ZR/ZS/ZT Register News
Zeds in The Lakes Tour and Zeds in the North
The ZR/ZS/ZT Register made its first foray into organising a tour with the Zeds in the Lakes tour in September. The tour was organised through Scenic Car Tours and was based at the Riverside Hotel in Kendal. Nine cars were on the tour and came from as far as Hampshire and Stirling. Two couples made special efforts to make it on the Friday as bizarrely they both had the same problem with theirs ZRs. Both had seized brake callipers shortly after setting out. Both couple returned to their respected homes and swapped over to their second car. In the case of Francois and Hartley MacDonald their ZT and Sheila and Colin Ballard in their MG6.
On the Saturday the group set out on a drive taking in Ambleside, Keswick and Ullswater with Rob Johns in the lead car. The outward leg was via Kirkstone Pass where we stopped at a pull in for photo opportunities with terrific views out over the pass towards Ullswater. Then on via a scenic route along the shores of Ullswater to Keswick. There things went awry as the town was extremely busy causing many on the tour to lose contact with each other. Everyone then split up into various groups and returned to the hotel at their own speed. However each in their own way seemed to have an enjoyable afternoon. Even the weather bucked up from being cloudy and misty in the morning to a glorious sunny afternoon.
On the Sunday the tour included the Zeds in the North event at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. There we were joined at Haverthwaite Station by another half a dozen local cars joining us for the day making a display of all ages and colours of zeds including a 1958 ZB Magnette. Most people took the opportunity to ride the train to Lakeside which was included in the tour, some also then going on the connecting steamer across the lake to Bowness. The weather had been forecast to be wet but luckily it turned out to be sunny. One thing that couldn’t have been better if we had tried to organise it was that the steam locomotive on duty for the day was “Victor” the ex-Longbridge shunting engine. This was to the delight of a couple of the railway buffs on the tour who had wanted to see this particular engine for years, and those with an interest in the birthplace of our cars.
On the Monday it was time to disperse home, although some decided to head out for further photo opportunities before starting the journey back. This was the first time the register had arranged such a tour which had been postponed from last year because of the pandemic. Nevertheless a good time seemed to be enjoyed by all the participants and we will probably be looking to organise more in future. Perhaps back to the Lakes as we felt we had only just scratched to surface of everything the area had to offer. Special thanks are due to Rob Johns who stepped in as the tour organiser at short notice.
Zeds in The North
ZR/ZS/ZT Register are pleased to announce that the ‘Zeds in the North’ event that was planned for September 2020 at the Lakeside Motor Museum has been rescheduled at a new venue for September 2021.
The event will now be held at the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway on Sunday 12th September. Details of the railway can be found here https://www.lakesiderailway.co.uk/
November Safety Fast Newsletter 2019
John Thompson Tel: 01702 298833 johnt5@btinternet.com www.mgcc.co.uk/zedregister
EVENTS AND SHOWS
On Saturday 5th October we returned to Snetterton for the finale to the 2019 racing season. A full report on the days racing can be found in the motorsport section of the club website.
The following day we held our second Open Day at Kimber House. After a quiet start we had a full car park and around fifteen ZEDs by midday which was a fantastic turnout. Some of our visitors had not been to Kimber House before and were treated to the full tour including the archive. We would like to thank Mark Stacey from Kmaps for giving us all and excellent presentation about his career with MG Rover, his post-Longbridge work and the remapping upgrades for the K-series engine.
Some ZEDs were remapped during the afternoon and left with more performance than when they arrived! After the day closed, we held ourAGM.
We had a number of ‘exciting announcements’ at our Open Day, these included the dates for some of the upcoming events for next year. MG Saloon Day 2020 will take place at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon on Saturday 25th July. We also announced our four-day road trip, ZEDs at the Lakes, which takes place in the Lake District over the weekend of 11th -14th September 2020. This event has been jointly organised with Scenic Car Tours. The weekend also includes our annual regional event ‘ZEDs in the North’ which takes place at the Lakeland Motor Museum on Sunday 13th September.
We returned to the Castle Combe racing circuit on 26th October for Supercar Saturday. All monies raised at this charity event go to the Stroke Association, which has been our charity for this year. There will be a full report on this event in the next register update.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Our final show of the year, the Classic Motor Show at the NEC, takes place over the weekend of the 8th/9th and 10th November. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure a stand at the show this year; don’t let that deter you from attending! The main club will have a stand so please go and support them. It is an excellent show and well worth attending if you haven’t done so before.
We are currently in the process of putting together the remainder of our 2020 Events Calendar, so keep those diaries to hand for further information. We will also announce our nominated charity for 2020 very soon.
