We were invited back to Castle Coombe race circuit by Brooklands to take part in their group at the Classic Bike Track Day. This a great day out as all the bikes in the Brooklands group are ‘Classics’ so are very similar. Luckily this time we didn’t have any rain even though it was April which makes it far more enjoyable. The organisers were so pleased with the turn out of bikes that they wanted a group photo at the end of the day.

The Poole & District Branch of Parkinson’s UK have been the charity we support for a few years now but due to the Covid restrictions we haven’t been able to meet up with them. This however has not stopped our members raising funds for the charity. This has been through various events including raffles, sponsored shaves and our collection pot. Mike one of our members also painted 98 paintings during the lock down of many pets, people and vehicles which raised over £2,000. The True Lovers Knot had a charity pot which once opened had over £560 in it. The Vdub at the Pub show also donated another £300 as we displayed our motorcycle there and helped with the ‘cream teas’ for the Vintage Cycle Ride. Eventually Committee Members from the Parkinson’s Branch were able to join us for an evening where we were able to present them with a cheque for £4,839.61 which was greatly received!

2021 is the VMCC 75th anniversary, so they held an event at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire. Several NOC members attended and Chris Streather arranged for us to have a small display in the paddock as well as the time we had booked on track. Luckily although the weather was windy the only time it rained was early Sunday morning so everyone had a dry track. the other bonus was that there were a couple of sessions each where there was no noise restrictions so you could here the bikes properly. I took part on my Seeley Commando which was great fun as the track really has many ups and downs.

The Popham Megameet at Popham Airfield was a bit of a washout due to heavy rain shower passing through all day. A few hardy souls braved it to put on a small display of Norton’s. The whole show ground was a mud bath so the bikes that were ridden to the event got very dirty. A big thank you to everyone who turned up and supported us. Luckily we managed to pack up in the dry before the huge downpour as we made our way home.

On Saturday July 31st we held a Club ‘Nosh & Natter’ to try and attract some more new members but unfortunately the weather was very changeable. Even so we managed to get everything set up before the rain arrived. As usual we were well supported by our Bournemouth Club members with 14 bikes on display plus many helpers. The True Lovers Knot kindly put on a BBQ for us. Luckily almost 20 members from the Norton Owners braved the weather and turned up to make the day a success. They came from as far as Bath, Basingstoke, Devon and the Isle of Wight. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we signed up 2 new members plus possibly a couple more. In the evening those who stayed were entertained by the excellent Badger Blues Band.

Well it looks like this is the only event that we will do as a Club this year and typically it rains for the first time in months. We did brave the weather and had 12 Norton’s on display. We all meet up at Burley and had a damp ride through the New Forest to get to Sammy’s museum at Bashley.

Surprisingly the roads were very quiet, not many holiday makers about. A few more of our members turned up by other modes of transport and other makes of motorcycle to help swell our numbers to about 20.   There were a couple other Norton’s turn up but overall, it was a very quiet day due to the weather. Luckily the café was open serving bacon butties and hot tea. The staff at the museum were very great full that we turned up. Sammy invited us all into the workshop and gave a chat on all the ongoing projects.

Once we got to lunchtime the huge crowds started to thin out so and the remaining few of us kitted up and made our way home through the rain once more. As usual one we arrived home the sun came out.

Finally, we would like to thanks everyone who turned up for supporting us and proving what a great Club, we have!