Fine finale to year’s classic meets at Aldworth’s Bell
AFTER a damp start in Aldworth, the sun broke through to welcome classic cars and motorbikes at the Bell pub, which opened up its back field for the final informal meet of the year.
Among those who shared their stories were John and Diane Varian, who arrived from Moulsford in style with Fiona Hope and Mike Philips on board in an immaculate Morris Isis Six.
“Top of the range in 1931,” said John. “It was my mother’s from new – her father was the chairman of the AEC bus company, the British vehicle manufacturer that built buses, motorcoaches and trucks from 1912 until 1979.”
Richard Raisey has owned his 1956 Morris Traveller for 31 years and it was completely restored in 2017, while Simon Worby, who lives near Chieveley, has had his top-line 1955 Riley Pathfinder for 16 years.
The Moto Guzzi was the best-selling motorbike in the 250cc class in Italy in the 1940s and 50s.
Rare in the UK at that time, Patrick Robinson’s 1949 Aironi Astorino, which he has owned for three years, is in its original condition so he has no plans to restore it, but intends to enjoy it “for a few hundred miles each year doing little tours – this year we toured East Anglia, next year Wales and the Lake District”.
Chris Lewis “acquired” his 1953 Ariel 350 bike in 1985.
“I picked it up from a hedge by RAF Benson,” he said. “But in fact it spent most of its life on the Downs above Streatley.
“It was owned by a gamekeeper and the Bell at Aldworth was his local. The landlady Heather Macaulay recognised the bike when I brought it back here. I put it on the road in 1986 and it’s still going.”
The event was organised by classic enthusiast George Simmons from Compton.