September 2012 meeting

a post-Olympic patriotic line-up

September brought us a gloriously sunny day and five spridgets in a range of patriotic colours. Rob & Jenni had got their blue k-midget back on the road after a few months of repair work, John & Carol came down from County Durham in their red Sprite which had just passed it's MOT, and Tim & Sarah were in their white Sprite. Then what could be a more patriotic colour than British Racing Green, the colour of Alan's RWA, who came up from Doncaster. Harvey & Leslie also came across, and we all had great pie. There are some pictures here of the meeting. 

August 2012 meeting

least power -v- most power

A lower than usual turn out in August, with many people away on their holidays, but we still had 3 spridgets and a Rover P6 gracing Ye Jolly Farmers' car park. It was particularly good to meet Russell who has recently bought a Caterham powered k-series midget (formerly of Alan Lo in Bristol), and he and Rob were able to compare detailed notes on k-series technical stuff - Rob's midget will be back on the road for the September meeting. Also good to see the ever charming and heavily patina'd Cybil, Jason & Michelle's Mk II Sprite, out and about. There are some pictures here of the meeting. 

July 2012 Meeting

 a cheery arrival on a lovely day

We had our youngest ever attendee this month with baby Isla, at 3 weeks of age. Seven spridgets spanning most of the range, from frogeye to 1500, and an MGB, came out to play in the sun. It was particularly good to see Hilary enjoying her frog again after working so hard to recover from her serious neck injury last year. As usual many of us enjoyed a piece of Lynne’s pie after a rather delayed entry into Ye Jolly Farmers due to baby and car chatter... There are some pictures of the meet here. 

Meeting in June 2012

typical British Summer Time

On the anniversary of "Midget 50", we had a repeat torrential downpour.  More fool me for only leaving the tonneau on rather than the roof - yes I did get a wet bum on the way home! We were joined by Dale and Freda in their Mk IV Sprite and Porsche, who have recently moved to the Lake District from Hampshire, and Yorkshire is their closest meeting.  Rob & Jenni were in the P6 as their k-midget was poorly, plus some other regulars came in their modern cars, perhaps sensibly considering the major thunderstorm that unfolded... In view of the wetness, no pictures (apart from the above) taken.

Meeting in May 2012

brightly coloured turn-out on a hot sunny day

We had a turn out of five bright, patriotically coloured spridgets in May, which sparkled in the early summer sun.  We were also joined by a Z4, a pre-war J2, and quite a few in daily drivers who either had restoration projects or whose cars were undergoing work.  Superb banter and homemade pies as ever. There are some pictures of the meet here. 

Meeting in March 2012

shiny newly refurbished Atlantis Midget

We had a good turnout at March's meeting at the first sunny spring meeting of the year. Four spridgets turned up, and several others in modern cars.  In particular it was good to see Dave Wigley's MkII Sprite "Dinky" out after a lot period off the road having a new floor put in last year, and to poke over Mark Hall's Atlantis Midget that has now had a full engine rebuild and new clutch system more suited to the 1700 crossflow fitted to complement the excellent body restoration carried out last year.  Rob & Jenni in the k-midget took a break from their winter P6 steed, and Tim & Sarah's "Sebrina" made it out of the garage for the first time since December.  The steak and ale as ever was excellent and the company great.  Here's hoping for a great spring and summer of spridgeting...

There are some pictures from the meeting here.

Winter 2011 / 2012 Meetings

a dirty autumnal spridget

We hope that you can join us at our meetings over the winter on the second Saturday of each month at Ye Jolly Farmers Inn, Dalton near Thirsk, from 12:30pm onwards. A warm welcome and great homemade pie awaits! Map here. 

Sarah & Tim

October 2011 Meeting

at Ye Jolly Farmers on the Canada Run, early October

October’s meeting at Ye Jolly Farmers was a complete contrast to the heat of the Canada Rub in early October, as it was on a wet autumn day, but was well attended with Jason & Michelle, Mike in his frog (bravely without roof), Ken in Little Red, Steve & Barbara in their midget, and John in EEV the Sprite. Good company, good banter, and excellent homemade grub.

