Hello, my name is Brian Ramsey. I am the Area Representative for the
North East of England. The North East area covers Northumberland, County
Durham and Teesside, but symptomatic of our frontier history, we do
have a tendency to carry out border raids in to Yorkshire, Cumbria and
Scotland. There is also a Northumbria area meeting in Newcastle;
however, this is not active.
We
meet on the last Wednesday of the month at the Church Mouse in Chester
le Street. Our meet is very informal; usually around 20 cars turn up in
the height of summer. The car park is large enough to do some serious
tyre kicking. Attendance in 7’s has a natural tendency to drop off in
the autumn, but we still have a strong turn out of members even in the
depths of winter.
There is also a separate meeting for the members in the South of the
area who are unable to make it up to Chester le Street during the week.
This is held on the first Monday of each month at the Board Inn in
Lealholm which serves particularly fine food. This is ably organised by
Dave Pratt. Several members from North Yorkshire usually drop by.
As anyone who has been on one of our blats will testify, we really don’t do much on the organised runs side.
Operating on a sort of guerrilla basis, impromptu blats develop like a
storm in the Gulf of Mexico during the Hurricane season. We try to
alternate the starting point for blats between Newcastle and Darlington.
Typically a drive will take in 150 to 200 miles of some of the best
roads in the UK, but don’t tell anyone, it’s our secret. We have been
known to travel the best part of 200 miles just for Fish and Chips in
Whitby! Northumberland National Park, Kielder, Weardale, Teesdale,
Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors feature prominently and food is
always involved. Several cars took part in a Gourmet run to the
Michelin rated Star Inn in Harome.
We had a good turnout of cars for the convoy down to The Silverstone
Classic in 2008 where the club celebrated 25 years. The weekend was so
successful that it is most likely to feature as a regular event on our
calendar.
We have one or two members taking part in the Northern Saloon Cars
Championship, but none yet in the Club or Caterham Championships. Peter
Ellis, our former AR, organises two trackdays at Teesside Autodrome in
Middlesbrough each year with Mike Ketley, a local Westie owner. As with
the club meetings we have a mix of various 7 types as well as other more
unusual machinery on the odd occasion, but it is restricted to small
open top cars. The format for the event is very relaxed and enables you
to spend as much or as little time on track as you wish. 
Typically,
the track can be virtually empty at times and several novices have
found it to be an excellent introduction to track driving. There is
usually an instructor available for an additional fee and you will find
ready volunteers to offer advice should you need it. The cost is
significantly less than that for other tracks and comparable with
airfield days, however, the driving experience is beyond any airfield
day. The circuit is not Grand Prix standard but the facilities are
pretty good and safety is not compromised.
Anyone interested in joining the club, buying a car or just coming
along for a chat is more than welcome to drop in. We have a wide
selection of cars of all ages and running gear and owners with an
equally wide range of knowledge from Peter and Dave who have built
several cars themselves to me who knows what colour his car is.
So, if you are around the area on the last Wednesday of the month
come and see us in the ‘Mouse, we’ll be the large group in the corner
making too much noise and irritating the romantic couple sitting next to
us.
Cheers
Brian Ramsey
07887 570839
