Hon. President O. B. Greeves MBE Hon. Vice President P. Smith Founded 1988

Greeves Annual Gathering 2017

The event kicked off with the autojumble and this year it was possible to obtain just about anything to complete ‘that Greeves’ Just about everything from a Guyson blasting set-up to an individual Villiers gear was there to be snapped up at the right price. Even I took a pile of old junk, err, high quality merchandise and I think I gave away more than I sold but then the idea was to get rid of surplus items! Paul Powell and Villiers Services were also on hand supplying parts on a more commercial basis. Paul had with him a pile of Griffon inner chaincases he has had recently cast. These are awaiting machining but once ready will be available for about £85. As these tend to get eaten by the rear chain, they are a popular item, as evidenced by the last batch selling out.

Meanwhile, in the background, Dick Faggetter and Jack Chalk, disguised as insurance salesmen, were selling raffle tickets to the unwary. This year, there were some good prizes on offer, from a year’s GRA membership, one of the new teen shirts to various books and DVD’s. With all those goodies, how come I ended up winning the jam?! However, at least it was a prize and I think everyone was pleased with their winnings.

Gradually, the display of bikes built up and we ended with a lot more than last year, both road and competition. Andy Barnett was busy with membership renewals and finished up with nearly 70, a good way of avoiding postage (10 shillings to post a letter these days!). Mick and Margaret Williams were busy sorting out the raffle and tending to anything else financial.

Peter Smith had his regalia shop open as usual. New lines this year were tee shirts in both long and short sleeved versions plus some van-sized GRA stickers. 13 of the 20 tee shirts rapidly sold as did the van stickers with only one being left at the end of the day. Pete reported outstanding sales with over £500 being taken, certainly a record for this event.

Our Guest of Honour duly arrived and this year it was Tim Britton, editor of Classic Dirt Bike magazine. Tim regaled us with tales of how magazines are produced with the emphasis, unsurprisingly, on Morton’s Media. He illustrated this with some pictures of inside the ‘office’ and accompanied this with some tales of what they all got up to. Tim finished off by presenting the bike display trophies to the owners of the bikes he had judged earlier. Winner of the road bike section was regular show winner Maurice (Green Overalls) Nicholas with his very complete 50’s Fleetstar Winner of the competition trophy was Richard Paignton’s MDS. Although not polished to death, this was a very complete and original example of this model.

After a short break, the AGM was held. As there were no contentious issues and the committee were all willing to stand for a further year, this was quite a brief affair. This was followed by a short meeting for the Committee thus saving a visit to Kidlington and the expense of hiring the meeting room. Once this was completed, it was time to check that nothing was left behind (yes, it does happen!) and say our farewells. Another successful event was completed apart from the drive home.

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