Check out the video of Brooklands 08 on  You Tube above and also below of Big Foot's snowy drive to the event below !

SLIPPING AND SLIDING ALL THE WAY TO BROOKLANDS

8 am , peak out the window to be met with a slew of white flakes beating against the glass and the TF and ZR missing on the driveway...no hang on they're buried under a white blanket of snow. Not too promising when you're meant to be up the road at Brooklands by 9am to set up for the annual MG Day held at the museum.

9am turn up at Brooklands to be locked out as they hadn't opened the gates yet. Managed to persuade the marshall to let me in and head for the back of the Wellington Hangar and the new position for the F/TF parking this year - yes we are where the Bs used to be. Found my way to s suitable position for the Gazebo and display and started to put it up in the driving snow.

With frozen hands and an MGF Register Beanie Hat now turned white most of the stand was up by the time the first Fs arrived including some of our helpers , Andy & Emma who came in the ZT 260 to negotiate the perils of the M25 skating rink all the better. Dave and Steve were bringing their Trophy 160's for what was hoped to be a repeat display of the Trophy stand we had at Stoneleigh for the hundreds of MG owners to admire as the day went on. It didn't quite work out that way as 11am approached and there was still just a handful of F/TFs on the vast expanse of the finishing straight. Mind you we could hear the roar of V8's as a good number of ZT260's braved the elements and parked up in our old spot. As the day wore on the snow eased off and by early afternoon the sun was attempting to break through and the snow began to disappear. By this time we were mostly frozen but that didn't stop Andy going in search of Ice Cream. Stalwarts MGFers Keith Williams and Colin  Murrell were there (albeit Colin in his 260) and Webmaster Curgenven came all the way from Minehead , via Dorset to collect ex South Coast rep Andie Burridge up en route which proved a challenging journey in some extreme weather conditions. New F Reg events person Stewart Griffiths had also driven down from Oxford proving that it was possible to get to MG day despite the inclement weather. Just under 20 F/Tfs turned out which was excellent given the conditions and a similar number of ZT260's making up the bulk of the MGs at Brooklands this year. there were some hardy types in older MGs and a handful of MGA Twin Cams turned out for their 50th Anniversary display. MGBs were notable by their virtual non appearance probably as Y Type owner Peter Arnell put it ...."because they fall apart in the wet and salt " !

With more modern MGs on show it was a good opportunity for them to try out the Test Hill and the 260's certainly put it to good use. MGF Sprint car owner Marc Hanson tried to get up the hill but had forgotten to go to the briefing so was missing the all important stamp...and rules are rules !.

There were some warm places to be found - the display sheds, F1 exhibition and various hangers all provided a little shelter but the best place to be was in the cafe with a hot bacon buttie and a streaming mug of tea. Ah springtime in the UK .....lovely. Still we have another first for the F register....the first show we have done in the snow.

Big thanks to Andy, Emma, Steve and Dave - the F Reg Helpers - and of course all the other Fers who donned snow shoes and made it to Brooklands 08. I don't think we'll forget that one in a hurry...still it can't get any worse...can it ?

Words and Pics Tim & Liz Morris

Additional Photos

Andrea Burridge (AB),

Keith Williams (KW),

Paul Bridgman(PB)

More of Andie's photos can be found at www.andreaburridge.com