May was a big month for FolkMog and for me for that matter so I am going to try and cover the whole month in a single report. The first event for FolkMog was held at the Swan Hoxne. They had accepted our booking and provided a menu which seemed to me to be the complete menu. The evening was very pleasant as we drove across from Aldeburgh and we were almost first to arrive but not actually. It seems that no matter how early we are we are never the first to arrive which sounds like a moan but is more of an expression of surprise. I took some photographs of people arriving and some more of certain members of the committee who had been told to wear the regalia that had been delivered. As a group we had decided that not many people were buying FolkMog stuff and that was probably because you did not really know it existed. 
So we have all bought some and modelled it. Watch this web site for a page of FolkMog Regalia for your delectation. All the photograph taking was going on while everyone was having their regulation chat in the car park. An amusing moment was had when David arrived with a plastic sheet still over his engine. He had put it there while he was washing the car to stop water getting on and in the engine. Now this is a very good thing as I would later learn at Brands Hatch Morgans but more that later. Suffice to say at the moment that it is only a good thing if you remember to take out the plastic sheet after washing. Actually much to our surprise the plastic had not melted all over the engine at all.
The meal that night was splendid and much enjoyed by all. The waitress at my table even managed to conjure up the lemon cheese cake despite it not being on the menu. It was really yummy. This pub really is very good and easily worth a visit even if we are not having a meeting there.
The following weekend Diana and I were supposed to go sailing followed by a few days in Arundel but the boat had collided with a submerged container so we did not head south until Sunday. We spent a lovely few days in a charming town as well as nipping along the coast to Chichester to go to the festival theatre. Now the point of this was to be south of the river Thames on the Thursday of that week as I had booked to be on a ‘Taking Care of Your Morgan’ Day run by Keith at Brands Hatch Morgans. This turned out to be an excellent day. Keith told us lots of simple things to do that would help keep our Morgan’s in tip top shape. Would you oil your bonnet hinge? I never had before but Keith told us to do and why we should as well. He also explained how the front suspension worked as well as explaining how to look after our kingpins and these are just a couple of items during the day. There was a tremendous amount of information in a day that seemed to zip past at record speed. If he runs the course again I thoroughly recommend you try to book a place. Keith also diagnosed a problem I was having with a huge amount of smoke coming from the exhaust of my Morgan. It was the valve guide oil seals were on their way out.
Upon our return to sunny Suffolk it was time for the Navigation Test. Now this was interesting for many reasons and this is going to sound a bit like the Spanish Inquisition sketch in Monty Pythons flying circus so---- The reasons that this was interesting include such diverse elements as ---
Well firstly it nominally appeared that this was being organised by Chris and Sally Dady and Us (Diana and Alan). In fact we did very little except a bit of testing of the route on paper and contacting the pub where we started and finished. Chris and Sally planned the route, drove the route and this included driving it the night before and discovering that one of the roads was closed and having to re-plan the route, putting out boards with words on that the competitors could collect the words in the right order, producing the maps, producing three different navigation techniques and describing these to the competitors and – well the list seems endless.
Actually Diana had done one extra thing and that is finding, what I hope the winners found, were lovely prizes. The motif will be repeated for the Gymkhana.
We started at the Angel Larling and at this point I have to be a bit effusive with my praise for this pub. They were extremely flexible with numbers as they didn’t need to know until the week of the event, they did not ask us to order our food in advance and they were pleasant and helpful at every turn. What is more the food was good and beer was really very good as well. I digress. When someone arrived we fleeced them of their entrance money, this paid for their coffee and the materials, and gave them their instructions.
The instructions came in the form of three envelopes a map, a plotting device, a couple of pencils and a large envelope to use as a sort of clipboard. There were three sections to the course each one would be navigated in a different way. Two of the envelopes contained instructions for the next stage and the final envelope contained the final destination for emergencies. Although we did our best to hide it I think some worked out that they would, in fact, be coming back to the Angel.
The first method was a set of map references, not necessarily in the right order, of points that had to be passed in the shortest route without using the same piece of road twice. The start point and the end point of this section were indicated. Along the way on all three sections would be small boards each with a word written on it. The contestants had to collect the words and preferably in the correct order. The drivers and their navigators sat down to work out the map references
The second section was using tulips each tulip is a schematic of a junction showing the roads that the contestants should ignore as well as where they should go. That way if they come to a junction that does not look like the tulip that should be next they have gone wrong somewhere. The final section had a series of boxes representing parts of the map with the route shown on them. The first and the last boxes were marked but the other parts had to be pieced together a little like a jigsaw.
So, as each contestant arrived they were given their instructions and advised to sit down, have a cup of coffee which we provided and work on the first section. Here is another interesting thing. Of the people there only one pair who were able to work out the grid references without a bit of help to get them started. I wonder why Maurice has been slaving away calculating the grid reference of every meeting place that we go to?
Anyway after a while we managed to get people away into the wilds of the Suffolk/ Norfolk borders and Diana, Sally, Chris and I settled down to await their return. First back was Caroline Page and crew and they were very nearly the only ones not to have opened their final envelope. They did not have all of the words but did really well and ended worthy winners.
The rest of the crowd came in over the following hour or so and we all had a splendid lunch, and made the presentations to Caroline Page and navigator. Many thanks to the Angel!
The route home for Diana and I was the southern part of the route that our intrepid contestants had to take so that we could pick up the boards with words on. Chris and Sally went home on the Northern route to do the same job.
This seemed to be a really fun day and I am not sure how Sally and Chris feel but I think that we need some volunteers to work out the route next year so that we can take part next time. The other thing that we discussed was the thought that we should have more motoring related activities next year so get your thinking caps on ready for November.
To complete the story of our valve guides, we got our local garage to have a look and they did a sharp intake of breath and suggested hat we really we could do with a new engine. Checking with Keith at Brands Hatch Morgans confirmed their diagnosis so I had a search on the web and took advice from Keith so on the minus side we will be without our beloved Morgan for the Gymkhana and we will be poorer by a reasonable amount of money but on the plus side we will soon have a splendid new and bigger engine in the Mog soon.