Woburn Centre Newsletter for October 2018 The line-up of bikes that were there for the photo after the visit Hi the October issue is full of interest especially our trip to RAF Halton. It was a great day out. Nothing went wrong. Really worth the visit even for the 5 women who went along including me. Thank you Mark. On Monday don t forget to BRING some goodies to sell but please BUY an item to take home with you too. It s a jolly night and I m sure Monday will be no different. Peter Miles and Andy Reynolds will be doing the honours with Jim Welling acting as Runner. Pauline our Landlady will be bring out hot chips, sausage rolls etc to fill you up on the night. So all Woburn centre needs is you with items to sell and money to spend in your pockets. Let s make it a night to remember. Remember to come along at 7 7.15 and start should be at 7.30pm. THAT S COMING SOON.. Monday 15 th October Sunday 4 th November Bring & Buy sale Raffle Mark Huggins - Food served Start of the Winter break, NO SUNDAY MEETINGS
Monday 19 th November Guest Speaker (to be confirmed) Raffle Jack welling SHUTTLEWORTH WEEKEND WITH WOBURN CENTRE This year s annual Shuttleworth Steam Rally took place on the 14 th, 15 th and 16 th September. As usual the Woburn Centre set up the marquee and prepared the site to display our member s machines. This was the 11 th year we have attended this show but the allocated site was not our usual pitch and we found ourselves sandwiched between an array of huge military vehicles. This was not the ideal situation but we managed the best we could. The weather was fair for the three days and a huge improvement on last year s inclement condition.
A sincere thanks to all our members who made the effort to attend and to John Hawkings who exhibited his immaculate THRUXTON for the first time. John Shipman tempted fate by coaxing his Venom with a gearbox fault to the last day, prudence prevailed and the AA trailed him home at the shows end. This was the only incident of note and we all enjoyed ourselves as we always do. There was an overall feeling that the fair was not as well organised as years past and lacked the tempo we have come to expect. Perhaps this was a reflection of the turbulent period the country is going through at present and hopefully such matters will improve by next year and we can all get back to normal. Jack Welling
What a Coincidence! A chicken farmer went to the local bar. He sat next to a woman and ordered champagne. The woman said: "How strange, I also just ordered a glass of champagne." "What a coincidence," said the farmer, who added, It is a special day for me. I am celebrating." "It is a special day for me too, I am also celebrating!" said the woman. "What a coincidence!" said the farmer. While they toasted, the farmer asked, "What are you celebrating?" "My husband and I have been trying to have a child for years, and today, my gynaecologist told me that I was pregnant." "What a coincidence," said the man. "I am a chicken farmer and for years all my hens were infertile, but now they are all set to lay fertilized eggs." "This is incredible," said the woman. "What did you do for your chickens to become fertile?" "I used a different rooster," he said. The woman smiled and said, "What a coincidence." Reg Cross has received a letter from Jan N. Hoogesteger who advertises in Fishtail and also other commercial papers/mags. His work was featured in an article in OBM in the May edition 2018. If you would like to know about his work you can find an updated Parts and Service list on the Woburn Centre web page. http://woburn-velocette.org.uk You can also use this web page to contact any committee member Newsletter items and photos are always needed. 01908 641149 07770595504 norricia@talktalk.net Please send items address to me with Newsletter Item in the subject box. This will then mean that I will be able to pick the message up easily from the 1,000 of e-mails on our front page.
