Rally 2010
Sunday 9th May 2010
Blackberry Farm, Whitesmith, East Sussex
Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who turned up to this year’s rally, despite the weather doing it’s best to scare us all off on Saturday! The new venue was a hit with both young and old alike, with plenty to keep everyone amused including a large variety of friendly farm animals, tractor and pony rides, children’s playgrounds and a very good cafe which served excellent meals and extremely delicious cakes.
On Saturday afternoon we held our annual pre-rally run out and BBQ. After a bit of a late start (due to the committee attempting to erect a marquee which would have given a Rubik’s Cube a run for it’s money), and despite the rain showers, we had a great run through some of the local Sussex villages, with 8 cars taking part. Only 2 were left by the time we returned, but that’s another story - everyone did arrive safely back at base in the end! According to Mac (who’s done runs out for the club for a number of years) it was the first time he’d ever lost anyone – oops! It was then off to the camping area for a well deserved BBQ – run again this year by Bertie; our thanks to him - and social evening – all under the gazebos of course!
On Sunday the weather was slightly better, and although overcast we had over 50 cars turn up – a great selection of Morris Minors (including Mac’s new police dog van recently featured in Minor Monthly) and a good showing of visitor’s cars. The cars were parked up centrally on the farm, in a field amidst the animals and tractor rides. The trade stands and official’s marquee were also in this field, so everyone felt included. The field was soon buzzing with both Minor enthusiasts and general visitors, and despite the threatening clouds, not a drop of rain fell.
We had an impressive line up of cars to be judged at the edge of the field along the route of the tractor rides – passengers were saluted by open bonnets as they passed by on the trailer. The Rally Awards for 2010 are as follows:
| Morris Minors: | ||
| 1st | P. Cowling | BDS 951H |
| 2nd | R. Tyler | YJJ 765G |
| 3rd | N. Wildblood | TPN 869 |
| Visitors Winner | Mr Dale | PMK 26E |
| People’s Favourite : | Mr Dale | PMK 26E |
| Furthest Travelled : | A. Waltham (60 miles) | EKK 595K |
We must extend our thanks to Graeme, who once again has designed an amazing rally plaque for us (and also has some 2010 Rally souvenir posters for sale), and to Karen and Paul at Blackberry Farm, for making us most welcome, especially those of us who were camping over the weekend.
All in all we had another successful rally, and the feedback we’ve received so far has been very positive, and people were very happy with the choice of venue. If you’d like to give the committee your feedback – both good and bad – please email us.