Plenty of activity in April and the opportunity to enjoy some MG motoring. As usual the month started with Club night at the Barns with 41 members attending for a meal and natter night. We were pleased to welcome new member Mel Davis with his recently acquired 1971 MGB in Midnight Blue, a really good looking car.

A new event for us was a mid-week breakfast meet at the Cake Shack at Whitmore Lakes. Full English breakfasts were the order of the day for the 14 members attending and they were really enjoyed by all. I`m sure these mornings will become a popular addition to our calendar. Yet another opportunity for the SMGEC foodies to tuck in!

A return to one of our most popular venues for the Third Thursday Coffee morning saw 32 members meeting up at the Ranch Bistro on Cannock Chase. The sunny weather meant hoods were down for the ride in but great care had to be taken negotiating the monster pot holes in the entrance drive!

To mark this year’s Drive it Day on the 26^th of April, Alan and Karen organised for us to visit to the Midlands Air Museum at Cosford. After meeting up at Dobbies on Gailey Island they led a good turnout of 14 cars along a short drive to arrive at the Museum. After parking up we were pleased to find that both the Coventry and Cheshire MG Owners Clubs were already in attendance, making a great display of MG`s in the car park. The fine afternoon weather allowed us to picnic outside to finish off an enjoyable day.

To round out April, our new Drive and Dine organisers Bob and Irene, took 22 members to The Toby Carvery at Norton Cannes to enjoy an evening meal. Now looking forward to our Trip to Cumbria.

SMGEC`s March programme was made up of a wide range of events including local history, cinema, horse racing, golf and diggers, all with some miles of MG driving to top them off!

Our normal Club night at the Barns was enlivened by a fascinating after dinner talk on the history of nearby Dudley Castle by local historian Max Keane. It`s not often your guest speaker appears in full medieval armour complete with shield and sword! A great evening enjoyed by all the 46 members attending.

Roger and Sue`s popular Coffee and film morning at the Red Carpet Cinema was on the 9<sup>th</sup>, when 32 members gathered to enjoy a morning`s coffee and chat before watching the latest release of Mothers Pride which stars Martin Clunes. He seems to be in everything at the moment.

Four legs instead of four wheels were the order of the day on the 14^th when we attended the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter race course, arranged by Peter. 18 members enjoyed the fine sunny weather to cheer on their favourites in the 7 races. I`m told that some folding money changed hands but mostly in the bookies favour I`m afraid.   

For our March Third Thursday Coffee Morning, long standing member and golf devotee Renton, hosted a visit to his second home, Whittington Heath Golf Club. Sitting in the brilliant sunshine on the terrace outside of their impressive new club house a great turnout of 43 enjoyed the chat and the views over the course.

To end the month it was back to four wheels again but this time very large ones painted yellow. Keith and Chris had organised a visit to JCB at Rochester to join them on the visitor`s factory tour which was followed by an excellent lunch. A great day out. Happy MG motoring.

Although the biblical rainfall showed no sign of abating it did not stop Club activities picking up pace in February.  Starting on the 5^th with Club Night at the Barns which was combined with our AGM. A good turnout of 37 members attended and after the meal Chairman Roger presided over the formal meeting. His review of 2025 covered all the events including our away trips to Wales and Warners Holme Lacy, all agreed it had been a very successful programme. Our new Treasurer John, presented the accounts which showed the Club`s finances to be in good order and announced the donation of £1344 to Dougie Mac Hospice, our chosen charity. So it was not surprising that the Committee was re-elected for another year.  

February`s main event was our traditional Snowdrop Run organised by Mike, Heather and Paul. The venue this year was Attingham Park in Shropshire with 37 members taking part. After meeting up at Dobbies at Gailey, tea and coffee were taken on board to ward of the chilly and wet weather. With many of our MG`s still in hibernation we still had 2 MG TF`s, 1 MGB GT and 2 Chinese MG`s amongst the daily drivers. Arriving at Attingham after a 30 mile tulip run we wound our way around the Snowdrop walk with snowdrops in abundance, the best display for years. Retreating out of the rain into the tea room the afternoon ended with coffee, cakes and a good chat before the run home.  A great start to this year’s runs.

The month ended with our Third Thursday Coffee morning moving to a new location, The Hollybush Garden Centre at Shareshill near Wolverhampton. 26 members enjoyed a friendly morning`s get together over coffee in the restaurant, I`m sure we will return.

Happy MG motoring.

We had planned to reveal our 2026 programme to the members at the first club night of the year on the 8^th January. The weather gods however spoilt the party when they decided to dump 10cm of snow on the Midlands, (for older readers that’s 4 inches). Thankfully the committee wisely cancelled the meeting at the last minute.  All was not lost however as the full programme of events has been posted and is available to view on the Club website, see the address above. As usual, we have included monthly Club nights, guest speakers, coffee mornings, tulip runs to interesting venues and of course, car shows to enjoy. New for this year are two breakfast meets, great fun but watch the cholesterol! As a majority of our membership are retired we are trying out some mid-week events this year to see if they are popular.

Normal service was resumed on the 15^th with a coffee morning at the Marsh Farm tea rooms and restaurant at Abbots Bromley. Always popular, 29 members spent a morning catching up after the Christmas break.

Not surprisingly the SMGEC foodies were quick off the mark in getting their gastronomic year off to a good start with a Sunday lunch at the Cricketts Inn near Acresford. Organised by Paul Titley, 38 members met up at the Strawberry Cabin near Hints for hot chocolate and coffee before setting off on a 20 mile run to the Inn. There we had a reserved room to enjoy an excellent choice of lunches, well cooked and served, to round off a very enjoyable first outing off the year, the first of many I am sure.

If you want to enjoy your MG ownership in the company of fellow enthusiasts then why not check out website for how to join us.

With the beautiful sunny summer which made our MG motoring days so special fading into memories, thoughts turned to the other benefits of being members of our Club. Much as we enjoy being out and about on the open road the coming together to take part in our social events is just as important, no more so than in December when we hold our annual Christmas Party at the Barns. Planned as usual by Roger and Sue this year`s had all the usual trimmings for the 40 members attending. The silver service traditional Christmas meal was followed by games, a bumper raffle with music and dancing to end a splendid evening.

Our last event of the year was a pre-Christmas coffee morning on the 18^th held at one of our newer but very popular locations, The Forest Restaurant at Grangewood Garden Centre near Tamworth. A good turnout of 40 members gathered for a festive morning in the private room reserved by organisers Brian and June. Kevin Souster announced his early Christmas present to himself of a Woodcote Green MG RV8 which now makes a total of 9 in the Club. As usual a group of the ever hungry SMGEC foodies stayed on for lunch!

By the time you are reading this we will have already started our 2026 programme which was announced to the members by planners Keith and Chris at the January Club Night. Their very full calendar includes a wide range of events with Club Nights, coffee mornings, tulip runs, car shows, charity events and away day tours to Cumbria and Southern Brittany. Interested, then why not take a look at all the details on the Club`s website on the web address above?

Looking forward to yet another great year of MG motoring.