LEW LEF Oxford meet 29th June

[GC1]

I Might have missed this but what time are we meant to get ot hilton services ???? and what time to leave..

cheers,here's hope for some dry weather as we had rain nearly every day this week and it dosent look good for the next few days up here.

[Paul C]

Wet here too.

We tested the route in Dermots 'other' S4, the 4wd Audi.

We meet at peartree from 9am on sunday to leave for heythrop at 10am.

Slightly different route to heythrop as there is a big live music (streets/happy

mondays) event at woodstock and we want to avoid the queues in as the

gates open exactly when we would be passing them.

[esprit350]

I Might have missed this but what time are we meant to get ot hilton services ???? and what time to leave..

cheers,here's hope for some dry weather as we had rain nearly every day this week and it dosent look good for the next few days up here.

Graham, details of the NMEG hoon from hilton park are in the NMEG thread, however we DEPART Hilton park sevices M6 southband at 7.45am then on to Frankley M5 and then on the Peartree sevices Oxford

[hopo]

+ Me to! may have the Mrs... or a mate, they can fight it out between themselves!

Chris! Fear not i to left it to late (and it was pointless payin 4 talks an dinner when i have to shoot of for the afternoon) so i will be loitering in the car park.

[Iain]

Erm...

Well...

Er...

Dispite this being on my doorstep - I'm only 4 miles away so possibly one of the closest forum members - I've had other things on my mind (mum diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer end April and passing away two weeks ago) - so have not booked tickets...

So - if no one objects - can I pitch up in the am and do some loitering in the car park too until the sessions start?

Iain

Edited June 27, 2008 by Iain

[Bibs]

Iain, I can't see that being a problem matey but PM or email Kato, it's his event. He might even be able to sort you out a ticket still if you wanted to stay for lunch?

[GC1]

Ok guys thats loud and clear will be their hopefully at Hilton for 7.30 ish i'll try and STAND OUT from the crowd.!!!!!

Lets hope for some dry weather ....

[esprit22]

+ Me to! may have the Mrs... or a mate, they can fight it out between themselves!

Chris! Fear not i to left it to late (and it was pointless payin 4 talks an dinner when i have to shoot of for the afternoon) so i will be loitering in the car park.

Guess I'll see how it goes, theres only a certain amount of time that one can loiter in a car park, might give it a miss and go for a blast to a country pub instead.

[Paul C]

Ok guys thats loud and clear will be their hopefully at Hilton for 7.30 ish i'll try and STAND OUT from the crowd.!!!!!

Lets hope for some dry weather ....

Just to clarify, it's the carpark at 'peartree services' (behind the burgerking/shell garage)

that we are meeting up. The holiday Inn/Hilton carpark is the one opposite the services and

we are not gathering there.

[GC1]

Got Ur

I meant hilton park services.

cheers

[Kato]

have one cancellation if anyone's interested.

Anyone got the Postcode for Peartree for the sat nav?

[Katie]

This is the postcode for Travelodge Peartree, Moto Service Area Peartree Roundabout, Oxford, GB, OX2 8JZ. I'd have thought this would be useful.

Edited June 28, 2008 by Katie

[ajheath]

Great day, good to see faces old and new, here is a link to some piccies.Oxford 08

Edited June 29, 2008 by gasmangt3
Fixed Link

[Bibs]

What a lovely weekend

Laura and I visited Roger, Sam and Lilly May Perry on Saturday afternoon which was nice. She's beautiful, a tiny packet of joy We then spent the evening with Paul & Vicki which included a trip to the Eagle for some good, and I mean good ale

We were blessed with nice weather for today, I think we had around 35 Esprits in attendance eventually. Nick Fulcher kindly came along and not only dispelled a good few myths about leather and our interiors, he passed on some of his knowledge gained from 40 years in the business and answered questions from the crowd. Nick also was not only heavily involved in Lotus' F1 racing, he bought along a few 'nick-nacks' he's collected or more commonly has been gifted by some F1 legends. I was particularly pleased to see and hold Senna's steering wheel again, what a privilege! He also had a few anecdotes from the early days at Lotus, always entertaining. Thanks to Nick for coming all the way from Hethersett to enlighten and educate us

Our friend Brian Angus also gave us a catch up session on parts availability and some interesting discussion on cambelts. Lotus have run cars on a single cambelt for over 100k miles! Their advice was to use the car, and make sure the tension is checked regularly. Incorrect tension leads to rapid failure but a well checked belt does last the distance, so long as it's used! Once again, thanks Brian and also it was nice to see Geoff again who appears to be enjoying his retirement.

We then headed out for a nice hoon in the afternoon. The roads were a bit busy however there were some good fun moments at speeds that would make your mum blush, all within limits of course! Which limits I'll leave you to decide! Apologies to anyone I either deafened or set on fire, it was an accident!

Here are some pics from the day

[Paul C]

Excellent day.

