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- Created on Tuesday, 13 October 2015 09:35
- Written by Brian Woolmer
Gathering of the Faithfull – Wagga Wagga 2015
A good turnout of Magnettes made it to the GOF and over the next few days their owners enjoyed some great social and driving experiences as well as some of the finest weather to be had. Most of the Sydney contingent travelled together and we stopped at Crookwell to have a short visit with Sydney Vintage Car Restorations. The group was very impressed with the cars under restoration especially a Fleetwood Caddy and a very rare Riley that was virtually built from a few original parts and a couple of photographs. Amazing. The fuel gremlin struck Brian Woolmer’s car near Boorowa and after a tow to a workshop the blockage was cleared. The starter gremlin hit Dave Overington’s car just as we tried to head off so a further delay ensured to have a go at fixing it. Both cars made it to Wagga Wagga a couple of hours later than the others.
The whole Riverina was ablaze with fields of bright yellow Canola and vivid green grain crops as far as the eye could see. The area has experienced good rains this year so thankfully the farmers should have a good result. The grazing cattle and sheep looked as content as our passing band of merry Magnetteers. This year the contingent of ZA and ZB Magnettes was joined by two excellent examples of the MkIII.
We had a good contingent from NSW the ACT and SA. Unfortunately our usual Victorian supporters were absent due to health and business concerns. We hope to see more Victorian owners in future. Special thanks to Mike and Jan Greenwood and Tony and Pauline Welsh who came a very, very long way from SA. More thanks to those owners who also travelled a long way from the north coast of NSW (Brian Braithwaite, Bruce Wilson, Michael Chard).
A majority of owners arrived on the Thursday afternoon and so proceedings got off to a good start with a BBQ at the City Park Motel. The motel owner had a great BBQ facility set amidst a nice garden and a very large group gathered to eat, drink and be merry. Fortunately the weather was milder than in previous years as Wagga Wagga cools rapidly once the sun sets. Everyone agreed it was a great way to start the
weekend.
By the Friday morning several other owners had arrived. A group of seven Magnettes set out on a drive to visit a large scale broad acre farm at Bidgeemia which is located about 100km SW of Wagga Wagga.
The farm is owned and operated by Jennifer and John McFarlane. Jennifer is a cousin of Barbara Overington. They gave us a tour of the farm to see some of the very large and expensive machinery used to harvest and transport the crops and farm supplies. They took the time to answer many questions from our group who showed a great interest in learning of the history of operations and how the wider family built up the multi- faceted business over the years and particularly how the family dealt with problems such as drought, pestilence or pricing and market conditions. Jennifer had prepared some country style scones with jam and cream for our group and these were enjoyed along with our brought lunches in the lovely garden surrounds of the homestead. A photo of the cars was taken in front of the homestead.
The group returned to Wagga Wagga via Urana. On the way back the fuel pump gremlin struck again at Brian Woolmer’s ZA and David Overington stayed back to help jury rig another pump while the others kept going. After the fix the starter gremlin struck David again and we had to push start his car and the two ‘sick’ Magnettes kept an eye on each other as they limped back into Wagga. Dave’s starter problem proved terminal and his car was taken back to Thirroul courtesy of NRMA classic insurance. Brian’s fuel pump was refitted with the correct connections and the car made it back to Sydney without any more hiccups.
The remaining formal events of the GOF went off as usual with the Magnette group well represented.
The large number of Magnettes (17 x ZA/ZB and 2 x MkIII) really stood out on the occasions when the wider family of MG cars was displayed. They stood proudly in a long line, with paint and chrome gleaming in the bright sun. The prize winners on the final day were Alan Edwards, Bruce Ginn and Peter Daley.
Those attending were:
Peter and Lesly Baldry NSW, David and Barbara Overington NSW, Graham and Heather Gittins ACT, Brian and Julia Woolmer NSW, Tony and Pauline Welsh SA, Mike and Jan Greenwood SA, Michael and Colleen Chard NSW, Bruce Wilson NSW, Brian and June Braithwaite, Alan and Annemieke Edwards NSW, Bruce and Annabel Ginn NSW, Terry and Helen Healy NSW, Ian Warby NSW MkIII, Chris Heazlewood NSW MkIII, Nigel and Mel Martin NSW, Keith Procter NSW, Peter and Patricia Daley ACT
Brian Woolmer