Autumn 2014 - Sporting Bears

www.sportingbears.co.uk
AUTUMN 2014
Driving for Charity
The exciting stuff in this edition:
TEESSIDE 2014
14
CLASSICS AT CORBRIDGE
20
CLASSICS IN THE CITY (OF EDINBURGH)
22
RABY CASTLE 2014
25
A “BEARTASTIC DAY”
26
PAGE 38
38
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
39
Club address:
23 Ranelagh Gardens
Ilford
Essex
IG1 3JR
Club Officers
Chairman:
Mike McSean
Secretary:
Neville Colvin
Treasurer:
Boo Grant
Club Committee
Charity Secretary:
Caroline McSean
Child Protection Officer:
Caroline McSean
Events Coordinator:
Dave Peat
Magazine Editor:
Keith Borkett
Press Officer:
Mick Bryan
Regalia:
Greg & Hilary Cannon
Exhibition Coordinator:
Andrew Lake
Membership Secretary:
Hilary Cannon
11 Clifton House Close,
Clifton,
Shefford,
Bedfordshire
SG17 5EQ.
Committee Members
Andy & Pip Cooke
Colin Mitchell
BEAR FACTS
Contents
Regulars
Editor’s Edicts .................................................................. 3
Chairman’s Chatter........................................................ 4
Membership Report....................................................... 6
Charity Secretary’s Report .......................................... 7
Club Website............................................................... 17
SBMC Regalia ............................................................. 36
Forthcoming Events ..................................................... 39
What makes this Edition unique
Midlands Bears Report .............................................. 12
Teesside August 2014 ............................................... 14
Midlands Bears Provisional Programme 2015 ..... 16
Shire Bears Report ..................................................... 18
Polar Report ................................................................ 20
Classics at Corbridge ................................................ 20
Classics in the City (of Edinburgh) ........................... 22
Ultimate Dream Ride Raffle ..................................... 24
Raby Castle 2014 ...................................................... 25
A “Beartastic Day” ..................................................... 26
Caption Competition Winner ................................... 32
Caption Competition .................................................. 35
Page 38 ....................................................................... 38
Cartoon Corner........................................................... 39
Data Protection Act
The Sporting Bears Motor Club holds all club members names and addresses on a computer system. To comply with the Data Protection
Act we have to inform you of this and tell you what we are going to use this for. The names and addresses are held solely for the use of
Sporting Bears Motor Club; they will be used for mailing newsletters, local group organisers and informing club members of any events.
They will not be passed on to any third party. If anyone objects to their name being held on our computer list, please could they write
to the Secretary at the club address and we will remove their name from the computer.
The information contained in this magazine has been carefully checked and is believed to be correct. No responsibility however, can be
taken for inaccuracies or the consequences of any inaccuracies therein or implied.
Other Club Officials
Midland Bears:
Ian & Cindy Snelling
Shire Bears:
Mike Gardner
Koala Bears:
Trudi Bubb & Huw Page
Polar Bears:
Fiona Davies
North West Bears:
Max Walker
Surfing Bears:
Baz Firth
Page 2
AUTUMN 2014
Editor’s Edicts
Everyone is starting to hunker down for winter as the
finishing touches are being
put together for the Autumn 2014 issue of Bear
Facts. It is a few weeks
later than normal, for
which I would like to
apologise, but work has
started to cut into my day
a bit recently.
There’s plenty of reports
to read about in this edition, such as Tony’s events
at Teesside, and Raby
Castle. We managed to
get to the Raby Castle
event and we were certainly blown away by it read Tony’s report for
more details (the main
cover picture is of him with
Raby Castle in the background). Excellent photography from Paul Griffiths (as usual). Staying in
the north there are reports
from Helen Kirkness and
Andrew Carrie on events
at Corbridge and Edinburgh. Further south, Marcus Barr tells us about a
“Beartastic Day” for the
children of Naomi House
and Jacksplace which was
held at The Middle Wallop Museum of Army Fly-
ing. Going back northwards (slightly), Ian summarises a number of
events in the Midlands
area - the smaller cover
picture is from Shelsley
Walsh, where none other
than Sir Stirling Moss came
to the Sporting Bears
stand as guest of honour.
Looking to things in the
future, we have the NEC
which will be on top us
before we know it, and
the team are already
working hard to set this
up. Please note the Ultimate Dream Ride Raffle
which is being launched at
the NEC this year, but we
have an opportunity to
buy tickets in advance, so
see Page 24 for details.
Talking of pages, we have
an incredibly exciting new
feature which I’m sure that
you will all be thrilled
about - yes it’s Page 38.
There are a number of
pointers to this throughout
the magazine, so I would
urge you to read the
magazine in the correct
page order in order to
see them. I strongly advise you to resist the temp-
tation to go directly to
Page 38, as it will spoil all
the fun and anticipation.
Really, you must be strong
and resist temptation.
Look out for the red borders.
Talking about fun and anticipation, don’t forget to
put the next AGM in your
diaries, which is being held
at it’s usual venue at Gaydon on February 1st.
Finally, there is plenty to
be looking forward to in
the next issue with reports
coming in (I hope) on various events such as both
CarFests and also the 25th
Birthday Bash up at
Peebles, as well as the
Charity Ball Southwest
being held at the Haynes
International Motor Museum - in fact, it might already have happened by
the time you read this.
There will be many others
too.
TALKING OF
PAGES, WE HAVE
AN INCREDIBLY
EXCITING NEW
FEATURE WHICH
I’M SURE THAT
YOU WILL ALL BE
THRILLED ABOUT
- YES IT’S PAGE
38
That’s it for now, and don’t
forget about Page 38.
Happy reading, and even
happier driving.
Keith Borkett
keithborkett@hotmail.com
Page 38 is only 35 pages away, so it’s not really that far to go...
PRINTING DEADLINES FOR BEAR FACTS
Winter 2014/15
Articles submitted by end November 2014
Magazine delivery early January 2015
Spring 2015
Articles submitted by end February 2015
Magazine delivery early April 2015
Page 3
BEAR FACTS
Chairman’s Chatter
Unlike almost everyone else in the Club I
have had a very quiet
summer as far as the
Bears’ go.
Due to
problems
getting
leave and practically
no weekends off I
haven’t made it to any
events at all this summer; in fact, so far, the
AGM has been the
highlight of my year!
Now that’s a phrase
nobody will hear very
often!
I CANNOT
CLOSE WITHOUT
ONCE AGAIN
THANKING
BRYAN FOR THE
EXCEPTIONAL
CONTRIBUTION
HE HAS MADE
TO THE CLUB
OVER THE YEARS
Page 4
I have been watching
with growing frustration as the reports
come rolling in describing all the great
events that are being
hosted by our members, and when I sign
all the fabulous
cheques for Caroline
to send out for all
those deserving children, I can only look
forward to retirement
and greater participation.
The year
kicked off with the
Doune Speed Hill
Climb for CHAS
closely followed by
the Northern Gambol
sponsoring Jigsaws
Childrens Hospice, formally known as Eden
House.
