird which was quite a light alerather like a lager (?) and was very nice indeed. Chris and Ron returned to joinus and the problem with LOU was a stuck solenoid which unstuck itself! Just aswell as the enthusiasts were well oiled by this time and suffering a certainstickiness to the bar stools. Everyone sorted out their next activity, some goingto the Ruskin Museum others for a walk round Coniston and/or a trip on thelaunch which would take you to Brantwood.

We drove to Brantwood which is the former home of John Ruskin overlookingLake Coniston. The whole atmosphere there was very tranquil. In the drawingroom one was invited to play the Wolkenhauer baby grand. However the musicon display for this purpose was called “At Marmion’s Grave” and rather put meoff! Ruskin’s study was a lovely cosy room with several photos of him writing inthere. The dining room had a lovely window overlooking the lake complete witha sleeping room steward dozing in a chair - we thought he was Ruskin’s ghost.

There were only two rooms open upstairs, one of which was Ruskin’s bedroom.He had designed and had built a wonderful little corner turret giving a beautifulview of the mountains and lake. Unfortunately his Turners were sold off after hisdeath but prints are hung of some of the original pictures that used to hang there.

Ruskin formed the Guild of St George and his aims were to establish schools,museums and libraries for all classes of people to use. The library at Sheffieldhas proven to be the most successful and still continues today.

Ruskin’s coach and his boat the “Jumping Jenny” are preserved and housed inthe original coach house. The gardens had lots of meandering paths leading tolittle glades with sudden views of the lake framed by beautiful Rhododendrons.In one view we spied the steam launch puffing its way steadily along Conistonlake. The whole atmosphere of Brantwood seemed to have been frozen in timeand had a Victorian/Edwardian feel.


On returning to the car park we managed to extract our car with some difficultydue to lack of space and the Chairman’s car, we left for the drive back to thehotel passing the looming height of Helvellyn on our right. We all met - yet again- in the bar before a very tasty dinner with wine and yet another late night.

Saturday 28th MayAs the group had been together since Wednesday afternoon, everybody hadbegun to fall into the usual routines like helping sixteen other section membersto push the Chairman’s failed Rolls-Royce off the road so that the rest of uscould enjoy our motoring. I was asked to write about the Saturday of our trip, afree day and the penultimate of the tour. Odd thing to write about actually as Ihaven’t got a clue as to what the majority got up to that day! However, six of usdecided to cash in on Gordon’s gift to the over 60’s and have a free day on thebuses without the cars.

Peter and Joyce Parsons, David and Diana Davis and Karel and I set off for theten minute drive into Penrith courtesy of the Hotel’s people carrier. The men inour group were assigned the task of identifying where and when the buses leftfor Pooley Bridge while the women went diligently on their way shopping to buynothing. Us men however, strictly against instructions, bought a pair of socksfor Peter who is The Grand Master of the Odd Sock Lodge. Joyce had particularlyasked David and I to lose Peter somewhere but I am afraid we failed in thisrespect. After a two bottle lunch in Penrith, the local bus was located and weset off for Pooley Bridge. Our intention was to take a sun-blessed cruise up anddown Ullswater with the soft breezes wafting through our hair.

In reality, the Heavens opened and we spent the full 1½ hours cooped belowdeck with hundreds of screaming children and loads of filthy walkers. It was animmense relief to get back to Pooley Bridge and the welcoming arms of Stephenwho was our head waiter at the hotel and had come to meet us in the hotel bus.

It was a Black Tie Dinner that night and it was delightful to leave all that FreeDay stuff behind and sample some of the pleasures of life. The meal was asexquisitely prepared as ever with Asparagus Soup followed by Scallops leadinginto the main course of Beef Wellington. The Baked Alaska with Raspberriesfinished the meal off perfectly. As with every night there were ample wines toflush it all down; all within the all inclusive price.

Chris and Linda were presented with some interesting little gifts and a largesum of money in recognition of all their hard work, to swell the coffers of theChairman’s RNLI charity. This was an evening of presentations and Derek andSylvia Freeman were presented with the St George’s Trophy for their sterlingwork in organising the Somerset Rally in May last year. For once in his life,Derek was lost for words!


