TA EAST NEWS 17TH FEBRUARY 2006

To TA East Members & Friends

The venue for our North Essex Meet on Saturday 25th February has been decided. – it will be at The SWAN , BURES.

The Swan is on the Essex side of the Stour, technically Bures Hamlet. The address is 1 Station Hill. This is the road which leads from the B1508 up towards the station and on to Lamarsh.

On my map of TA East member’s addresses, this is about as near to the middle of the general spread as you can get. The station is still open and at 11.56 a train is due to arrive at from Marks Tey and the wider world – perfect timing for our lunchtime meet.

I have already had interest from an Essex member whom we do not often see, and I very much that many of you will come along. The Swan is clean, old world, had plenty of room on the Saturday lunchtime I visited, and has sensible meal menu.

Many thanks to those, including a member from abroad, who rang up with suggestions of suitable pubs, and to those who went out and did research, even to the extent of falling, sober, headlong down a step while on their visit.

As a result I now have several other ideas “In the bank” for future use

We have had a good EAST LUNCH, the result of a lot of work, at what turned out to be a difficult time, by our Secretary Geoff Morse.

Those who attended the Chairman’s Appetiser Run looked at one time as if they might have their appetites sharpened more than intended, when the Vestry Tearooms were found to be shut, but an alternative was, I understand, found.

There was an excellent convivial session in the bar before, 38-strong, we sat down to lunch It was specially good to see Albert and Margaret Saunders (with daughter-in-law Heather) back with us, after having to miss last year. Albert must have organised an astonishing number of TA 100s and Twelve Hours, and, I suspect, other TA time trials, apart from his service to the sport in general.

There was a sober moment when Roger Akers stood up to announced that Ken Jiggens had recently taken his own life. Ken will be remembered for singing at the East Lunch only a few years ago, and as the owner of a Longstaff specially built with 24” back wheels to facilitate acrobatic cornering in criteriums.

I believe his real hey-day was in the London East region in the Eighties, when I wasn’t so much around. Roger Akers will tell us more in the Gazette.

Principal prizewinner was Peter Hopkins who confessed to conversion to gears of under 135” and had brought along a classic Hetchins bike he is planning to restore.

Which reminds me that the TA East 25, combined with the Diss classic bike event and followed by a lunchtime meet at Redgrave Cross Keys is on Sunday March 26th this year.

Best wishes to you all – I do hope a good number of you can join me at the Swan at Bures on Sat 25th Feb.

Ferg Muir