FROM YOUR EDITOR

Apologies for the muted tones of May’s newsletter - but I was economising! The ink cartridge I started to use for April’s edition was right on it’s sell-by date and the yellow had gone ‘off’. I swiftly removed it, flogged it to the school whose hp printer uses the same cartridge and printed April in beautiful colour with a more recent cartridge. When I went to print May’s edition, using the newer cartridge, I found that the yellow had gone green. Not impressed, but I couldn’t dump another rancid yellow cartridge on the school - so you got a newsletter in muted green tones and you will until it runs out!
Many thanks to Pete and Cathy for a set of stamps and enough money for a colour cartridge or more stamps if needed. Thanks also to Jim Harris for some more envelopes. Apparently he HASN’T changed his car - see photo from the Bears lunch. The next car is Pete and Cathy’s new baby and it certainly beats a Crossfire! Lastly, thanks to Fiona for an article this month. --- Helen

BEARS’ LUNCH AT AUCHEN CASTLE .

No. The TVR is not smaller than the Mini, it's an optical illusion.
“Big, near. Small, far away.” to quote from Father Ted.

This was a combined Bears’ Lunch and MG Sunday Run with the usual suspects (Tony and Iris, Keith and Ann, Mike and Fiona, Brian and Helen, Bill and Karen) setting off from Fairmile Inn in Edinburgh - but accompanied by Robert, Simon, Gerry, James, Dave and Mary in their MGs. Some of the MGers were unaccustomed to the fairly competitive run down and others thrived on it - Bill was a bit sniffed that he couldn’t shake off Gerry’s MG until it was pointed out that a) Gerry has fitted the same engine as Bill b) it’s newer and c) Gerry used to drive that road twice a week in a Porsche 911!!
The usual bacon butty stop at the Rumbling Tum - with the unfamiliar MGs being given the once over. Helen, of course, put her large welly in it by peering critically at James’ rear wing and sill. When Dave asked what she was seeing, she remarked that there was a slight kink, like it had been bent to fit. Dave admitted to fitting that sill & rear wing, so Helen managed to recover nicely by stating how clever it was to bend the wing just so it didn’t sit proud of the sill and get the paint removed by road grit.
Once at Auchen castle we met up with the rest of the Bears - Brian S, Jim and Alyson, George & Sheila, Geoff and Margaret, Pete and Cathy and it was nice to meet new Polars Archie, Marion and Jenny Hamilton. We had the usual excellent lunch and good raffle, with lots of prizes won and lots of money raised. After coffee, the MGers left and the Polars settled down to their meeting where the main discussion was Thirlestane. The other points were the problems of funding the Polar News and how to obtain bears with blue SBMC jerseys to sell at Selkirk.

Ann Davison has a birthday this month and Keith and Ann have their anniversary.

PRESENTATION

£500 has been donated to SACHD (Scottish Association for Children with Heart Disorders) by the SBMC Committee, from their end of year “divvy up”.

WHAT’S ON

Mid-August - A run is being proposed for the Matlock area in Derbyshire. Details TBA
Sept. 10th - Polar Bears Lunch & Raffle at Auchen Castle Hotel. Contact Tony at 0131 445 2908.
September 17th - Selkirk Show. We need to start collecting bears to sell and I’m pleased to say we have 60+ already. We need lots - so do get collecting!
October 6-9th - Polar Bears Highland Fling Tour. Starting Nethy Bridge and finishing at Aviemore Ski Centre - definitely going ahead and still 2 rooms left. Contact Fiona on 0131 552 2972 or ysy705@aol.com.

TRIPS ABROAD

July 7-9th - Classic Le Mans III: Contact Andy Mitchell at 01527 592282
Sept. 10-20th - Pyrenees Tour 2006: Tour the Pyrenees. Contact Ray Guiver at 01805 603454.

Sunday June 4th Sunday June 4th: BVAC at Thirlestane Castle - we now have 16 cars, with the possibility of a couple more.
Karen has prepared the driver packs and will get the information sheets (with photo) back from the drivers. We’ve decided to use poly-pockets rather than laminating, as it makes any changes on the day easier. Karen will also do an SBMC info sheet and Jim will get it copied.
Brian S and Jim will be in charge of organising the cars and passengers at the castle.
Alyson will be in charge of pin machine for money transactions. There will be power and a “bothy” for those on the booking desk.
All helpers should report to Thirlestane by 9am and car drivers by 9.30am. Please try to wear the official SBMC yellow or blue sweatshirts, polo shirts, or anoraks. Tony will give passes to the helpers and one Bear will be at the gate to give passes to the drivers as they arrive. Tony and Brian K are organising the bunting and its support to go round the car area. If anyone has walkie-talkies, could they bring them as they are very useful.
The group agreed that the charity REACT should benefit from these Dream Rides.
Accommodation in the vicinity of Thirlestane Castle, Lauder was listed in last month's Polar News.

CALEDONIA CALLING

Several MG owning Polar Bears regularly attend the annual 3-day “touring assembly” organised by the Caledonian Centre of the MG Club. In the past this has been a test of both man/woman and car. To make sure there were no unexpected incidents this year Mike decided to look at the MGA’s brakes before we went on the run. The MOT tester had noted that the brakes were unbalanced and that the nearside front brake was a bit “lazy”. This means a sticking brake cylinder—the MGA has twin leading shoe drum brakes at the front - so Mike eventually tracked down a spare left side brake cylinder in Edinburgh.
Unfortunately, when the left brake cylinders were exposed, neither was seized. Perhaps it had freed itself? Better check the other side while the car was jacked up. Just as well—this side did have a seized cylinder! Was the MOT tester confused? Off to Chic Doig for a spare cylinder. He produces both left and right cylinders and Mike checks the old cylinder against the replacement to make sure it’s the right part.
Back at the car the cylinder does not fit! Panic! Suddenly the truth dawned. It is the wrong cylinder, left hand instead of right. The left and right hand cylinders somehow got put back into the wrong boxes!
Back to Chic Doig. The right cylinder was retrieved from its wrong box and exchanged for the left cylinder so the left cylinder can go back in the right box and Mike can take the right cylinder away. Confused? Anyway Mike fitted the new cylinder, bled the brakes, and all was ready for the event.
Meanwhile, in another garage across Edinburgh, Brian Kirkness was frantically preparing his MGB V8 Roadster. The previous evening he had taken it out for a pre-run test drive and having just left the garage, switched on the headlights. This resulted in a heart-stopping moment when the cockpit was filled with smoke as a result of the dashboard wiring having caught fire!
In the end an incident-free event was enjoyed by Bill and Karen, Tony and Iris, Philip and Sally, Brian and Helen and ourselves. The route covered nearly 350 miles of the west coast of Scotland, many of them on single track roads. Magic! - Fiona