Then there
was the Pride and Joy
3 at Beaulieu for
Naomi House, the
Wallingford Classic
Car
Rally
for
“Footsteps” and….we
are only into the first
two weeks of May!
Your ambition and enthusiasm is staggering
and we have every
reason to celebrate all
this Club is achieving!
Now, thankfully, my
Bears’ life is about to
get going again. As I
write this we are looking forward to when
we will be meeting
many old friends to
celebrate the Club’s
25th birthday up in
Scotland.
We are
also attending the
NEC as usual.
Talking of change,
and following on from
my previous “Chatter”,
I am delighted to announce that we have a
volunteer to take over
the role of Club Secretary. I have great
pleasure in introducing
Neville Colvin (Nev), a
very long-standing
member, as your new
Club
Secretary.
Neville has a great
track record in business and, with his
great attention to detail and all the extra
time that retirement is
supposed to give you,
I have no doubt that
he will take on the
role with relish and
will soon stamp his distinctive mark on the
running of the Bears.
Many of you who take
part in touring events
will know Nev with his
distinctive moustache
who, with his wife Liz,
has taken part in numerous touring events
over the years, often
in his Toyota Supra.
Kimbolton regulars will
also know that Nev
took over running the
event this year and an
excellent job he did
too. I have no doubt
that Nev will serve the
Bears well – welcome
to the committee.
I cannot close without
once again thanking
Bryan for the exceptional contribution he
has made to the Club
over the years; I hope
he will continue to be
an active member,
and that we will continue to be the recipients of his sage counsel.
Mike McSean
sbchairman@ntlworld.com
Cheshire Classic Cars is one of the leading classic car specialists in the UK, with a worldwide
customer base. We provide sales, service and restoration of classic prestige, competition
and high performance cars from our premises near Chester..
We are delighted to have been closely associated with Sporting Bears in recent years, and
will continue to provide whatever support we can to your activities in the future.
BEAR FACTS
Membership Report
I am trying to get in touch with one of the
Bear’s who was at Kimbolton this year
with his Cadillac. I am told that he car
was parked ‘under the tress’ – doesn’t
narrow it down very much does it! It is to
do with a rear windscreen. So if you are
the Cadillac owner in question, or happen
to know who he is, please get in touch:
either by phone 01462 635095 or email
membership@sportingbears.co.uk.
MY ‘5P FOR
YOUR EMAIL
My ‘5p for your email address’ campaign
is continuing to bear (sorry) fruit; 48 addresses confirmed or corrected so far.
But I should like to get more, so I am doubling the charity contribution per address
to 10p. I shall back date this as well. So
c’mon, now’s your chance to get a little
more money heading in the right direction. Of course it will also mean that you
will benefit from our new Bulk Email communication system, unless you choose to
opt out of course.
The membership now (end of August)
stands at 677.
Hilary
membership@sportingbears.co.uk
ADDRESS’
CAMPAIGN IS
New members since the last issue of Bear Facts are:
CONTINUING
Steve Down
Mike, Lyn & Peter Darby
Colin Burnett-Dick
Darren Kember
Ian & Helen Button
Mike Mayfield
Gary & Marnie Milner
Mark McKail
TO BEAR
(SORRY) FRUIT;
48 ADDRESSES
CONFIRMED OR
CORRECTED SO
FAR.
Ted Bacciarelli
Chris Mann
Fauzia Graham & Richard
Cleveley
Malcolm Copland
Brian Hunter
Matthew Clarke
Chris Scutt
Paul & Nina Chipping
Chris Stening & Alistair Lawson
Colin Hegner
Gary & Diane Whitehead
Neil Elliott
Suzy & Robin Hawkins
David Norris & Wanda Corlett
Chris Arneill & Jenny Nash
Michael De Soosa Macedo
Epping, Essex
Warwick
Hartfield, E Sussex
Biggleswade, Beds
Ely, Cambs
Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Middlewich, Cheshire
Preston Pans, E Lothian
London
North Mymms, Herts
London
Chris Noyland
Peter Marsh
Trevor Brimson
Lesley Wakeman
Mark Hillier
Alan Gravestock
Ken Marshall
Sarah, Geoff, Sally & Michael
Barrs
Paul Healing
Mark Wynn
John, Kirsty, Tyler, Jake, Harry
& Sophia Clements
Chris, Kasha & Ken Carter
David & Karen Moore
Sheffield
Wirral
Bishops Stortford
Southfleet, Kent
Reigate
Maidenhead
Keyworth, Notts
Winchester
Telford
Cowbridge
Bexley, Kent
Caerphilly
Caterham, Surrey
Swanley, Kent
Thames Ditton
Lewes, E Sussex
Steyning, W Sussex
Attrill Shaw Thorpe
Kevin Davies
K Papworth
Michelle Cartwright & Steven
Coxe
David Luxton
Richard Young
Stan Broad
Wayne Williams
Jonathan & Mrs S Farrow
Redhill, Surrey
London
Stephen Goddard
Barry Pomfret
Inverurie
Earlston, Berwicks
Ashford, Kent
Winchester
Chessington
Huntingdon
Kingswinford
Sunderland
West Hoathly,
W Sussex
Basingstoke
Milnthorpe
Thorpe, Surrey
Sunderland
Nuneaton
Stockton-on-Tees
High Halstow,
Kent
Leicester
Bletchley
ONLY 32 MORE PAGES TO GO BEFORE PAGE 38!
Page 6
AUTUMN 2014
Charity Secretary’s Report
A couple of our charities have been
keeping us up to date with what is happening.
diagnosed with Severe Dystonic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy, which has a significant impact on all of his movements
and makes him fully reliant on his family
for all his care needs.
Alfe’s Cause have finally achieved charitable status with the Charity Commission.
They have begun their childhood cancer awareness campaign in Northamptonshire by starting to contact and send
out “Be Child Cancer Aware” information
cards showing the most common signs and
symptoms. So far they have sent out
over 5,000 cards to primary schools, but
feel they still have a long way to go.
They are also continuing to support families by organising monthly activity meetings. Over Easter they met up at Stanwick Lake to take part in an Easter Egg
trail and they all had great fun!
They have also organised a
Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory themed party for a
little boy with an inoperable brain tumour to meet
Willy Wonka which was
one of his wishes. It meant
Karen and another of the
Trustees were obliged to
dressed up as Oompa
Loompas!
React are indebted to the Sporting Bears
for being such fantastic supporters of its
families.
Thanks to the Sporting Bears’ generous
support of React, the charity has provided three terminally ill children from
Scotland with vital equipment:
The first is a wee boy living with a number of complex conditions. He has been
He is unable to sit, stand or move independently and his high tone means he is
unable to actively move any of his limbs.
Due to the complexity of his physical
needs, he is at an increased risk of chest
infections, which will have a detrimental
effect on his immune system. He has also
developed epilepsy and his seizures are
currently not well controlled. He currently
uses an upright chair for feeding but he
cannot tolerate this for long periods as it
causes him pain. His Occupational Therapist therefore suggested a P-Pod seat,
which would be of great benefit to him
as he would be well supported and comfortable. It would not only be useful for
feeding but enable him to participate in
family activities with his parents and two
siblings.
