BEARWOOD SCALEXTRIC CLUB NEWSLETTER
Can't wait for the new season to be honest - new member Ian Howard has TOTALLY transformed the club with his never-ending enthusiasm for all things Scalextric - you want to see his re-paints of the Scalextric Shadows & Yardley BRMs and his model making skills in general - you won't believe how good they can be made to look !
(See our Slot Forum & Slot Maniacs pages in the near future together with Slot Car Mag future issues & hopefully the NSCC too eventually) !
This "new found" enthusiasm has costs us thousands, OK, a fair few quid on buying loads of retro cars off e-bay - and the Milton Keynes Swopmeet is yet to come - but it will give us yet another chance to buy more bargains that nobody else wants hopefully at zero postage costs !!!
But, believe me or not NOW is the right time to buy old cars, because if you had bought them all when they first came out you would have spent a fortune to get them all. Now, you can just search on e-bay and you can cherry-pick the best ones and get them for well under what they cost originally - trust me, I've saved a fortune !
Add to that the extremely useful on-line shop called "Slot Car Wales" and you can currently restore many cars from the 90's for just a few pounds.
If you haven't been to the club for a while you REALLY ARE missing out on the good times again - I would honestly say that we are currently at the level of enjoyment that we had in the good old days at the Harry Mitchell Centre when Paul Darby & Co. used to come every week - but now is even better because as there are so few of us compared to then you get loads more track time and the racing is so much more fun as it is way less serious than in the good old days but it is still good to be a part of it - honest !
It would now be so good to see the likes of Simon & Aaron, Peter C, Phil CD & Alan Lees to name but five from the old days together with Warren and Terry & Jake from the more recent days return and become a part of our new found success once again.
Maybe it's just me growing old, but life really is too short to miss out on doing the things that you enjoy.
Some may say it's sad that we still race toy cars at our age but it's miles more than that if you think about it - some of your best times in your life are with your friends - and that's what we are all about - we all have a common interest - but together we are also a very happy group of friends that have this common interest to hold us all together.
This season's calendar now includes some good old favorites from the old days like Hornby BTCC, Alfa 155 & all the classic Red Box SCX Rally cars that we grew up with.
I have enjoyed this hobby now for over 20 years & I only recently realised that most, if not all of my current friends are from the Slot Racing world.
Now, some of you may say "I ought to get out more" ! but if I had never gone to the Phoenix Thrust Model Motor Racing Club (as it was in those days) over in Shard End on that fateful Saturday in February 1990 then I would not know any of you guys in the club today !
Even more poignantly, this club as you know it today would not exist either because when I took over the running of the club from John Eaglesfield a few months later it was I who subsequently proposed the move to the Harry Mitchell Centre where the club then went from strength to strength for many years.
True, there were some bad times as most of us know when we lost the hut at Harry Mitchell Centre but it proved correct to stick with the Council as once we were given the current room we have gone from strength to strength again and the good times are well and truly back again - BUT, that's not attributable to me, it's down to EVERY member we have had in the past and currently have today, because without their/your support we would not have a club to come to today.
I know times are hard today for most people, but you still have to have some enjoyment in life. If you have not been to the club for a while we would love to see you again one evening to catch up on all the years that have passed since we last saw you.
Talking of the good old days, whilst Bob Bott from Quorn may not organize any of his thoroughly enjoyable race meetings any more there are still plenty of meetings for us to attend at the Wolverhampton Slot Car Club and the numerous rounds of the 2011 Slot Rally GB championship that has been running throughout the year.
The Slot Car Festival that was held at Gaydon in May was a massive success and will be repeated next year and we have also had another resin body manufacturer establish himself in the form of George Turner / GT Models.
He is an absolutely brilliant chap, his enthusiasm for the hobby is amazing and his products are so impressive you just can't believe how we managed without him !
You really must check out his website and read about his background & products.
Where else can you buy an A35, Ford Anglia or MGB GT slot car ?
It just reinforces my opinion that at present our Slot Racing world is running at maximum levels of enjoyment - and long may it continue !!!!
Graham P.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
2011
Sunday September 11 OPEN Swopmeet @ Milton Keynes
Sunday September 25 Slot Rally GB (Round 5) @ Farnham
Sunday October 9 Wolves Classic Saloons Race Meeting
Sunday November 6 Slot Rally GB (Round 6) @ Wye Valley
Sunday December 4 OPEN Swopmeet @ Wolverhampton
NB - SENNA TROPHY WILL TAKE PLACE IN OCT OR NOV - WATCH THIS SPACE !
2012
Sunday January 8 OPEN Swopmeet @ Swindon
Sunday February 12 OPEN Swopmeet @ Milton Keynes
Sunday May 20 2012 Slot Car Festival @ Gaydon Museum
2010/11 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
Yet again, James has proved himself a worthy winner of the title for yet another year !
I really must try harder - nah, that's no good, we need Warren & Aaron back & Steve Beach to be on form in order to give him a run for his money !!!
Well done James yet again - and good luck for the coming season !!!
SLOT RALLY GB CHAMPIONSHIP
Having been introduced to this event by Ian, James & Ian have managed to attend virtually all of the rounds this year - I was unable to join them due to not being able to get out of bed early enough to be picked up and the bad luck of having previously booked holidays clashing with the dates also !
Anyway, if you thought James had discovered his niche in life at our club according to Ian it seems that his real talent is with the Slot Rally Stages because after our initial debut at the Wolverhampton round in March he has gone from strength to strength and is now actually leading one if not more of the championships !!!
