Breakfast at Occombe Farm
A very chilly start but brilliant sunshine for the TOWC inaugural breakfast meet at Occombe Farm. A very good turnout and great to see so many classic cars. It can get a bit busy in the Occombe Farm cafe but soon after 9.30am we had no problems finding tables for our breakfasts.
It was a unanimous "thumbs up" from the attendees & I think we'll have another in early January 2022. Apologies if we didn't speak to everyone - there were many new faces not recognised. Take care everyone & stay safe. Photographs by Harry Kuehling.
Click the image for extra photoghraphs.
Drive it Day 25th April 2021
Initiated by our national federation of old car clubs (FBHVC.co.uk), this annual event is when we celebrate the One Thousand Mile Trial organised in 1900 to prove the viability of the new invention, the motor vehicle. It also raises awareness and support amongst the public for the historic vehicle movement.
From this year, it also now raises funds for the NCPCC’s Childline charity.
COVID uncertainty meant that we had very little time to organise our own participation, but we managed it in just a few days of frantic planning.
Two groups of Torbay Old Wheels Club vehicles left the area, one taking a coastal route eastward to Starcross, then inland as far as Dunsford and back down to Dartmoor.
The second headed west, skirting the moor to Yelverton and then tackling the long climb up to Dartmoor. We had to wait for quite a while on this stage for about 70 tractors to pass by on a separate charity run, then met up with our first group at Widecombe.
Parked together in beautiful weather, with social distancing, we attracted lots of attention and Childline donations from the public visiting this famous west country beauty spot.
With almost all other club events cancelled for over a year this was a rare chance to enjoy the company of old friends, welcome lots of new members to our friendly local club, and boost Childline funds.
Our gallery photos show the wide variety of vehicles involved in a very successful day out.
Status Update on our Car Show
With regret we are postponing the 2021 show. Despite progress in the COVID battle our members agree there are still too many uncertainties to plan a safe and successful event. We cannot risk the wellbeing of our own team, the exhibitors, or visitors. Government roadmap dates are “no earlier than”, with no guarantees, and there’s uncertainty about the status of “large events” after 21st June.
If it were to proceed, the show would most likely involve extra precautions, with visitor numbers controlled and fewer vehicles on display. This might not be financially viable and isn’t in keeping with the friendly and welcoming atmosphere which is a tradition of our usually very busy rally.
The next show will be on 24th July 2022 when we hope to be back to normal, raising funds for local charities as part of the Paignton Festiva
Status Update on our Car Show
Recently a number of major shows due this summer have been cancelled by their
committees. It’s now time to let our supporters know where we are with our decision on the Riviera Classic Car Show.
TOWC is unique because we’re ultra-democratic.
We have the usual Club Officers with their own responsibilities, but the club is normally run by the members themselves at our monthly club nights, rather than a closed committee. This usually works very well, but we’ve been unable to meet for a year so we’ve had to take our decisions via newsletters. Not all of us have internet technology, so we have to use the post and phone calls in some cases to be fair to all. We’re now in the process of briefing members and seeking their views on how we proceed. That will happen over the next few weeks and we expect to announce the outcome by April. We run the show as part of the 9 day Paignton Festival which has its own committee. At present they are proceeding with their planning.
Classic Car
Show 2021
Riviera Classic Car Show 25th July 2021.
We hope that this will go ahead but we cannot make any decisions until there is major progress in the fight against Covid-19.
Many of our team are in the vulnerable category, and we do need to be able to meet in safety several months beforehand to deal with the detailed planning of the event.
There may be extra requirements, including changes to the site layout and limits on numbers of exhibitors and visitors, which could affect the practicality and viability of the show.
We will continue to update on this website and our Facebook page “Torbay Old Wheels Club”.
Christine Pring
We are very sad to announce the passing of former member Christine Pring, wife of
Ivor. Chris and Ivor were active members of the club until recently, attending many
events with us around the region in their white 1989 Mercedes SL300 convertible. In
June 2017 they were proud to win first prize at the Babbacombe Vintage Fayre.
Chris was a very friendly person and we always enjoyed their company. She and Ivor ran a jewellery business for many years and as well as her interest in TOWC Chris had been a keen golfer and at one time a director of Churston Golf Club. We send our condolences to Ivor and their family. The funeral this Monday 18th January is being webcast, please contact K J Lacks for more information.