Despite the obvious benefits the Local
Authority were unable to provide this
item and at a cost of £612.59, it was
simply beyond the financial means of his
parents. Following the Sporting Bears
most generous support, React were delighted to be able to provide this essential item, improving the quality of life for
him and his entire family.
P-pod Seat £612.59
The second is a toddler. She lives with
CHARGE syndrome, a complex condition
resulting in both medical and physical
difficulties. She also has strong hypotonia, meaning she only has the muscle control of a 2-3 month old baby.
Despite her condition, she greatly enjoys
Page 7
REACT WOULD
LIKE TO PASS ON
THEIR SINCEREST
GRATITUDE TO
EVERYONE
INVOLVED WITH
THE BEARS FOR
MAKING YOUR
LIFE-CHANGING
SUPPORT
POSSIBLE.
BEAR FACTS
Charity Secretary’s Report (cont’d)
playing and is visually attentive. To encourage her development, her Occupational Therapist recommended the
family acquire a Lecky Squiggles Early Intervention System. The equipment is not easily available to children in
the community but the benefits to her were clear as it
enables her to adopt different positions to optimise her
development and play skills.
Thanks to the support of Sporting Bears, React were delighted to be able to provide this item, that was beyond
the reach of her single mother, who is also her full time
carer.
Lecky Squiggles Early Intervention System £419
The third is an older child who lives with Battens Disease,
a significantly life-limiting condition that affects her vision, cognitive development, respiratory system and mobility. She has highly complex needs, is regularly in and
out of hospital and requires a wheelchair to get around.
This can be very uncomfortable for her and due to this
she spends long periods of time in bed. This was limiting
her ability to participate in family life as her bed was
unable to be transported to the living room easily.
Her Social Worker therefore recommended the family
acquire a Specialist Adaptable Day Mattress which could
easily be moved to enable her and her family to enjoy
life as a family unit as much as possible.
The item was unavailable from the local authority and
beyond the financial means of the parents, but React was
able to assist due to the Sporting Bears’ generosity.
Specialist Mattress and Bedding £325
React would like to pass on their sincerest gratitude to
everyone involved with the Bears for making your lifechanging support possible.
Two charities we are very familiar with have decided to
have a makeover.
The Jennifer Trust is now known as ‘Spinal Muscular Atrophy Support UK’ - www.smasupportuk.org.uk
They offer free confidential information, emotional support, practical advice and guidance to anyone affected
by Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) who is living in the UK.
Page 8
The Children’s Hospice at Eden House in Cumbria has
been re-named as “Jigsaw” Cumbria’s Children’s Hospice. In 2005 Eden Valley Hospice launched the Jigsaw
Appeal. Through the support and generosity of individuals, businesses and community groups from throughout
Cumbria the appeal reached its £1,000,000 target to
replace the existing facility, which provided overnight
facilities for two children and a day care facility.
They can now provide emotional and physical support for
up to six children every day, with the facility for up to
five children and young adults staying overnight.
On January 24 2014, the children’s hospice unveiled a
new, vibrant and modern image and name. The launch
of the new image was in recognition that the previous
name and imagery, Eden House Children’s Hospice, did
not connect with people throughout Cumbria and was
unable to communicate that the children’s hospice provides care for families countywide.
Caroline McSean
Charity Secretary
Post Script
In a previous edition of the magazine I told you about
Chernobyl Children Life Line which was nominated by
Howard Allen. One of their aims is to bring child victims
of the Chernobyl disaster to the UK for recuperative
breaks of four weeks. The Committee agreed that the
Club should endorse this UK registered charity so that
individual Bears could make a donation towards the children’s holidays if they so wished.
In May Howard sent me this picture captioned:
“We are looking
after the two smallest boys, either end
of the front row.
Koila and Sasha,
both just under 9
years old.
Gulp!
We are both out of
practice caring for
children that age! It
should be fun, they
AUTUMN 2014
won't know any English and we certainly don't know much
Russian although we are going to Russian Classes in Malvern.”
Both Howard and Val hope they gave the boys an experience to remember, they took them bowling, pottery
painting, Cadbury World, Ragley Hall, Warwick Castle,
GWR Railway where the engine driver let them ride in
his cab, Weston super Mare, plus all the other group activities.
They tried giving them wholesome food but all they
wanted was Pizza and chipsies (that’s Russian for Chips)
and water melon.
They went back with loads of clothes, in fact they had to
give them a suitcase each as they came over only with a
“Tesco like " shopping bag – and they still struggled to
get all their stuff in. Coats, bathrobes, slippers, trousers,
socks, radio controlled cars, and more T-shirts than you
can shake a stick at.
Will they do it again next year?
After the holiday Howard wrote to tell me that they were
now back home safe and sound. Looking after two very
demanding eight year olds with the added communication difficulty made it doubly tiring.
“Probably” says Howard, “but not eight year olds. Too
young for two old f.rts like us!”
SHIRE BEARS
A group of members now meet regularly in the Northamptonshire
area. If you are interested in coming along, we get together on
the second Thursday of each month at the Overstone Manor at
8.00 pm. The pub is in Ecton Lane, Sywell and the postcode is NN6
0BB.
All are welcome.
Email shirebears@tiscali.co.uk if you require any information
Page 9
BEAR FACTS
Christmas Dinner - Cambridgeshire
The "Bears" will be holding a Christmas Dinner at
the Duncombe Arms at Waresley, Cambs SG19 3BS
on the 12th December 2014, 7.30 for 8.
This is the same venue as last year which was enjoyed by those who attended.
If you are interested, please contact Colin on
01480 472270 or colincmitchell@gmail.com and a
menu and other details will be forwarded.
Last orders 1st December 2014.
Thank You for Corbridge from Smile for Life
Page 10
AUTUMN 2014
Charity Thank You Letters
Page 11
BEAR FACTS
Midlands Bears Report - Ian Snelling
Midlands Bears have been enjoying
a varied programme of events &
activities over the past few months.
museum area. We enjoyed the attractions of the museum and rides on
the trams, yet another ‘Dream Ride’!
A visit to the ‘Wings & Wheels’ Day
at Wellesbourne Airfield in June,
this the home of the Vulcan bomber
XM655, and the day is about raising funds for the continued preservation of this iconic aircraft. The
highlight being
when the Vulcan did a couple of fast taxi
runs, allowing
everyone
to
hear the sound
of those Bristol
O l y m p u s
301's. This Vulcan XM655 is the
third from last of the Vulcan bombers produced for the Royal Air
Force, was delivered in late 1964
and is the only one in ground running condition. Later in the day we
were allowed to get up ‘close and
personal’ with the XM655, not
something you get the chance to do
every day!
We were the sponsors and the primary Organiser of a very special
Marfan Awareness Day held in July
at Gaydon, in liaison with The Marfan Trust and the Heritage Motor
Centre. Marfan Syndrome is a predominantly
inherited cardiac disorder
which also affects eyes &
skeleton. The
day included
presentations
Wings & Wheels
from the senior
Marfan Research Doctors; free entry
to the Heritage Motor Centre where
model-making & face-painting op-
A ‘Drive-Out’ Day in June also, with
a group of 25. Starting from Fradley Junction on the Trent and Mersey canal we drove on a variety of
country roads through countryside
and villages through Ashbourne and
on to Dovedale and Ilam through
the Peak District National Park to
reach our eventual destination at
the Crich National Tramway Museum. Our classic cars were allowed down the main street into the
Little & Large at Marfan
Awareness Day
portunities were provided.