A surprise awaited us after the meal in the form of “Bags” a rather eccentric Fire-Eater and his trusty side-kick Titan. Among other strange tricks he set fire to awheelbarrow and his bicycle and balanced the latter on his chin (as you do!).

We can only be amazed and grateful for the attention to detail that Chris andLinda spent in putting this tour together

Sunday 30th MaySunday started with a leisurely breakfast and time to browse through the papersbefore we set off for an interesting drive. Turning right out of the Rampsbeckdriveway to go over Pooley Bridge and through this pretty town, which wasalready busy with visitors making the most of the bank holiday weekend. Ourroute took us around Ullswater, where we could see the Rampsbeck on theopposite side. We were surprised to see so many camp sites along the easternshore of the lake, a very popular spot where many young families were outwalking and judging by their faces it was obvious that twenty or so Rolls andBentleys was the last thing they expected to see.

On into Howtown after which the road narrowed to wind its way through thesteep hairpin bends of Martindale Hause to the isolated St.Martin’s Church atthe top when we were snapped by our own ‘paparazzi’ photographer in theguise of Margaret Fuller bravely perched on a ledge above us.

After visiting the church we retraced our steps taking in the splendid view ofUllswater as we made our way down. Turning towards Tirril the scenery becameless dramatic as we drove on through beautiful countryside with little hamletsand saw some of the best preserved dry stone walls we’d ever seen.

Through the valley of Mardale, where we spotted our first red squirrel, we arrivedat Haweswater, originally a natural lake, now a reservoir to service Manchester.When the controversial dam was built the water level increased by ninety five feet,losing some farming villages to create a reservoir four miles long and almost halfa mile wide. The Haweswater valley is the only place in England where goldeneagles nest and there is an RSPB observation post in the valley of Riggindale.

Lunch was taken at the Haweswater Art Deco Hotel set on the shore of thereservoir. Sitting in the lounge area overlooking the terrace, we spied anotherred squirrel and watched the shadows of fluffy clouds (no puns intended)gradually make their way down the slopes of the hillside and across the water.

After a good buffet we could either make our way back to the Rampsbeckfollowing the cross country route provided or choose to visit a favourite attraction,spend the afternoon walking or just find a quiet spot to chill out. Steve and Idecided to divert from the return route towards Kendal. Driving the length of


Shap Fell, usually the first place in England to get the first snow of the winter, togive the car the first real run of the season.

Back at the Rampsbeck thoughts turned to packing but not before a walk in thegardens. Later on, we gathered in the lounge for another champagne receptionand this time it was to celebrate the wedding anniversary and birthdays of Dannyand Val Yates. It was another great evening.

Our congratulations to Chris and Linda for a well organised and interestingweekend in the Lake District.

Thanks from the ‘organiser’s go to: Ron and Kate Church, Mick Martin, Val andGeoff Mitchell, Chris and Karel Bellringer and last, but not least, Steve andJanet Dolan for their excellent ‘despatches’

Steve and Janet Dolan’s 1960 Bentley S2 Continental BC81AR by H J Mulliner

Future Events15th August 2010 - Picnic at Claydon HouseYou may still be in time for this event but your booking form is required.Organisers - Chris and Linda Ball

3rd October - Prescott Hill ClimbYou may still be in time for this event but your booking form is required.Organiser - Mia Murray

Sunday 17th October - Autumn AmbleThis year will be pretty much the same format as 2009 except we will be drivingaround the leafy lanes of Bedfordshire.


The Paulerspury Section Annual General Meeting and Christmas Lunch(see above) will once again be held at the Mitchell Hall, Cranfield University.

The AGM is open to all Paulerspury Section members (just turn up, noneed to book) and booking details for the Christmas Lunch will appear inthe Autumn Flyer.

We will meet for coffee before taking a drive of approximately 45 miles arrivingat our destination in time for a superb two course Sunday roast lunch at a beautifulcountry pub/restaurant featured in the Good Food Guide.

