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Fido
United Kingdom
31 Posts |
 Posted - 28/01/2021 : 08:35:09
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I have been trying to obtain a document from the archive at KH for the past month without success. The voluntary archivist, Peter Neil, has been absent from KH for about a year, doubtless for very good reasons associated with Covid-19. I did once manage to make contact by email with the General Manager who promised to help but failed to follow through.
The situation as of yesterday, 27/01/21, was that the only person in the building was Cherina, the accounts lady, who understandably cannot help with any matter outside of her remit. Cherina is the only person to whom I have managed to speak in the past month.
I am wondering why it is that a total of 9 directors and 8 staff members cannot between them maintain a presence at Kimber House?
It would appear that I can order an umbrella or pay my subs but not much else. Which brings me to consider why I remain a member at all. Then again, I would miss my monthly re-education session regarding the virtues of electrically propelled Chinese tin cans in Safety Fast!
I am assuming that their must be some merit in the MMMM Register remaining as part of the MGCC, but I cannot be certain of what it is.
Fido |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2021 : 09:49:53
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Shouldn’t this be in the MGCC Members Only section?
Simon J
J3437 |
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Onno
Netherlands
1046 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2021 : 10:20:27
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In the past month I’ve had a completely different experience.
Emailed them with some difficult membership/racing/brexit questions and got a near immediate response they where on it.
Within a fortnight they where able to answer all the difficult questions with all the needed substance.
So who knows they might have been busy with my inquiry ;)
Onno "J,D" Könemann |
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George Eagle
United Kingdom
3240 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2021 : 10:32:19
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I believe Peter Neal looks after the archives on a voluntary basis.
George
L2023 |
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colintf
United Kingdom
1503 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2021 : 11:20:32
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I believe that the Directors are also volunteers (the MGCC is a non profit making organisation), some of which also have full time jobs and many of them live several hours away from Kimber House (KH) itself.
I must admit I have contacted KH a couple of times recently by telephone, and have probably spoken to someone working from home, but both instances the questions were answered quickly, and I the other time, the goods soon arrived.
I guess depending upon which option that you choose as to why you are telephoning then results in who the system puts you through to. (sales, membership, editorial etc etc)
The Triple-M Register is very much part of the MG Car Club (which has Registers for the different models, and Centres for where you are based location-wise.
Colin Murrell
PA0786 (D0285 previously)
Photographer for MGCC (LeMans Classic, Oldtimer Grand Prix etc) & MG Motor (BTCC 2012-5)
http://www.triple-mracing.com/ |
Edited by - colintf on 28/01/2021 11:25:02 |
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Terry Hartley
United Kingdom
279 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2021 : 11:27:42
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"Shouldn't this be in the MGCC Members Only section?" Totally agree Simon, unless, of course, the placing was designed to stir emotions within certain sections of our non-MGCC member community?
"I am assuming that there must be some merit in the MMMM Register remaining as part of the MGCC, but I cannot be certain of what it is." It never ceases to amaze me how many of our members just don't 'get-it'. The Triple-M Register hasn't chosen to become part of the MGCC, the Triple-M Register is the MGCC (set up by the MGCC specifically for it's Triple-M owning members). Therefore, logic dictates that the merit you seek Fido is the Register support you, as an MGCC member, are currently benefitting from.
I cannot address the current communications problem you are experiencing with Kimber House at the moment, but please don't give up trying as obviously things are not straight forward. As Onno says it has worked for him.
Terry |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2021 : 11:50:54
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Thanks, Terry.
A couple of years ago in a review of the Register Yearbook (which I edit) in the Australian Pre-War M.G. Register Newsletter, the reviewer was critical of the emphasis given to the MG Car Club in the title of the Yearbook on the front cover. My reply (which I think is apposite to the current discussion) was as follows.
“The Triple-M Register is part of the MG Car Club and without the Club, there'd be no Register. Furthermore, the MG Car Club was at the heart of MG's activities during the golden Triple-M period in the 1930s and the historic links to the factory are a very important part of what we might call the DNA of both the Club and the Register.
