"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness." Just a few emotive words which held much poignancy for me when I observed the first autumnal signs of the year as I galloped my GTV up the road towards Gloucester in the first daylight hour of Sunday 9th September. The clear roads ensured that before long I had joined the willing band from the AROC UK Gloucester & South section as we prepared for the arrival of Alfisti from near and far.

The tranquil historic harbour took on a somewhat crimson hue as the Alfas streamed in and it was certainly a pleasure to greet so many long standing friends once again. Many of the visitors took advantage of the local attractions and made visits to the Soldiers of Gloucester Museum, the British Waterways Museum, the Antiques Centre, took pleasure boat trips or ventured further afield to the world renown Cathedral.

The 'Best Alfa Romeo' competition caused a fair amount of head scratching as it was most certainly a closely fought contest. Tony & Julia Coburn's gorgeous Giulia Sprint Speciale eventually topped the poll and Mike and Jo Hirst received the 'Special Award' for their superb Zagato bodied 1929 6c 1750 SS in second place. Mike had previously told us he was hoping to be with us in Gloucester "as long as it keeps rattling along."
 

We were certainly pleased that he and Jo did come along as their 6c made a fine centre piece to the display and attracted a great deal of interest from both the Alfisti and casual passers by.

That the event had been a great success was not in doubt. In no time at all, bonnets were opened and the conversations were about the joys and challenges of ownership, modifications undertaken, those still to be done and the pleasures of taking to the open road. It was also a fertile recruiting ground as we managed to enrol five new AROC members, including a visitor from Kuala Lumpur. We were very grateful for the numerous favourable comments we received from many of our Alfisti friends and colleagues and I know I speak for the Gloucester & South Section when I say that their pleasure was our pleasure too. Grateful thanks must go to Gloucester City Council for allowing us to use their real estate for the occasion. We hope that many who visited on this day will return to savour more of the city's attractions in the future.

by Paul Hanmore