This was our first southern spring get-together for a while, and a return to Basingstoke after a gap of 6 years. Eight members attended, with a total of 6 cars. P 1800’s were represented by Tony and Gillian Whitton and David Foxley. Tony’s car has never been painted; welded or even had any major components removed from it since the day it left the factory. So long as it keeps passing the MOT, Tony intends to keep it this way. Peter Titley bought along his pristine Amazon, with a 240, 740 and 850 shown by Robert Hughes, Colin Hughes and Dave Stadden. John Bailey was unable to bring along his 140, which was "under the weather", but bought his family along to enjoy the delights of the Milestones museum. The venue was also hosting a centenary celebration for AEC, which was represented by around 30 heavy trucks and buses, including the ubiquitous Routemaster and a solid tyred Thorneycroft still in show condition. Thorneycroft was taken over by AEC, but their vehicles had been manufactured in Basingstoke since the early 20th century in a factory across the road from the Milestones museum (now sadly another retail park).

The pessimistic weather forecasts for rain turned out to be false, but a chilly breeze kept us from sitting around talking for too long. Still, with plenty to see both inside and outside the museum an enjoyable day was had by all.

Some members may have noted a clash with the Volvo Owners Club Spring Gathering at the Atwell Wilson Museum. We did not become aware of this until it was too late to do anything about it, but have now made arrangements with VOC to liaise over the dates of future events.