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The Great Griffin Run, masterminded by John Hammersley, eventually got underway at 2pm approx. in overcast but warm / dry conditions from the museum car park.
All told, ten Gilberns and four tin tops started the run and the change of format certainly proved challenging in terms of getting around the course to pick up maximum points. The mileage covered was not uniform as individuals could plan their own routes selecting which locations to visit to accumulate their points; on average most covered in the region of sixty miles taking in the lovely North Derbyshire Dales and idyllic towns. After seeing the entrants off, non-participants headed for their various hotels in readiness for the evening meal. Val and I stayed at Matlock Bath, which is now a haven for the 'born again' bikers and as we explored the town could only wonder what its Victorian forefathers would have made of it all! |
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Saturday Night Social Gathering
Fifty members, wives, partners and family had pre-booked a meal through Chris Price at the museum's Red Lion, but in the end seventy-five meals were served. Whilst this was a fantastic GOC turnout and it was great to see and chat to so many familiar and unfamiliar faces this did cause the museum's catering staff some nightmares. The pub's dining facilities only open for private parties so don't hold normal stocks of food, but luckily for us, over ordered the quantities indicated by Chris. Everyone ended up being served but not necessarily with what they had pre-ordered; my apologies to anyone who was in this position and I hope it did not spoil your evening. Following the meal there was much supping of the local tipple, conversation and excitable banter (no prizes for guessing what the accents were!) making for a hugely enjoyable evening.
National Day
By the time we arrived at the museum the rain was steady and set in for the day only brightening up late in the afternoon. This caused some fairly frantic surveying of the possible places we could set up the marquee and arrange our wares; in conjunction with the museum staff we agreed to focus around the bandstand as this offered several benefits bearing in mind the weather. The site represented the shortest distance to the restaurant and toilets (smart move), was highly visible to the museum visitors being opposite the entrance kiosk and next to a tram stop and it also afforded a dry area for regalia sales and the archive display. We were unable to erect the marquee, banners etc on the Saturday evening because of other museum activities and together with the uncertainties caused by the weather, we did not complete setting everything up until 11.00am. It was with some relief we then got down to the agenda for the day which was set out in a souvenir programme and included the Concours competition, cavalcade through the museum, regalia sales, raffle, member's spares items for sale, archive display and the prize presentations.
