About Us
In 2009, the New Year saw the
start of something new for Morris Minors in
the Mansfield area when the Morris Minor Owners Club granted three of its
members the honour of forming a new branch.
Friends, Paul Temple and Peter
Ball already shared an enthusiastic interest in the quirky little classic car;
then one day while at work (at
Kirkham Car Parts) Paul thought
he was seeing double!
RDV 461, his 1954 series II is
often parked outside the shop. Last summer, through the corner of his eye he
spotted an identical car whizzing - well more ‘majestically gilding!’ - past the
shop window. This was his first Meeting with Graham Hutchinson, a retired
businessman who lives just around the corner!
Paul and Graham chatted and as
the summer progressed it became obvious that Mansfield was not as short on
Minors as we had first though. It was clear that an official Branch for
Mansfield Minors was in order.
Two of a kind....Paul and Graham with
their 1954 Series II's
Before the National Rally last
June the trio visited the Nottinghamshire
Minor Centre along with other enthusiasts where a segment on the 60th
anniversary of the car was being filmed for BBC East Midlands Today. You can
visit the link and watch the interview with
Paul and Graham here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7466620.stm
TV interview with Graham and Mrs Hutchinson in progress
Later that day Paul, Peter and
Jonathan travelled on to attended the MMOC National Rally at Stanford Hall
in Leicestershire, camping for the weekend to take advantage of the full
'Diamonds are Forever' experience once the rain clouds cleared for Saturday
night's entertainment!
The name's Bond - Jonathan, Paul and Peter Bond! The
3 arrive in style to the evening bash at the National Rally
Sunday morning brought a scene
of destruction along branch avenue with marquees strewn across the estate by the
overnight gales. Fortunately no Minors were damaged and the sun shone on Sunday
just enough for a photo shoot when
another coincidence occurred as RDV 461 sidled up
to Rosie Hamilton's Series II traveller RDV 28. Clearly this was a good omen
that the Branch idea was going to be a success!
Paul and Rosie with the RDV siblings
Discussions with Rosie got the
wheels in motion with the MMOC to affiliate a Branch for the Mansfield area and
Paul, Peter and Graham formed the founding committee (Chairman, Secretary and
Treasurer respectively). The first meeting took place in
March 2009 with an excellent turnout and the name MADMOG was adopted! Paul and
Peter attended the National Branch Liaison Meeting in Northampton at the end of
March and were presented with the Official
Certificate
of Branch Status by the MMOC
National Committee.
The Branch was represented at
the MMOC National Rally "Elvis Lives" at the Haynes Motor Museum in Sparkford,
Somerset in June by Paul, Peter, Keith and Janice where they won the award for
best Branch Avenue stand; a great achievement as newcomers. Roll on 2010 at
Harewood House, Leeds!
The activities of the Branch
gather momentum with the first rally taking place in August 2009 entitled "Monks
& Minors" at the historic Rufford Abbey Country Park in the heart of Robin Hood
country. Click here
to see the pictures The rally was
hailed a great success and the Branch have already booked the venue for Monks &
Minors 2010 July 11th
2010...more details soon
Membership has grown so rapidly
during the first year that we have now moved to our 3rd new venue! From
January 2010 MADMOG began meeting at
The
Hutt, Ravenshead commencing with our first "Gala Dinner" and special events are in the pipeline for the monthly meetings which
take place on the 2nd Tuesday.
Visitors pay just £1 to attend a
general meeting. Annual subscription as a one off payment costs £10 and brings the benefit of a
discount card for Minor spares purchased from
Kirkham Car Parts who keep a stock of the everyday Minor parts on the shelf
and can obtain virtually anything you need for your Minor at 10% discount.