Where has July gone? We seemed to have been at a Triumph or other car event every weekend and even some during the week. I must admit I have had a brilliant time and really enjoyed the events we have attended.

It all started with our meet and greet BBQ which despite the poor weather was well attended and we got the chance to meet folk from other local car clubs. The next event was the Carvery Run from Sainsburys in Ripley to Barlborough. I gather that the run was brilliant and the food quite good. Thanks to Stuart for organising this event.

Then was the Horsley Woodhouse Carnival which was somewhat of a damp affair to say the least but everyone spirits were high especially the marching bands. A torrential down pour eased at 1:05pm and held off just long enough for the tops to be dropped and the parade to travel the mile long route through the village to the show ground before the rain came down again. There were still hundreds of people at the event despite the wet weather.

A group of us also attended the Long Lane Church Fete which is held on a Wednesday night in July. We were all looking forward to Hot Roast Pork cobs and trifle. We were not disappointed as this year there was a whole Pig with loads of crackling plus the trifles had gone posh with fresh strawberries hiding in the jelly. I got the feeling that the Derwent Valley gang managed to devour more than half of the Pig between us because there was no point in the evening when one of us was not eating. Of course it had to be washed down with a pint of beer from the village pub. The amazing thing about this event is that our 60’s and 70’s classics look modern against other cars in the display; in fact my 1979 Dolomite Sprint was the youngest in the line-up.

On the 22^nd July a group of us attended the Silverstone Classic. Roger and I set up our trailer tents at the top of the Whittlebury campsite and looked over the valley and down upon the peasants (the Notts, Northants, Lincs and Hallamshire crowd) camped on the other side of the field. On the Saturday we had a brilliant display of 30 cars and the best collection of flags to be seen at Silverstone. I could write days on what a fantastic time we had and all the mischief we got up to…Oh and Suzi Quattro!!!! The Silverstone Classic just gets bigger and better. Where else would you see between 850 and a 1000 E-Type Jags.

August’s monthly meet was a little quieter than usual due to holidays, work commitments and breakdowns but that did not stop us having a good time and an extensive collection of Triumph's in the car park. A general knowledge quiz was the activity and good scores achieved by almost everyone, some even knew what a ‘testator’ makes. The eventual winners were new comers Brian and Trevor with 27 out of 30. Well done guys.

Colin