The guest speaker at our well attended May Barns Club Night was Club member John Newey, who owns Summit Garage the MG Agents at Dudley who also sponsor of our web site. A lifelong MG enthusiast he gave us an entertaing talk about his time in the motor trade and cars he has owned which includes an MG SV. He ended by telling us about the latest developments of electric cars, most interesting. Me, I`ll stick to petrol.

We were pleased to welcome new members Mark and Sharon Green who have joined the Club having just bought an MGB GT.

Highlight of the month was the long awaited 3 night Norfolk Getaway, organized by Bob and Irene Stone with 18 cars and 35 members taking part. Starting from a meeting point at Hints we enjoyed the 130 mile drive in brilliant sunshine to our base, The Heacham Hotel near Hunstanton. Settled in we enjoyed the first of three fine evening meals. Monday saw us take to the water with a boat trip to from Morston Quay to see the seals at Blakeney point who seemed singularly bored to see us! A locked Crooklock but no key resulted in some leg pulling for one member! From boat to rail, a return trip on the steam train from Holt to Sherringham was the main event for Tuesday. Plenty of smoke and steam and nostalgia. The slightly damp weather didn’t deter us from enjoying lunch and ice creams by the seaside. Several members visited Sandringham and other NT venues before our return journey on Wednesday. A splendid trip, enjoyed by all.

The TTCM at Brykley was attended by 23 for a leisurely coffee and chat. With many more outings planned all we need is the summer to finally start! Happy MG Motoring.

April began with our Club night at the Barns when we were joined by former members Harry and Lesley Cheadle who have been living in Spain. From old members to new we welcomed Mike and Tracy Roberts who bring a 1960 MGA coupe to the fleet. Meal over we enjoyed a good natter to finish the evening

With our member’s love of food being well known, what better place to enjoy lunch than at the famous Wedgwood Pottery at Barlaston.  Keith and Chris Timmins organized a mid-week run on the 10^th April to the works for us. After meeting up at Aston Marina 39 members drove a scenic, if somewhat damp, 28 mile run to the Pottery. After lunching off Wedgewood plates we joined a guided factory tour to discover how these beautiful items are made. With hand painted gold plates costing over £2000 each the clumsy amongst us kept hands firmly in our pockets! Incidentally, for your pampered pooch, Wedgewood dog bowls are a snip at only £200.

The ever popular third Thursday coffee morning returned to one of our earliest venues, the Farm Shop at Denstone where 21 members enjoyed a relaxing coffee and chat with some stopping on for lunch.

National Drive it Day was on the 21^st April and SMGEC took to the road with a visit to the Yew Tree Farm shopping village at Wootten Wawen. After meeting up at Middleton we left on a 40 mile Tulip run made all the better by the sunny weather, a rare treat of late, being warm enough to encourage  some crews to put the hoods down. After an alfresco lunch we toured the shops and Ray Harris was delighted to find a vintage leather flying helmet for when he gets his MG TC back on the road.  

Club life in March started as usual with Club Night at the Barns on the 7^th where we welcomed new members Steve and Carole Allen to the Club, they have a newly acquired restored MGB GT. A good turnout of 44 members enjoyed a fascinating after dinner speech by our guest speaker, Rodney Paul, on the life and the Antarctic expeditions of the explorer Ernest Shackleton. What a story! With temperatures of minus 40 degrees making our recent weather a heat wave!

Keith and Chris Timmis organized our own version of TV`s Bargain Hunt with a visit to the Dagfields Craft and Antique Centre on the 17th.  After coffee at Dobbies, 14 cars set off on a rolling 46 mile run to arrive in time for lunch. No surprise there then. The afternoon was spent mooching around the stalls for that undiscovered treasure to make a fortune at auction but sadly without success. Highlight of the day for my wife was the Teddy Bear Shop with bears of every colour and size looking for owners. One in particular caught her eye but he wouldn’t fit in the car!   

The March 3^rd Thursday Coffee morning was held at a new venue, the Ranch Bistro at Cannock Chase Trekking Centre, one I`m sure we will return to in the future. 28 members made the trip to enjoy a morning`s natter over coffee and tea cakes, sadly a trip to the dentist to have a wisdom tooth extracted meant we could not attend, ouch! In addition to our MG`s there was also plenty of horsepower of the four legged variety on show at the attached stables.

At the end of March the itinerary of our Norfolk trip in May was announced, with trains and boats and cars all being involved, can`t wait.

A well-attended February Club night at the Barns was also our A.G.M. quickly summed up as follows:  2023 review - successful year, Club finances- solvent, Committee- re elected, A.O.B. – none, job done! A warm welcome went to new members Peter and Anne Colman with yet another MG RV8 which we seem to be attracting like a Magnette, get it? Especially pleasing was the announcement of granting life membership to Charles Hartley and Alan Slater in recognition of their many years of service to the Club.

The Third Thursday Coffee Morning attracted 28 members and saw us return to the Forest Restaurant at Grangewood where we had a private room set aside. A really good natter morning with most enjoying coffee or tea and perhaps a tea cake. Could not help noticing however, that some members could not resist the lure of the bacon, egg and sausage sandwiches on offer, claiming that they had missed breakfast, yeah!

For our traditional February Snowdrop Run we returned on the 18^th to a popular destination, Calke Abbey in Derbyshire. 36 members met up at Brykley Garden Centre before setting off on a 30 mile tulip run to the Abbey. With many of our MG`s still hibernating some attended in their daily drivers which increasingly include some of new MG models. The weather was kind and a walk in the grounds was enjoyed with the snowdrops in bloom. As usual we gathered in the tea shop to enjoy some refreshments before setting off home after a very pleasant day.

Ferrari`s not MG`s were the  attraction when we visited the Red Carpet Cinema to watch the film Enzo, a biography of Enzo Ferrari based round his scandalous private life and his teams entry in the tragic 1957 Mille Miglia race. Great motor racing shots!

2024 got off to a prompt start on the 4^th January with our Club night at the Barns with Paul Titley presenting the programme of events for the year that he and the team have put together. It`s going to be a busy year with away days trips , tulip runs, coffee mornings, car shows, drive and dine evenings and many more events to look forward to. Our aim is by offering a wide range of activities we can hopefully ensure that there will be something for all members to enjoy and are always open to new suggestions.  Then we just need the weather to play ball to make it perfect!

With the excesses of Christmas a distant memory and New Year`s resolutions forgotten SMGEC members soon fell back into old habits, yes the craving for coffee and food returned. This was soon satisfied by a well attended coffee morning on the 18^th at Aston Marina, good preparation for a blow out Sunday Lunch on the 21^st at the Unicorn Inn at Orton on the Hill with 40 members attending. Back to normal then!

SMGEC have been long time supporters of the Donna Louise /Dougie Mac Charity and during 2023 we organised raffles, a charity run and other fund raising activities resulting in being able to make a donation of £1350 towards their tremendous work.

A warm welcome to the Club for new members Colin and Sharon Wiltshire. Their MGTF brings the total of MGF/TF`s in the Club to 23, second only to the 26 MGB`s we have. Interestingly we now have 9 MG RV8`s in the fleet, quite a few given the small number made and in total we have 25 different MG models ranging from a 1933 J2 to a 2023 MG4 Trophy, 90 years of enjoying MG motoring!