DURNOVARIA 1008 NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2018

The Essential Newsletter for the MG Owners Club Dorchester Area 1008

A Siver City Air Loading a Jaguar and Rolls Royce - story page 3 MGOC Durnovaria 1008 - October 2018 Editor’s Notes he Club’s outing to Symondsbury most ably arranged At the moment within the Club, sending an e-mail is for us by Hilary, attracted quite a gathering of club the quickest way to disseminate news to all members. members assembling as usual at the Top O’Town car This is however not the most efficient way to send out T information and once read an e-mail is often deleted park in Dorchester. We all headed off towards the Village of Compton Abbas travelling onwards along part of the route of (or lost). During the Club’s ‘downtime’ over the winter months, it is the Roman road to Exeter and then to Powerstock along some intended that we will start up a Facebook Durnovaria group page. of the most beautiful lanes and byways of the area. The more This will enable club member to add photos and information that than adequate parking at Symondsbury accommodated us all may be of interest to others. with ease. Everyone arrived in plenty of time for some retail Unlike sending out e-mails, as those who are already users will therapy before tea. A reserved area was set aside for our party appreciate, information will be up to date and members can in the ‘Symondsbury Kitchen’ café and after a short delay we all instantly be informed of cancellations, changes or new events. eventually tucked into our cream teas and cakes. Many thanks Also it’s easy to check back in time as the information will always to Hilary for organising the outing for us and especially taking be available. It will also enable us to share photos more easily. the time to plan and check out the route beforehand. Your newsletter editor is a member of three classic vehicle We are heading rapidly towards the end of our Club season facebook groups and finds them most useful, not only keeping up with just a few planned events remaining. The next Club regular with news and events but also sending out requests for information meeting planned at the Colliton Club is a Film Night on Tuesday and technical help to others within the group. We will keep you 2nd October. There have been a few issues regarding the updated on the progress of the Durnovaria group. acquisition of the necessary projection equipment, but all being Like me I’m sure you have concerns about privacy, the group will well this will go ahead as planned. be by invitation only and it’s easy to control privacy settings when you know how. To this end there will be an information session The last outing for the season is a run to the Purbeck Golf Club at one of our regular meetings by someone experienced in these for Sunday Lunch on the 14th October organised by Peter matters, informing us all the ins and outs of the Facebook world, Elliot. You should have received a separate e-mail notification to make sure only ‘Durovarians’ or invited guest have access. of this from Peter, so please make sure you respond in good time. If you haven’t visited the venue before, the 3600 views from As there will not be much to report on Club matters from now the heathland plateau across Poole Bay are spectacular - this is on, this will be the last newsletter of the 2018 season, however a lunch not to be missed. keep a look out for e-mails. Producing a monthly newsletter is dependant on getting information in from members and may I take the opportunity to thank those member who have kindly contributed to the newsletter over the past season with photos and information. Also I’m sure you will join me in sending our out hearty thanks to those members who have contributed to our enjoyment this year by giving presentations at meetings, arranging outings & runs, breaks away, lunches and teas etc. Without those members prepared to put themselves out we wouldn’t have a club. I will mention no names, but you know who you are and thanks a lot. A reminder that the Club’s Annual General Meeting will be held at the Colliton Club on Tuesday 6th November, so please do make an effort to attend and bring along your ideas for next year. At the AGM Sarah will be presenting her ‘Story of a Victorian Actor’. You may also be regaled by the mystery of ‘The Disappearing Engine Driver’, a Victorian police investigation.

Remaining Club Events CLUB COMMITTEE Club Committee Tuesday 2nd October Chairman - Ray Moore Film Night - Classic Motoring. T: 01305 268105 E: [email protected] Looking back on how we were and some amusing

motoring moments from the past Vice Chairman - Peter Elliott T: 01258 451763 E: [email protected] Sunday 14th October Treasurer & Secretary - Paul Storey End of Season Run & Lunch T: 01305 848656 E: [email protected] Isle of Purbeck Golf Club Events Coordinator - Tim Creed Tuesday 6th November T: 01305 520086 E: [email protected] AGM & Talk by Sarah - ‘The Story of a Victorian Actor’ - also the true Charity and Assistant Secretary - Hilary Storey Victorian mystery of ‘The Disappearing Engine Driver’ T: 01305 848656 E: [email protected] Tuesday 4th December Newsletter Editor & Production - Mike Benton Christmas Dinner - ‘The Gamekeeper’ Charminster T: 01929 554250 E: [email protected] MGOC Durnovaria 1008 - October 2018