Sarah & Tim

September 2011 Meeting

How many MASCites to change a rotor arm?

September’s meeting at Ye Jolly Farmers on a day of variable weather was well attended with regulars Rob & Jenni (in their Series 2 Landrover for a change), Dave in Dinky the Mk2 Sprite, Peter & Leonie in their 1500, Pete in Ariel the Mk 3 Sprite, Ken in Marmalade his MGB, Sarah in Daphne, Tim in Sebrina, and John & Carol who were sans spridget. As ever the homemade pies, halves of tasty real ale, and company were excellent. 

Pete had to get back to Wakefield and was one of the first to set off after lunch, but unfortunately Ariel ground to a halt just outside of Topcliffe, so the Yorkshire MASC rescue brigade set out en mass (with assorted breakdown tourists) to give him a hand. Suffering what was clearly an ignition problem, over the next hour a new rotor arm, condenser, and spark plug were fitted at the roadside along with points being opened and carb dashpots being topped up. All of this resulted in getting the car started, but as it was still running very rough, Pete got it into the village and safety of a pub car park for recovery. A valiant team effort by all. Ariel now has electronic ignition!

Sarah & Tim

August 2011 Mtg at Ye Jolly Farmers

EEV and other spridgets after lunch

We were surprised at August’s meeting to see Jason & Michelle turn up with some new-fangled form of eco-spridget, aka on a tandem bike! They almost had us believing that they had cycled the 70 odd miles up from Doncaster to Dalton, but later they were caught red-handed loading it into the back of Jason’s van... 

It was also good to see regulars Rob & Jenni, along with new folks John and Carol who have recently bought an Iris blue frogeye and Peter & Leonie in their 1500. It was also good to see the “Spridget Family” aka Paul and Lorraine in their Weller-wheeled 1500 and sons Sam and Adam in their newly restored red frogeye of which they are rightly proud. John came in EEV, his daughter’s Sprite which he is fettling and which was partially stripped down, but at least he’s managed to cure its overheating problems since we last saw him. 

After excellent pies at Ye Jolly Farmers, a few of us had a little run up to Hawnby for afternoon tea and cakes.

There is a really great set of photos here.

Sarah & Tim

July 2011 Mtg at Ye Jolly Farmers

ecurie Saunders

After June’s bumper meeting, July was a much quieter affair with only 5 midgets venturing out on a showery summer’s day.

After helping Sarah fix the lights on her new white 1965 Sprite “Daphne”, Rob & Jenni in the k-midget followed Sarah in Daphne and Tim in Sebrina (aka Ecurie Saunders) to Ye Jolly Farmers, where we were joined by Mike Bainbridge in his frog, and ultimately by Tony in his 4AGE Midget. Unfortunately Tony had to walk the last few hundred yards as his alternator gave up the ghost, but at least the waiting time for the recovery truck was long enough for a chip butty and refreshing half.

Sarah & Tim

June Mtg at Ye Jolly Farmers

Sprites leaving June's meeting

We had a fantastic turn out at June’s meeting, with 11 spridgets and a couple of modern cars in attendance, figures doubtless being boosted by former area reps Anita & Mark’s attendance during their holiday from Australia, and by folk driving together down to Midget 50 after the meeting.

In addition to regulars Rob & Jenni in their k-midget, Harvey & Lesley in their Austin Sprite, Ken & Julie in their Mk 1 Midget “Little Red”, and John & Jeanette in their 1500, we were joined by Mike Bainbridge in his frog, Geoff & Hilary in their frog, and Tony in his Toyota 4AGE powered Midget. Guy & Hazel from Cumbria in their Austin Sprite called in en route to Burghley House and Anita & Mark were over from the Gold Coast in Anita’s Mk 3 Sprite “Kevin” which had been taken out of storage for their UK visit.