The cost is £28.50 per person and £14.00 each for child’s half portions.Please book as early as you can to avoid disappointment as places are limited.Organiser - Kathy Martin

Sunday 21st November 2010 - Bedfordshire Pub LunchThis will take place at The Five Bells in Stanbridge, North of Dunstable and wellsignposted to the west between Dunstable and Hockliffe off the A5. The pubdates from the 15th century, it has a large car park and a good reputation forfood. A three course lunch will cost £25 per head including coffee or tea. Therewill be a choice of four dishes for each of the three courses.Booking form with this edition of the PP. Organiser - Robert Kennedy

Sunday 12th December - AGM and Christmas LunchMitchell Hall, Cranfield. Organiser - Val Yates

Sunday 16th January 2011 - Hertfordshire Pub LunchThe venue is yet to be advised. Organiser - TBA

Sunday 20th February 2011- Buckinghamshire Pub lunch combined withNew Members visit to Hunt HouseVenue to be advised. Organiser - TBA

Sunday 20th March 2011 - Northamptonshire Pub LunchThe venue is yet to be advised. Organiser - TBA

Sunday 17th April 2011 - St Georges Day RunThe venue is yet to be advised. Organisers - Alan and Margaret Fuller

AGM Advance NoticeSunday 12th December 2010


Sunday 22nd May to Friday 27th May 2011 - Paulerspury SectionNorthumberland RallyHave you ever driven up to Scotland thorough beautiful scenery in the verynorth of England and vowed to stop off there one day? Well now’s your chanceto do just that as we are organizing a five night rally in Northumberland. There isso much to see and do in the area so we can promise you won’t be disappointed.

Our base will be the Langley Castle Hotel near Hexham. As the name suggests themain building of the hotel is a castle which was originally built in 1350 during thereign of Edward lll. The hotel is set in its own 10 acre woodland estate. In the castlebuilding itself are the main dining room, lounge, bar and function room plus nine ofthe bedrooms. The remaining bedrooms are of a very high standard and havebeen recently converted from existing Grade1 listed buildings in the grounds. Theyall have fantastic views across the lawns to the castle.

The price of the rally is based on the room choice as detailed on the bookingslip and will include dinner with wine, breakfast, afternoon tea and scones onarrival at the hotel, a reception on the first and last evenings at the hotel, entrancefees to two places of interest, plus full itinerary and local tourist map. We stillhave a few Castle View Suites and Castle View Rooms left so book as soon aspossible to avoid disappointment. A deposit of £100 per couple/room is requiredand further payments will be requested before the end of the year and prior tothe date of the rally. If you are a single traveller, please contact us for prices.

For more information about the hotel, visit www.langleycastle.co.uk

Organisers - Mike & Kathy Martin

Members BitsSunday, 17 January 2010The Buckinghamshire pub lunch took place at The Old Beams, Shenley, MiltonKeynes on a bright, sunny, winter’s day. Many members attended with theircars and, as always, there was much friendly banter and laughter. The lunchwas excellent and my thanks go to Steven and Mia Murray for organising it. Ihave to say that these lunches have proved very popular with everyone in thesection and will be included in our 2011 calendar. Don’t forget, though, to comealong to the lunch scheduled for Sunday, 21 November this year at the ‘TheFive Bells’ at Stanbridge near Leighton Buzzard.

Annual RallyAlong with many other folks, Linda and I attended the Annual Rally at its newvenue, Rockingham Castle. It was good to see so many more cars and peopleattending over the whole weekend than in the past. Rockingham seems to bean ideal venue for such a large event.


I am also pleased to announcethat Barry and Ruth Gallafent’sSilver Shadow SRH 19651(Registration No. 1 BMG) wona first in the Conservation classpicking up the Doug ThomasTrophy and manycongratulations go to them.

Barry and Ruth Gallafent delighted with a win first time out

Many members visited Rodney and CaroleGunn’s Bentley 3½ drop head for the pre-lunchtailgate party on the Sunday and had a great

time. My thanksalso go to themfor acting ashosts this year.

