Latest Section News

The first meeting of 2010 took place at the Rudgleigh Inn on Thursday 4th Feb. This will now be our regular haunt for the time being. We'd like to welcome Simon Kershaw to the section. He's recently purchased a 3.0 litre GTV "Cup" and we look forward to seeing it at some of our upcoming events. Talking of which a provisional programme of events for 2010 was discussed and can be found on the Events page.

Our section Xmas meal at "Aqua" on Whiteladies Road on Thursday 10th Dec was a great success and I believe the fifteen attendees really had a good night.  The restaurant was packed with Xmas revellers and so there was a very lively atmosphere, yet the quality of the food and service was excellent!

A number of us met up on Sunday 1st November with Andy and others from the Devon section for a drive over Exmoor. Strong winds and rain gave way to intermittent sunshine, making the moorland scenery delightful. However our route co-incided with 2000 cyclists doing a time trial on Exmoor, so for the last 20 miles we had to slalom through the bikes! Excellent lunch as always at Luxborough.

Martin & Sarah have just returned from a 2500 mile round trip through France, Italy and Switzerland. Although very early in the season, there was plenty of snow on the high cols, which made life interesting without snow chains! The 159 sportswagon performed brilliantly and also turned in a respectable overall mpg. Above on the Col de St Martin.

There was a strong turn out for the October meeting at Pill. The main topic of discussion was the venue for the upcoming Xmas meal and after much debate it was agreed (I think) to try "Ronnies" at Thornbury. As no-one has actually been there, MK volunteered to check it out within the next month. He'll report back at the next meeting in November.

The August meeting was a drive to the Dog at Old Sodbury. The weather (as usual this summer) wasn't great, so Mark could not lower the soft-top. Plus a bomb scare created traffic havoc around Bristol! In September we are back to Pill. See Events page for more details.

Our July section meeting was a run out to the White Hart at Wrington. Good turn out of section vehicles covering 70's through to the present.

Some us attended the Cotswold Alfa Day at Sudeley Castle at the end of June on a beautiful sunny day. There were numerous Bertones present (see below) most of them in much better nick than MK's!
There was also a very unusual Alfa van from the 50's which has been restored by Black and White garage. Great day out!

This was a busy time of the year for the section, with events coming thick and fast. The Gibbins and the Zorzos headed off to Le Mans at the end of June and by all accounts the trip was a great success, camping right next to the track. Dave and Lynn also represented the section at National Alfa Day in Yorkshire.

Our annual paddock meeting was held at John and Peggy's on 4th June. It was a beautiful warm, sunlit evening and a record turnout of 13 cars, with several new members joining us for the first time. We would like to welcome Ian Bateman with his beautiful Junior Zagato (pictured above), Phil Sweet in his Alfa GT and lastly Alex Pouter and his girlfriend in two Alfa 33's!!! Once again a big thankyou to John and Peggy for their hospitality.

Martin & Sarah (plus friends) upheld the honour of the Bristol Section by winning the Cornish treasure hunt held on Sun 17th May. It was a very enjoyable day criss-crossing the peninsula in search of numerical clues to unlock Dave Newby's pirates treasure chest. The weather could have been better, as we were battered by driving rain and gale force winds in the morning but the sun came out after lunch, as we wound our way through Cornish lanes full of bluebells and other wildflowers. Final stop of the day was the famous "Jamaica Inn" and as you can see from the photo above, the wind was still howling!