We are certainly looking forward to our OPEN DAY on 6 October, when we will bring out many of our running exhibits, and have a mid-day parade through the park. Come and join us for a look around after your picnic lunch. In the meantime, it would be nice to have a bit of rain to freshen everything up.
ON SATURDAY 10 AUGUST we hosted the annual Velocette Day. It was not the best of days weather-wise, but even so, around 40 motorcycles turned up, more than half of them Velocettes. Velocette was an iconic British company, making many models, including the near silent watercooled LE. It became the British Postie bike for a time. Most visitors took advantage of the refreshments and lunch provided. For those keen to have look, search for ‘velocette day’ in Facebook.
The 1918 International truck restoration recently reached a milestone – its chassis has been rebuilt out of two, both with their faults, and we now have the foundation on which to start putting it back together. That’s a bit optimistic really, as there is so much work to do in every direction. The photo shows its delivery after the big welding job. Other recent achievements are reassembly of the differential, delivery of the re-rubbered rims to the wheelwright, arrival of the new piston rings, and so on. We are working on the brakes – badly rusted – and we have been to a brake specialist who is sure the job can be done. One of the busiest members of our group of volunteers is our fitter and turner. There are so many tasks needing his services, as every single wearing part of the truck requires refurbishment. So much so that we have enlisted outside services to do a bit of this work, and many of us take bits home to work on. We recently welcomed a new member to our group. He has been baptised with a job on this project.
The Fagan Park museums and Netherby Homestead are open every Tuesday, our volunteering day, and we open the museums on the second Sunday each month during the afternoon. All visitors are welcome.
We would especially like to encourage people to join our group, and ladies are most welcome. Contact me at the park on a Tuesday or phone anytime. Ian Browning, Honorary Curator 0419 435 475.