Club Run on Wednesday 12 th September The weather was overcast with drizzle and some greasy roads when I set off from home for Cranfield and the start of an autumnal bike ride. I had planned two possible routes and decided to ask the participants to vote on the destination. The options were the café at the Milton Keynes Museum or The Shuttleworth Collection Café at Old Warden. The planned route to Milton Keynes would have had to deal with at least one road closure that I knew about and maybe more? I had not rehearsed either route but was more familiar with the second option. Nine riders took part following the democratic vote for Shuttleworth. There were two 600cc Venoms, three 500cc Venoms, an MSS, two Hondas and a BMW. We departed from the Cross Keys PH as the weather began to brighten up and the roads were starting to dry out following the end of the drizzle. The route included a journey through some familiar villages as it is difficult to find new routes for everyone. We travelled to Millbrook, Ridgemont, Husborne Crawley, passing two previous Club venues, Woburn, then through the deer park, over the M1, Steppingly, through Ampthill, Maulden, through Haynes, Deadman s Cross, Cotton End, Shortstown (airship sheds on right), Cardington (airship sheds on left), Old Warden and then to the Café. When we got there we discovered that two of the group had split off and found a more direct route. They had already consumed lunch and looked very relaxed. There were no breakdowns and we did not get lost. There were plenty of very nice, modern bikes at the café and Peter Connors 600cc Venom special drew the attention of several bikers who were clearly puzzled or admirers. Everyone enjoyed the ride, mainly because it was dry and a little milder than the ride to Cranfield. John M Shipman
Sunday Run to The Trenchard Museum at RAF Halton When designated the task of organising the last Sunday run of the year by your committee I racked my mind for a run with an objective, rather than just end up at a pub. As I live on the outskirts of Wendover near to RAF Halton my thoughts turned to that as a destination. I knew that occasionally they had open days and so I went online and found their website. Whilst browsing I came across a section dedicated to The Trenchard Museum which mentioned that it was open to the public by arrangement. Ideal, I thought and duly contacted the museum and asked if it was possible for us as a group to visit on the 7 th October. Indeed, it was I was told, provided I submitted the names of interested parties to them at least a week before the visit to enable passes to be arranged. Then all we had to do was turn up at the designated time with some form of proof of identity. The run was then advertised by Patricia in the preceding newsletters and gradually I started to be contacted by those amongst you who wished to be included. All in all, I received 29 names 5 of who would travel by car. This was very encouraging and so I planned my route from Cranfield to Halton trying to avoid main roads where possible. Sunday the 7 th October dawned dry and bright but a mite chilly! So, it was long johns on and winter gloves. I had a good ride to Cranfield although the low winter sun was dazzling at times and I had to ride with my left hand acting as a visor. Car drivers just don t know the hell we go through do they! I arrived at The Cross Keys at about 09.30 to find half a dozen stalwarts already there. Amongst them was John Hawkings who immediately presented me with a little bag containing ten 2 coins. It transpired I had asked him on a previous run to exchange a 2 coin he had in his change for two 1 coins as I collect the 2 ones as a form of saving but I never get many! He remembered that, hence the small bag, so I handed over a 20 note in exchange. I reckon he makes them! That aside riders started to turn up, sign on and hand over their 1 signing on fee. I made it a total of 19 bikes and 20 people as Colin Evans was accompanied by Janice, his ever faithful pillion. I believe there were 13 Velocettes, 3 Honda s - 2 BMW s and 1 Triumph. We set off as a despatch rider run with myself in the lead and Peter Conner being the sweeper at the rear of the column.
The run took us through Apsley Guise, Woburn Sands, Bow Brickhill, Great Brickhill, Soulbury, Stewkley, Wing, Wingrave, Long Marston, Gubblecote, Aston Clinton and finally Halton. Amazingly the run had been without incident, with no breakdowns, or anyone getting lost or falling off! All on dry roads with lovely sunshine and views of the Buckinghamshire countryside. RAF Halton actually started life as an army training camp for World War One conscripts before being taken over by the RAF as an engineering establishment. Halton trained crews kept the fighters and bombers of World War Two flying and thus played a vital part in that conflict. Interestingly, many of the top engineering apprentices won places at Cranwell to train as pilots and 133 were Spitfire pilots in the Battle of Britain. The museum is in two parts. One part being the museum proper detailing the history of the station and exhibits of the work carried out by the engineering cadets. There were also sectioned machine guns and cannon showing the mechanism. The second part of the museum was dedicated to flight and had working examples of Links Flight Simulators used to train Spitfire pilots in WW2. Jim Welling was invited to try one out and after flying successfully in daylight was plunged into darkness by a blacked out canopy closed over the cockpit. He then had to fly on instruments and was left to his own devices whilst the rest of us moved on to watch Malcom Skeels flying a Tiger Moth simulator over Wendover and landing at Halton. We were all air sick by the time he landed with a bit of a bump! Meanwhile our instructor/guide remembered Jim flying blind and we all went back to the Links to let him out. Our party had split into two groups with one group in the museum and the other group in the flight centre. We then swopped over. Once the visit over we all met up again by the side of the parade ground where our bikes were parked. The obligatory photograph was taken with the bikes all lined up in front of a de commissioned Tornado fighter before heading off for our various homes. I for one thoroughly enjoyed the ride and the museum but was particularly pleased with the turn out and the success of the run. It may be an idea to include it again in next year s run program. Mark Huggins Dear Mark First let me thank you for arranging the visit to RAF Halton yesterday. Lots of interesting things to see and learn about, great day out. What a good crowd of members also. Hope you were pleased with the number? Mark s reply to me was.