Watch this space to see if he can pull off an overall win in his first season of competition!
Can't wait for the new season to be honest - new member Ian Howard has TOTALLY transformed the club with his never-ending enthusiasm for all things Scalextric - you want to see his re-paints of the Scalextric Shadows & Yardley BRMs and his model making skills in general - you won't believe how good they can be made to look !
(See our Slot Forum & Slot Maniacs pages in the near future together with Slot Car Mag future issues & hopefully the NSCC too eventually) !
This "new found" enthusiasm has costs us thousands, OK, a fair few quid on buying loads of retro cars off e-bay - and the Milton Keynes Swopmeet is yet to come - but it will give us yet another chance to buy more bargains that nobody else wants hopefully at zero postage costs !!!
But, believe me or not NOW is the right time to buy old cars, because if you had bought them all when they first came out you would have spent a fortune to get them all. Now, you can just search on e-bay and you can cherry-pick the best ones and get them for well under what they cost originally - trust me, I've saved a fortune !
Add to that the extremely useful on-line shop called "Slot Car Wales" and you can currently restore many cars from the 90's for just a few pounds.
If you haven't been to the club for a while you REALLY ARE missing out on the good times again - I would honestly say that we are currently at the level of enjoyment that we had in the good old days at the Harry Mitchell Centre when Paul Darby & Co. used to come every week - but now is even better because as there are so few of us compared to then you get loads more track time and the racing is so much more fun as it is way less serious than in the good old days but it is still good to be a part of it - honest !
It would now be so good to see the likes of Simon & Aaron, Peter C, Phil CD & Alan Lees to name but five from the old days together with Warren and Terry & Jake from the more recent days return and become a part of our new found success once again.
Maybe it's just me growing old, but life really is too short to miss out on doing the things that you enjoy.
Some may say it's sad that we still race toy cars at our age but it's miles more than that if you think about it - some of your best times in your life are with your friends - and that's what we are all about - we all have a common interest - but together we are also a very happy group of friends that have this common interest to hold us all together.
This season's calendar now includes some good old favorites from the old days like Hornby BTCC, Alfa 155 & all the classic Red Box SCX Rally cars that we grew up with.
I have enjoyed this hobby now for over 20 years & I only recently realised that most, if not all of my current friends are from the Slot Racing world.
Now, some of you may say "I ought to get out more" ! but if I had never gone to the Phoenix Thrust Model Motor Racing Club (as it was in those days) over in Shard End on that fateful Saturday in February 1990 then I would not know any of you guys in the club today !
Even more poignantly, this club as you know it today would not exist either because when I took over the running of the club from John Eaglesfield a few months later it was I who subsequently proposed the move to the Harry Mitchell Centre where the club then went from strength to strength for many years.
True, there were some bad times as most of us know when we lost the hut at Harry Mitchell Centre but it proved correct to stick with the Council as once we were given the current room we have gone from strength to strength again and the good times are well and truly back again - BUT, that's not attributable to me, it's down to EVERY member we have had in the past and currently have today, because without their/your support we would not have a club to come to today.
I know times are hard today for most people, but you still have to have some enjoyment in life. If you have not been to the club for a while we would love to see you again one evening to catch up on all the years that have passed since we last saw you.
Talking of the good old days, whilst Bob Bott from Quorn may not organize any of his thoroughly enjoyable race meetings any more there are still plenty of meetings for us to attend at the Wolverhampton Slot Car Club and the numerous rounds of the 2011 Slot Rally GB championship that has been running throughout the year.
The Slot Car Festival that was held at Gaydon in May was a massive success and will be repeated next year and we have also had another resin body manufacturer establish himself in the form of George Turner / GT Models.
He is an absolutely brilliant chap, his enthusiasm for the hobby is amazing and his products are so impressive you just can't believe how we managed without him !
You really must check out his website and read about his background & products.
Where else can you buy an A35, Ford Anglia or MGB GT slot car ?
It just reinforces my opinion that at present our Slot Racing world is running at maximum levels of enjoyment - and long may it continue !!!!
Graham P.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
2011
Sunday September 11 OPEN Swopmeet @ Milton Keynes
Sunday September 25 Slot Rally GB (Round 5) @ Farnham
Sunday October 9 Wolves Classic Saloons Race Meeting
Sunday November 6 Slot Rally GB (Round 6) @ Wye Valley
Sunday December 4 OPEN Swopmeet @ Wolverhampton
NB - SENNA TROPHY WILL TAKE PLACE IN OCT OR NOV - WATCH THIS SPACE !
2012
Sunday January 8 OPEN Swopmeet @ Swindon
Sunday February 12 OPEN Swopmeet @ Milton Keynes
Sunday May 20 2012 Slot Car Festival @ Gaydon Museum
2010/11 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
Yet again, James has proved himself a worthy winner of the title for yet another year !
I really must try harder - nah, that's no good, we need Warren & Aaron back & Steve Beach to be on form in order to give him a run for his money !!!
Well done James yet again - and good luck for the coming season !!!
SLOT RALLY GB CHAMPIONSHIP
Having been introduced to this event by Ian, James & Ian have managed to attend virtually all of the rounds this year - I was unable to join them due to not being able to get out of bed early enough to be picked up and the bad luck of having previously booked holidays clashing with the dates also !
Anyway, if you thought James had discovered his niche in life at our club according to Ian it seems that his real talent is with the Slot Rally Stages because after our initial debut at the Wolverhampton round in March he has gone from strength to strength and is now actually leading one if not more of the championships !!!
Watch this space to see if he can pull off an overall win in his first season of competition!
