June

Hi All

Its all been a bit busy lately with the show and things, We went to Horndean which we really enjoyed and thought was a good show. Aldham was as usual a great event and I even managed to pick up some bits for the Military Tilley Lamp collection. The evening camping in the field by a river with friends, bonfire, bbq and wine was particularly pleasant. The Military vehicle presence at Aldham was the largest I have seen and included three Scammells, two Pioneers and an Explorer, in addition there was a Thorneycroft Antar, a massive machine, Abbott  Self propelled Gun and several other bits of armour, in addition to the smaller stuff. I do have to say the standard of restoration on the vehicles at Aldham is excellent, many come from the East Anglia Fighting Vehicle Group and all credit to them for their turn out.

We, the Essex Area, are now the owners of a nice 40ft long red (well it is at the moment) container located at the airfield for show kit storage.

Many thanks to Brian Wilson who wrote the article for Windscreen Magazine on the Essex Area for this our 21st year, it was excellent and brought back some memories! It’s surprising how few of us there were then, are still in the hobby and still active in the club.

There are lots happening on the Military and Flying Machines event which you can now also follow on facebook in addition to the Essex Area website.  In addition we now have an advance ticket booking facility.

There are some changes to the SPIRE system so if you are intending to take you ex military vehicle abroad you need to be familiar with this.

BARN

The Barn is currently full, however it is possible there might be some movement in the very near future  so if you are interested in a space please let us know.
 
The Essex Area has a vehicle storage facility “the barn”, located near Woodham Ferrers, if you wish to rent a bay there for your vehicle storage. A bay measures about 15ft wide and 20(ish) ft deep The Barn is weather proof and has power and lighting! And is a great place to meet other members. Its £7.50 a week with a three month advance payment. Please contact Gavin Cooper or myself in the first instance.

CLUB BBQ  1st May
Well the BBQ at Stow Maries Aerodrome was a great success with about 65 people in attendance, much more than we expected. The many vehicles that came added greatly to the event, providing a great atmosphere in this historic setting..
We started off with a pint at the historic old Prince of Wales Pub in Stow Maries which was in fact the local pub for the WW1 aerodrome personnel.
After which the group convoyed to the aerodrome, a short trip round some of the more “interesting” country lanes of Essex and providing a challenge for the wider bodied vehicles.
On arrival we were given a talk about the history of Stow Maries and the ongoing restoration which has come on in leaps and bounds since we were last there. The Essex Area MVT were also thanked for our contribution to the Aerodrome memorial fund. After which we had a tour of the aerodrome and its buildings most of which are WW1 vintage and still in fairly sound condition.  The restoration of the buildings is well under way and the workshop facilities are up and running. One of the future plans is to house a vintage aircraft restoration facility and in addition a Museum of WW1 aircraft many of which have already been earmarked for the museum.

The BBQ itself went off really well and many thanks to all those who helped including Marion, Richard, Tracy, Garry, Cheryl and Brian and Nora Wilson, who did some sterling work on the cooking side!  In all it was a great day out the weather was kind. Well it did not rain ‘till we were packing up then it was, well substantial.

 
MILITARY AND FLYING MACHINES

Lots of news here again, we really are pleased to announce the latest edition to the flying display which is the “Sally B” B17 Flying Fortress displaying on the Sunday. This is the only airworthy B 17 in Europe and a tremendous addition to the show. So in addition to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster confirmed for a flying display for the Saturday and a Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota fly past for the Sunday.

A full list of aircraft attending is on the Military and Flying Machines web page. www.militaryandflyingmachines.org.uk

Interest in the show is growing from all sides, with display vehicles and other vehicle bookings we are now very comfortably in three figures, this includes more than ten tanks, and so things are really moving there!

Other points of interest are a 40’s period live radio broadcast from the show with a band.  A marching band and a 40’s period group The Breton Players performing hits of the 40’s.

Display wise we are now just under the seventy mark and with new enquiries coming in all the time. If you have any specific requirements then please book in your vehicle.

If you are a vehicle owner / living history group / stall holder / exhibitor / and want to attend please go to the show site and book in, if you have any special requirements we will do our very best to accommodate you. For vehicle owners you can book in on line its quick and easy and we would love to have you!

For visitors, have a look and see what we have coming and I am sure it will be a great day out for you. As the only Military Vehicle and Air display located within the M25 I am sure we are worth a visit!

ADVANCE TICKETS:

Tickets are available from Ticket Master and we are selling already.

Recent aircraft confirmations include the Bucker Jungman and Bucker Jungmiester, both pre/ww2 vintage German aircraft, the first time both have been seen together, both will be displaying and on static display in a living history display as well.

In addition we have the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota plus Spitfire and Messerschmitt ME 108 displays confirmed.
We also have Wing Walking in a WW2 Vintage Stearman and also a WW2 Vintage Auster and Piper Cub spotter planes, and we hope more to come.

Arrangements have been confirmed for the visit to Dagenham Ford Motor Company to recognise the fact that Ford Motor Company is just down the road and to celebrate its wartime activities we are planning to have a feature on Ford vehicles with at least one example of all the Ford WOT trucks built there so if you have or know someone who has a Ford WOT or any other Ford for that matter of the period (pre or wartime) get them to bring it along. A vehicle run has been confirmed with an opportunity for pics the run will be in the evening to the Ford Factory and present an opportunity to take them back to where they were built nearly 70 years ago.  We are looking for a Ford built Bren Carrier in connection with this event, so if you can help please contact me.. 

