Club Newsletter

For members of MG Northumbria

January

The cover of this months newsletter is another drawing

reproduced with the kind permission of Russell Redwood. You can see his work at
rustyred1.deviantart.com.
Not an MG model again this month but at last count at least two of our members have
an E-Type Jaguar, a British sports car which was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd
between 1961 and 1975. Its combination of beauty, high performance and
competitive pricing established the model as an icon of the motoring world. At a time
when most cars had drum brakes, live rear axles, and mediocre performance, the EType sprang on the scene with 150 mph and a sub-7 second 060 time, monocoque
construction, disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, independent front and rear
suspension, and unrivalled looks. The E-Type was based on Jaguar's D-Type racing
car which had won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three consecutive years (19551957)
and, as such, it employed the racing design of a body tub attached to a tubular
framework, with the engine bolted directly to the framework.
On its release Enzo Ferrari called it "the most beautiful car ever made". In 2004,
Sports Car International magazine placed the E-Type at number one on their list of
Top Sports Cars of the 1960s. In March 2008, the Jaguar E-Type ranked first in The
Daily Telegraph online list of the world's "100 most beautiful cars" of all time.
Cant argue with any of that!
Connoisseurs of beauty might also want to look out for the Page 3 girls on
page 3 where else!

MG Northumbria club meetings are held on the first Wednesday of

each month.
Most months we have a presentation, often car related but not always. In the past for
example we have had talks and demonstrations covering such varied topics as:

Car tyre advice

Northumbrian area history
Toys & model cars
Travels in New Zealand and North America

The next meeting is at Backworth Hall on Wednesday 4th January starting at

8:00pm. Come along and bring your subscription payment with you instead of
posting them.
Club nights remain very popular with lots of members. Why not give one a try this year
and meet other like-minded members, have a chat and/or a drink, ask others about
problems you may be experiencing with your car, find out more about club runs, shows or
other events etc.
If youve not been before, give it a try. (NB If you want to attend regularly you would need
to become a social member of the club but it only costs 10 for a whole year). Go on;
make it your New Years resolution to come to your first club meeting in 2017

Welcome to 2017.
As you may know, our year ended on a sad note with the death of George Hunter on 6
December. Many thanks to those members who sent messages by email & on Facebook
and who came to his funeral. This was well attended by family and friends with Tynemouth
Crematorium so full some were left outside. We heard about his life, work and family with
many references to his interests in the Northumbrian Jacobite Society and, as we are
familiar, this club.
I joined this club in 2003 and right from the start it was clear the massive role George
played. The car show was still at Dilston and the Castles Run had become the Heritage
Run. With Lorraine he has always been there working quietly and supporting the rest of the
Committee with his excellent memory of what happened often many years previously. As
we heard with his work, his calm negotiation skills were also used in this Club. A comment
was made at the funeral about George's reluctance to appear in photos and Dave & I can
confirm this when we tried to find a photo to put on the website.
The Club is going to miss his work and support tremendously, but mostly we are going to
miss a really nice man and friend. Of course our loss is nothing compared to that of Lorraine
and his family and our thoughts are with them.
As so often when someone dies you think of what you wished you had said. For George it
has to be a very big Thank You. The club will be making a donation of 250 to the Brain
Tumour Charity that was also the chosen charity for donations at the funeral.
Also Thank Yous to Eileen Dalgarno & Phil Kirkland.
Eileen for organising the Xmas party at the New Kent
Hotel. After a slow start with bookings it grew
steadily and there were 39 there for a very nice meal,
dancing and chat. And Phil for another fascinating
account of his travels and railway stories this time
from the Wild West. Phil has also agreed to join the
committee along with other new committee members
John Patterson & Susan Farley.
M
MGNs own Page 3 girls (seems they
cant keep their hands off the Chairman)

The December committee reviewed and updated the New Member process, with the
Secretary taking on some of the work previously done by Ian Macneish, and discussed the
welcome pack following the decision at the AGM to sell the rally plaques only to those who
want one. We also discussed the financial matters regarding Classics in Corbridge 2017.
After much discussion two decisions were taken that could be quite controversial. Firstly we

will be increasing the public admission for the first time in many years to 10. Secondly after
being discussed and ruled out for several years we are looking at the process for collecting a
fee of 5 per car from entries. How this will work through Eventbrite is being investigated
and a decision will be made in January. Many shows are now charging an entry fee so we
hope it wont put too many off coming.
Our show is so successful that we have been approached by the Bywell Estates, where the
County Show moved to, about moving there. Initial information suggests it would cost more
and have less facilities, but possibly better access. We have not ruled it out for 2018 and
are making enquiries.
The Isle of Man trip now has 16 cars going and I will be making the bookings early in the
new year so it may not be too late to book.
Best wishes for a happy 2017 Tim

For those of you who have never had the pleasure of owning a British sports car, but want to
know what it's like first: during the next big rainstorm, wait until dark, wind down all your car
windows, leave off the lights, heater & wipers then go for a drive. If you stop at every corner
and throw out a ten-pound note, its not exactly the same, but its as close as you can get!