Finally, in addition to our own Sebrina (Sarah’s new Mk 3 Sprite “Daphne” staying under wraps this month), we were joined by Steve from Peterlee in his very pretty Peugeot french blue midget on its second ever day out after restoration.

Pictures from the meeting are here.

Sarah & Tim

May Meeting at Ye Jolly Farmers

May's line-up

May’s meeting had a good mix of old and new spridget friends with Peter & Dorothy travelling across the Pennines in their newly finished white frog with rather posh new hood; Paul who came down from South Shields in his lovely and very freshly painted red & white frog, giving the car a decent length test run; Paul & Lorraine from Great Ayton who had bought a set of Weller wheels for their RWA, but a 1500 with MOT came attached, so they thought they’d bring it for a test drive; Dave in Dinky (Mk2 Sprite) which now has a completely new floor welded in and is back on the road after a long break, and last but not least, Rob & Jenni in the k-midget. Embarrassingly for us, everyone’s cars were immaculately clean apart from ours… maybe Sebrina will get a wash before June's meeting!

Pictures from the meeting are here.

Sarah & Tim

April Mtg - Sat 9th April

Pete & Lu on the road in Ariel

The glorious spring sunshine brought out the midgets (and the sprites) in April, when we got to see Ken’s Mk I midget “Little Red”, along with Pete & Lu’s Mk 3 Sprite “Ariel”, both for the first time. Rob’s paint job on his k-midget is slowly progressing as well, with one side shiny and one side matt – doing all the work outside, maybe with the good spring weather by May he will have been able to finish the job!

After the meeting we had an impromptu little spridget drive south to Tadcaster to make the most of the lovely day - you can see some great photos of our drive here.

Sarah & Tim

Meeting on Saturday 12th March 2011

at Nunnington Hall

March’s meeting at Ye Jolly Farmers was a small but select gathering of the North Eastern chapter of the area, with Dave & Ann travelling down from Northumberland in their bright yellow frog, Rob & Jen calling in on their way up to Northumberland in Rob’s newly painted k-midget, and Eric & Nicki coming down from Wallsend in their big Healey (Eric’s frog being mid-way through a 20 year restoration).

After a really good lunch we went for a bracing roof down scenic drive through the Hambleton Hills to Nunnington Hall with its peacocks for afternoon tea and cakes. Given the number of members in the North East, we had some discussions about possibly holding a trial meeting somewhere near Newcastle in the summer, so watch this space for more details over coming months.

You can see some great pictures of our drive to Nunnington by clicking here.

Sarah & Tim

February 2011 Meeting at Ye Jolly Farmers

valentine's sprites at February's mtg

We had another great meeting at Ye Jolly Farmers in February, with 4 sprites and 2 midgets in attendance, plus plenty of others in more modern cars.

It was a pleasure to welcome several new members to the meeting this month. Pete & Lou and their kids who have recently acquired a Mk 3 Sprite which is still having some work done on it, came up from near Wakefield, as did Chris & Phil whose car is also under restoration at the moment. John came down from Richmond in his daughter’s 69 Sprite which has been having some overheating problems, which several old hands tried to diagnose (and admired the rather nice paint job).

It was also great to see old friends Roger who had driven up from York “roof down” in his Sprite and Harvey & Lesley who had come across from Wharfedale with hardtop on the Austin Sprite, in addition to local monthly regulars Rob & Jenny in their k-midget, Kevin in his RWA, and John & Jeanette in their daily driver.

April promises to be busy. Due to the proximity of Easter to various other events, we are not having a Hot X Run on Good Friday this year. Instead we will be organising a road run on Drive It Day, Sunday 17th April, and then on Friday 29th April, The Royal Wedding Run (for those who wish to avoid being sat in front of the telly all day!). More details follow here shortly.

Sarah & Tim

Happy New Year - January 2011

"Mr OJ"

January saw our third monthly meeting at our new fixed venue of Ye Jolly Farmers Inn in Dalton. Luckily the snow had washed away, but roads were still icy, as was the pub car park. However despite the weather we had our best recent turn out, with 16 Yorkshire Spridgeteers enjoying the real ale and some new flavours of excellent homemade pie. And amazingly for Yorkshire January weather, 4 spridgets!

