Molloy Trophy Rally 27 th

From the Chair…….

Greetings

Unprecedented in modern history nationally and internationally, the events of the last month. We seem to have fared better than most. Business: 1) Annual General Meeting 12 th May.

This is postponed

to a future date when we are sure it can be conducted

safely. This is the only real option and agreed to by our committee. We will advise you of a new date for the meeting as soon as practicable. 2) Monthly club meeting 12 th May.

Cancelled for rea

sons given above.

3) Molloy Trophy Rally 27 th June. No decision at this

point. We will advise you closer to the due date depending on circumstances.

Running on a short lead: Many of us will have delved deep into our sheds and even the ‘too hard’ jobs have surfaced with careful application. At age twelve, with considerable help from my father, I built an 8ft pram dinghy. For primarily sentimental reasons I have kept this dinghy stored in many sheds over the past 60 years. In hindsight a matchbox toy or mouth organ would have been easier to keep and store as a sentimental item and attract less comment. Anyway, this was retrieved from the darkest corner of our current shed, and restoration undertaken. I have had to reset the rowlock blocks in relation to the rowing position, as my arms appear longer than at age twelve. And I don’t remember the seat sagging, can only assume the timber has weakened over the years . . . Come to think of it the nail punch and counter-sinking bit must have been on some sort of sabbatical leave as much of the hardware is proud to say the least. I guess you don’t know everything when you are young. I’m waiting for topcoat paint to ‘complete the project’. Gloria thoughtfully commented you would not want to rush it.

I imagine you all have found new and old things to do during this period, and achieved great satisfaction from them. Look after yourselves, family and friends. We will get through this.

Murray

Fromm Margaret Deverell:

We are in lockdown with long time buddies from school days - and like everyone else of their era, they can always find ‘toys’ to resurrect, repaint, restart, rebuild and play with ! This is a picture of Tom’s gnat getting the cobwebs blown away, it comes in handy for all sorts of missions! The Rover car must stay undercover in the meantime but gets regularly started, ready for the days ahead that hopefully won’t be too long coming. Living beside the Houhora harbour makes all those fantastic fishing days we have had during lockdown very stressful but that’s another project, getting the boat and trailer in tip top shape for the day when the go ahead comes. We are very blessed all the same with family close, unlike so many others. Stay safe everyone and we look forward to brighter times, meanwhile memories are magic .

A huge thank you to all of you who’ve sent messages for this Focus. It’s good to know there is so

much positive stuff going on out there–not that I thought we’d all be sitting round feeling sorry for ourselves. Ruth and I have really enjoyed your stories coming in and I know others will love reading them.

I’ve thought often of a friend who moved into the Switzer a week or two before lockdown, and celebrated her 90th birthday without any family or friends around. She said, “I’m fed and watered, and I’ve got a roof over my head, but I could do with a few hugs.” I guess we’ve all been counting our blessings.

Peg

Club Captains Report for April 2020. We have all now been in our “Bubbles” and lock down for 5 weeks. What a new way of living and look at all the “nice to do jobs” that we have completed. Margaret and I have dismantled and brought down the Chandelier containing over 100 pieces, washed and cleaned it, and reassembled it. Now it sparkles again. I have 2 modern vehicles that have been washed, polished and detailed. Paintwork around the home is receiving a freshen up and we have run out of space for garden and hedge trimmings. The welcome rain is bringing the weeds to life. I assume that all the Club members never thought that we would experience this type of situation in our lifetime. We will have plenty of challenges ahead of us in the coming months and years to adjust to a new way of living and hopefully enjoying our passions for motoring once again. The Club program is still in limbo and we will have to wait and see what activities we can commence with the gradual reductions in lock down status. The “Mother’s Day” Rally remains cancelled, but there is the “Malloy Trophy Rally” planned for the 27 th June that may be considered. Arrangements for the AGM will be addressed by Chairman Murray.

some very interesting articles on cars, motor bikes and Club rallies some of which were 3 day rallies / tours. Could / would a 3day rally be of interest to our Club Members once the lid is lifted on restricted driving? I would like some feedback on what you as Club Members would be interested in.