I enjoyed it immensely, i always tell people that not having your esprit on the road

is not a reason to stay at home. I spent today as a passenger and i always enjoy that

perspective, and the rare chance to ride in other Esprits.

The day started with the most confused and fragmented departure from peartree yet, some cars

went one way, some another, some just round and round the roundabouts in confusion. This meant

for much fun and many tall tails of why people were slow getting there. I travelled with Dermot, so

it took us about four minutes to get there, and i wore holes in his carpet trying to hit brakes that were

not there.

As our group are as easy to organise as a bunch of headless chickens, we then wandered aimlessly

in convoy around heythrop house, trying to find the coffee (that was directly by the entrance). A good

chat by Nick was followed by lunch, with a confusing serving layout had our group queueing from both

directions and kinda passing each other, but everyone got fed and i went up and claimed Vickis dessert.

After a chat from Brian, focusing on his seemingly neverending quest to find replacements for obsolete

parts (thanks for the effort Brian), we went outside for photos and the drive out.

The drive out was all very 'freestyle' too, Rob, me and a few others thought we had found a splinter

group going on an extended run, so we followed them until they pulled in and said 'Don't follow us mate,

we're going home!'.

Great day. I really like the way our group casually gets lost and has fun finding the way. The day was

basically small groups of esprits, making their way round the Oxfordshire countryside, with no real time

to keep, and no pressure to keep up with a convoy.

Still my favorite Esprit day out. So much more than a sunday lunch.

[Kato]

LEW's report on the day is now up for Club members.

Thanks to everyone for turning up and making it a great day.

[Bazza 907]

Excellent day out.

My Dad had been looking forward to it for months and now he's going to talk about it for the next few.

Bazza

[matk]

Like to second Paul's comments, thoroughly enjoyed my day as a passenger today. I must give a public thanks to Martyn who kindly carried me along and even let me try his car (which I thought was great!). A lot of highlights, but as always it was the company and the people who made this one great. I'm currently uploading my photos but as a taster just a few of my favourites:

Awesome Essex No 11

Exiting Peartree Services, Esprits to the left, Esprits to the right, and Esprits to the rear (check out the mirror), Martyn took this one

Line up of Esprits at the back of Heythrop

Andys S3 Turbo looking great in front of the house

I'll post a link to all photos as soon as they're uploaded, and I also have 8 mins of Nick Fulcher's talk on vid that I'll youtube soon incl some Chapman anecdotes.

[esprit350]

Great day out, many thanks to all involved with the organisation, except the stone chippings, big thanks for my passenger from peartree to heythrop, Vicky, who help me round some of the twistys with some advance warning, I still missed a truning despit having Vicky who knew thw route, in fairness I just followed the car in front while Vicky said "should have gone left there"

run home was great until we got to the M6 which was busy north bound, but south bound looked worse

[Rob]

I had a great day out too - thanks again to all the hardworking organisers..

I also have to say a big (and i mean REALLY BIG) thank you to Paul C who totally blew me away with his generosity. For those of you who don't know I'm temporarily esprit-less due to financial and family pressures; Paul made my day by putting me on his insurance and giving me his car for the day. What a fantasic surprise.

Thanks mate!

R

[matk]

As promised, all my photos are here.....

http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/ma...te_top_view_all

As always anyone wants high res shots PM me.

More favs....

Driving out of Peartree services

Bibs & Kato

Masters of all they survey...........

Welcoming back a long absent member in the traditional LEF fashion!

[nfulcher]

Hi to you all, Just a big thank you for making me very welcome at your Oxford meet yesterday and for not falling asleep whilst I was babbling on.

A big thank you for carrying the bits and pieces in and taking them out for me , it just goes to prove what a fantastic bunch of Lotus enthusiast's you all are it was a pleasure to be with you all.

My journey home was trouble free and arrived home just in time for the football final.

Thanks to Bibs and Kato for taking the risk and inviting me down and hopefully it did not ruin any bodys day.

It was nice meeting you all yesterday and look forward in catching up with you all some time in the future.

Nick Fulcher.

[Paul C]

A big thank you for carrying the bits and pieces in and taking them out for me.

I had to laugh, when i carried the hides in for you, i thought i was carrying something

long that was wrapped in leather to protect it. Several people asked what was inside

and i said i did not know, but said to them that you had told me it was valuable...

...it was only when we got back inside that i realised the 'valuable' thing wrapped in leather

was just a wooden pole, and that the real valuable thing was the 'wrapping' in clear sight (and

in my hands) all along!

[Kimbers]

Who's the bloke with short hair in Bib's shirt?

[Katie]

Nick, just to thank you again for such a first class and informative talk. All the bits and pieces you brought with you were just fantastic to look at and examine, and I had no idea cows were so big!!!!

Thanks as ever to Kato and Bibs, it was another great event from start to finish, and we were blessed with lovely weather this year.

Here's one of my favourite pics of the day.......suits you sir!

And further thanks to Bibs for rupturing both my ear drums and almost setting me on fire!!!!

Edited June 30, 2008 by Katie