GENESIS
During September 1983 I received a call from Mike Cochrane, who had been contacted by Mike Wood about the possibility of getting together to discuss the possibilities of starting a VMCC group in the Banbury area.
Whilst there were a few VMCC members in the area, most had affiliated themselves with surrounding sections, Northampton and Warwickshire being the general preference for those living to the north of Banbury, and Oxford and North Cotswold for those living to the west and south, although not many were regular section attendees due to the travelling involved.
Up to this point I had been living in Sibford Gower and regularly undertook 120-mile round trips on my flat tankers to attend Oxford events and also events based with the North Cotswold at Chipping Campden.
A meeting was convened for the 29th September 1983 (which coincidentally was also my birthday!). A group of 13 attended of which 8 were already VMCC members, with the rest certain recruits.
A committee was formed comprising:
Mike Wood Chairman
Mike Cochrane Secretary
Malcolm Wood Treasurer
The result of this meeting was that an application was made to the VMCC Management Committee to recognise the group. They did, and generously provided a sum of (I believe) £15, to assist in floating the group.
THE FIRST COMMITTEE
The first committee meeting of 1984 was held at Mike Wood’s house in Adderbury on the 19th January 1984. This was attended by four, Mike Wood, Mike Cochrane, Laurence Farbrother and myself.
This was a significant meeting because it set the structure for the Club year, and that structure has held for the whole of the existence of the Section.
A monthly meeting held on the second Wednesday of each month was put in place, the proposal was to have a mixture of speakers and alternative events throughout the year. In the first year speakers booked included Bruce Cox, Eddie Dow and Stan Greenway. Among the alternatives were Video nights, a social evening, the Bring a Bike night, a curio night and of course the ‘not to be missed’ AGM!!!!!
With amazing foresight the committee also proposed that there should be a standby entertainment available should the speaker get cold feet etc, and the famous photo quiz was produced.
All the club nights were held in the backroom of the Bell, Adderbury, and this was also the proposed conclusion of the four Sunday Runs proposed for the year (May, June, July and August, all starting at the Horsefair, Banbury).
Lawrence Farbrother volunteered to produce the routes and thereby without having to be voted in (because we didn’t have the post in the organisation) became the first Road Run organiser. The committee also discussed obtaining regalia from the club, providing a club night notice board courtesy of Mike Wood, and getting the group mentioned in the Banbury Run programme for that year.
ACCEPTANCE
The group proved so successful that it was advised on the 4th June 1984 by Jim Hammant (National Secretary) that the VMCC Management Committee had agreed at the Management meeting of the 31st May 1984 that the group should be officially recognised as a Section. The club recognised that the group had done a very good job in attaining this status so quickly (9 months) and also that they had returned the £15 float so promptly………due in no small part to the rapid rise in membership of the section in the intervening period.
GROWTH
The section blossomed so much in the next couple of years that it outgrew the back room at the Bell, and a new home had to be sought. There was much burning of late night oil to come up with a location in a suitable area. But eventually the Beauchamps Club in Bloxham became our home.
The events programme began to blossom and the committee enlarged at the 1984 AGM, where Mike Wood stepped down having achieved his aim of seeing the section started, so I became Chairman (a post I held for over 10 years…no escape then!!!!). Lawrence Farbrother became Treasurer, and Mike Cochrane continued as Secretary. Ted Sutton was introduced to the committee as vice-chairman.
At this time many of the current section members appeared and it would be impossible to detail the changes, but contributors to the sections success included Ted Sutton, Ron Jenkins, Mike Plester, Pete Payne, Graham Cox, Dave Boneham, and Lawrence Farbrother (who was guaranteed to enliven any committee meeting with his stories). John Quincey, Geoff Parratt, Reg Ridgway, Vic Hootton, Alan Yeomans, Roger Philpott, Alan Butler and Cliff Washington (and many others) all made valuable contributions to the life of the section in this period.
It would be unfair to single out individuals as EVERYONE in the section played their part in this period. If I have missed anyone out, I can only offer my profound apologies.
ON THE ROAD
One of the most rapid growth areas was that of road events, a main reason for which the section was founded.
The section has held an anniversary run at the appropriate time, the first one for which I have a record is the 4th Anniversary Run on 20th September 1987 when the run went to the Dog Inn at Harbury and back to the Beauchamps Club. I remember that Cropredy was also the venue for an early Anniversary Run, as we tried to venture into different areas each year.
The section also began to involve itself in charity fundraising, notably for the Katherine House Hospice which was itself developing at this time.
Two 12 hour runs were organised, one
I believe on the 3rd August 1987 where we based ourselves in North Bar on a very wet day, and rode circuits of the town taking in Hennef Way and Cherwell Heights as part of the circuit.
The second was held on 28th May 1989, where we were based in the Horse Fair (I hope someone can remember the route we used then). Both raised not inconsiderable sums for the charity, and the section became well established in the area.
We also made forays to some unlikely destinations, one of the more interesting being to the base at Upper Heyford, where we were able to change from saddles to cockpits (grounded of course). Another meet took us to the Aquila Gliding Club at Hinton Airfield where those who were minded were able to take a trip up in a glider. At least one section member took up gliding as a result!!!!!
The section runs started to become more adventurous as more 50’s and 60’s bikes appeared, and the format of current events began to be well supported with runs often meeting up with neighbouring sections, and of course the section entered into the spirit of the Founders Relay