So it was a very conscious decision on my part as editor, and one taken with the full support and encouragement of the Triple-M Register Committee, to emphasise the fact that the Register is not a stand alone institution, which many people seem to think, but an integral part of the MG Car Club. This was in part because in recent years it has become increasingly common to hear people to say "I'm not a member of the MG Car Club, but I'm a member of the Triple-M Register". Not possible, I'm afraid, as membership of the Register is limited to members of the MG Car Club. Inclusion of a car on the Register listing does not in itself make its owner a member of the Register. Hence the need, in our view, to make it clear that the Register is part of the MG Car Club and the Yearbook is, in effect, an MG Car Club publication.”
And regarding the, in my view, unnecessarily snide comment about “electrically propelled Chinese tin cans” I’m writing this on my “Chinese made” iPad and seriously considering getting an EV in the coming months. Of the current crop available the M.G. ZS EV is, to my mind, one of the best available and I fully consider it to be as much an MG as anything made by the Morris Group, BMC, BL, the Rover Group or whoever. YMMV
Simon J
J3437 |
Edited by - Simon Johnston on 28/01/2021 12:09:49 |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2021 : 12:55:54
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I should have added this photo, taken at the Ulster Centre's contribution to the ninetieth anniversary of the MG Car Club, of my J2 next to an “electrically propelled Chinese tin can”.
Simon J
J3437 |
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sam christie
United Kingdom
3108 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2021 : 15:42:12
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"Shouldn't this be in the MGCC Members Only section?"
To be fair to Fido his comments are of very great interest to Forum subscribers outside the MGCC thinking about reasons for joining or (as in my case) rejoining.
Is there scope to tell non MGCC Forum subscribers how much they are missing by not being members?
They say it pays to advertise.
Sam |
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George Wilder
United Kingdom
91 Posts |
Posted - 29/01/2021 : 11:29:43
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MGCC Ltd is a not for profit company relying on a small paid staff at Kimber House and volunteers (members) to carry out its activities.
Kimber House staff are following government guidelines and are as far as possible working from home. This means that there is only skeleton staff within the building each day and hence a degree of patience is always required.
Please see the notice on the MGCC website https://www.mgcc.co.uk/mg-car-club-corona-virus-guidance/ which explains all.
The MGCC Directors are ALL volunteers. Some still have full time jobs, none live in Abingdon and are in fact spread around the UK.
The MGCC archive which is kept in a specially built wing of Kimber House so that all the very important documents and artefacts are kept in a secure location. The archive is currently managed by Peter Neal - an ex MG apprentice and employee – with two assistants. All are unpaid volunteers. In line with the Covid-19 policy they have not been attending Kimber House.
To quote Simon Johnson “The Triple-M Register is part of the MG Car Club and without the Club, there'd be no Register. Furthermore, the MG Car Club was at the heart of MG's activities during the golden Triple-M period in the 1930s and the historic links to the factory are a very important part of what we might call the DNA of both the Club and the Register.”
Finally, with regards to the ‘EV Chinese tin can’ then I think all MG enthusiasts might have a ‘jaw dropping’ moment later this year when the MG E-Motion is launched. The Autocar ‘impression’ reported in January https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/mg-primes-electric-sports-coupe-2021-uk-launch is certainly stunning.
George Wilder
Vice Chairman MGCC
PS
I am always reminded in discussions like this of the famous quotation of J F Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country’ something we perhaps ought to consider in terms of our Club. |
Edited by - George Wilder on 29/01/2021 11:31:42 |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 29/01/2021 : 12:36:57
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Thank you, George. And as I posted in another thread, surely C.K. would approve of this small detail in the ZS EV - the cover for the charging socket, hidden behind the grill and unseen by most. A nice touch.
Simon J
J3437 |
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Simon Johnston
United Kingdom
6145 Posts |
Posted - 30/01/2021 : 09:27:19
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Never mind the MG E-Motion, yesterday I had the opportunity to drive the ZS EV pictured above. What an astonishing vehicle. It drives just like an ordinary automatic car but the acceleration at, say, less than 50 mph is instant and my head was literally thrown back against the head rest the first time I put my foot down. And of course the regenerative braking almost gives one-pedal driving and you have to drive up to junctions rather than lifting off in advance to coast up. Amazing! I wouldn’t swap it for my J2 but for everyday motoring it’s a no-brainer.
Simon J
J3437 |
Edited by - Simon Johnston on 30/01/2021 09:27:34 |
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Teifion
United Kingdom
137 Posts |
Posted - 30/01/2021 : 09:57:13
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Thanks George,e-motion looks impressive,if 30k as mooted should sell v.well. Like the look of the proposed 2 str too..
Teifion |
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