Manky Monkey
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« on: May 18, 2015, 05:27:24 PM » |
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A friend at work invited me along to this. I've decided to try & broaden my horizons a bit this year & take in events I haven't tried before, so I thought Why not?
I don't think I've ever been in a Mini before. I've got nothing against them, just never known anyone who owned one. Seems like they were the first cars for half the population though. Unbelievably popular & still considered cool by the trendy young things.
Yes, I'd love to go.
O.K, I'll pick you up at 3.30 on Sunday morning then.
Erm, what?
Sitting in a very small motorised biscuit tin, trundling up the M3 towards London on a chilly Sunday morning, I wondered if my horizons really needed broadening.
We arrived at Crystal Palace, South London around 5 am & I was amazed to find the park already buzzing with literally hundreds of Issigonis's offspring. Various branches of the owners club had travelled from all over the country, arriving on Saturday afternoon & camping overnight. We bumped into members of our local Basingstoke branch. There was an air of bike rally or music festival about the place. While my friend signed in, I watched bleary eyed campers emerging from their tents, wrapped in sleeping bags, like giant caterpillars, shuffling from tent to car, packing a Volvo's worth of gear into a Mini's worth of space.
I remembered my Dad telling me his own Dad took him to watch Crystal Palace burn down when he was a small boy -this is history lad. One day you'll be able to tell your kids you saw it -& he did. There's nothing left of the huge exhibition halls now, except a few flights of stone steps & half a dozen Sphinxs. There's a replica of one small section of the iron framework on the hilltop, but unless you'd read the information board, you wouldn't know it was. The BBC TV transmitter aerial still looms over the treetops. We bought breakfast from one of the catering stalls & went for a mooch about.
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On the last freedom moped out of Nowhere City.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2015, 05:28:02 PM » |
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On the last freedom moped out of Nowhere City.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2015, 05:29:14 PM » |
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On the last freedom moped out of Nowhere City.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2015, 05:31:49 PM » |
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Mini owners do seem to like window stickers -The Italian Job still features big in the world of little cars.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2015, 05:33:47 PM » |
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While the Capitol slumbers, a small army is mobilising on the hill tops.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2015, 05:35:18 PM » |
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This is what happens when you sniff the paint fumes kids.
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« Last Edit: May 18, 2015, 05:38:33 PM by Manky Monkey »
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2015, 05:36:41 PM » |
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #7 on: May 18, 2015, 05:38:01 PM » |
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #8 on: May 18, 2015, 05:40:01 PM » |
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Some came dressed to impress.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #9 on: May 18, 2015, 05:41:54 PM » |
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Every possible permutation of Italian Job references was on display.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #10 on: May 18, 2015, 05:43:15 PM » |
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #11 on: May 18, 2015, 05:44:38 PM » |
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #12 on: May 18, 2015, 05:46:01 PM » |
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2015, 05:47:18 PM » |
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #14 on: May 18, 2015, 05:49:47 PM » |
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One of at least a dozen Mini Minis.
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