Athelhampton House

Members of the Z register were invited to the Bournemouth and Poole MGOC annual picnic at Athelhampton House in Dorset on 10 August. Although the weather was warm and dry, the only two Magnettes there were mine and Alan Slack's (both Varitones). Nevertheless we were made very welcome by Nigel Hedges and the other MGOC organizers. As well as opening their event to the wider MG community, the club donates the proceeds each year to their local charity, Dorset Scope.

Athelhampton is a picturesque Tudor manor owned by the Cooke family, who have been hosting the picnic for several years. The majority of the cars were MGBs, Midgets and MGFs, parked at the back of the house. We were on the drive at the front along with a select few 'T' types and MGAs. This was a perfect setting for photographers, while Alan and I discussed the finer points of Varitone trim (and why I still haven't got round to refitting my roof gutter chrome). We also met a new Magnette owner, Matthew Semple of the MG 'M' group. He's still having to make do with an MG Maestro while his ZA is being restored...hope to see it at next year's Register events.

The established format of the gathering is fairly unstructured, to give time for people to chat and explore the house and gardens, but is punctuated at intervals by the flamboyant Mr Hedges encouraging everyone to join in the raffles, Teddy bears picnic and duck race (not real ducks, just plastic ones which are released 'en masse' into the River Piddle). Although you might find some or all of these ingredients at other non-Magnette events, I think it's well worth the effort to attend Athelhampton because of the particularly warm welcome, the attention that our cars get, and the various interesting ways to separate you from your cash which are all in a good cause. In previous years there's been a bigger Magnette presence, including owners from the Dorset area, so it would be great if we could repeat that next year.

Stephen Tickell