Club History

My then newly acquired MGBGT, needed fuel and coincidentally so did another owner of a lovely Tundra GT V8, who pulled to the other pump. As the long- haired 6ft 3 guy stepped out (Ian Storry) we nodded to one another & as was the norm in those days started chatting about our love for our cars as we filled up. On completion we parked up and continued to talk and this developed into an arranged meet up the following evening.

During that further chat, we both agreed that whilst the MGCC and MGOC offered a newsletter and membership, they were not local, and in the case of the MGOC was commercially run. So we discussed the idea of forming a ‘local’ not for profit club for MG Car Enthusiasts. Ian was a printer, and made up some leaflets and between him and our families we distributed these under MG Car windscreen wipers whenever we saw one parked up.

In the early Spring of 1980, we got the offer of being interviewed on Radio Blackburn (BBC Lancashire as it is now) which I volunteered to do and promoted the idea of a inaugural meeting of all MG owners and enthusiasts to join us at the McKenzie Arms in Bamber Bridge, Preston on July 9th with the idea of forming a new club.

So on that agreed evening, myself, Ian and Gordon Martin (MGC owner & Ians brother in law) met at 6.30pm, in our cars wondering if any other owners & enthusiasts would appear? By 7:30/8:00pm the large truck size car-park was full of 75/80 cars and people! It was then down to me, to address the assembled crowd (without a PA) and as they say … the rest is history.

Some 43 years later, the club has maintained a healthy 60/70 members and gone through a number of changes and monthly meeting venues, but has maintained its original ethos and values it offered at its inception in 1980.

I left the club, in the mid’80’s after a career opportunity took me to the Middle East, only to rejoin again 30 years later in 2015, when I retired from work and had a MG.

During all those intervening years the club has had many successful years and events run by many fellow members who joined the committee and arranged the club’s activities and annual calendars. Many noteable trips were made to Le Mans for several years, and factory trips to TVR, Jaguar Brown Lane, and Rolls Royce as well as weekend trips to National Circuits and Europe.

Dave Ormandy took over from me on the Committee and for more than a decade and steered the club in a memorable manner before handing over the reins, to Gordon Mallet (our longest serving Committee member of 30+ years) who continues to keep our membership records accurate.

The cuurent club chairman is Roy Clapham who has for a number of years steered the club and continues to do a sterling job, with the past help of Tony Sharples, Godfrey Dennis and Bill Ryding (RIP) who established the Long Weekend Away, which continues to feature each year as a very popular calendar event.

Long may these days and events continue!

Eric Smith – Club President – June 2023.