The President's Page

Greetings all!

What is it they say about the best laid plans? We had been looking forward to taking the Whitley Coupe out for its first spring run over to Smeaton for the Andersons Mill Festival, unfortunately though a well placed bee sting the previous afternoon rendered my left eye less than useful, only due to swelling around it, and we opted to drive the modern over. This was a shame, as the Mill is a wonderful setting for displaying old cars. This five storey 1862 bluestone building, still with its 8 1⁄2 metre 25 Tonne water wheel, was visited during the 2015 Goldfields weekend, and some members may recall the imposing structure.

The following weekend we managed to get the Armstrong Siddeley out and motored in style over to the Clunes farmers market. The fine weather helped make the journey along the country roads most enjoyable, its high profile tyres doing a better job of ironing out the sections of deteriorating road than the low profile "rubber band" on the modern. Whilst motoring along I couldn't help but reflect on how fortunate we are to have our various club registration permit schemes, allowing us to use our cars for a relatively economical cost, and for which I am very thankful to the authorities and our club officers for maintaining this option. I know that some motoring groups seem to face ever increasing challenges, for example the planned closure of Wakefield Park in regional NSW will be a blow to local motorsport enthusiasts.

So, enough of my ramblings and more about what the Board has been doing. As many of you know, our sister club in the
UK ,The Armstrong Siddeley Owners Club, has had to undertake the considerable task of relocating their stores to a new site. Having acquired a commercial property in Pentre, Wales, there will now need to be the refurbishment, fitting out and moving into what will become the Headquarters of both the ASOC and ASHT (heritage trust). To assist with covering the costs of establishing the new centre an appeal had been launched by the ASOC. Subsequently a letter for consideration of this appeal was sent to the board by the Victorian Branch and, at the most recent meeting, the board approved an amount equal to one thousand pounds sterling be donated from the Federal operating account to be shared equally between the ASOC and the ASHT for the development of the new Armstrong Siddeley centre. To have the tremendous resources of both the ASOC and ASHT housed in the new site will be a.great benefit to all Armstrong Siddeley enthusiasts. It may be of interest that recent feedback from the ASHT notes Australia as the second largest visitor to its popular website, so if you haven't yet inspected the site then I would highly recommend that you see for yourself why it is popular. (https://www.armstrongsiddeleyheritagetrust.com/).

Also on the agenda for the meeting and discussed were the 2023 Leeton Rally, of which you will read more inside, the Club spares update and an update about the storage capacity for our Club Website. We have a terrific resource with our Web site, and it plays an important role in promoting and portrayal of our club. From a technical point the Website consumes approx. 2.4 Gb of space on the host server, and our discussion centred on making sure that the Website will have space to grow, as material is added. Currently there is space still available, and further space can be arranged for only modest costs. So if there is something else that you would like to see, or have any suggestions about the Website please let us know.

That's all from me, make sure you are getting organised for Leeton next hear! Happy motoring until next time

Cameron Wright-President ASCC