We sponsored two Land
Rover Discoveries for the
day that took nearly 100 on
the ‘LR Experience’ at Gaydon, and we had our busy
‘Dream Rides’ provided free
of charge. The day provided over 160 children &
families affected by the
Marfan Syndrome the opportunity to meet and share
with ‘others’, including the
Medical Professionals, and for the
younger ones in particular a day to
have great fun!
Some comments we have received:
Crich National Tranway
Page 12
“Thank you Sporting Bears for such a
fantastic day at Gaydon Heritage Motor
Museum yesterday. It was a very exciting and informative day. Lots of smiles
all round. Top day thank you”
“What you guys do is fantastic, we had
a great day today in Warwickshire.”
“Everyone went above and beyond to
make it special, put big smiles on my kids
faces, thank you”.
“Just to say a big thank you to Sporting
Bears ‘Dream Rides’ for all those involved in the Marfan Trust Fun Day today, my family had a great day.”
"Marfan Trust Fun Day. Thanks to all for
a great day x"
“I have met so many fantastic people.
Thank you xxxx"
The very next day was a return visit
to the ‘Classic Nostalgia’ Meeting at
Shelsley Walsh. We had our reserved Terrace display area adjacent to the Hill Climb, and we were
again provided with a complimentary full-page in the Event Programme which enables us to provide
a detailed overview of Sporting
Bears. The Meeting ‘Guest of Honour’ was Sir Stirling Moss OBE. We
had been approached before the
event to be one of the hosts for Sir
Stirling and he came to visit us, and
showed great warmth and interest
towards us and what we as Sporting
Bears do. An enjoyable and special
Day!
AUTUMN 2014
Midlands Bears Report (cont’d)
Shelsley Walsh
Our last Event for this edition of
‘Bear Facts’ was the Coventry
‘Festival of Motoring’ at Stoneleigh
Park on the August Bank Holiday
Sunday. We were pleased to welcome Bears from ‘far & wide’. A
wide variety of cars from the 99year old Model T Ford, the Austin
Seven ‘Fudge’, Willys Jeep, Austin
Healey 3000, Westfield and Caterhams through to Porsche GT3 and
Lotus cars which gave the generous
public lots of opportunities for
‘Dream Rides’. A splendid flypast
by a Hurricane and a Spitfire took
place, the Merlin engines doing their
best to outshine the glorious noise of
the De Tomaso Pantera in the Sporting Bears car park. We raised an
excellent £1,470 on Dream Rides.
We were again supporting Zoe’s
Place Baby Hospice based in Coventry, & in particular their ‘Coventry
to Paris 400 mile Charity Bike Ride’
that took place in mid-September.
Two of the Cycle Team were with us
at the Festival of Motoring, lead
nurse Wendy together with Fundraising Manager Mick, with their
bikes …& lycra. Cuthbert has been
nominated to accompany Wendy on
her adventure. They are hoping to
cycle from Coventry to Paris raising
money for the children’s hospice
where they care for babies and
children up to 5 years old.
During the
ride Wendy
will be riding 90 to 95 miles a day
and hopefully will finish under the
Eiffel Tower on the last day!
Cuthbert
Wendy says ‘I have never attempted anything close to this before but I am a very determined
Shelsley Walsh
person and will do this whatever
happens! I had a total knee replacement at the end of 2013 and
started training in January, knee
pain allowing! I am taking part in
this challenge as I am very passionate about the nursing care I give to
the babies and the support for the
family.’
The Midlands Bears continue to support Zoe’s Place, having already
donated over £10,000 and we
have so far donated £299 towards
Wendy’s fundraising efforts.
Yes, 06.30 at the Peugeot Citroen
UK HQ to see them on their way,
downhill at least to London - a
great fundraising effort.
Ian
Shelsley Walsh
Page 13
BEAR FACTS
Teesside, August 2014 - Tony Beverley
Have you ever had one of those
moments….that seem to last for
ever, well Teesside felt like that today, and it was all down to the self-
for coming and did our Bear bit,
then it was bacon butties, cup of
tea, and then it didn’t stop all day.
GTO - thanks to Paul Griffiths for
fantastic photos taken throughout
the day.
less people I’m proud to call my
friends. We aren’t a club really,
just a big happy family.
Well as usual, I had the dry mouth
syndrome when doing the driver
briefing but Bob Pope the track
owner did the safety bit first then I
stepped in and thanked everyone
Sadly, Graham and Max couldn’t
make it, Max due to work commitments and Graham recovering from
a “pain in the neck”, not what your
thinking but it had him in stitches
anyway.
Two firsts for Teesside this year,
Number 1: we got a Ferrari, a 288
Number 2: the Police came, RESULT!!! And after talking with the
officers and after they had experienced the Bears Charisma and seeing all those smiling faces have
promised to do their best to come
next year - yes, we will be doing
this all over again.
We had families from 5 charities
attending today, Zoe’s Place,
ECCDS (Down Syndrome), Butterwick Hospice, Wish upon a Star and
Kiltonthorpe School.
Everyone had a fantastic time and
this was added to by the brilliant
efforts of Ellie and Hannah for their
face painting skills, Tyler, Cara,
Claire and a few others who ensured everyone got a ride.
We had a fantastic turn out of cars,
not all Bears, but they maybe soon
hopefully, and so it’s a BIG thank
you to all those that made this a
memorable day.
One new member signed up today
and we raised £81 in the raffle to
go towards Sundays Raby Dreams
Rides for Zoe’s Place.
Prizes were once again provided
by Alexanders Alfa and Quickastitch who donated two teddy’s complete with Sporting Bear sweatshirts
- thank you.
Page 14
AUTUMN 2014
Teesside, August 2014 (cont’d)
And last but by no means least my
heartfelt thanks go to Bob Pope
and his staff for giving us the track
for the day and the girls in the café
for looking after us too.
As someone said last year when we
were arriving at parliament in the
Bentleys…
“Can we do it again?” …. Of
course we can, we are the Sporting
Bears.
Tony Beverley
Page 15
BEAR FACTS
SPORTING BEARS WEB SITE
Have you had a look at the new web site ?
Got any ideas you would like to put forward ?
Please go online at sportingbears.co.uk and let me know what you think.
I am now looking after the day to day operation of the site with a lot of help from Mark Preece.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike Norton for all the time and effort he has put in over the
years with the original site, it will be a hard act to follow.
Andy Cooke
01604 870701 or pip.andy@tiscali.co.uk
Midlands Bears - Provisional Programme 2015
Midlands Bears have plans for a range of social and fundraising events during 2015.
