Cornwall Austin Seven Club 

Event Reports
Short reports of events, holidays and shows enjoyed
by our members in the past four months.

Our members are always out and about with their 'Sevens'

The main aim of CA7C is to encourage members to drive their 'Sevens' whenever possible, even throughout the winter months when, surprisingly, quite a few members do enjoy being out and about on the colder winter-time runs.  However, we do draw the line on the very wettest of days as there is no point driving in bad weather with the non-optional water entry around the ill-fitting windows and doors!   Mostly we are able to enjoy warm, sunny days with Cornwall's splendid inland and coastal scenery at its best whatever the season of the year.

These edited reports were written by members and are taken from our monthly magazine, Seven Focus.

The suggested routes for some of our past runs are available on our Run Archive at www.dropbox.com  
When asked for sign in information use the following details: Username : ca7c.archive@gmail.com  and Password : runarchive.  Then click on the introduction or a route of your choice, and it will download and open automatically.

NB: You do NOT need to sign up; you do NOT need to download anything, just click 'Sign In' using these details.

More photos of each event may be found on our Facebook link.

 

WESES - Cornish Steam & Country Fair - 16/17/18 August

Despite the awful weather in the Friday the show at Stithians showed just how popular our Sevens and CA7C are. Members from all over the county called in to the club tent for a cuppa, cake and a chat. The rest of the weekend went well with plenty of visitors during the day. It also included having fun watching hay bale throwing, illuminated planes flying and some rather loud music during the evening entertainment. 

We had a few new member enquiries, and so far one has joined.

 

 

 

CA7C Annual Rally - 21 July

What an outstanding success the Annual Rally was.  A selection of nineteen Austin Sevens made an impressive sight as they gathered at Goonhavern Garden Centre in the warm sunshine.  Some members made their way into the café for sustenance while others stood around chatting and catching up with friends not seen for a while. 

 

Around eleven o’clock it was time to set off for Lappa Valley and with 'convoy rules' in mind the stream of Sevens joined the traffic and headed away in the Newlyn East direction, soon to arrive at the 'tradesman entrance' of the park.  Here the fleet of vehicles gathered then set off along the back lane to the area set aside for them, beside the carriage café and a stones throw from the activities in the park.

 

 

Here we were welcomed by the owner of the Lappa Valley who was pleased to have us there and told us about the various attractions.  He was thanked for making the CA7C so welcome and presented with a glass plaque to commemorate the visit.  Being a beautiful day, folk made the most of the train rides and the woodland walks and the children made the most of the canoe lake and the various other rides and attractions.  The café proved very popular, serving as it did good snacks and home made cakes etc.

 

There was a lovely atmosphere at the park and because it was early in the season it wasn't too busy and although there was in excess of forty members and children we generally only met 'in passing'.  Around four o’clock folk started returning to their cars and making their way homeward after what proved to be a very enjoyable day.  

 

 

A surprise day out - 15 July

‘What are you doing tomorrow?  Why don't you join us and give your Seven a run out?’ 

The Monday morning arrived with glorious sunshine with an impromptu outing planned for a 1937 APE and a 1933 RP Saloon.  We left Illogan and cruised westward along the North Cliffs at 7 speed, past Hell’s Mouth and on to Gwithian, turning left in the village and on to Connor Downs, crossing the old A30 and on to Trevaskis Farm for a good lunch and a quality chat time.   A few more miles after lunch around the wonderful lanes rouinded off an enjoyable mini run.

 

 

 

East Cornwall Fun - 7 July

 

If you missed this run, you really did miss a good'un.  The weather was perfect for an entertaining drive up into 'Clay Country' and to Carloggas Downs near Stenalees in particular.  Here the various doughty Austin 7's ascended the rough and stony track that led to the top of the 940 foot, partially natural but mostly restored, clay spoil tip - and what a view we were greeted with.  There was Roughtor, Brown Willy, Kit Hill and Dartmoor stretching away into the distance. St Austell Bay looked like a deep blue mill pond as it sparkled in the sunlight and one other feature, not to be missed, was the pointed Carluddon Alp, one of the few remaining Cornish Alps.

 

On the springy turf at the top of the 'tip' the chairs and car rugs were laid out for a picnic lunch then soon it was time to tackle the track back down to the road and make our way to a working clay pit, not usually open to the general public, a visit to which had been secured by Mike. Arriving at the pit gateway we were escorted, front and rear by company vehicles and taken to a viewing area where the clay extraction operation could be observed. The guys in 'high viz' waistcoats were on hand to answer the questions put to them about what we were seeing below. As with at the top of the 'tor' many pictures were taken as a reminder of a very interesting and entertaining day out. Eventually it was time to leave and the Austins set off in various directions, heading homeward after what was a superb day out.  

