Red Eye Run 07

2007 EVENTS

RED EYE RUN IV

Saturday 18th August 2007

The South East Region of the MG Car Club MGF Register

Fs gathering in the damp and dark at Bletchingley	Pam and Liz have a small drink to warm up	Dave spots the camera (the flash gave it away I think)
Bob arrives at the last minute in an MG.....er Lotus 7 !	Arrived at the Old School Cafe, Longcross	Andy P's Red Eyes
Steve, Paul, Emma and Andy get fuzzy	Scarlet Fever shows up well in the dark	Miep takes Dave's Breakfast order
Tucking in !	Bob, Neil and Joyce watch jealously as Jonathan tucks in !	Ian likes sliced eggs

	Click below for The Old School Cafe Longcross Road, Chertsey

We were looking forward to the hot balmy evenings of an English summer so we could get our tops down and cruise the leafy lanes of the North Downs as the moon beamed and the stars twinkled. What we actually got was another damp evening to follow in the tradition of 2007 with rain and a pea souper on top of Box Hill to contend with. The fog certainly made interesting driving as we headed for the top of Box Hill with the 4 candle power of an Fs standard headlights barely penetrating the gloom. Somehow all the cars negotiated the route safely.

Firstly though was a gathering of some fifteen cars at the Plough in Bletchingley - not all of them F/Tfs . We were joined by Jonathan and Joyce in a VW Golf following their recent altercation with a rather large lorry , Ralph forgot to get the Bittersweet TF out of the garage so came in the ZS instead and Bob turned up just in the nick of time in a roller skate cunningly disguised as a Lotus Seven. Having finally sold the Cannonball Runt this is now his sole means of roadster transport and it doesn't even have a K series engine ! Those who left the pub first missed out on the enjoyment of watching 6' something Bob squeeze into a 6" something Lotus , Perhaps we could make getting in and out of a Seven a competition at next years Summer Gathering ?

The run encountered rain and fog as previously mentioned so there was no halfway stop on Box Hill as planned and the Ranmore Common car park looked a little full and maybe slightly dubious in the dark ! So it was straight to the finish point at the Old School Cafe in Longcross where Chris and Miep, fresh from collecting a new fridge, had opened up especially for the South East eFFers in the wee small hours. With parking for everyone and no fork lift trucks or drunken teenagers roaming the streets the cafe certainly made for a much safer and more amenable venue than our previous Brighton location for this run.

Chris and Miep were soon cooking the bacon and sausages as virtually everyone ordered one of their full English Breakfasts which were very tasty indeed . There was also a surprise glass of finest Cava to welcome us as we stepped through the door to go with the traditional mug of tea.

By 2am most of us were full and started to head for home, for some a considerable distance away but I think most made it back safely by about 3.30am

With big thanks to Chris and Miep and the Old School Cafe we look forward now to the Red Eye Run V in 2008 !.