The “Member From Afar” award went to new MASC member Davey from some way north of Newcastle up in Northumbria, who made a lengthy journey in his newly purchased bright yellow, orange juice coloured frog which has a number plate conveniently including the letters “OJ”. Yorkshire is Davey’s nearest meeting with a round trip of 160 miles, and although we don’t expect to see him every month, it was great to meet him and we hope to see him on some of our events in the Spring.

Hardy Rob and Jenny made the journey from York in their K-midget roofless and heaterless, as per usual. Kevin brought his midget up from Easingwold, and Sebrina our Sebring GT Midget started first time and was very well behaved despite being rested since November.

It was also great to see some old faces we hadn’t seen for a while with Geoff and Hilary, Claire and Ian, and Dave Wigley coming in modern transport. Jason and Michelle and Frank Clough also joined us and contributed to the general bonhomie, along with new members Ken and Julie who joined us for their second meeting.

Sarah & Tim

December 2010 mtg at Ye Jolly Farmers

snowy Atlantis outside Ye Jolly Farmers

After two weeks of very heavy snow in North Yorkshire before our December meeting, it was a real joy to not only have a turnout of 12 people, but also to actually have a midget in the car park. Mark and Ken came up from Eccleshill in Mark’s Ford crossflow powered Atlantis Midget (formely owned by Anita and featured in various magazines) which has had a full strip-down and bodywork restoration over the summer, and which now looking amazing. Mark has been using it at various Yorkshire historic motorsports events, and in the heavy snow, has also been a taxi for some of his work colleagues whose modern cars have been unable to cope, whilst his 40 year old rally car has breezed through the worst of it!

We also welcomed new members Ken & Julie who have a very original Mk I Midget (safely tucked up for the winter) and Michael & Tina whose Midget is currently off the road pre-MOT. It was lovely to see John & Carol who ventured down from their farm in the Durham Dales (no mean feat given the weather) and John & Jeanette who had made the most of the blue skies and break in sub-zero temperatures to come up from Leeds. Ken kept us entertained with tales of the Canadians who had occupied most of the airfields in the area around Dalton during WW2, and he is interested in organising a spridget run next summer around various airfields and places of interest.

We look forward to seeing more of you in 2011.

Sarah & Tim

November 2010 Mtg at Ye Jolly Farmers

looking at Rob's newly fitted K-series

Yorkshire's first newly resurrected meeting at Ye Jolly Farmers on 13 November was a success with three spridgets turning out on a very cold day. Kevin came up from Easingwold and Rob and partner came up from York for a warming pie at Ye Jolly Farmers. We also had a lot of apologies from other area members who were otherwise tied up this weekend. Rob has recently fitted a 1.4 k-series into his midget doing much of the adaptation work himself, and created his own telescopic front suspension using mini shocks which was very impressive. His Bertone leather seats from a Fiat X1/9 were also a revelation!

We look forward to seeing more of you at December's meeting.

Sarah & Tim

Yorkshire MASC Autumn Run

On Sunday 24th October a few of us made the best of the good weather, and had a run out on a gloriously crisp autumnal day. Frank & Val in Frank's white midget and Andrea in her Austin Sprite met up with us at the John Smith's brewery in Tadcaster. We then went on a follow-our-noses drive through Hambleton across the toll bridge at Aldwark and up through the Hambleton Hills to Ampleforth. The original plan was to aim for the Lion Inn at Blakey Head, but given the heavy rain visible up on the moors on the distance, discretion was the greater part of valour, and we diverted to Ye Jolly Farmer's instead for a great home-made lunch.

In the afternoon we drove up to Osmotherly and then came down Snilesworth Moor to Hawnby for tea and afternoon cakes at the village tea rooms. Altogeher a great drive out, and all cars behaved themselves perfectly.

There is a great set of pictures here.

Tim & Sarah