Front cover photo story At first my parents flew to their holiday home, but in 1962 it was decided that the whole family would drive down to the Have Car - Will Fly! by Mike Benton apartment. This we did in a very ancient Bedford Dormobile, Post War, Britain was struggling to pay off its debts, but by the a stimulating and memorable journey that had taken five days, late 1950s rationing had ended and the country was becoming (another story for another time). From the photos below left, more prosperous. Cheap package deals made it possible for it’s clear that the journey was a pretty rugged and slow affair many more Brits to take holidays abroad. Although still a military compared to modern day fast motorways with service stations dictatorship, Southern Spain became a firm favourite, with its and smooth road surfaces. Note the road surface on this exotic Flamenco traditions, cheap wine and sunny climate. Spanish main road in central Spain in 1961. Now thanks to EU Before the building boom had really taken off, it was possible money Spain’s roads are amongst the best in Europe! to buy a holiday property in Spain for very little money. The My brother had also made the journey down with a couple of exchange rate was very favourable and living was cheap. chums in a Mark VII Jaguar bought for £15! You can just catch a glimpse of the car hiding behind the N-340 217 milestone (kilomtrestone?) at the side of the main road (only road) from Malaga to Cadiz. Surrounding the apartment were majestic mountains and verdant farmland and across the road beyond a farm was the wonderful unspoiled sandy beach at Fuengirola which stretched for miles. The address was simply the apartment’s name - at the kilometre 217 on the Cadiz road, Fuengirola, Spain! Little did we know at the time that the whole area would be subjected to massive urbanization and in the centre of Spain’s tourist industry. The apartments have long since been demolished to provide space for the overhead railway track and the surrounding farmland is now under concrete and unrecognisable. ‘Our road’, the N-340 Cadiz has been replaced by the Autopista del Mediterráneo AP-7 Freeway.

My Parents were amongst those early pioneers who had decided that a holiday home in Spain would not only make a great holiday base and a source of rental income, but also a possible future retirement home in the sun. In 1960, after a couple of holidays on the Costa del Sol they decided to invest in an apartment in the charming little fishing village of Fuengirola, (today a buzzing metropolis of around 80,000 of people).

The site of our apartment today - total urbanization!

In 1964, my father had taken delivery of a new Hillman Super Minx Estate, this was by far more modern and capable than the old beaten up old Bedford. It was therefore decided that we should drive down in the Hillman, but also try to achieve as speedy a journey as was possible. The plan was to carry out the 1,500 miles outward journey in less than 24 hours including the Channel crossing (well before decent motorways). To enable us to achieve this, a drive to Dover for the ferry to Calais as before was obviously not going to work. The quickest crossing of the English Channel then was the Air Ferry Service, which was by then operating out of Bornemouth’s Hurn Airport. My Mother had decided that the ‘pleasures’ of driving the 3,000 miles return journey was no longer for her. This time she flew down to Malaga ahead of us to get things ready (a sensible woman my mother). Our rather large amount of luggage was placed on a double roof rack, leaving the inside of the car free from clutter. There would be three drivers, my father, brother and myself with my fiancé as the floating navigator. The rear seats of the estate were lowered and a full-length bed created with a foam sponge base and blankets. We had arranged for the driver to always be accompanied by a navigator, while the other two slept in the rear bed. The intention was to drive non-stop, saving on hotels and meals, stopping only for fuel and comfort stops or when we needed a coffee or a sandwich break. We did in fact manage to complete the journey from our Home in MGOC Durnovaria 1008 - October 2018

Have Car - Will Fly! continued by Mike Benton Weymouth to Fuengirola in less than 24 hours, including all fuselage was somewhat breezy. One pilot quipped it was like stops and the channel crossing. The speedy time was only “40 thousand rivets flying in close formation.” made possible by the cross-channel air ferry service. As we skimmed across the French coastline on the final approach at what seemed like a walking pace, we could almost shake hands with a farmer ploughing the fields with his heavy horses. On landing we were ‘bussed’ from the runway in an old Citroen van fitted out with what seemed like deck chairs loosely thrown inside. We hung on for dear life as we bounced across the grass in our corrugated iron van to a green painted corrugated iron hut that was the terminal building. Cherbourg is an ex-military airport, built as a temporary airfield during World War II by the United States Army Air Force. The By 1968 cross channel hovercraft car ferry services had started, whole flight was a great experience, with the formalities of enabling the crossing times be brought down to thirty minutes security, customs and passport control being very quaint, quick between Dover and Calais. By the early seventies the cost by and informal. boat was around £40 for a car and four passengers and the The bored-looking Gauloises-smoking Douane officers gave us hovercraft was a similar price. The air ferry service by this time a sideways look and casually waved us through with a shrug as was about twice that price at around £80. In today’s money they made their customary chalk marks on our luggage. Within these fares would have been £400 and £800 respectively. a few minutes we were off and away heading for the sun, with However the cost of air travel in 1964 made driving to Spain an none of the tedium and fighting through crowds that is a part of economic proposition, particularly as we would then have a car today’s air travel. for our travels when we were down there. Car hire was not an easy and economical option as it is today. The air ferry also saved us the long haul from Weymouth to Dover, which amounted to about 250 miles for both the outward and return journeys, so we would be saving 500 miles of motoring and fuel. So although it would seem an expensive option at first sight, taking the air ferry did work out cheaper for a car and four people. I don’t recall what my father paid for the crossings at the time, but Dad was not one to chuck money around needlessly, so the economics must have made sense. I do remember however, that the carrier British United Air , were very particular about measuring the length of the car. As the photos show we had to remove the over-riders on the bumpers, to save paying a All in all it was a great experience and one that sticks in my surcharge. memory. It was so evocative of the era and it would be really great if the service returned, but I very much doubt if that will ever happen - or perhaps......

