West Sussex meet January

[pbmr2]

Hey all,

Spotted a number of MR2s around the A24 area of Sussex so was thinking it would be good to organise a local meet.

Very open to suggestions of location, have found 1 venue in the area I'm looking at but nothing organised yet.

The Countryman Inn, Countryman Ln, Shipley, RH13 8PZ
Has a decent sized carpark so should be enough room for a number of cars.

Fully open to any other venue suggestions as this was just the first place I spotted.

Dates would be 21, 22, 28 or 29th of January, looking at a late morning/lunch time meet.

Going to spread the net wide to help numbers, will ask here, IMOC, DC and maybe even faceache.
Anyone in the Sussex area interested? Know of a few already, spose timing is everything.

[MRHAPPY62]

Not sure there are many West Sussex members on here Which is one reason I travel all the way to Kent for social events.
If you throw it open to imoc you may get a few responses.
I am possible for one of the Sundays (work Saturdays).
Good luck.

[pbmr2]

Yeah 2 from Imoc already interested, maybe some FB people too and maybe even a few of the Driver's Club also.

[tubs69er]

i know this was a while ago, but im in Horsham, so totally up for this. Happened to have another Mk2 park net to mine in the Horsham Tesco the other day, really interested in knowing if its someone on here, Same day there was a Mk1 a couple of spaces up as well. heres my ride

[MRHAPPY62]

If you fancy a meet at least 3 of us will be at Goodwood on Sunday morning from about 8am its soft top sunday ! a free event apart from Breakfast ! Try and make it its a good morning meet and close to you.

[BahnStormer]

Did any of the West Sussex meets ever happen? I'm over in North Surrey, but West Sussex is an easier drive for me than Kent.

[MRHAPPY62]

Goodwood did and there is another Breakfast Club for Jap cars on 1.10.17. Or the next Kent run is 17.09.17. The Kent run start point is about 60-70 miles from me and only takes an hour . Where are you in Surrey ?

[pbmr2]

Nope I failed to get much interest, then took the car off the road for an engine swap, then fell quite ill for many months.

Someone else was making noise about doing a Sussex meet the other week, we really should.
Followed a white MR2 on the way to work today.

[BahnStormer]

honestly - I think the only MR2 I've seen since I've owned mine (June'17) has been when I've been in the Audi snotwagon.... and it's hard to convey much camaraderie with an MR2 driver when you're in 4wd 400bhp soulless monster... I know it's not an SUV, but it feels like it after being in the '2!

How about something decently (indecently) early Saturday morning out near Haywards Heath somewhere - might get a mix of Surrey / East / West Sussex and maybe some of the Kent lot along... I know the area, but not well enough to recommend exactly where... but I know that's probably ~1hr for me, either on the motorway or probably about the same if we go biker-style and beat all the traffic!!

[pbmr2]

HH is perfect for me, live quite close

Car is still in bits at the moment, should have it back together this month.

[TonyleFrog]

How about something decently (indecently) early Saturday morning out near Haywards Heath somewhere - might get a mix of Surrey / East / West Sussex and maybe some of the Kent lot along...

Sound like a plan. When you speak of decently (indecently) early I presume you're talking about a run rather than a static meet.

Bear in mind that some folk (not me) have to work on Saturdays. That's why the Kent Run is always on a Sunday.

I know the area, but not well enough to recommend exactly where... but I know that's probably ~1hr for me, either on the motorway or probably about the same if we go biker-style and beat all the traffic!!

I grew up in Sussex and drove thousands of miles on the county's roads over a 15 year period. When I first joined the OC there were regular events in mid Sussex. I helped with the routes for some of them. Let me know if you would like any info/suggestions.

Btw, if you do decide to do a run, it would be advisable not to publish any information (e.g. start/finish locations, times, etc) on a publicly accessible forum. I made that mistake once and learned a salutary lesson. Best to use PMs for distributing such info.

[BahnStormer]

Tony - I dropped you a note regarding the Kent run.

I'm keen for suggestions on a mid/west Sussex run, so if you could drag out a Google-maps version or two, it would be really appreciated!

And yes, looking for a run (not static) and an EARLY (6am?) meet w/coffee/breakfast then an hour or so drive to something similar.

My thinking is that somewhere that is open by 6am for breakfast would give people a flexible / soft start time (e.g. 06.00 if you want breakfast / 06.30 if you just want to drive), then we can be done with the drive by 08.00/08.30 and most of us can be back home around 09.00 when the traffic kicks in.

And yes - concerns around "9am traffic" as I'm considering Saturdays as I've got more flexibility with my time on a Saturday morning than a Sunday morning...

[pbmr2]

Sounds like a plan but start driving at 6am, there will be too much traffic quite quickly on a Saturday morning. Can stop for drinks and food 7:30/8am when the driving is done

[TonyleFrog]

Tony - I dropped you a note regarding the Kent run.

Received. PM sent.

I'm keen for suggestions on a mid/west Sussex run, so if you could drag out a Google-maps version or two, it would be really appreciated!

Will do. Some clarification first would be helpful though: see below.

And yes, looking for a run (not static) and an EARLY (6am?) meet w/coffee/breakfast then an hour or so drive to something similar.

Just so that I'm on the same page here. Do you want tea/coffee/food to be available at the finish?

My thinking is that somewhere that is open by 6am for breakfast would give people a flexible / soft start time (e.g. 06.00 if you want breakfast / 06.30 if you just want to drive), then we can be done with the drive by 08.00/08.30 and most of us can be back home around 09.00 when the traffic kicks in.

That's going to be a tall order. None of the cafés I know are open that early: 07.00 is the norm. For a mid/west Sussex event, if you want breakfast at 06.00 I can only think of one possible location atm. That will remove any flexibility for the start point and will shape any route accordingly.

As for the run itself, first you mention 'an hour or so', then it lengthens to an hour and half/two hours (06.30-08.00/08.30). That's quite a big difference. It would help when looking through my archive if you could narrow the parameters down a bit. Not much point in me coming up with a two hour route if you only want one of 60-70 minutes max.

Sounds like a plan but start driving at 6am, there will be too much traffic quite quickly on a Saturday morning. Can stop for drinks and food 7:30/8am when the driving is done

^^

Precisely why I do the Kent Run that way round: drive first, breakfast afterwards. The run finishes earlier, so those who want/need to scoot off immediately for any reason can do so and they should encounter less traffic. More choice of where to eat as well (although the Kent Run has a more or less permanent place for breakfast due to the quality of the food and the location).