 

 

 

Yummy Scrummy Coffee Morning - 22 June

This was a novel and well chosen venue for the coffee morning. It being very pleasant and comparatively easy to get to for most CA7C members and was well attended with a good selection of 'Sevens' in the car park.

The café is on the site where once stood a filling station situated at the lower end of the Carnon Downs bypass and set back from the busy Truro/Falmouth road.  It was a sunny spring morning which allowed everyone to sit outside and enjoy the view down river from Devoran.  Delicious home made cakes and pastries were sampled along with coffee/tea etc and the 'world was put to rights' with lots of happy chatter and laughter.

 

As lunch time approached folk started to leave and head homewards. Driving through Frogpool the summer fete was in full swing so three 'Sevens' turned into the field and parked up alongside other 'cars of interest' already there.  Many stalls were dotted around and pasties, sausage rolls and burgers were on sale, filling the air with delicious aromas! Lanner Silver Band supplied the typical ‘village fete’ sound and the band Double Bounce also played during the afternoon taking on many modern classics.  Apparently this event is an annual one and is so well run and organized I would recommend looking out for it next year.  

 

 

 

East Cornwall weekend; Well, Well, Well - 8/9 June.

A few of us went to Callington for the weekend event and enjoyed a great event, full of site-seeing, picnics, unusual roads and good company.   The theme was to visit various wells in the area and everyone was presented with a fact sheet with details of the wells and other places of interest that we were going to visit during the weekend. 

Throughout the weekend we went along some lovely country roads, including plenty of hills and one very unusual road which turned out to be a bridleway and entailed some pruning of the undergrowth so that we could get the cars through.

 

On the Saturday we headed to our first well at Dupath, a lovely well inside a little chapel with a posy of flowers on the windowsill.  After a few photos we moved on.  

At Duloe we looked at the Duloe Stone Circle, and had a lunch stop in the sunshine eating our picnics.  From there we headed off to another well, the St Keyne Holy Well.  There is a legend attached to this well, it is said that whoever of two newly-weds first drinks the water will gain the upper hand in the marriage.  We didn't see anyone drinking from the well!

 

 

Then we were off again heading down lanes until we came to a crossroads where the road ahead was designated as a no through road.  We were assured that the road did go through to St Cleer and we would be okay going down the road in our Austins, so off we went.

 

 

 

The road got more and more narrow and eventually became a track but we ploughed on (literally!) through the undergrowth until we came to a halt, having committed to the route we would have had difficulty in retracing our steps.  A quick check of the route led to a bit of pruning before we were able to continue. The lane did go through to St Cleer but how many cars will ever penetrate the lane again?

 

 

Finally we visited Trethevy Quoit, a large structure of stone slabs with a gravity defying cap stone. Originally the stones would have formed a chamber beneath a mound of earth.  Very impressive!   After an ice cream in Minnions, we headed back to the campsite at Callington where we had arranged to have a meal in their restaurant.  All who took part agreed it was a very enjoyable weekend, lots of fun.

  

 

 

 

 

Coffee Morning - 11 May

Three 'Sevens' sat in the car park at Penhale Round, Fraddon, a 1934 RP, a 1935 RPE and a 1935 Ruby MK1.  They were alone, bewildered, surprised, where were all their friends?  They all appeared presentable with their chrome glistening in the sunshine. They sat there waiting, perhaps others would arrive, but no other Club members came.   So four members went for coffee and met two others who had come in a modern.

 

 

The "Sevens" met at Scorrier and with clear blue skies and warm sunshine we wound our way down narrow Cornish lanes lined with wild garlic/onions, and a huge variety of wild flowers in full bloom.  Trees green with new leaves and blossom were overhead.  The Hawthorns looked like they were covered in snow. In the fields, tractors could be seen ploughing accompanied by wheeling gulls.  A sparrow hawk was seen surveying the field from above waiting for the slightest movement of his prey.  On the elevated road from Newlyn East to Mitchell we could see the remains of engine houses and stacks.  A patchwork of fields, some covered in rape seed led to the sea on the horizon.

All went well but then the APE suffered with a lack of power on the homeward run and following a compression test and the removal of the cylinder head revealed number 4 valve had a piece missing out of its skirt.   Otherwise an enjoyable run, somewhat lacking in numbers.

 

 

 

 

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