As I headed up the A31 past Burley the ground became thick white with the snow creeping onto the edges of the carriageways, but it was still quite clear. One thing was for sure, Buster was not going to be pristinely clean when I arrived! The M27 and M3 both looked clear, it wasn’t until I reached Basingstoke that the snow made a final attempt to restrict the flow and the outside lane remained ‘out of bounds’ for about the next couple of miles.
The rest of the journey proved uneventful with most drivers seeming to take a pragmatic and sensible view regarding the snow. After reaching the M25, I turned South for two junctions, followed the A3 North for a short distance and swung into the Brooklands estate.
It was still snowing quite well as I arrived and this was obviously having an impact on the numbers – I reckon that only 30 other MGs were there when I arrived at 10.30. Heading into the compound by the bottom of Test Hill, the stewards flagged me down and tried to decide where to put me… “which platform is it based on?” was the opening question, they hadn’t planned an area for SVs! I ended up being parked outside of the main hanger, all on my own…
The ZT260’s probably amassed the largest display of any of the models with about 18 present, closely followed by the F Register, who managed about 12-15 cars. In addition to this there were a dozen or so vintage MGs, 4 MGAs, 6 ZSs, a sprinkling of Midgets and an MG Montego. Total numbers were severely down on 2002, the last time I visited, when there must have been 300-400 cars present.
The one huge addition to Brooklands, was the arrival of a Concorde, on loan from British Airways. It was the first ever production Concorde and was 30% built at Brooklands too. I, along with most others, have a real fondness for this iconic aircraft and have spent many moments staring into the sky to catch a glimpse of the sleek white delta winged plane.
For £4.00 I reserved myself a 30 minute tour aboard the aircraft, a real privilege and at least I can now say that I have been aboard Concorde, having missed the opportunity to fly in one. Having said that, the display still managed to record Mach 2 during my ½ hour pleasure trip!
The temperature didn’t rise much above zero all the time I was there, so having eaten my fill at the cafeteria, had a gander at the static displays of cars and planes and met a few characters from the forums, I opted for an early departure and began a drier and sunnier trip back to
Not sure if any other 1020ers were present, although I believe a few were expected, all in all a very good day!
Adrian