Summer Verzons

Mark Garfitt’s second Summer Serendipity took place at the The Verzons hotel near Ledbury on August 15, encouraged by the VSCC and supported by Mike Moss of Weston’s Cider who put six flagons of it in the cars most favoured by Ginny Coomber, who with her husband Fred, donated the main prize of champagne, won by David Franklin, the VSCC Secretary, who came furthest, from Guildford in his 1929 10/25 Rover. Special awards were made to Hamish Moffat who flew his 1929 DH Gipsy Moth into and out of an adjacent field, Mel Henson for bringing his rare Rochet Schneider, and Geoff and Kate Smith with their Straker Squire. Musical entertainment of a high standard was provided by the Andy Masefield jazz band.

Of the 60 or so vintage cars, Mark came in Sally Marsh’s T35T Bugatti and was joined by Lord Raglan’s 151, a T35C, 144 and a Brescia, the Grays were in their GN, Ron Ross in an HE Six, Oliver Tomlin, who had passed his test on the previous Tuesday, arrived from Usk in a sports Triumph Gloria bought new by his grandmother in 1937. A count of other cars listed two Alvis, three Aston Martins, a Monza Alfa, five Austins, including a 12/4, two Bentleys, one BMW 327/80, a Frazer Nash, two Ford-As, two Numbers, two Invictas, a Lanchester, three Lagondas, a Lancia, a couple of MGs, two Morgan three-wheelers, a Morris, a Renault, three Rileys, a Swift saloon, a Talbot, and a Wolseley Hornet Special — if you want to know how VSCC folk motor to socials. In addition there were two vintage motorcycles, one being Ray and Barbara Moses on an Arid, the aged Thames cider van, and two couples from Dymchurch on tandems. A rainfree, joyous day. W B