These are provisional, so please refer to the Midlands Bears Section of the club website to see the events
published as they are (hopefully) approved and confirmed:




‘Welcome to 2015’ Sunday Lunch
January
‘Go-Karting Grand Prix’
February
Drive-Out to ‘Wings and Wheels’ at
Wellesbourne - April
Stratford upon Avon ‘Motoring Festival
May



‘Drive-Out Day’ with Lunch
June
Shelsley Walsh ‘Classic Nostalgia
July
Coventry ‘Festival of Motoring’
August
GETTING CLOSER - JUST 22 MORE PAGES
BEFORE PAGE 38!
Page 16
AUTUMN 2014
Fund Raising via our Website
Did you know you can raise funds for the Club, and therefore for Charity via the
Sporting Bears website. We have raised over £1000 so far by doing very little !!
WWW.SPORTINGBEARS.CO.UK
Just by using it to carry out web searches
Yes I know that most of you probably use Google, but why not give this a try. It’s
very simple, any search you do that results in you following sponsored links, can result
in the club getting paid.
Google do just the same
(I’m sure you’ve seen the ‘sponsored links’ on the results page).
Well, they get all the money from that.
If you use the Bears website we will get some of it too.
Set us up as your default home page and use your mouse to raise money for charity.
www.sportingbears.co.uk/SBMC_Search.htm
ALSO
If you have any future events or reports of past events please send them to us for inclusion on the
website.
Email picture(s) and a written report to
pip.andy@tiscali.co.uk
Page 17
BEAR FACTS
SHIRE BEARS REPORT - Mike Gardner
The vagaries of the British weather
giving much of the country a rather
wet May and early June resulted in
the Shire Bears attendance at the
Woodford Halse Country Fair and
Classic Car Show on 7th June being
cancelled by a majority decision by
members. An 11th hour e-mail received from the event organiser
warned that although the fair would
go ahead, the torrential rain of previous days may result in problematic
ground conditions for classic and
sports cars in a rough grass arena
and they would respect owners decisions not to attend. A hurried contact
of the 11 members planning to go
resulted in a resounding NO. At
least no fund raising opportunity was
lost as the organisers forbade any
independent fund raising as show
proceeds were solely for the parish
church. Hummmm !
own whisky
tumblers or
other chosen items
under his
watchful
supervision.
A very reasonably
priced Sunday lunch
carvery
Lining up for parade lap at
was provided in the
Silverstone
Caithness
restaurant
and the owner and staff looked af- The Bears attendance over the three
ter us very well and were impressed days of the Silverstone Classic on 25
to learn about the Sporting Bears - 27 July was very well supported
and its achievements for children`s with a total of 30 cars in attendance.
charities. So much so that the owner Our 25th Anniversary parade laps
kindly donated a Caithness Glass of the Grand Prix circuit on the Satbear to be raffled. An impromptu urday was a real treat for us and a
`write your name on a fiver` raffle chance to show off Bears cars to the
Fortunately the next day was totally took place over lunch raising crowds ranging from Ferrari Testadifferent for our trip to the Caithness £110.00 for Thomas`s Fund.
rossa through assorted Jaguars,
Glass factory in Kings Lynn, Norfolk.
Porches, Westfield and `57 Chevy to
A total of 22 Shire Bears in 10 cars With the sun still blazing down we name but a few. A rather good
met up at various points of the route then set off for Hunstanton to round video of it all shot from track level
through Northamptonshire and Bed- the day off with ice creams and a under Richard Bowles`s XJS apfordshire to travel in convoy in glori- walk on the beach.
peared on the Bears website. The
ous sunshine for a visit and glass
weather was searingly hot, the racblowing demonstration arranged The Fathers Day Classic Car Show at ing amazing as ever and thousands
especially for us. Everyone had a Woburn Abbey was by all accounts of cars to drool over! To match the
great time watching the amazing skill quite poorly attended by the public 50th Anniversary of the iconic Ford
of the glass maker and many of us this year, possibly due to another car Mustang the crowds were treated to
took the opportunity to make our event being held there only a few a fantastic aerial display by two
weeks before! WW11 USAF Mustang fighter
This
clearly planes. This really is one the best
impacted on
Dream Rides
despite
the
best endeavours of David
& Kay Roberts
who managed
things on the
day due to
Julie and I being in Cornwall
More Bears line up for 25th Birthday pafor two weeks.
rade laps at Silverstone
Page 18
AUTUMN 2014
SHIRE BEARS REPORT (cont’d)
classic race events on earth.
Our August club night saw a good
turn out of cars for one of Mick &
Jan Starmer’s popular summer evening `Drive Out` rally routes to finish
at a country pub for a meal with a
fun quiz thrown in for good measure.
Mick & Jan have kindly organised
these runs for several years now and
never cease to amaze with the way
they continue to find different and
amazing idyllic country roads
through Northamptonshire and the
border areas to lead us to a surprise
hostelry. As for the quiz , the Owen
Josef Memorial Trophy donated to
the club for its fund raising exploits
was won by brain boxes Nigel &
Sheila Atkins in what can only be
described as a very obtuse quiz!
Well done both.
A total of 7 cars attended the mid
week Santa Pod Junior Drag Racing
Fun Day again this year on 20th August. The event was very well attended by the public showing a build
up of interest on the first event of its
type last year which is good as proceeds were going to Niamh`s Next
Step (www.niamhsnextstep.com). This
charity set up for children suffering
from Neuroblastoma has only been
in existence 18 months and I took the
opportunity to meet with the Niamh`s
bereft parents and introduce them to
The Sporting Bears and how we
hope to be able to assist in the future.
The exploits of the young drag racing stars of the future is great to
watch in their scaled down dragsters
and drag bikes. There was also
demo runs by the big boys Top Fuel
Dragsters and the amazing jet propelled Funny Car, terminal speed
over the standing ¼ mile was
295.47 mph! Ears are still aching
from the after burner blasts !
Coming bang up to date , Little you enjoyed the day. At least we
Gransden Air & Classic Car Show recruited a few new members which
was unfortunately not a resounding is always good.
success from a Dream Rides aspect.
We had 12 cars for rides and two
Mike Gardner
on static display but even with an
Shire Bears Area Representative.
eye popping metallic blue Lamborghini Diablo on offer we only
managed 5 rides all day taking
in a total of £215.00. The
crowds were huge , the traffic
jams horrendous but people had
clearly come to see aircraft or sit
with their classic cars. Even doing a live interview on the public
address system with the show
commentator about Sporting
Bears Dream Rides and trying to
charm punters admiring our cars Shire Bears at Santa Pod
proved of little worth, but hey
ho! If we don`t try new events we
will never know what works and
what doesn`t. If we could have offered Dream Rides in the two Lancaster Bombers or the Vulcan everyone came to see we would have
made millions! A big thank you to
everyone who turned up on the day
with their cars or to help on the
booking desk and club stand. Hope Little Gransden
Junior dragster action at
Santa Pod
Page 19
BEAR FACTS
POLAR Report - Fiona Davies
The fine summer weather continued to hold for our attendance at the Corbridge Classic. The usual suspects were
there and they were delighted to meet Graham Curtis
for the first time who came along with his Jensen Interceptor which received a lot of attention. Congratulations
to Jim Harris whose 1966 Mini Cooper S won Best in the
'60s class. Helen Kirkness provides a full write up on the
show below. We raised £370 from re-homing and raffling bears for Smile for Life. Stand organiser, Bob
Selby, will shortly be organising a formal presentation to
this charity which we are supporting for the first time.
sions to hold a static display in Edinburgh. On the next
page you can read his report on our first-ever Classics in
the City - and what a success it was despite the increasingly damp weather with £656 being raised for the children of Scottish soldiers. Andrew is now attempting to
get permission to have a few cars on to the Castle Esplanade after the Tattoo has finished for our presentation to
The Army Benevolent Fund which is based at Edinburgh
Castle. He does like a challenge!
