POLAR NEWS   -  No. 42 August 2007

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Many thanks to Fiona Davies, John McGregor and Bob Selby for some copy!--- Helen

JIGSAW PRESENTATION

Pictured below. George and Sheila Dodds and Bob and Ann Selby presented a cheque for £750, raised at club lunches, to Miss Herron of the St Oswald's Jigsaw Appeal.

BEARS TOUR THE ALPINE LAKES

Several bears used different routes to start the Alpine Lakes Trip, organised by Continental Car Tours. Jim and Aly had suggested that CCT had just the right balance of roads, hotels, and entrants to let one feel that you were right at home with a typical Bears’ Tour in the UK. As the owner of CCT, Jonathan Bowles pointed out the Après Drive is just as important as the quality of the roads or the snow. Having explored the option of starting from Rosyth, the "how much?" triggered my Scottish upbringing and a long run to Dover was chosen as the best financial option. I will not bore the reader with the details of our Tour across France and Switzerland other than to say that the route chosen took in Troyes, Annecy, Chezbres, Gunten, Mulhouse, Reims and Calais. Each had its own delights and pitfalls, such as roadworks, speeding tickets, no admittance to cars and bikes (not that it stopped our car from exceeding both half way up the Jungfrau,1700metres, and also the local speed limit of a very low 140kpm ) Sorry Keith! Bears - Jim, Aly, Bill, Karen, Keith, Ann, John, Lorna, David, Ellie (Red E type but not Polar Bears) met each evening in the bars and restaurants to exchange tales of the days travels. One of the many highlights of our tour was to speak to other entrants driving all sorts of cars from old to modern and that a common bond was the love of the open road and the appreciation of the freedom that a car gives you. So many cars - so few Bears - scope for new Bears memberships? Enclosed is a picture of 'the twins' at "The Top of Europe". The funicular railway that took us to 3454 meters up the Jungfrau where the air is so thin that you are advised to walk slowly. So in closing, I can recommend Continental Car Tours for a stress free holiday in the company of like minded people that enjoy life, driving, good food and relaxing. --- John McGregor

DILSTON DISAPPOINTMENT

2007 was to have been the first year that the Polar Bears had taken a club stand at the Dilston Show which is held in the grounds of Dilston Castle, just outside Corbridge. Twelve vehicles had been entered and we were looking forward to meeting Pip and Andy Cooke who were coming up from “down south” to stay with friends in the area and join us. Liz Parker- Berry was to be on the BMW stand and Geoff Yates on the TVR stand. Both said they’d come and say “Hello!” The week leading up to Sunday 3rd June had not been good but a phone call to the organiser on the Saturday afternoon confirmed that the show would go ahead so long as the weather did not deteriorate overnight. “Phone in the morning to check” was the suggestion. This I did but the organiser hadn’t reached the showground when a group of us were ready to leave Edinburgh at 8am. “Set off and drive slowly and I’ll be in touch” was the next suggestion. So David Bruce set off in his TVR S1 quickly followed by Tony and Iris Woods in their MGB Roadster. I then lead off the next party in the MGA Roadster with Karen and Bill Niven in the Porsche Boxster S and Mike bringing up the rear with the Japanese estate containing all the club paraphernalia. Twenty minutes into our journey the phone rang – I was just able to make out the word “Cancelled” above the noise. It was then a case of driving until we came to a lay-by south of Soutra to pull in and pass on the bad news. After a brief discussion it was agreed that we would continue on to Jedburgh where we had arranged to meet up with MG friends. Karen and Bill drove off southwards while Mike and I tried to contact the rest of the club members who were coming from “a’ the airts”. This we managed to do with the exception of Pip and Andy. When we arrived in Jedburgh there was no sign of our MG friends who had driven on, assuming they had missed us. Fortune was on their side for they had stopped at the top of Carter Bar to put up their hood and were therefore able to hear and answer their phone. Whilst we awaited their return folk took the opportunity to chat and car bonnets were raised. David’s TVR was greatly admired – the engine bay was as immaculate as the bodywork. We weren’t surprised to learn that he gets invitations from all over the UK to take it to shows. What was a surprise, particularly to Bill, was when David opened the boot and took out a model MGB Roadster. Bill fondled this lovingly – he is obviously missing MRD who is undergoing some serious “fettling” just now. Len and Janis returned and we all adjourned into the Woollen Mill for refreshments. They had been looking forward to buying a bear or two from our stand as there is another grandchild on the way. Karen ensured that they were not disappointed and quickly provided a selection for them to choose from. Ten pounds is now in the club funds! The rest of the bears have returned to the homes from whence they came and will get another outing to Selkirk in September. I have to thank all of the members who expressed an interest in participating in the Dilston event and in particular to George and Sheila Dodds who had to eat their way around the county to identify a suitable place for the group to have post-show high tea. We’ll know where to go next year! -- Fiona  

HOW OLD IS BOB’S KITCAR? Is my Cobra Replica really a 1994 car? You’d expect that it is, given that was when the conversion was completed. But, according to the first registration form V5 (then under the donor registration URD 536S) - the date of registration was 06/1978 Following government legislation and the impending new SVA regulations for kitcars, I checked with my local DVLA office to make sure everything was in order with the new requirements - only to learn that they knew nothing about them! They then set about finding out.... and the result was, the reregistration of the vehicle to the present GPT 290S - on the grounds that it should be an age related plate. Please note the two registration numbers - talk about job's worth! The duly issued new registration form V5c gives the date of registration as 01/1998. Finally all subsequent MOT certificates specify an approximate year of first use as 1971 - there now, I’m sure that makes it all very clear! ---Bob Selby