about-wmx

aboutwmx.htm

West Middlesex Group

Club History

The csma was founded in 1923, primarily as a motoring club, although the initial membership was mainly motorcyclists. The basic aim of the Association was, and still is, to provide a platform for members to get together to enjoy motoring sport and related social activities.

Initially London based, the membership grew rapidly and "Centres" were formed. Two were in London (North and South) and one each in Birmingham and Worcester. By 1936, many other Centres had been added to the Association and they began to form Groups within those Centres.

In June 1939 the inauguration of the West Middlesex Group as part of the North London Centre was recorded. World War II interrupted the Groups progress somewhat and it wasn't until 1953 that a Group, first formed at London Airport, officially changed its name to the West Middlesex Group.

For many years WMx continued to meet at Heathrow until progress forced a move. Various temporary meeting places were used until we settled at Westel House in Ealing Broadway in the early '70s. In 1988, once again, we had to up-root. This time our monthly meetings were held at the British Telecom Sports and Social Club at Yeading. A six year stay and we were on the move again and in 1994 began meeting at the District Arms, Ashford, Middlesex.

Refurbishment forced a further move and since 1997 our regular monthly Club nights have been in a function room at the Liberal Club, Windsor. We also meet monthly at the Jolly Woodman pub, Burnham Beeches for a chat over a sociable drink.

West Middlesex is a group with a proud motor sport history with active competitors competing successfully at all levels all over the UK and beyond. At the same time, successive Group Committees, mindful of the original aims of the csma, have continually organised varied and interesting social calendars over the years.

A year in the life of the group

The backbone of our social calendar continues to be the Clubnights (on the second Thursday of each month) as well as the Noggin & Natter evenings (on the last Tuesday of each month).

Our regular Clubnight venue for indoor activities is the Liberal Club, in Windsor. The evening’s entertainment usually begins between 8pm and 8:30pm. Planned activity is usually 2 to 2½ hours duration with plenty of time to chat to fellow members too. There is ample local parking in the multi-storey car park across the road or in the library car park behind the Club. The £1.50 evening parking charge in Windsor’s car parks is more than off-set by the low priced drinks in our meeting venue.

For a map of Windsor showing the location of the Liberal Club, click here

Clubnights have varied in theme from the Christmas Skittles to Scalextric evenings (the “Slot Car Stages” giving a new twist on an old favourite). Other Clubnights have included Navex (navigational exercises), indoor golf and quizzes.

The Group is run by a Committee of members (see the contact us page for mug shots of the motley crew) who try to establish a wide variety of events. Different Group members take turns in organising the activities that appeal to them so the programme is run by Group members for Group members.

The Committee constantly reviews the Clubnight calendar to see whether changes should be made to the types of events that are run and when in the week they are held. The success of the trip to look around the Met Office (and attempt to gain an insight into weather forecasting) in the summer highlighted that unusual “novelty factor” evenings can be as popular as the old favourites. It was very nice to see some old friends join us for the visit. The Committee is always on the hunt for fresh ideas and suggestions so if there is something you think we could do, please drop us an email with your thoughts.

The Noggin & Natters are held at the Jolly Woodman pub near Burnham Beeches (north of Slough). The venue is easily reached from both the M4 and M40 and has ample parking. A regular band of WMx’ers attend and usually arrive from around 8pm onwards. The pub has very good food (we recommend the steaks!) which is particularly welcome when time is tight after the working day or domestic commitments. Why not come along as a couple and make an evening of it?

For a map of Burnham Beeches showing the location of the Jolly Woodman, click here

Participation

The members of the Group who enjoy their two-wheeled transport have become particularly active in recent years. They have taken part in motorcycle ride outs, marshalled on bike trials and have supported all the UK National Motorcycle Rallies. Some of our members now hold Gold medals for their achievements in these events. Each year members of the group run one of the National Motorcycle rally controls near Reading.

The Group weekend away had originally been planned as a motorcycle event but was opened to the wider membership to increase attendance and those who attended reported such a success that it is being repeated this Springtime.

WMx has a strong contingent of members with a motor sport interest and that is reflected in the Group’s activities. Along side the social calendar, many of the Group’s members also enjoy competing in autotests, stage and road rallies.

As well as WMx events, Group members have been out and about on non-csma events. Various road and stage rallies around Britain have been supported by Group members with ties to other motor clubs. This outing, to see how other Clubs run events, has provided a useful source of information and experience which we can then draw on in promoting our own activities.

A large number of our members are marshals, to whom we are grateful for support. They turn out repeatedly in all weathers to ensure that events are run to a highly professional standard.

Each year members of the Group attend the MSA Marshal Training nights. As a result Nine WMx members are now Registered Marshals and this expertise can be used within the Group to encourage and train newcomers who want a way to become involved without having to actually compete.

Each year a WMx contingent support the csma’s Curtis Bennett weekend as competitors, marshals or helpers. The weekend was originally focussed around the Curtis Bennett road rally through the Friday night with an autotest on the Sunday but has now been extended to give a wide variety of activities available including a touring assembly rally on Saturday, Scalextric, remote controlled cars, driving treasure hunt, walking treasure hunt, to trailer reversing and a classic car display.

Individual WMx successes are numerous and the display of silverware at the awards presentation which concludes the weekend is always impressive.

Track-based events, for both bikes and cars, have proved popular with members taking part in both csma and other track days. A contingent had a very enjoyable day out at Silverstone watching Formula 1 testing. In a break from the traditional track day format, the rally stage style track days have proved very popular and the Group has continued to promote these to give members a flavour of what they could expect if they were to pursue rallying as a motorsport career.

Karting has recently been added to the groups portfolio and has proved to be very popular amongst our members.

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