You may recall having read about Andrew Carrie's
struggles to receive all the necessary planning permis-
Mummy Polar Bear
Fiona
CLASSICS AT CORBRIDGE - Helen Kirkness
Bob Selby was organising this again
and had about 14 cars signed up,
but 4 had to call off at the last min-
The cars were artistically arranged,
the blue and yellow bunting put up
and the bears attractively laid out.
Four of the larger
bears (one was a
The Jensen Interceptor of new member Graham
Curtis
shaggy dog!) were
raffled off throughout the day.
ute. However, we had enough for a
decent stand and the Scottish contingent met up at the Stair Arms at
early o’clock for the run down to
Corbridge - in the rain.
The weather cleared once we got to
Corbridge and it was sunny as we
set up the stand - we had a ‘skivers’
gazebo for relaxing and cuppas and
the smaller blue gazebo for the bear
re-homing and charity promoting.
Page 20
For the cars on the opposite page
top left, we have Bob and Ann
Selby’s AK Cobra Replica, Fiona’s
Toyota MR2, and Mike Webber’s
Ferrari Dino Replica. Top right, we
have Ron Dyer’s TVR Chimaera, &
Andrew Carrie’s Porsche 911 Carrera. Middle opposite we have
George and Sheila Dodds’s Mer-
AUTUMN 2014
CLASSICS AT CORBRIDGE - Helen Kirkness (cont’d)
cedes SLK200, and the old and new
Mini Coopers.
Jim Harris had brought car number
400, his absolutely mint 1966 Mini
Cooper S and I had my somewhat
less mint 2000 Mini Cooper Sport.
We parked them
side by side and
they got a lot of
attention from Joe
Public who wanted
to compare them unfortunately
I
hadn’t cleaned the
engine bay, so it
was a tad embarrassing next to
Jim’s pristine one!
In fact the Mini
itself only looked
clean after driving
down in the rain
because Jim lent me his waterless
cleaner - thanks Jim, it was wonderful stuff.
With the weather
being warm and
sunny, there was
a decent attendance and Sheila
used her usual
fantastic selling
technique to rehome a considerable number of
bears. Others rattled cans and sold
raffle tickets and we raised £370
for local charity Smile for Life.
Everyone got a chance to go round
the show (the burgers were terrible!)
to admire the cars and buy any bits
and pieces they needed. After lunch
a show organiser came to the stand
asking for the owner
of the 1966 Mini
Cooper S as it had
won a prize and
had to be in the ring
at 3 pm. Jim and
Aly were off on a
wander and a flurry
of voicemails were
left before they
were spotted. Jim
drove his Mini to the ring, but the
prize giving was at 4 pm not 3 and
was late to boot - by which time it
had started to rain! However the
Mini Cooper won best ‘60s car and
Jim had the pleasure of being interviewed by a less
than charismatic
organiser and answered in typical
deadpan Jim fashion - ‘How long
have you had the
car?’ ‘Not long.’
‘How long are you
going to keep it?’
‘Not long’!!
After all that excitement, several of
us adjourned to the
Wellington for a
lovely bar supper
before heading home. A most enjoyable day.
Page 21
BEAR FACTS
Classics in the City (of Edinburgh) - Andrew Carrie
This was a new type of event for the
Polar Bears - usually we go along to
car shows or displays, and only have
to organise our own stand. There
have been thoughts about holding an
in a minute), one has a much smaller
number of people passing, and the
third is in the middle of the Royal
Mile, a couple of hundred yards
from the Castle, where the charity is
apparently counts as a “street assembly”), and last but not least, permission to put up the gazebo. The
last one turned out to be the most
difficult, because the Council at first
wanted calculations of wind load
and the design load of the gazebo
and how it was to be fixed down
without fixing it to railings or vehicles, etc. Not having a structural engineer handy, we managed to persuade them that we would weigh it
down, we would put it in the shelter
of the buildings, and we would take
it down if it got breezy. (Andrew
decided not to attempt to persuade
the Council to move a certain statue
to make more space - Ed) With all
the paperwork in place, it was time
to invite members along - there’s no
event without members! And the response, I have to say, was absolutely
brilliant! Within a couple of days, we
had enough people to run the event,
and a few more volunteers later.
event in Edinburgh for the children’s
section of the Army Benevolent Fund,
but some form of “red tape” always
managed to get in the way. So you
would think that when it was raised
at our planning meeting in December, anybody with any sense would
shy away from another attempt to
organise this. And anybody with any
sense, did. Not yer man Carrie
though - “I’ll have a go.” he says,
before his brain catches up.
based, and sheltered from the wind
by surrounding buildings like St Giles
Cathedral, and virtually on top of
“The Heart of Midlothian”. That’s the
one!
On the day, the Polar Bear team
machine jumped into action - the gazebo was erected, barriers put out,
bears displayed in their best “adopt
me” poses, and members’ cars arranged around the stand. Alex
After a lot (and I mean a lot) of toing and fro-ing, we managed to extract dates when three possible
street venues were free. One of
them is prone to the prevailing wind
howling between high buildings
(important for reasons I’ll come on to
Page 22
With
that
decided,
a
suitable date
was selected,
and the applications all
made for a
street collection, a street
parade (yes I
know,
we
weren’t parading anywhere but it
AUTUMN 2014
Classics in the City (of Edinburgh) - (cont’d)
Braceland, of the ABF, brought along
some ABF stuff, like wristbands, keyrings, pens etc that we could also
display and pass on for a donation.
On display, we had: Stewart’s 1928
Lagonda Speed, Niel’s Aston Martin
Vanquish, Brian’s TVR Chimaera,
Chris and Claire’s Renault 18 Turbo,
Bob and Ann’s AK Cobra 427 Rep,
Sid’s Porsche Boxster, Hamish’s TVR
350i, Mark MacKail’s Dax Tojeiro
Cobra, Nimal’s Jaguar E-Type, Fiona
and Mike’s MGA Roadster, Brian
and Helen brought a Mini Cooper
and their MGB V8 and my Porsche
911. That’s a pretty impressive mix,
for a wee club stand in Edinburgh!
The passing public seemed to think so
too - despite the rain coming on and
off, we were mobbed for the whole
day!
ets, and talking about their cars to
the visiting public. People were giving donations to be photographed
sitting in the cars, others were adopting bears, and many simply gave
money. Chris's Mum Mary arrived to
see what her son gets up to on a Saturday and immediately grabbed a
bucket and a handful of bears and
went into overdrive herself!
