What a summer we have had in East Anglia. It may not have been the best from a weather point of view, however, the meets, drives and people have resulted in a fantastic four months.

Spring was going to be a tough act to follow after our hugely successful hosting of the Mike Stripe Memorial weekend where we welcomed members from all over the country to beautiful North Norfolk for the region's first Driving Adventure.

June started with favourable weather and an opportunity to attend a small local show - Classics on the Green at Great Massingham. I had previously spoken to Ryan, the show's organiser, before the event as he assisted with advice and useful contacts for our Club visit to the Village Green for the Norfolk Driving Adventure in May and even came along for a catch-up while we were on our Castle Acre stopover during the same weekend. 

About half a dozen of us descended on the Green for the early June Classic car show. An amazing variety of cars and a super barbeque provided by the local pub (The Dabbling Duck) ensured a great day was had. Dean deafened some of the local small children with his Evora 410 exhaust and we met and welcomed new members, Des and Daniel, both driving lovely S1 Elise's.

The 24th of June was an opportunity to expand our area into new territory, with a planned driving day in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. A meeting point at Grafham Water gave us the starting point to drive the challenging B660 and other B roads in and around Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. A route devised by Toby Reynolds led us through from Grafham to Old Warden Airfield for coffee before reaching Gatton for lunch at the Addison Arms. In the afternoon we headed back towards Cambridge for a final stop. 

As well as being great fun, the drive provided the ideal opportunity to join other members of the Club from different areas, including Clare and Gary, George from Herts and Denise from the Midlands, amongst others. A photo opportunity of all the cars at Grafham was choreographed by George and certainly created quite an image.

If there was one thing we had learnt from our Spring meetings, it was that we were going to need a larger venue to host our monthly meetings. We were rapidly outgrowing our original venue at the SugarBeat Eating House in Swainsthorpe and needed to find somewhere with plenty of parking and a relaxed approach to providing food for an increasing number of attending members.

Fortunately, I had recently been made aware of a small local airfield that was fairly well located and actively encouraged car and bike clubs for meetings. A few emails to The Liberator Restaurant at Old Buckenham Airfield confirmed that this was going to be an exciting opportunity for a relaxed and easygoing new venue for our monthly breakfast meets.

Our first meeting at 'Old Buck' was scheduled for June the 25th. The airfield is accessed via a long drive up from the main road, a turning easily missed if not paying attention. The road opens out into a glorious open area with plenty of open space for parking and a beautifully kept airfield spreading out into the distance. Light aircraft regularly arrive and depart creating a wonderful display of colours and shapes, sounds and smells.

Old Buck was an operational WW2 base and was home to the USAAF 453rd Bombardment Group. Their Operations Officer was the Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart. There is a terrific museum dedicated to the 453rd onsite which provides an insight into the lives of these young flyers and their B-24 Liberator aircraft. This provides yet more interest for members attending our newly found venue.

The first meeting at this location met with approval from all, and the increasing number of members attending enjoyed the tasty breakfast. It was also worthy of note that Scott Walker, (Head of Business at Hethel Retail) came along. He arrived in his Yellow Esprit, a car that can often be seen at Hethel Retail Centre. Scott supplied the car to its first owner when he was working at Bell and Colvill and was fortunate enough to purchase it later himself. The car's notable previous owners included Steve Coogan.

July's meeting again delivered another strong attendance and confirmed to us all that Old Buck was the place to be. Again we welcomed new faces, and an opportunity to expand our ever-growing group of friends.

The July drive was to Framlingham. We ended up splitting into two groups whilst on the road. I unfortunately lost Ian in his 111R from behind me and he became a new group leader. Fortunately, due to the wonders of Google Maps, we all arrived at our destination at pretty much the same time. It was great to see David's Esprit V8 out in the wild too. One small problem with my route planning on the day was that I had forgotten to enter a car park for the final destination. All was resolved as we followed the Esprit, always a super sight, as David knew where to take us. Safely parked up, refreshments were enjoyed at a local watering hole.

