TMC Anniversary Rally — Quorn Station
7th July 2024
L to R, 1st 3 cars: 201 XVG (Richard Hughes), LKV 37 (John Dawkins), HBX 957 (Mark Smith).
This year’s TMC Annual Rally took place at Quorn Station, on the Great Central Railway (a UK Heritage Railway). It was also our Anniversary Rally; celebrating not just one, but two very important dates. 2024 marks 75 years since the first Triumph Mayflower rolled out of the factory, and 50 years since the inception of the Triumph Mayflower Club. In view of the importance of the occasion, I was keen to see as good a turnout of Mayflowers as possible, and so we decided to hold the rally in a central England location, which would give us the best chance of attracting members [not if they live in Australia! Perhaps in the future we might be able to hold ‘virtual’ rallies. Ed.].
For me, it was even more exciting as it was my first ever TMC rally, and also the longest journey I’d done with my Mayflower, 201 XVG (having bought it earlier this year). It was about 60 miles each way, but as I had done plenty of running around locally, I was quietly confident. As it was, I needn’t have worried: the Mayflower didn’t miss a beat, and was a joy to drive. As I keep saying (to anyone who will listen!), most places in the country are accessible via Mayflower-friendly B-roads and suchlike; it’s not usually necessary to venture onto dual carriageways or the dreaded motorways (especially the new ‘smart’ ones, that have no hard shoulder!).
I arrived at the rally at about 9 AM, and began setting-up. I was quickly joined by John Dawkins, who had driven from Derby in his lovely two-tone Mayflower, LKV 37. At this point I didn’t know how many cars we were expecting: we had reserved enough space for six cars, but the marshal didn’t know we were coming! Also, there was a general classic car event taking place, and the other classics were getting closer and closer to our pitch. Embarrassingly, we had to ask two owners to please move, to make room for our club to all park together. We were tutted at a bit, but the line-up wouldn’t have been the same with an E-type in the middle of it!
R to L, 2nd 3 cars: 892 UYO (Phil Achurch), NTA 947 (Paul Burgess), HTH 719 (Paul Norton).
We ended up with six Mayflowers, which I think you’ll all agree is a very good turnout (especially considering there was only one at last year’s rally)! It would have been seven if John Corley’s car hadn’t let him down at the last moment, with suspected head gasket failure. We also had several members turn up without their Mayflowers; John Oglesby arriving in his newly-acquired Wolseley 1500. It was lovely to see our former Chairman John Castle, and also our former Rally Secretary John Banks.
There were a lot more people there than I was expecting, and I don’t think I got to speak to everyone (those I did speak to were very friendly). It was the first opportunity I’d had to meet members, since joining the club and (foolishly?) taking on the vacant role of Vice Chairman. There were some beautiful cars in attendance, and I can safely say that it has been many decades since my Mayflower has had any others for company. Despite a dubious forecast, the weather mostly behaved itself; the worst we experienced being an hour of rain mid-afternoon. Other than that it was very pleasant, and we had some nice warm sunny spells. The GCR is a really good venue for classic car events, and I know some of our members had a ride on the steam train.
I supplied an anniversary cake; Barbara and Rob Davies brought along the special anniversary banner-flag they’d had made (which really looked the part), and John Corley brought with him the club’s original ‘flag’. With these flanking our cars, it made for an impressive sight. Mark Smith drove to the rally in his famous ‘Mildred’: she has featured in many a Flower Power, and Mark’s tales of Mildred have also been on the club’s Facebook page (in fact, it was reading these stories on Facebook that inspired me to buy my own Mayflower, and also to join the TMC, so it was great to at last be able to meet him and his car). We also had Phil Achurch, who attended in his very nice pale blue Mayflower; a work in progress, but the standard of his work is fantastic and I’m looking forward to seeing it finished. Then we had Paul Norton and Paul Burgess in their beautiful Mayflowers; both of which put mine to shame.
All ready for the awards ceremony! →
It was very hard to pick a ‘Best in Show’ winner, but in the end I decided to award it to Paul Burgess, with his stunning Mayflower NKA 947. The ‘Furthest Distance’ award went to Paul Norton (HTH 719); his journey being a 78 mile round trip. The ‘Chairman’s Award’ went to John Oglesby, for his long-standing service to the club and for being an all-round good egg — someone who goes out of his way to promote and support the club at every opportunity, even though he doesn’t actually own a Mayflower any longer! So, congratulations to all our award winners. Unfortunately, our Chairman, James Chalk, couldn’t make it to the rally because of work commitments, so I had to step up… Thank you everyone for being patient with me, as I was understandably nervous! [you did a wonderful job, Richard; thank you. Ed.]
I can safely say that my first TMC rally was a success, and I’m really looking forward to the next one. My Mayflower performed superbly; in fact I know it will be up for going a bit further afield, if such an event arises. We now need to turn our thoughts towards next year’s rally: if anyone has any suggestions for a location, the committee would love to hear from you. Until then, happy Mayflowering and I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing more of you at the next rally.
Richard Hughes
Vice Chairman
A very encouraging turnout for our Anniversary Rally, Quorn Railway Station.