Jack and all,
The Malverns Hills area is well worth a visit even for those who don't
want to spend the day at the factory. Stop in the Tourist Info office
in Great Malvern and pick up a map and various brochures. They have
some nice Morgan post cards and a few other Mog items. There is plenty
to do in the area: Shopping in Great Malvern, walking (aka hiking) the
trails on the hills, tea shops -- ask for directions to the Singing
Kettle (Kettle Sings?)for nice views from the hillside, pubs, plays at
the Winter Garden (if they've finished the renovation), visit the
Priory, various events at the Three-counties Showground.
Malvern and Worcester are within an hour's drive of all sorts of
interesting sights: The Cotswolds (Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold, the
Slaughters...), Stratford (Only ten bucks for nose-bleed seats to see
world-class Shakespeare theatre), Gloucester, Birmingham, Hay-on-Wye
(town full of used book stores), the Rover-group Heritage Center at
Gaydon, Severn Valley railway, etc. Check the UK car events web page
via Team.Net's British Car pages.
As others have said, almost anyone will enjoy seeing at least some of
the factory. Perhaps you can spend another four hours there while your
other half is shopping in Great Malvern or Worcester. I'd say the main
reason to call ahead is to be sure that they don't have a factory
holiday the day you are there. Otherwise, just check in at the front
office and give yourself the tour. Say hi to Mick Hand in the dispatch
bay for me. Also, ask the test driver when he is going out for the next
test and see if you can catch a ride. (Tony Monk was test driver until
recently, but I think he got promoted.)
If you want to buy some parts at the Spares dept., be sure to go to
their counter when you first get there so they have some time to
assemble the order. Better yet, call or fax before you go so they have
the order ahead of time. If you order well ahead of time, then you'll
be able to pick up items that they have to fabricate. I think you have
to buy 50 or 100 GBP worth to get a VAT reclaim form from them.
Jack, if you pick up a suitcase full of parts for your restoration at
the factory, you may well save enough money in shipping and dealer
markup to pay for a good chunk of your plane ticket.
And finally, if you'll be needing a new top and tonneau for your '56
4-seater, please take the old ones with you (assuming its not good
enough to reuse) and give it to Charlie Stiles, the foreman of the
trimming department, so he has a pattern to make you a new one. This is
not just a helpful suggestion: I need a new top and tonneau too, but
the factory's pattern for the early +4 developed legs.
--Steve Manwell
Melrose, MA, USA
1954 +4 4-str, #3192
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