Our August meeting was a full-day event. Breakfast format and a drive as normal but then returning to Old Buck for a barbeque - Liberator style. The drive was a rewarding route into Suffolk to the favourite location of Aldeburgh.

I was, unfortunately, unable to attend the morning and drive due to a hospital stay arising from kidney stones. This did give Emily, my daughter, the perfect opportunity to drive the Type 49 Elise without Dad sitting next to her. From what I have heard, an opportunity she thoroughly enjoyed. An oil and coolant check was required after is all I will say.

Some thirty-plus cars were in attendance for the morning session with twenty-seven returning for the afternoon barbeque. We welcomed members - Mark, Lucinda, Andy and Tina for the day who travelled to Norfolk to join us as part of a weekend away. 

I was able to get my hospital release negotiated so that I could attend for the evening and enjoy the excellent burger and chips. I must thank Peter for the pebble joke - not funny but appreciated, or so funny and appreciated.

September soon rolled around and delivered another cracking weekend. Jan and Joost along with their Bends and Curves Roadtrips group were visiting Norfolk for the Lotus Heritage Tour and I had agreed to host the Dutch and Belgian contingent on Sunday.

This also allowed some Club members to join in with the Heritage Tour themselves - Dean and Josh joining the group for the full weekend. Several more of us joined Jan's tour on Saturday and had the unique opportunity to visit some special Lotus heritage locations. The day started with a visit to Club Partners, Stratton Motors in Long Stratton, a well-known centre for Lotus and Aston Martin in Norfolk. 

The scenic drive took us to Ketteringham Hall, once home to Lotus F1. Here, we got to enjoy photographs in front of the Hall, emulating some of the iconic press photos of such greats as Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell. The cars were arranged for an impressive group photo and then re-organised to allow a photo of each car in front of the Hall.

This provided some unexpected amusement as to move all the cars out of the way it was decided best to reverse down the drive towards the lake so that each car could arrive in front of the Hall for their star photo. Attempting to drive a Lotus backwards for any great distance proves most entertaining. I was among the first few cars to reverse and almost ran into the fence due to being so distracted by cars weaving about all over the place.

Once everyone had their time in front of the camera, professionally captured by Steph (Red Fin Photography), we parked up. We enjoyed some time with the former CEO of Lotus, Mike Kimberley. Mike joined us all for afternoon tea in The Orangery. Much hilarity arose over whether it was Tuna and Piccalilli or Ham and Mustard in some of the sandwiches, thanks Steph for the amusing discussion. It shows that my taste buds are perhaps not as well trained as they could be.

East Carleton Manor provided a visually stunning afternoon. We were honoured to be given a guided tour of the gardens and estate that was the home to Colin and Hazel Chapman. The gardens created by Hazel are beautiful.

Sunday 17th September saw us entertaining our European visitors at Old Buck for another breakfast meet, drive and barbeque. I had planned for a drive to Wells-next-the-Sea on the North Norfolk coast to show our guests the beauty of the Norfolk Coast. Unfortunately, the weather didn't help too much but at least it improved by the time we arrived back at the Airfield.

Once more new owners and members who had travelled out of their immediate local areas were welcomed. Bob joined us in his yellow Emira travelling from Kettering, and also from the Midlands was Mike - new to Lotus and the Club, having just purchased his Emira. Mike had the bonus of having Jan as his co-pilot for the drive to Wells as his Elise Sport 160 was having a temperamental day.

The final task of the day was a creative challenge from Jan and Joost. Arranging the cars in a layout to create the number 75, when viewed by a drone. As the evening was drawing in, we parked as guided by the creative members of the group and a perfect aerial shot was revealed, a fitting tribute to the 75th Anniversary of Lotus and a thrill to have been part of.

Thanks to everyone who has been part of the journey. For more about our upcoming 2024 events, join us on WhatsApp (ldclub.uk/WhatsApp), search Lotus Drivers Club East Anglia on Facebook, or subscribe to our email newsletter. Looking forward to seeing you soon!