BUAF came into being on 1 January 1963 as a result of the merger of Channel Air Bridge and . The Hercules radial engined was a somewhat bulbous and cumbersome-looking aircraft, being a high-wing In June 1952 the Illustrated London News showed illustrations of the monoplane with a fixed undercarriage. The cockpit sat above Silver City helicopter concept by Air Commodore Griffith Powell - the two large clamshell doors at the nose and the unpressurised A modified Chinook perhaps? MGOC Durnovaria 1008 - October 2018

MG VA Introduced in 1937, 2,407 versions were built The VA was a neat well proportioned car built on a conventional until it was discontinued at the outbreak of war in 1939 and sturdy MG chassis that was unique to the VA, the car had a 9’ 0” wheelbase and was 14’ 3” long. The main chassis side members were of box channel construction and swept up at the rear over the rear axle line to accommodate a softer rear suspension arrangement and to allow greater vertical wheel movement. Although the chassis was unique to the VA, other components such as the front and rear axles were shared with the Morris 12/4 and Wolseley 12/48. Lockheed hydraulic brakes with 10” drums were fitted to the VA unlike its predecessor the N type Magnette that had a cable operated system.

The MG Car Company was plunged into turmoil early in 1935 when William Morris sold MG to Morris Motors which formed the major part of the Nuffield Organisation. The organisation was primarily set up to rationalise Morris’s sprawling business concerns and for greater efficiency and cost savings. The VA was the second car to be introduced since the company had been acquired by Morris Motors, and it was placed at the entry-level of the MG saloon lineup below the 2 litre SA and 2.6 litre WA. The attractive sports saloon was soon joined by A charming ‘Tickford’ convertible on a VA built by Salmons & Sons. a two-door, four passenger open tourer and a Tickford-bodied Costing just £10 more when new, the Tickford bodied cars today command over double the price of an MG factory saloon body. drophead coupe. The VA (also known as the 1 ½-Litre) shared its 1,548cc overhead valve engine with Morris and Wolseley. But During the very short production run It seemed that nearly MG founder Cecil Kimber still had a role to play in his former all the components that comprised the VA were at some time company, and the engine was tuned to his specification to suit either modified or changed which made life very difficult on the sporting nature of the MG Octagon badge. Twin side draught the production line for the Abingdon workers. Despite all the S.U. carburettors helped push the little engine to 58 horsepower, interruptions the car did sell well for that time. The 4 door which gave spirited performance to live up to the MG image. saloon sold particularly well at £325 and had such refinements Motor magazine tested a VA Tourer in period to a top speed as a Bluemel adjustable steering wheel and Luvax dashboard of 76 mph, and went on to claim 82mph was possible with the damper control. There was also an option of the Smiths Jackall windscreen folded – an action best reserved for the brave built-in hydraulic jacking system. or foolhardy. To aid performance and driving enjoyment, Price Saloon £325 at launch - tourer £280 synchromesh was fitted on the top two gears. By the time Engine 12 hp - OHV in line 4 cylinder 1549cc production ended in 1939, 2,407 VAs of all styles were produced, Power: 54 bhp (63 hp for the 1705 cc police version) of which only 564 were open four-place tourers, making this a Weight 22 1/4 hundredweight - 1,130 kilos very rare and desirable pre-war MG, particularly on our shores. Max speed 72 mph 82 (for the brave with windscreen folded)! Introduced in time for the 1936 Motor Show, it was primarily Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 22.5 secs. seen as a replacement for the N type Magnette, it looked like Consumption: 26 mpg. a scaled down version of the 2 litre SA. In keeping with the SA the new car was available as a saloon, an open tourer or as a coachbuilt Tickford convertible and they were priced at £325, £280 and £335 respectively. And Finally - are you having a bad day?

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