Tyne Tees Centre News
Central Natter Night launching Sept 21st
MG Car Club Tyne Tees Centre will launch a third monthly Natter Night this September, with a new Central Natter at the Cock Crow Inn, Hebburn
Taking place on Monday, September 21 from 7:30pm the new Natter will join the Northern and Southern meets and is inteded to provide an accessible Natter for members in and around Tyne & Wear.
Run by a host and providing an enjoyable social evening Natter Nights are a great way to hear first hand the latest news and full details of all upcoming events in the current Tyne-Tees Centre calendar.
For the inaugural meeting of the Central Natter this will provide a great opportunity to relive the 18th running of the Tyne Tees Centre Old Speckled Hen run and look ahead to October’s Autumn Leaves.
With a large car park available at The Cock Crow Inn, a just for fun Pride of Ownership competition will take place ahead of a full competition in 2027, so do come along in your MG or other interesting car!
Whilst pre=registering with Central Natter host Andy Robson is not essential, having an idea of attendee numbers will allow the venue to ensure enough space is set aside so please do message if you would like to come along.
MG Car Club Tyne Tees Centre – Central Natter
Venue – The Cock Crow Inn, Mill Lane, Hebburn, NE31 2EY
Date – Monday 21st September
Time – 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Host – Andy Robson
Contact details – robbo1701@hotmail.com | 07738 336852
Summer Fun on Prince Bishops & St Cuthbert’s Runs
Sunday 5th July 2026 was the date for our premier road run event of the year, the combined Prince Bishops Run and St Cuthbert’s Run, starting from Stokesley and Plantsplus Garden Centre near Ponteland respectively.
Both runs this year had a new organiser with our Vice Chair Andy Clarke handling the St Cuthbert’s Run and Hon Secretary Dave White the Prince Bishops Run.
We had a total of 38 entries this year, with 16 starting from the north and the remaining 22 from the south, after suitable refreshment and drivers briefing of course! 
Both routes were approximately 100 miles and covered many of the interesting roads in our area, with lunch halts and Darlington and Allenheads pencilled in, but some cars enjoyed a picnic outside of these towns and in the scenery on route.
The Prince Bishop Run took the cars on a winding route south from Stokesley to Chop Gate and then through some very minor roads of North Yorkshire to Northallerton and onwards (with a little diversion to Scruton due to bridge closures) to Darlington.
After lunch it was off towards Bishop Auckland and the Wear Valley, before arriving in Durham at The Story.
Entrants on the St Cuthbert’s Run had a brand-new route this year, after leaving Plantsplus they headed north west towards Otterburn, before turning south back through Bellingham and Haydon Bridge towards the lunch halt at Allenheads. 
After lunch the cars had an easier route down the Wear Valley, though Rookhope, Stanhope and on towards Durham, finally linking up with the cars from the south in Willington.
The finish venue this year was new to us, The Story at Mount Oswalds, a superb venue just on the outskirts of Durham City with excellent grounds for parking and on site catering facilities.
To make things even better they had arranged for a choir and catering truck for the public to enjoy, as well as ourselves. Suffice to say we will be returning!
Cream teas were available for those taking part and were served from our own room inside the building, provided by the on-site staff and laid out ready for our arrival.
While people were enjoying their cream tea the mystery judges were hard at work deciding upon their favourite car in each category, not an easy task.
After some deliberation their choices were made and the winners were as follows:
The Van Mildert Trophy for 1924 – 1955 cars:
Stephen & Megan Lidgate – MGTC
The Prince Bishops Trophy for 1955 – 1980 cars:
Henry & Margaret Tennant – MGA Coupe
The Prebends Trophy for post 1981 cars:
Connor Armstrong – MGTF 160
Spirit of the Event Award:
Doug Carmichael for his ingenuity and determination to avoid the award nobody wants, as well as get home!
It goes without saying that these events take a lot of work and could not be so successful without the efforts of Andy Clarke, Elaine Clarke David, Lynda and Matt Alexander, Dennis Hope, Paul Anderson and Peter and Judith Bagley, thank you to everyone.