Earlier in the month, Sir Stirling Moss passed away at the age of 90. He was recognised as one of the Motor Sports greatest drivers to have never won a Formula One world title. While not actually meeting the gentleman, I was privileged to have been in close company with him at the Ardmore GP’s and witnessed his amazing driving skill there on a number of occasions. I will put together an article of the early NZGP’s and the 1962 Ardmore GP won by Stirling Moss as I remember the events . (There is a very good article online headed “Ninth New Zealand Grand Prix 1962”

Keep the engines running and the wheels turning. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to get back out on the roads in the not too distant future.

Regards and stay safe.

Graeme.

During the last 5 weeks, it has given me a chance to read the last 2 issues of the Beaded Wheels. There are

Vehicle Maintenance Safety Notes

With shed activity to the fore Ian Macgregor, using his Bristol Owners Club newsletter, rightly reminds us of these points:

Never get under a car that is only supported by a jack.

Never exceed weight capacity of jack/stand or ramps.

Never use a tyre jack for anything other than changing a tyre.

Never allow another person or pet to remain in a vehicle while it is being lifted.

Do use a trolley jack to lift vehicle before lowering onto stands.

Do use a hard level surface.

My return here coincided badly with the rise and rise of Covid19, so we are now in our 6th week of voluntary lockdown, avoiding the maddening crowd as if they all had the plague! Jacky and I are so lucky to be living in the midst of thousands of acres of beautiful farmland, yet only three miles to town if we had to go. Jacky’s son -in -law has been our gopher, bringing in groceries and other supplies for us as his business has been forced to close for the duration.

Most days Jacky and I either cycle an 11k circuit through the farm tracks, or walk a shorter circuit, and her dog always comes with us!

The pics attached are of my “vintage bike”, purchased just before I left N Z, 2/3 the weight of an Austin 7 but with 8 times the power! The second is myself, Jacky and our two best friends, both Linda’s, all in our 70’s, photos taken before lockdown.

I was due home in NZ by mid -August,

Decided then to restore a 30 year old plywood sailing dinghy that our son used to sail in front of the Old Oak. Have found this to be very therapeutic, being able to stop and start at leisure.

Lynn and I are managing to do a 1 hour loop walk around Mangonui most days.

Family inform us that grandkids will be arriving Tuesday. Yippee!!

Cheers

Mike.

but with this disease running rampant the NZ Govt has said they will continue to pay my super up until October 20th, an effective ploy to delay the return of potential C19 carriers! I will be delighted to see you all around mid-October. Warmest regards to all,

Max Allen.

Hi Ruth and Peg,

Ruth

Can’t believe a side of Matt hitherto unknown. He’s sat for hours on an uncomfortable stool in the garage lovingly polishing the immobile Snipe and Austin 6/16 to within an inch of their lives. He’s still removing tarnish off the brass headlights of ‘Clarice’.

Do you think I can get that passion transferred to the housework?

Bev

John is in my bubble, for the duration. We were supposed to go to Thailand in January, for our friends’ wedding, but bailed at the 11th hour. Thank goodness. The wedding couple arrived at John’s house just prior to Lockdown, so John moved up with me. It’s been fantastic, his tractor was already at my place , so we have got so much done over the last three weeks. My garden is also looking pretty tidy.

Are you both well, and coping at this very strange time?

This is one for the ladies. I received it from my embroidery group–it is rather lovely and I’m sure the Purple Hat ladies could relate to it.

