Firstly, apologies to anyone mislead about the date of this event. Whilst correct in Wheelspin and on this web site, Revcounter had it scheduled for Wednesday 12th May.
The event was organised by our Sprite Register Secretary, Bob Kemp, with help from his wife Linda and from Brian Wheeler. The start was from our usual Noggin & Natter venue, The Appleby Inn which is in south Leicestershire between Burton on Trent and Twycross. Concerns over a poor turnout for reasons above evaporated as the sunny weather, and a campaign to spread the word, resulted in 9 entries. The format for the day comprised a 30 mile drive through South Staffordshire to meet at Bob's studio in Measham for lunch. This followed by another drive through South Leicestershire and back to Measham for tea and the results.
The Master of Ceremonies, Bob, held a briefing in the car park where he explain the method of navigation - tulip diagrams and distances. As can be seen from the photograph below, this was a forcible delivery, leaving no one in any doubt as to what was expected of them. To add a competitive element, a sheet with 9 photographs was handed out. These to be identified and the location marked on the route sheet.
Off we set at intervals to explore the lesser known lanes of South Staffordshire, passing through some beautiful villages and gradually crossing off the photographs as we located them. I think that we all ended up taking wrong turns as on more than one occasion we found ourselves waving to competitors traveling in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Bob made a telephone call to his wife Linda who was waiting at the supermarket to be advised on how many lunches to make up. So when we arrived at Bob's photographic studio in Measham, hot and thirsty, there ready and waiting was a welcome buffet lunch and cold drinks.
Here, surprise was install for everyone, Brian Wheeler and his feely bag, a box of nuts and bolts and two sliced up photographs of Healeys. The challenge; each crew had 4 minutes to piece together the photographs, put the correct nut on each bolt and identify the contents of the feely bag - all under the eagle eye of Brian with his stop watch. Whilst most of the bag contents were car parts, I now look upon Brian in a different light for having a pastry cutter in there.
The afternoon run was a repeat of the mornings format, with a new set of photographs and a route through South Leicestershire. Cakes and drinks were waiting for us on our return. A tot-up of the marks revealed that Peter and Val Ellis had narrowly snatched victory from Chris and Sue Parker. All had a thoroughly entertaining day and enjoyable driving, and we left for home wishing we had put a bit more sun cream on.
A big thanks to Bob, Linda and Brian for organising the event and keeping us all under control.