We are also looking for pre war and war time classic and commercials for a display as well.

EVENTS:

My name is Gill Hagan and I am a voluntary fundraiser for St Francis Hospice. At present I am organising a 1940s Big Band Dance on Saturday 24th July 2010 7:30pm - 11:30pm and thought that this would be of interest to you and your members. Also I wonder if you would be so kind as to advertise this event on your web site please.
 
The 1940s Dance is being held at Sacred Heart of Mary Girls' School in Upminster. Tickets are £22:50 which includes  Fish 'n' Chips supper. People can bring their own drinks. 
 
There will be a live 16 piece band (the Jeff Short Band) playing all the well known 40s classics including Glenn Miller. We are encouraging people to dress in 1940s style or black tie and hope to have lookalikes/re-enactors there. It looks to be a fantastic evening!! Tickets are available through me on 01708 475103.
 
 
REMINDER:

The next Essex Area MVT meeting is on Thursday August 26th, at The Bell pub,  Woodham Ferrers, Near Chelmsford.

Colin

Colin Tebb - June 2010

CHAIRMANS REPORT  FOR 2009 - 
FOR  28TH JANUARY 2010  ESSEX AREA  21st  ANNUAL GENERAL  MEETING

2009 was yet another year full of activity, including the 65th Normandy Anniversary commemorations and more locally the addition of the Hylands Park Event,  so in all we had a busy year.

The Essex Area membership currently stands at just under two hundred members.

In October we made the decision not to send out the Essex Branch newsletter in future for two reasons, one, most of the members having internet access and all receiving the Windscreen magazine it was felt that the Olive Drab was not so important as a tool of communication as it once was. Secondly and more fundamentally, I simply don’t have the time to continue producing it and sending out the Olive Drab newsletter which involves distributing nearly a thousand newsletters a year, so the time and cost in not producing it is appreciable.

On an average I estimate I spend twenty plus hours a month on Area/MVT business and much more so during the run up to the annual show which, with its continued success, requires a greater and earlier input from all the organising team.

As you know we ran our third show at Damyns Hall, it was a fantastic success and our biggest show ever; including the Tilbury events. Vehicles, stalls and visitors all exceeded our expectations and we received some great feedback from magazines, reenactors, stall holders and vehicle owners who attended.

I would like to thank Richard and Tracy for their fantastic efforts in arranging the arena events and working with the re enactors and static displays, together with all the Brew family who spent several weeks at the Hall digging trenches and arranging for the displays; I know they have big plans for this year which I’m sure will pay dividends.

To Colin Bolton, for his continued efforts in managing the vehicle bookings despite difficult family circumstances. Colin has said he wants to go out on a high so on the 20th year of  being involved in the show organisation he wants to call it a day and make 2010 his last year on the committee.

A big thank you to Keith and Nell Brooker for their management of the stalls on the days of the Show and in taking over the running of them for 2010.

To Dennis Buston and family for his commentating and providing the “voice” of the MVT for the duration of the Show. 

Thanks to David Try and friends who looked after security and health and safety elements of the show, the knowledge and experience which he brings to the event is greatly appreciated.

Thanks go to Gavin, Pete Dobson and Pete Skidmore for their efforts in running the Barn administration.

Nigel Hubert’s excellent work in running the Essex MVT web site continues to gain the area a lot of world wide attention and many connections with like minded people have resulted from it. The number of hits the site continues to receive is testament to its success. Nigel’s work on the main MVT web site continues with much success.

Additionally I would like to thank Nigel for his extensive efforts relating to the 2009 Damyns Hall Show, they should not be underestimated, Nigel now wants to rest on his laurels and take a back seat in the future! However! He is still helping us out from his back seat so we haven’t lost him entirely.

Thanks also to Gavin, who as Treasurer, works hard behind the scenes looking after the Area financial interests and helping out with the show organisation, his efforts are greatly appreciated.

Disappointingly we had to cancel the area Christmas dinner however we are planning to put on a late spring/early summer 2010 BBQ event at Stow Maries 1st WW aerodrome, date to be agreed.  We have already obtained permission for the event to go ahead, although it will be subject to the amount of interest we get from Members.

Thanks also go to Marion for her help and support throughout the year.

Looking forward to 2010 our 21st year of the Essex Area MVT, we have a lot going on, starting with The Winter Gathering at Heybridge. This was a great new venue and a good event which brought back some of the atmosphere of events we have attended in the past in the Heybridge area. With a vehicle attendance of some 30 vehicles, complimentary refreshments, and a lot of public interest, in all it was a great day and many thanks go to Shaun who put a great deal of effort into organising the Gathering for us. I think this will be a great event as it gets established in its new location with the music and dancing adding another element to it and this together with the increased space shows it has a lot going for it.

We hope to invite a few speakers to the branch meetings this year to give a bit of a new slant on our usual meetings.

Thank you to those who have volunteered to help with the 2010 show, without you and the Essex Area there would be no show. I hope you will continue to support and enjoy the events and activities of 2010.

Finally a thank you to all Essex Area members for your support and participation in the events and activities during the past year and we look forward to your support in the coming year.

Colin

Colin Tebb - January 2010