1934 Rolls Royce Tourer among the classics at West Berks pub

It was a quintessential English village Sunday afternoon in Aldworth - with walkers and cyclists coming off the Ridgeway to quench their thirst in the sunny Bell beer garden, one of the last cricket fixtures being played on the field and fine classic vehicles pulling in for the recent informal meet at the CAMRA award-winning pub.

David Avery and Ann Davis from Mapledurham arrived in a 1934 Rolls Royce Tourer “she will turn 90 in February”, while Andy Evans’ 1948 David Brown Cropmaster tractor that he rescued from a hedge 15 years ago and got up and running took the best part of an hour to travel from nearby Benson. Jon Grieve, on the other hand, changed the engine of his 1953 grey Fergie to a 3.5 Rover V8 and has “clocked up 45mph!”

“Local boys” Streatley residents Jonathan and James Byrte came in a Jaguar E-type and summed up the life of a classic owner: “We’ve had it for getting on for 50 years and it’s been a lot of fun – man and boy! We’ve tried to keep on top of it over the years, doing a bit now and again, whether it’s mechanical, paintwork or upholstery, you’ve got to keep investing – it’s the old, old story.”

Neil Kerr, too, has worked on everything on his 1933 Morgan Super Sports “with 3 speed and reverse” over the last 10-12 years. The three-wheeler is “a specialist car” indeed.

And Hampstead Norreys collector of curiosities Ray Prior - the well known local falconer – drove up in his 1978 Series 2 Acoma Mini Comtesse – manufactured by the French microcar maker. Powered by a 2-stroke petrol engine “ it’s almost unique – fully road registered”. With a gullwing door one side and a conventional door on the other, he said “the theory is that if the traffic is parked nose to nose along the kerb, you can still get out and annoy all the other motorists … that’s the French for you!”

The meet was organised by George Simmons, from Compton.