In addition, we must thank our host venues for their help and cooperation, without them it just doesn’t happen so thank you to:
Il Mulino Stokesley
North Yorkshire Council
Darlington Borough Council
Plantsplus Garden Centre
The Story at Mount Oswalds
Entries open for Old Speckled Hen run
Entries are now open for the 18th running of the MG Car Club Tyne-Tees Centre Old Speckled Hen Run, supported by Damm UK.
One of the main road runs of the club’s event calendar, the 2026 edition will offer a refreshed route with a new base for the day as Lanchester Garden Centre plays host to both the start and finish.
Having ran out of Raby Castle near Darlington for a number of years, the switch to North West Durham, is set to open up new roads and vistas to be enjoyed along the way.
Entries cost £35 per car for MG Car Club members and £40 per car for non-members with the fee covering teas and coffees at the start, cream teas at the finish for two people and the event road book.
Full details and entry forms cab be found here, on the Future Events page of the website.
Club stand spaces available for upcoming shows
A busy summer of car shows is in full flow and members of the MGCC Tyne Tees Centre can still be part of the centre’s presence with spaces on stands still available.
Following on from successful displays at the Croft Classic to Modern Motorshow in May and Classics and the Castle in June, the centre has arranged stands at the following events.
Saturday July 11th – Hexham Classic Car & Motorsport Show
Saturday August 1 – Wings & Wheels , Athey’s Moor Flying School (NE65 8EG)
Sunday August 23rd – Cumbria Classic & Motorsport Show, Dalemain (CA11 0HB)
Monday August 31st – Stamfordham Classic & Sports Car Show –
MGCC Tyne Tees Centre stands at all the above shows are being coordinated by David Alexander, for more details on each show and how to go about being part of the centre’s displays, please read on.
Where necessary, David can be contacted on email, which can be found on the centre contacts page by clicking here.
Taking place at Hexham and Northern Marts (NE46 3SG) MGCC Tyne Tees Centre will be part of a diverse range of classic and competition vehicle on display, with a stand for 10 cars organised.
Running from 10:00 – 15:00, this annual car show of Hexham and District Motor Club attracts car enthusiasts from across the North.
Entry into the show costs £5 per car with exhibitor tickets available to book here
Exhibiting cars are required to be on site prior to the show opening to the public at 10am
A new event for 2026, Wings and Wheels is free to attend with entry for two attendees per exhibiting car.
Arrival is from 09:00 with all display cars required to be in position by 10:45am ahead of the show opening to the public at 11am.
Organised by Wigton Motor Club, the Cumbria Classic and Motorsport Show is a well established show with a maximum entry of 800 cars and in 2025 was visited by more than 4,000 spectators.
Entry for exhibiting cars costs £5, with tickets being booked directly by David and members paying him for their space on the day.
Entries however close on July 11th so to be part of this show, please email David ASAP.
Rounding out the month on Bank Holiday Monday, the annual Stamfordham show takes place between 1pm and 4pm on the village playing fields and is a popular event that attracts a wide range of cars.
Entry is free though a voluntary donation of £5 per car is requested to help cover event costs.
Display cars asked to arrive between 10am and 12Noon
Classics at the Castle 28th June 2026
Sunday 28th June saw MG Car Club Tyne Tees Centre members attend the 2026 edition of the Classics at the Castle car show, organised by Durham Auto Club take place at Raby Castle near Darlington.
With longstanding links between the two clubs via motorsport, the centre decided to make this year’s event one with a full club stand and support as much as possible.
With a positive weather forecast and the lure of the excellent Raby Castle bacon sandwiches, 19 cars assembled in the castle’s deer park on the stand, with a superb range lined up
From T series to MG3, via A, B and C, F and TF, along with ZR, and ZS, the display went down well with visitors and judges alike, with the MGCC Tyne Tees Centre taking home the trophy for the Best Club Stand.
With the 2027 show set for Sunday 27th June the defence of the trophy is surely a date for the diary next year.
Thank you to all members for their support.