A POEM

I'm normally a social girl, I love to meet my mates But lately with the Virus here, we can't go out the gates. You see we are the 'oldies' now, we need to stay inside. If they haven't seen us for a while, they'll think we've up and died. They'll never know the things we did before we got this old, There wasn't any Facebook, so not everything was told. We may seem sweet old ladies who would never be uncouth, but we grew up in the 60’s- if you only knew the truth!! There was sex and drugs and rock'n roll!! The pills and miniskirts. We smoked, we drank, we partied, and were quite outrageous flirts. Then we settled down, got married and turned into someone’s Mum, Somebody’s wife, then Nana, who on earth did we become. We didn't mind the change of pace because our lives were full, But to bury us before we're dead is like red rag to a bull!! So here you find me stuck inside for 4 weeks maybe more. I finally found myself again then had to close the door! It didn't really bother me, I'd while away the hour I'd bake for all the family but I've got no b…….. flour

Now Netflix is just wonderful I like a gutsy thriller I'm swooning over Idris or some random sexy killer. At least I've got a stash of booze for when I'm being idle There's wine and whiskey , even gin if I'm feeling suicidal. So let’s all drink to lockdown, to recovery and health And hope this b…... virus doesn't decimate our wealth. We'll all get through the crisis and be back to join our mates, Just hoping I'm not far to wide to fit through the flaming gates!! I have been doing gardening, a bit of baking, and stewing apples which we have growing. We have just had the kiwifruit picked and next the feijoas are ripening and then it will be the persimmons. I have a few figs off our tree which I am going to try and dry tomorrow along with apples and kiwifruit. So I am keeping busy; it is hard to find time to do embroidery.

Warwick hasn’t been working on cars, the garden has kept him occupied and he has been painting the fascia boards on the house, a job that has needed to be done for the last couple of years!!

And now here is one for everyone:

Businesses Gone Under

It is with great sadness that I have to mention the loss of a few local businesses:

A local bra manufacturer has gone bust, a submarine company has gone under, a manufacturer of blenders has gone into liquidation, a dog kennel manufacturer has had to call in the retrievers and a company supplying paper for origami enthusiasts has folded. An insinkerator company has gone down the gurgler, a plumber has gone down the drain, a crematorium has gone up in smoke, shampoo is in short supply due to suppliers being in their bubble. The number’s up for the Lotto shop, the Butcher’s gone belly up, Chemist says going bust was a bitter pill to swallow, Laundromat all washed up, Fruit & Veg shop has gone bananas, and the local medium didn’t see it coming.

Hoping everyone is keeping themselves occupied,

Cheers for now,

Penny

One of the biggest Covid19 projects was cleaning up my workshop. I came across this bike child carrier while tidying up. It needed some restoration work before going on display.

The Meccano tractor has a bit of a history attached to it. The F30 worked on our family farm between 1948 and 1953. I was given the start of my Meccano set as a 7 year old. I made a Meccano replica of the F30 as a child. The original F30 is in my museum as it has particular significance in the development of the family farm.

I had a phone call the other day from the last owner driver who had recently turned 90.

The bulk of the Meccano tractor pictured is made from the original Meccano set from 70 plus years ago. It measures about 360mm by 180.

I had an old sewing machine “tractor” in the museum. It was recently returned to the original family, so as a Covid19 project I have made a replacement. We sure are living in unprecedented times with this ‘lockdown’ we are enduring.

I was lucky to have arrived home from my motorcycle tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe within a week of the shut down.

By now we should have been down to Kapiti for the national VW rally–not to be… Also we have had to cancel the Caffeine n Classics along with the Endless Summer Taipa Beach Hop.

But the funny thing is that it hasn’t really made that much difference to our daily lives.

Once I had completed the electrification of the old ostrich paddocks I was able to get a bit of progress on my 1966 Vespa, that had been on the list since last year. There is still plenty to do, but I really only get onto it on the rainy days and unfortunately we haven’t had many of them this year. Attached are some photos of progress so far.

Cheers,

Rosco.

Trying to retain the patina of 1966

New foot rails fitted.