As well as giving Edinburgh visitors
something a wee bit different to see
that day, we raised £657 for the
Army Benevolent Fund. This is a fantastic amount for a one-day event,
especially in the rain, and credit
goes to everybody who came along
and helped to raise that sum. Some
of you travelled a fair distance to be
there, and that is greatly appreciated. Thanks also to those who
brought along all the equipment that
we used, and helped to put it up/
take it down. Thanks to those who
held buckets, chatted to spectators,
and helped to make the event such a
success in so many big and small
ways. At one point, I was looking at
our stand, and at the activity in and
around it, and I thought how lucky
we are to be able to share our
hobby with visitors, and then with the
charities we support. This event
showed what the Sporting Bears are
all about, and we had fun doing it.
What could be better?
Andrew
Kate arrived (on the bus!) and we
also had a guest visit by Tony and
Iris Woods. It was great to see everybody helping, either in the gazebo, or out holding collection buck-
Page 23
BEAR FACTS
Andrew will be launching Ultimate Dream Ride Raffle at the NEC this year. The
primary point of sale is to be the NEC but we are also offering members the chance
to buy tickets in advance, so please check out the website.
Page 24
AUTUMN 2014
Raby Castle 2014 - Tony Beverley
Raby Castle blew our minds as well
as our gazebos
away.
The
wind was quite
determined to
take anything
that it could,
everything except our determined - Jo
would
hang
onto her brolly
for all its worth
(devotion
or
what).
Well, we had a great turnout of cars
again for our second visit to this
lovely location, once again provided
by Mark Woodward, and quite a
good day it was too. New members
Graham with his fantastic Jensen Interceptor and Neil in his MX5
worked well alongside veterans like
Keith in his SS100 and Mike in his
Dino, we even signed up a new member too, did I mention we had two at
Teesside as well?
Paul
Griffiths
came along and
did a fantastic
job with the
photos, as always,
thanks
Paul.
We had a fantastic commentary given and
we were allowed into the
arena to promote the Bears
and also to
raise money for Zoes’s place in Middlesbrough which we did to the tune
of over £400.
Simon had to use the support vehicle
for the first time and couldn’t wait to
get his cones out. Poor old Brian was
out in his Caterham, overtook a tractor and caught his sump on a cat’seye - what are the chances of that?
Not the best way to get home.
ing the time and the trip to help with
what for me is a great family get
together.
So thoughts for next year? Not yet,
but the Bears were in London, we
have Aintree, Manchester and then
the NEC, so plenty to keep us occupied till then!
Enjoy!!
My thanks go out to Molly and
Claire for donning the Zoe’s
Place Bear and mingling with
the crowds, and last but not
least my fellow Bears for mak-
Tony
Page 25
BEAR FACTS
A “Beartastic Day” - Marcus Barr
In July the Koala Bears made a re-
turn visit to Naomi House to give
Dream Rides for the children and
families of Naomi House & Jacksplace Children's Hospice; the two
units care for children up to the
age of 16, and over 16, respectively. The Hospice is undergoing
major renovation this year so the
Middle Wallop Museum of Army
Flying offered to host the event in
cooperation with the adjacent
Army Air Corps - who also fly Father Christmas into the Hospice at
Christmas. Both the Museum and
the AAC were very accommodating and provided free use of the
museum facilities, the Airfield, entry to the museum, the on-site Fire
Engine and even diverted a
helicopter from the Farnborough air show to display for
the children.
The Army Air Corps site is an
operational airfield but we
were offered a non-flying
day so we could use the runway for the main garage with
rides being out on the public
road. We were also able to
use the runway to give short rides
for children who cannot be far
from medical help, an experience
they would not otherwise be able
to have.
With more space we
were able to bring more
cars and invite more
families than before.
We had a deluge of offers to drive which was
only matched by the
threatened deluge from
the sky; it has been a
wet year for car events
but this was the day of
one of the biggest weather warnings in the UK with an amber alert
covering the whole country. But
despite angry clouds, seeing torrential rain falling in the distance,
and reports of flooding in many
nearby towns, the airfield stayed
dry and we only suffered one
short sharp shower.
In total we had
16 cars with a
mix of new and
established
Sporting Bears.
For the children's
sake we collated
a few statistics
which added up
to an impressive
6,000 bhp and
an average of 4
liters & 8 cylinders per car!
Page 26
With a wide variety on offer the
children and young people certainty enjoyed the unique features
each car brought, be it: graceful
elegance, iconic looks, wacky fun,
groundbreaking design, rare &
unusual, race breeding, classic
British, or loud / extra loud.
There was a continuous stream
of cars heading out and back
which Damian & Declan did a
sterling job of safely directing
onto the local roads. The children had free choice of the
cars and could go out as often
as they liked, some must have
been out in every car… at
least twice! They were taken
on a 7 mile set route so we always knew where the cars would
be; we had a specialist vehicle on
standby with a mobile hoist in
case we needed to recover a
passenger.
Families were invited to a morning or afternoon session with the
helicopter display at midday, low
cloud prevented the flying display but the pilot still put on a
good show. Towards the end of
the day the airfield fire crew arrived with their off-road Tender
for some fun, allowing the children into the vehicle and letting
them spray each other with the
AUTUMN 2014
A “Beartastic Day” - (cont’d)
thusiastic and open
supporters for our
children and young
people. It was a
really fun day.
Thank you all for
your many and varied contributions to
the day’s activities.
roof mounted nozzles. There was
even the unexpected arrival of a
vintage Police Car on a wedding
run who stopped by after dropping off the bride.
Despite the threat of rain curtailing some activities, the whole day
was hugely successful and we re-
ceived some great feedback from
the hospice:
"Beartastic thank you!”
“Just wanted to send you and the
team a quick thank you for the incredible day on Saturday. We
were delighted to have enjoyed a
predominantly dry day (apart from
those who wanted to check out the
water pressure of the fire engine!).
The drivers who turned out for the
day could not have been more en-
All good wishes and
thanks – Naomi House"
One of the great
things about this event is meeting
the children and young people
we are usually raising money for,
and to directly see how we can
make a difference to their lives.
involved with Naomi House for a
number of years and am very
pleased to have been able to
help make this event happen. I
would like to make a personal
We aim to make
this event as freeflowing and inclusive as possible so that every
child can enjoy the experience in
the way that is right for them; for
some just seeing and hearing the
cars is enough.
As some will know I have been
Page 27
BEAR FACTS
A “Beartastic Day” - (cont’d)
(Continued from page 27)
from was a very different mat-
some might say it was a koalalition!
Having been to many
events as a driver it
made a welcome change
to be able to give something back and organize
an event myself. This
certainly gave an insight
to all the behind the
scenes work needed for
a Bears event and a new
appreciation of what the
area organisers do, that
said, it is very rewarding
and I would definitely
recommend it.
