The Fox on the Hill (2)

DIRECTORY

New Year's Day

Fox-on-the-Hill

The Fox-on-Hill at Kingswood became a regular summer venue for the SVVS mainly because a past Editor lives practically next door to it. This meant he didn't have to get the car out and could therefore imbibe with impunity while the rest of us were on the soft stuff. Not content with this, he somehow wangled a meet a bunch of us there a few years before the turn of the century, (this one!) to celebrate New Year's day. This somehow drifted into folklore and The Fox-on-Hill somehow become a regular New Year's Day meet despite neither the day nor pub not being in the SVVS calendar. Seems SVVS members like illicit meetings because this one was again well attended and produced some rather nice cars. Lots of others sneaked in in moderns, namely Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Dep. Editor, and two of the Committee, to name but a few. Vehicle Registrar, Hon Auditor and Editor came in classics, Jaguar XJS, Riley Elf, and Dolomite, while the Secretary came in his Amilcar CGS. Also there were an Armstrong Siddeley 15, Austin 7, Austin 16/6, an Aston Martin Le Mans and an Aston Martin DHC, Healey Tickford, an XK 120, Jowett Jason, a Lancia Lambda and a Lancia Apia, Morris Minor S1, Morris Oxford, loadsa Rileys: three Kestrels, a Falcon, a Gamecock, and a Lynx (which seems an awful lot of wildlife !), a Rover 14, a Triumph Stag and a Trojan. The weather was warmish and damp and fortunately the rain had melted the previous snow and ice which could otherwise have reduced the numbers somewhat, but didn't reduce the salt which had liberally been plastered over the roads.