The Fairford Classic Car Club

FCCC goes to the Dogs

Well not literally, but we did make a visit to the Swindon dog track at the beginning of December. This has become an annual event and this year nine members enjoyed a very good dinner, in a very party atmosphere. A lot of fun was had by all, and after 14 races we all had our fair share of winners and losers, but no one had to declare bankruptcy!

No, we did not take our greyhounds but I am sure that if we had they would have been straining at their leashes to get on the track. Some people may be surprised that Jill and I support dog racing, but fortunately it is a very small number of trainers and/or owners who treat their dogs badly. The dogs just love to run and they do not have anybody sitting on their backs forcing them on! To prove the point, after one race three of the dogs, on finishing their race, turned round and decided to carry on in the opposite direction – no hare, just pure exuberance.

Anyhow, come along next year and you will be assured of a good evening.

Malcolm Cutler, Dec 09

FCCC Visit to Aston Martin Owners’ Club 'Barn'

Well, they call it their barn, and from the pictures of it before it was ‘rebuilt’ it was a crumbling wreck. However, after a full refurbishment, which would probably make the rebuild of a DB2/4 look easy, it now makes a fitting venue for an amazing collection of Aston Martin memorabilia, trophies and their archives.

Our visit was kindly arranged through Johnny Dallow who lives in Fairford and brought the club’s 1934 Ulster to the Church Fete at the Walnut Tree field last year. On the night, 16 members followed their maps, sat navs and/or pure intuition and eventually found their way to Drayton St Leonard, near Wallingford where we were made very welcome by Johnny and his colleague. As classic car enthusiasts, we have all followed Aston’s ups and down over the past 50+ years but, through the excellent presentation given to us, we came to realise just how close Aston came to disappearing. The evening concluded with a leisurely viewing of the ‘barn’s contents, which includes all the important competition trophies, except for probably the most important, that of their Le Mans win in 1959, which was lost and has never been recovere

The barn and museum is open to visitors on Wednesday afternoons but I hope that we will be able to organise another visit in the future, possibly in the daylight and combining one of our classic runs. A big thank you to Johnny and the Aston Martin Owners Club.

Malcolm Cutler, Oct 09

To St Georges Day Run 2009

View the photo album of the St Georges Day Run.

To Valentines Day Run 2009