Manky Monkey Motors

I am amazed that no one else has put this place up. We are down Eastbourne for the Christmas Hols and was originally going to call in on the way down last Saturday, but Linda was sent home from work on the Thursday and even though we still came down, she did not feel like walking around the place. So I waited until she was better and we went up yesterday, well what a place, not only have you the cars, bikes and the track to look around, there are also the planes and the London bus's to look around. We were there for about 2 1/2 hours but we could have stayed lots longer if it was in the summer.
for now and for those on facebook, here is a link to some photos http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151248965329830.462669.709404829&type=3
and when I have time I will post some direct on here.

While living in Guildford for the last 5 or 6 years, I've been a regular visitor there Tony. Lots of auto events going on there all year round. Thoroughly recommended.

maybe an idea to have an informal ,manky monkey motors meet ther next summer ,,,,just an idea,,

Not a bad spot for a meet. Maybe one of the vintage bike/car days or one of the autojumbles.

Been visiting the place for over 20 years....  :D

Check out the MMM calendar for some events, or visit http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/ for a complete listing.

Next event is the New Years Day gathering.

The Phoenix pub classic meet in Hartley Whitney, Hampshire for me on New Years Day.
I've just turned down a trip to London on New Years Eve with a few workmates to make sure I don't miss the meet the next day.

I wonder who knows this .................. 

Way back in 1934, the VSSC (Vintage Sports Car Club) was founded, at, wait for it, the The Phoenix pub in Hartley Whitney.

The New Years Day meet was originally a meeting for the VSCC, but  has 'evolved' into what it is today.

A friend of mine who works with vintage cars etc, tells me the vintage contingent basically don't do the New Years Day there nowadays because of what its become.  :-X

Yeah, like a lot of events, it's become a victim of it's own success.
I've heard mutterings for the last few years from the vintage guys, saying they ought to stop the hotrodders & Yank owners & bikers & general public from attending. Unfortunately it takes place at a pub & in the surrounding roads, so kinda hard to stop them really. I go primarily to see the big vintage tourers, but it's also a chance to catch up with rodding & biking mates I haven't seen since the Summer.
The Lord Derby bike meet at Odiham, near Basingstoke was the same. I started attending it as a teenager on a 650 Bonneville. Back then it was a few dozen old guys in waxed jackets, smoking pipes & discussing each others veteran bikes. Over the next couple of decades it grew into a huge event, with burger bars & Police on hand & up to 2 1/2 thousand bikes. It was getting out of hand, with blokes stunt riding through the traffic & several accidents. For a while they tried shifting everyone into a nearby field, which killed the atmosphere stone dead, (much like the Chelsea Cruise in London when they moved everyone into Battersea Park). Think the Derby meet's gone now.
I really enjoy the Phoenix get-together, especially as it's an excuse to get out & do something on New Year's Day instead of moping around at home. Hope it continues.

To the best of my knowledge, a club/group called "The Derby Runners" used to have their get together at the Lord Derby.
As said by MM, the older enthusiast with wax cotton and vintage/veteran motorcycles.

When I used to go, the bikes didn't even fill 3/4 of the cul-de-sac.

The 'event' then started to draw non-Derby Runner peeps, with numbers growing substantially, which brought a police presence etc etc.

The Derby Runners found an alternative meeting/gathering so they could get back to what they'd started.

Guess if there's an informal meeting at a public place, there's a chance it will evolve into something the original organisers no longer recognise.

I sometime attend a 'unofficial' VMCC get together, but don't tell folk where/when/etc in an attempt to keep it as what it is.................

Poole Quay was the same.  Used to be an enormous event every Tuesday night in the summer (well, still is to be fair) and a lot of the local businesses opened up their car parks which would be empty at that time, so the bikes didn't block the road or get in the way.  Of course the council didn't like that - what!  people enjoying themselves?  Can't have that!  So they tried to stop it but obviously the pubs and cafes and kiosks along the quay didn't want that as it brough in a lot of custom, not just the bikers but the locals and tourists who came to look.  Even the B&B owners got involved, saying they got midweek booking from people who'd heard about it.

So the council took it over and 'organised' it - the road is closed on Tuesday evening now and for that privilege you have to pay £1 each - and you get told where to park etc.  The atmosphere is just not the same, nor the bikes - mostly plastic rockets all looking the same.  I used to go every week before it became 'Coles Miller Dream Machines' - oh yes it has a sponsor now so I don't know why we have to pay.  But I just can't be bothered any more, I probably go once or twice in a summer just to say I've been.

A couple of unusual trikes for you Mankey trikers.


(http://i.imgur.com/6jYWD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/mCCpM.jpg)

u mean the museum or is it a place?