M E E T I N G :   n e f f e r T   2 0 0 3

As posted by Andrew (aka. Scarlet Fever) on the Bulletin Board

nefferT 2003 – Ideas

Following this years’ Long Weekend and Treffen tours, Rob Bell and I started talking about a ‘backwards’ Treffen (nefferT Geddit!) :-) for next year, as well as the usual Treffen. Instead of a group of us heading over there, it would be nice if we could return the favour and be hosts to some EU friends on a rally over here. Was thinking about combining it with Silverstone, I know a number of EU ‘effers have expressed an interest in coming to this event (Erik said it would be like visiting Mecca!) so this would put it earlier in the year (might even get some decent weather!) Anyway, I am just throwing some ideas around at the moment, the original plan was to do the south coast and some of the West Country, but after this years’ Treffen, 2 more possibilities have been arisen, this is how it stands at the moment…

Start in Germany, group of German MGF/TFs gather and head off into the Schwartzwald or similar for a day or two. This is entirely up to the German MG group.

Head into France, Luxembourg and/or Holland, picking up more MG people along the way, ending up in Belgium and meet up with Belgian MGF/TFs. Rally through Belgium over next day or so then head to ferry port for cross channel crossing. Belgian MG group would organise this bit (as they are so good at it!) :-)

Meet up with UK MGF/TFs in port (Dover/Harwich/Hull wherever) and head off to do rally(s). Up to 1 week in the UK (5 to 7 days), more than this and it becomes financially non-viable for EU visitors (generally more expensive over here to do a driving tour). UK MG people to sort out this part.

Return through Europe is open at the moment. Again, organised by people local to the regions it will travel through.

3 Ideas for UK rally:

Original idea - West Country and south coast – Arrive in Dover (from Calais or Oostende). Visit Stonehenge, see some white horses, the odd stately home / castle, Southampton, Brighton, maybe even the Isle of Wight. Rob Bell has expressed an interest in helping out with this one as he has family near Salisbury Plain. I can help out too but it is a bit of a trek for me.

Yorkshire Dales – Arrive in Hull (from Zebrugge or Rotterdam). Might be possible to do Scotland from here, but if we do this we will have to rule out Silverstone due to time / distance. Visit York, Mike Satur, maybe Blackpool, Alton Towers for those young at heart! North Wales and Potteries are within reach too. I will have trouble helping organise this one though as it is very much out of my home patch.

Norfolk Broads – Arrive in Harwich (from Hoek Van Holland). Visit Newton Commercial in Leiston, drive through Thetford forest and visit Snetterton. Drive the coastal roads to Yarmouth, then the broads, could also do Cambridge, might be possible to strike out for North Wales via the Potteries from here. Probably the easiest for me to help out organising this one, still a bit of a trek from me though (nobody wants to visit Essex for some reason!) ;-) I could also probably get the Essex Roadsters to join the convoy through this area.

Important, must coincide with Silverstone weekend, so at some point all routes need to lead to the midlands. Maybe a round trip, say arrive in Hull, do York and the Dales, then head south to Silverstone via the Potteries and the Heritage motor museum and then from there head down into the west country for Stonehenge etc and ultimately back to Dover along the south coast. Could meet up with Paul Sharpe’s midlands crew as well; this should swell our numbers (including 1 or more Penguins!). This is a fairly long tour though, EU visitors have expressed concerns over the expense of the UK leg however, if they stay in tents at Silverstone, up to 2 nights’ hotel bills will be saved (tents are optional, Silverstone has local hotels). Can also visit places like Windsor Castle, Oxford etc en route, maybe even pop into Brands Hatch on the way to Dover (bit of a detour though). It would be fantastic if we could schedule a factory tour of Longbridge as well. Not quite sure how to play this though as in total we probably did around 1000 miles in Germany this year, so would be looking at a similar total (or less, due to cost of fuel) for the UK rally (some of the visitors have got to drive back to Germany afterwards, another 500 miles ish on top, so it shouldn’t be too long if we can help it). I suspect that the total mileage (to make it reasonable for those who have already travelled a long way) and the cost of fuel, hotels, meals etc will be the major influencing factors on the rally. Another idea is to try to visit circuit(s) when the MGF and touring car racing events are on. Treffen 2000 saw us visiting Spa for a round of the MGF Cup (great fun). It would be cool if we could do something similar.

I have been working out how much this year’s Treffen actually cost me this morning, including all fuel bills, hotels, insurances, ferry fares and entrance fees, but minus the odd cash item like most of the lunches, and the cost of repair items and the occasional Mike Satur special offer! ;-) All in it was around £1,184.16 (around EUR 1860.00, based upon 1.57 to the £) for 11 days and 2000 miles. I am using this as a target for the nefferT and if I can get it to a similar figure then I will be happy. Incidentally, I now have a full cost breakdown in Excel format, which might be worthwhile putting on a Treffen 2002 web page. If anyone is interested, drop me an Email and I’ll send it through.

Any ideas would be appreciated (as would offers of help), I am particularly interested in opinions from the continental drivers as to where they would like to visit over here and also from UK people who have suggestions for good (and cheap!) hotels in the areas mentioned above. Hotels need to have secure off road parking for multiple vehicles (Post Houses are OK, but are a last resort. They ‘do the job’, but are not exactly interesting places to stay!) Also, need to find some great (traffic free if possible) drives – you know the sort of thing, roads that you drive for pleasure rather than just to get from A to B. What we are after is local knowledge of the roads in the regions we are to be visiting, maybe the odd volunteer to meet up with the convoy and be group leader for the day (like Luc Devisch and Erik and Fran did in Belgium this year). It is driving these great ‘off the beaten track’ routes that make the Treffen so much fun – local knowledge is a must.

What do you guys reckon? Sound like a good idea? We need to beat 17 MGs in convoy as well (had 17 at one point in Belgium this year – not including the Berlin rally). Should be able to do this easily I reckon! :-) <<

So there it is, as it stands at the moment. nefferT is a 'working title' and other suggestions Rob and I came up with included 'The Pub Crawl' (very English!), 'The White Horse Run' (sounds familiar), 'The Rolling Stones Tour' (alluding to Stonehenge) and of course, the direct Treffen translation, 'Meeting'.