Best-Buy Dash Cams

A recent article appeared in the MG Car Club magazine Safety Fast. With kind
permission from the author Victor Smith, the basics of the article related to dashcams are reproduced below;
There has been a surge in popularity of dash cams, which have continued to
improve in terms of functionality and performance. So the results of the latest
product test by the leading consumer group Which? are a useful guide if you are
thinking of getting one. Invaluable footage of an incident can assist in clarifying the
truth whereby another driver clips your car and subsequently disputes your claim.
The best buys with a Which? rating and typical store costs are all Nextbase models;
the 312GW Deluxe rated 72% at 99.00 followed by the 212 Lite rated at 71% at
69.00 and the 512G Ultra rated at 71% costing 179.00. The 312GW apparently
comes out very well on the Which? report and worthy of serious consideration.
Models to avoid apparently are the Nextbase 302G, Garmin Dash Cam 35, Nextbase
in Car Cam Duo Twin-Cam, the Nextbase in Car Cam 101 and the Garmin Dash
Cam 30. Having a GPS (location and speed record) is often considered to be an
important feature. A 32GB Micro SD card from many retailers like Clas Ohlson, John
Lewis, Maplins or Halfords will offer good recording capability.
Rather than go through several frustrating hours of self-installation, it may well be
worth the money letting Halfords Fitting Service (for example) do this for you. At
least they have experience of burying wiring and can create a situation where the
camera comes on when you turn on the ignition.
For further information click on www.V8register.net and in the search box type
MORE. Scroll down until you find the article on dash cams.
Thanks to John Mitchell for passing this article on.

Five surgeons are taking a coffee break and having a chat about their work: 1st surgeon: Accountants are the best to operate on because when you open them up,
everything inside is numbered.
2nd surgeon: Nah, librarians are the best. Everything inside them is in alphabetical order.
3rd surgeon: Try electricians! Everything inside them is colour coded.
4th surgeon: I prefer lawyers. Theyre heartless, spineless, gutless and their heads and their
butts are interchangeable.
5th surgeon who has been quietly listening to the conversation: I like Classic car restorers ...
they always understand when you have a few parts left over at the end.

Les Davison has been rummaging in his drawers again and come up with this
interesting snippet. Rather appropriate for the first Newsletter of 2017 I think but
what is interesting is that the subs are 5, sweatshirts 10 and the Chairman is
having to dig into his own pocket. Perhaps inflation is not as bad as we think it is
and not much changes after all! Mind you, not so sure about embroidered boxer
shorts though!!

I am in the process of organising a run for 2017. Before I can take it further I need to
know how many of you (if any) would be interested.
The actual run would be up the College Valley, north of Wooler. Im not sure where
it would start yet or even when it would be but the problem is that the whole valley is
closed to vehicles and only a small number are allowed in at any one time with
written permission of the estate manager. He has indicated to me that a larger
number could be permitted as a one-off concession for our club but admission would
only be by pre-arranged permits.
All I need to know for now is, would anyone be interested in principle and
approximate numbers. So if you can let me know asap before the end of
January I will take negotiations further and come up with a suitable date and
total numbers allowed. E-mail me at hyde-p@sky.com or phone 0191 2376378
(leave a message if Im not in).
It would be a unique opportunity to drive in a beautiful area on closed roads that not
many people get the chance to drive on.
Peter Hyde

For info: - College Valley is situated in North Northumberland on the northern edge
of the Cheviot Hills, an area of renowned beauty. The estate extends to some
12,000 acres and lies entirely within the Northumberland National Park (NNP).
The Valley is part of the benefits left by Sir James Knott, successful businessman,
politician and philanthropist.
The estate is now managed by a Board of Directors whose duty is to manage it in a
way that increases its value as an environmental, social and economic place of
excellence. They strive to encourage and make available to the general public an
environment that focuses on education and recreational enjoyment. Farming and
forestry underpin the estate's financial viability, although the directors look carefully
at other enterprises so long as they are in line with the objectives and aims of the
College Valley.
College Valley is a haven for wildlife and vegetation and is home to the largest semi
natural woodlands (Harrow Bog) in the NNP as well as the Cheviot Massif, the
highest hill in North England at 2,672ft. More info at www.collegevalley.co.uk/index.htm.
7

A reminder from our Treasurer that your 2017 MGN Club subscriptions are
now due.
A full years membership from 1 January 2017 is as follows: MG Northumbria 8 joint membership for self and partner plus Backworth Hall 10
per person.
If you are not attending the January meeting please post cheques, made payable to
MG Northumbria, to George Dalgarno, Denecroft, Wallridge Drive, Holywell Village,
Whitley Bay, NE25 0NN.

Happy and Healthy New Year to all MG Northumbria members and

their families. Thank you to everyone who contributed to last
years newsletters. The more we get the easier my job is. Please
keep em coming in 2017.

Peter Hyde
Newsletter Editor