Thanks for your thanks and yes, I was pleased with the turnout must be a record! The whole thing went exceptionally well with no one breaking down, getting lost or falling off! I will try to knock something together for the newsletter right away. Glad you enjoyed the day as well. As Mark said we all went our different ways. There were 7 people in two car loads and a number of bikes went to the End of the World Garden Centre nearby and had coffee/tea and cakes or a full dinner. Which was much needed. The sun was still shinning and we had very pleasant afternoon chatting amongst ourselves about where we had been.
Trying on hats time. Wanted this couple for questioning about their day Looks like they enjoyed themselves. Short note of our trip to RAF Halton. The ride to the RAF airbase was nice and steady. We all got there in one piece. The weather was perfect not too hot or cold. We received a warm welcome from the people at the base on arrival. The museum was jam packed with interesting memorabilia and the talk about how the RAF was formed was very informative. I found the flight simulators and engineering really interesting. If anyone couldn t make it this time I would thoroughly recommend a trip. Kind regards Kevin Brinklow Been in the cupboard too long I think
Mark needs to be congratulated for a great run and for getting such an incredible turnout of over twenty riders, at least that's what someone counted. It was a bit disappointing that some Velos left before the photo under the plane, there's just 13 in the photo and there were more Velos than that number on the run. Colin Evans deserves a mention for suggesting a whip round for a donation to the museum which raised over 40. Best wishes John Hawkings Other money was given in before this whip round so I believe it was more like 55-60 Guns galore David Pearson said that he enjoyed the ride to Halton and the weather was very good. Trenchard itself was very interesting and the guides were informative and explained the workings of the simulators well. Nick my son had a great day too. Well in fact we may go back for a second visit.
One section of the museum Our run to RAF Halton on Sunday 7 th October was a great success. The weather stayed fine, there was an excellent turnout of bikes and the venue was one of the best I have been to. I look forward to returning there in the not too distant future. Well done to Mark for organising a great day out. Jim Welling A really good time.excellent day out. Chris & Jean Pierce Roly & Sheila Doggett had a pleasant day out as well. Ending with the dinner.
Malcolm Skeels bringing us all into land I had a fantastic time at RAF Halton. Never knew the museum existed. Thanks to Mark Huggins for arranging it Cheers Peter Connor
Jim Welling in control
Part of the line up before our visit started
1969 HONDA CB450 11,000 miles Outstanding condition. Electric & kick start. Fully serviced. Historic motorcycle MOT & Road Tax exempt. Genuine reason for sale. 4,750.00 o.n.o. P/exchange considered For further details call Alan 07850177191 (Bucks area) Below please see the first entry for the menu of next year s Annual Woburn Dinner being held on Friday 25th January 2019. Please let Jim Macintosh know that you require a place at this. We only have a limited number of covers to be able to fill. Remember you can stay at the hotel if you wish. I think you can tell from some of the messages sent in, that Woburn group had an excellent time on their visit to RAF Halton. Very well done Mark Huggins for leading us to this place. No more runs for this year and remember there will be NO Sunday meetings during the winter months. See you next time. Keep happy and safe. Patricia
Woburn Hotel - Velocette Annual Dinner Friday 25 h January 2019-7:00pm for 7:30pm Selection (x) Self Guest Starters Cream of Cauliflower Soup with cheddar croute Smoked Mackerel and Spring Onion Rillettes pickled red cabbage and chive dressing Potted Duck Confit with apple and cress salad Main Courses Braised Blade of Beef with a Bourguignon Sauce served with seasonal vegetables and fondant potatoes Grilled Salmon Fillet spinach risotto and roasted cherry tomatoes Chicken Supreme Cordon Bleu with Tomato Coulis winter greens and gratin dauphinois Desserts Traditional Sherry Trifle Warm Chocolate Sponge with raspberry ripple ice cream and chocolate sauce Cheese Selection with grapes, celery and savoury biscuits Tea or Coffee with Chocolate Mint Cost :- VOC member plus 1 guest 28.00 per person Non VOC member 30.00 per person Please reserve places at the above dinner. I enclose cheque (payable to VOC Woburn Centre) /cash for _ I have indicated above on this menu my choices and those of my guest. My Name: Guest Name: _ Contact telephone number: Completed forms and payment should be passed or sent to the Chairman (Jim Macintosh) at 14a High Street, Oakley, Bedfordshire MK43 7RG As always please bring a wrapped raffle prize value 8.00 or more