Wanganui Club Captains Run, 30th January

Wanganui Club Captains Run, 30th January by Marty Sutherland

At 8.30 am on Saturday morning 30th January, a group of hearty souls met at the new Airport Mobil Station for a weekend trip to Wanganui – Sutherland’s Hillman, Trim’s Spitfire, Campbells MGV8, Waterworth’s Model T Cabriolet, Jeffries Cortina, Natrass’s Corolla, Davidson’s Morrie 1000 convertible and Duncan’s Chev Coupe – a beautiful day as was the whole weekend. At 9 am we set off on an uneventful run to Taihape via SH1 and stopped at the Brown Sugar Café for a cuppa and breather not only for us but the cars as well. We then continued on our merry way with Bruce and his Model T at the rear, which is where he wanted to be. We carried on, and all stopped at the MooMar Café just south of Hunterville for lunch. A great wee stop with good food and coffee. Bruce was not that far behind, only about 15 – 20 minutes. Model T’s can fly!! After a decent break, we all headed off to Marton and a visit to Granny’s Christmas grotto run by Jenny Greener. If you love Christmas, this is definitely a place to visit (1 Main St, Marton). We were given a private viewing in groups and spent some time wandering around. I love Christmas, and I guess many of us were like little (old) girls and boys. After at least a good hour or more, we set off in convoy again

to Wanganui and our accommodation. We all met back at our motel at 6 pm after settling into our various motels and Tony and Pam joining us from New Plymouth for a shared BBQ and customary beverages. A very enjoyable evening, and a few stories shared. Lynne says I got a bit tiddly, but I dispute this. We eventually wandered off to bed about 10.30 – 11 pm after a very full day. Sunday, some wandered off for breakfast at the Yellow House Café, and the rest met for a coffee a bit later. At about 10 am, we headed off to Mechanical Restorations Vintage and Classic spares in Fordell run by Bruce Ardell. I had heard of Bruce prior to this but had never met him. Now if you want to see some car parts you have to see this place. He has car parts from 1912 to 1997 but has no cell phone or computer, you either phone him or send a fax. He doesn’t want a cell phone or computer as they only add stress to his life that he can do without, it is all in his head or on an old cardex system. He works Monday to Friday from 7 am to 7 pm with weekends off when is busy working on his collection of cars of which

there are many. Many donated for Bruce to look after. Some of the cars will never be touched, but some are drivers, and nearly all have live plates, and some are warranted. A lot are loaned out to groups as backdrops and in parades such as his fire engines, one of which came from the Taupo/Kinloch brigade. You could write a book about him but time and space are against me. After leaving Fordell, we returned and gathered at the motel, then walked the two blocks to Parnell’s for lunch. After lunch, we returned to the motel and gathered the troups, and off we went to Richmond Harding’s house just out of Wanganui. He used to own Wanganui Aero Works but sold in 2004. He now has a lovely restored Tiger Moth and a 90% replica of a Spitfire as used in the battle of Britain.

He is in his early 80s and still flies these planes. The Spitfire has an LS/3 V8 motor and was built for him by Campbell Aviation in 2010. What a beautiful machine. Richmond’s wife put on an afternoon tea for us, and we sat and listened to some of his stories, then checked out the aviation memorabilia around the hanger. As it was

a beautiful day with little wind, Richmond gave us a treat and took the Spitfire for a flight. This was magnificent as he put that plane through its paces- it was like watching an air show up close. He showed us manoeuvres that were absolutely wonderful and for a pilot of his age was inspiring. I don’t know what his car driving is like, but if his flying is anything to go by, he should be a master. We then returned to the motel to relax, but that didn’t happen as Bruce Jeffries decided we needed to talk more than rest. We were picked up at 6 pm by the courtesy coach from the Wanganui East Cossie club, where we all had a meal. Huge meals and saw a few plates going back with food on. A good night. The next day (Monday), we met at the Mud Duck Café for breakfast or coffee. The wives then wandered off to look at the Glass blowing, which was great, I believe, then off for some retail therapy. The blokes went off to the Wanganui VCC parts shed and had a wander through. It would be about the size of our clubrooms, with many and varied motor parts, plus body parts, in a separate annex. Their clubrooms and parts shed are on the site of the old Wanganui East Woman’s Bowling

Club. Impressive club rooms with heaps of memorabilia. Bruce Waterworth was having trouble with his Model T, so at the clubrooms he worked on it stripping the carburettor and pottering and sorted the problem. We met the girls back at the café for a last coffee with some of the guys wanting to know what was spent!!! We then left for home, going in different directions. Bruce W was followed up the Parapara’s back to Taupo by Greg to make sure he got home okay but had no further problems. Thanks Greg. All others got home safely, as far as I know. Davidson’s and Sutherlands came back through to Fordell to Hunterville, then back on SH1. We stopped at Flat Hills for lunch, then carried on to Taihape where we were stopped at road works for over an hour – but that’s another story. We would like to thank Owen, our Club Captain, for a fantastic weekend. It was fairly full on, but we did things we would not normally do. So thank you for a great weekend Owen and to the other members who attended. It was good having a gettogether and socialising with like-minded people. Thanks guys and girls Marty

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