Chris Ball

Morning refreshments at the Gunn’s

Carole kept us very well fed and watered Rodney’s In Car Entertainment System

Paulerspury Section - Annual Rally Prize WinnersClass 001 - 1st - J M Fasal Esq. 1910 Silver Ghost - 1419Class 006 - 1st - R Raynsford Esq. 1932 20/25 DHC by Graber GRW59Class 12 - 2nd - T J Franklin-Smith Esq. 1958 Phantom I Tourer by H J M BC2FMClass 13 - 2nd - Restored by Hillier Hill - 1962 Silver Cloud III - LSCX27Class 23 - Winner - F Luscombe Esq. 1928 Phantom I Tourer by Marsh 31WRClass 25 - Winner - Mr & Mrs B Gallafent. 1974 Silver Shadow - SRH19651

Selling Your Club Car?Before you enlist the services of a broker or advertise your car privately, whynot tell your fellow members about it in either Paulerspury People or The Flyer?

We do not intend to make a charge for this facility, but having learned of thedisappointment of some members when a car that they particularly admired‘disappears’, we thought it might be worth a prospective vendor announcingtheir intention to sell a little closer to home, giving fellow members the opportunityto purchase and perhaps retain the car within the club.

To be included, contact the editor by email [email protected].


Notes from The Secretary

Committee MembershipFormal notice of the 2010 Paulerspury section Annual General Meeting, whichwill take place on the 12th December 2010, will appear in the autumn issue ofthe Flyer. In the meantime, nominations for the 2011 committee are invited.

All existing members who wish to remain on the committee have to stand for re-election each year. There are ten committee positions which are not all currentlyfilled. In the event that there are more than ten nominations for the committee,a ballot will be held at the Annual General Meeting.

If you are interested in the possibility of becoming a committee member butwould like to know more about what it entails, please contact me or any othermember of the committee for an informal chat.

Whilst committee members are usually expected to organise at least one eventduring the year or make some sort of contribution to the running of the section,the job is certainly not onerous and there is usually a lot of fun to be had - not allcommittee meetings are boring, laughter-free zones, certainly not in PaulerspurySection!

Please give this matter some consideration. The Section always needs newpeople coming along with fresh ways of thinking and new ideas for events. Thisis what keeps the section going. Help us to maintain our reputation as a sectionthat has a broad and interesting variety of events and a vibrant membership.

I will provide nomination forms on request.

Robert Kennedy

New MembersThe Paulerspury section would like to extend a warm welcome to the followingnew members and we very much look forward to seeing them at some of thewonderful events listed on the previous pages.

C. Bullock Esq., Wappenham, Northants.I. Coomber Esq., Felmersham, Beds.D. Wells Esq., Hitchin, Herts.J. Wycombe Esq., Letchworth Garden City, Herts.


ChairmanChris Ball (Linda)01525 [email protected]@rrecpaulerspury.org.uk

Treasurer01234 [email protected]@rrecpaulerspury.org.uk

SecretaryRobert Kennedy (Jill)The Knoll14 Harpenden Road,St Albans, Herts., AL3 5AD01727 858833 (Home & Fax)[email protected]

Committee MembersMia Murray (Steven)Tattenhoe Hall FarmTattenhoe, Milton Keynes, MK4 3AA01908 504606 (Home & Fax)01908 600687 (Work)07956 074859 (Mobile)[email protected]@rrecpaulerspury.org.uk

David Davis (Diana)01462 [email protected]

Ray Hillier (Karen)01234 714268 (Work)[email protected]@rrecpaulerspury.org.uk

Val Yates (Danny)01234 [email protected]

Events CoordinatorJanet Dolan (Steve)191 Baldwins Lane,Croxley Green, RickmansworthHertfordshire, WD3 3LL01923 778207 (Home & Fax)07841 989608 (Mobile)[email protected]@rrecpaulerspury.org.uk

Newsletter EditorBarry Gallafent (Ruth)Office: 0844 504 9500Home: 01908 216804Mobile: 07785 [email protected]

Website Coordinator01926 [email protected]

Section Contacts

Don’t forget to look at our section web pages which can beaccessed via the Members pages at www.rrec.org.uk

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