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.

I trust you all had a splendid festive Christmas and are looking forward to an enjoyable and happy 2026 with many miles of MG motoring planned.

With many of our MG`s tucked away for the winter, Club events again moved indoors in November. They started with our club night and annual awards ceremony at the Barns on the 6th with 40 members attending to enjoy the meal and cast their votes to decide the award winners. We also welcomed new member Robert Brasher to the Club with a splendid 1964 MGB tourer. After coffee the eagerly awaited results were announced by Chairman Roger with the following lucky winners-

Driver of the year: Geoff Collier (any excuse to drive the MGF) 

Co-driver of the year: Lyn Darlow. (well, look who her driver is)

Newcomer’s award: Jonathon and Gina Eagles (you plan it, count us in)

Breakdown award: Glyn John. (I`m sure I filled her up)

Services to the Club: Keith and Gill Johnson. (the SMEG foodie’s winner)

Special breakdown award: Johnathon (loose nuts) Eagles!

The Chairman`s award was universally popular when he awarded it to Maureen Wood, for her past and continued administrative work behind the scenes supporting the Club.

Non motoring social gatherings made up the rest of the month`s activities with a coffee morning at the Red Carpet Cinema at Barton Marina where 19 members enjoyed watching, The Choral, the latest film from Alan Bennett.

The Strawberry Cabin at Hinckley was the venue for the TTCM on the 20^th when a good turnout of 34 members gathered for a very enjoyable morning of socialising and nattering while looking forward to our December Christmas Party to round out 2025. With our plans for 2026 already in place, it`s shaping up to be another great MG year for the Club.

October brought the start of autumn and so our driving activities slowed down as the brilliant summer sun became a distant memory. Warm and snug at the Barns Club Night on the 2^nd, we trailed a simplified presentation of past and future events allowing more time for socialising after the meal ended. This proved popular with the members and I`m sure will become the format for the future.

Still staying safely indoors our ever popular Third Thursday Coffee morning gathering returned to Aston Marina near Stone. 25 members enjoyed an enjoyable morning at this very welcoming venue which is on the northern edge of our patch but well worth the longer drive to attend.

Just to prove we haven`t gone completely soft, 17 cars and 35 members met up at Strawberry Cabin near Hints on the 26^th in preparation for our end of season Twilight Run. Planned this year by Phil and Cathy along with Tony and Jan they took us on a splendid 46 mile sweeping route through some of the best countryside in Warwickshire made all the better by the beautiful autumn colours. This took us to our destination, the Stag Inn near Alcester, for lunch in their motor racing themed restaurant. A great day out to end our motoring year but with our Annual Awards night in November and the Christmas party in December still to look forward to.

With the season ending our thoughts turn to 2026. The planning elves have been hard at work and already organised are away trips to The Fat Lamb in Cumbria in May and since Covid ended a long awaited return across the channel to South Brittany in September. Full details off our 2026 programme will be published on our website in the near future.  Happy MG motoring.

Too late to be included in last Month`s report was our visit on the 30^th August to the Eccleshall Show. Hosted by Keith and Chris Timmis 12 crews enjoyed the sights and sounds of this country show with a wide range of events plus a splendid vehicle show with cars, commercials, military and motorcycles. We will certainly return next year.

Renton and Helen Ward`s celebrity picture quiz was the star attraction at September`s Club night with 41 members racking their memories to identify the deviously picked photos with a wide range of success! Janet Wallis scooped the winner’s bottle of wine.

A small group of 11 members enjoyed a 3 night break at Warners Holme Lacy Hotel between the 12^th and the 15^th. Led by Phil and Cathy Wellstead this was our first visit to a Warners. All agreed it was an excellent weekend with driving tours during the day and then dining and entertainment in the evenings.

The TTCM on the 18^th returned to a popular venue, the Ranch Bistro on Cannock Chase. A good turnout of 34 members enjoyed a morning`s natter and refreshments whilst watching the horses in the nearby stables.

Our return visit to the Huddlesford Canal Gathering on the 21^st saw 15 cars attending making us the largest classic Club stand by far. The attendance of classics was low but the warm and sunny weather ensured an enjoyable day was spent by all.

After running our Drive and Dine for years, Keith and Gill Johnson have decided to hang up their cutlery after a final evening at The Swan with Two Necks at Longdon. 27 members sat down on the 24^th to enjoy the monster portions of superb pub grub on offer. Huge thanks from the SMGEC foodies to Keith and Gill for organising their evenings.

With the glorious weather continuing we made sure we took advantage with a busy schedule of events in August. On the 3^rd John and Jeni took a small group of 8 cars on a run to visit the Donnington Le Heath Manor House and gardens in Leicestershire. The house dates back to the 13^th century but is now furnished as it was in 1620, a most enjoyable day.

Club night at the Barns was our annual horse racing night organised by Colin and Sharon. With 6 video races to bet on it was great fun with much shouting by members for their favourite horse. As is always the case with gambling the bookies came out the winners but sportingly gave all their profits to our charity fund! As usual I lost my shirt managing only one 3^rd place all night. We were pleased to welcome new members Tony and Caroline Belas who must have wondered what sort of club they had joined. They bring a splendid MG ZT 190SE onto our fleet.

A new event for us was the Kings Bromley show on the 17^th. We had a good turnout of 16 cars attending putting on a good display. Our gazebos again provided welcome shade to enjoy our picnics and cake between touring the wide selection of vehicles on view. I`m sure we will return next year. Sadly the news was announced at the show of the death of Edwin Tipper who for many years ran the nearby Lupin Farm Show, regarded by many as the best car show in the Midlands. A very sad loss.

The Third Thursday Coffee Morning returned to a popular venue, The Café Prego near to Shenstone. As usual it was well attended by over 30 members who enjoyed a pleasant social morning.