Henley Probus Club

THE chairman welcomed club members and visitors to the 512th meeting of Henley Probus Club.

Following a short business update including reports from the treasurer and secretary, the chairman reflected on the recent summer lunch and visit to the BMW Mini factory at Oxford before introducing the guest speakers Ann and John Ford, who gave a talk on their company Morris Minors in the Media.

The talk was very light-hearted and commenced with a short history of the Morris Minor, which was first built in 1949 and remained in production (at its Cowley site) until 1971.

Ann and John started their company in 1990 and it continued until 2015, during which time they bought and sold a large number of Morris Minors and at any one time they would have 35 in stock. These cars were regularly rented out to the film industry and were used in films such as Shadowlands and The Borrowers.

The cars also featured in TV shows and adverts and were also very popular used for wedding cars. Probably the most famous use was with the police forces around the UK when they were known as the Panda cars (mainly green and white in colour).

The talk concluded with questions from the audience followed by a very warm message of thanks and appreciation from members.

Henley Probus meets at Badgemore Park Golf Club on the second Tuesday of each month. It starts with an informal gathering at 10.45am for a discussion and coffee, with the formal meeting commencing at 11.30am, followed by a lunch. There is also a regular but very informal monthly breakfast meeting that meets at Badgemore Park.

If anyone is interested in joining the club, visit henleymensprobus.org.uk or make themselves known to Roger Griffiths, our membership secretary on (01491) 575137, email regriffiths44@gmail.com or to any member you may know.

Roger Roberts