The venue was just amazing and has already invited us back next year...
so watch this space.
thank you to all the volunteers
who came on the day to drive,
marshall and otherwise help
out; the airfield may have
stayed dry but the journey to &
Page 28
ter. Also, to Huw Page for his
support; Huw was unable to
attend so asked me to lead the
arrangements with himself looking after the Club procedures,
Marcus Barr
AUTUMN 2014
Footsteps Thank You Letter for Wallingford
Page 29
BEAR FACTS
Mello sponsors The Sporting Bears Motor Club by providing all of
the clubs stationery requirements free of charge
Page 30
AUTUMN 2014
Thanks from Jigsaw
I BET YOU’RE GETTING EXCITED - YOU ARE
ALMOST AT PAGE 38!
Page 31
BEAR FACTS
Two thank yous from ABF for Classics in the City (Edinburgh)
Caption Competition Winner
Well, it’s been a bit of a poor show for this competition, so there
are no winners. I did get a few anonymous entries though, along
the lines of:
“These look like a pretty unsavoury bunch - I’d better be a bit
careful unless I end up sleeping with the fishes.”
“The winner gets a free night at The Fat Lamb” - that wasn’t
Paul’s entry, clearly.
“OK, I don’t think anyone would mind if I bet the money we took
at the NEC on the next hand.”
Page 32
AUTUMN 2014
Page 33
BEAR FACTS
Thanks for SuperCar Siege at Leeds Castle
HOLD ON TO YOUR HORSES - PAGE 38 IS
ALMOST HERE!
Page 34
AUTUMN 2014
Caption Competition
This is Tony at Aintree,
but I’m not sure if he’s
getting a stiff talking
to from the Police Officer, or whether it is
the other way round.
Entries via email as
usual please.
keithborkett@hotmail.com
Page 35
BEAR FACTS
REGALIA
Greg & Hilary Cannon
01462 635095
SBMC.Regalia@virginmedia.com
We have known for some time that we would not be able to carry on looking after the Regalia Sales. The
Membership Secretary’s ‘job’ keeps me quite busy and as the membership numbers keep on growing and
growing, it is unlikely to diminish in its demands. So we have decided that we shall have to wrap up the regalia and park it somewhere safe until such time as someone else is able to take it on.
We have had a successful summer with moderate mail order sales as well as attendance at events at Wallingford (Koalas), Woburn (Shires) and Coventry (Midlands). The ‘summer’ stock (shirts, polo shirts etc.) is
now quite low. There are no plans to buy in fresh stock; there are plenty of blue and black embroidered
sweat shirts available as well as a good supply of car stickers, tax disc holders and sundries. Incidentally, if
anyone has any ideas of how tax disc holders can be marketed now that the requirement for tax disc display is coming to an end, please let us know.
We will carry on with mail order sales for the time being and are planning to be at the NEC in November.
After that the remaining regalia will be boxed up and stacked away. Hopefully it will not be too long before it sees the light of day again, under the control of a new Regalia Secretary.
If anyone wants to know more of what is involved, I shall be more than happy to talk to them.
Hilary
The colours shown may not give a true representation of the colours of the actual garments
Unisex Sweat Shirts £20.00 each
Unisex Sweat Shirts £16.00 each
long sleeves, crew neck, with embroidered badge
Make Colour
long sleeves, crew neck, with embroidered badge
S
M
L
XL
XXL
Make Colour
S
Gildan Royal Blue
47”
52”
55”
Fruit of the Loom Navy Blue
40”
Gildan Dark Navy
47”
52”
55”
Screen Stars Navy Blue
38”
M
L
XL
49”
52”
49”
52”
XXL
(embroidered with yellow logo)
Boston Navy Blue
Unisex Baseball Cap £10.00 each
with Velcro size adjustment and embroidered badge
Kustom Kit Red
Make Colour
Hanes Black
Beechfield Royal Blue
One Size
Easy Dark Navy
Beechfield Dark Navy
One Size
Easy Black
46”
48”
40”
45”
Maddins Royal Blue
56”
Unisex V-Necked Fleece £18.00 each
Unisex Zipped Sweat Shirts £16.00 each
long sleeves, with embroidered badge
Make Colour
TU Navy
TU Burgundy
S
XL
XXL
long sleeves, collar, with embroidered badge
M
L
46”
48”
Make Colour
48”
George Black
S
M
48”
JUST ONE MORE TURN OF THE PAGE AND
YOU’RE THERE- YES, PAGE 38!
Page 36
L
XL
XXL
AUTUMN 2014
REGALIA
Greg & Hilary Cannon
01462 635095
SBMC.Regalia@virginmedia.com
Page 37
BEAR FACTS
REGALIA
Greg & Hilary Cannon
01462 635095
SBMC.Regalia@virginmedia.com
Embroidered Badges (sew-on) £3.00 each
Unisex Half-Zip Fleece £18.00 each
Round with blue background - approx 9.5 cm diameter
long sleeves, with embroidered badge
Round with blue background - approx 9 cm diameter
Make Colour
Round with yellow background - approx 8.5 cm diameter
TU Grey
S
M
L
XL
XXL
XL
XXL
47”
Oval with blue background - approx 9.5 cm x 4.5 cm
Unisex Hi-Vis Yellow Jacket £5.00 each
with reflective bands and embroidered or printed logo
Car Stickers £2.00 each
These adhere to the inside of window glass and can be re-used. Yellow, with logo. Round, approx
7 cm diameter.
S
M
Embroidered logo
L
48”
with yellow binding
Surface Stickers £2.00 per sheet of 3
Printed logo
44”
with orange binding
These stick to most things! Two round and one rectangular per sheet. Yellow, with logo. Round,
approx. 7 cm diameter.
Tax Disc Holders £2.00 each
Enamel Pin Badges
Fridge Magnets £2.00 each
Rally plate shape. Pale blue with red car “21 in 2010”
Key-rings £2.00 each
Ball-point pens Black ink £2.00 each
Embroidered cotton bags - various £3.00 each
Pilot Bears (8”) £6.00 each
PAGE 38!
This is it! Well done on making it to Page 38. I hope you think it was worth it!
Apologies, but I’ve wanted to do this for a while, as it tickled me when I first saw it in a
Monty Python book I had when I was in school. And before anyone pipes up, yes, they
did have schools and books in those days. And I know you shouldn’t start a sentence with
“and”, but there you go.
Actually, I think the original was Page 43, but as we don’t have that number of pages in
this issue I had to ad-lib. Some of us never grow up eh?
Keith
Page 38
AUTUMN 2014
Forthcoming Events
November 2014
14th-16th Lancashire Insurance Classic Motor Show, NEC
Andrew Lake
andrew.lake@talk21.com
December 2014
7th
Polars Lunch (Collingwood Arms)
13th
Miles for Smiles, Isle of Wight
Fiona Davies
Clive & Sue Ford
ysy705@aol.com
clivef@uwclub.net
February 2015
1st
Annual General Meeting, Gaydon
Neville Colvin
secretary@sportingbears.co.uk
CARTOON CORNER
“Dad I’m hungry”
“Hello Hungry, I’m Dad”
“No, I’m serious”
“I thought you were Hungry”
“You’re kidding me”
“No, I’m Dad”
This is an actual road sign seen in
Wales. The English is fine, but
the problem is that the Welsh
translation reads “I am not in the
office at the moment. Please
send any work to be translated”.
Page 39