SA Army Museum Run 24 Nov 2024

After meeting at Gepps X Shopping Centre carpark, at the Tansell’s modern vehicle which we now know identifies as a Wolseley 1500, the posse of Morries (what is the collective noun for a group of Morris Minors? – a Punnet? a Nuffield?) made its leisurely way through town, and after a few road closures and on-the-fly navigations, arrived at the Keswick Army barracks on Anzac Highway (known as Bay Road until 1923 we later discovered).

We were met by a further few Morries and were directed to parking in front of the Army’s impressive collection of old guns,  tanks, and APC’s (Armoured Personnel Carriers), some bearing helpful instruction signs like ‘Keep off the Gun’. Notable vehicles including Paul Scott’s 1947(?) Morris Commercial truck, Roy’s beautiful green Morris that I couldn’t identify, (maybe someone can from the pictures) Chris and Vanessa’s lowlight Convertible debuting a new softtop. We were initially going to park on the Parade Ground, but it was in use for an army cadets graduation ceremony.

We were hosted by the wonderful volunteer guides at the museum, John and Nick. John gave us a bit of a history of the museum and the Keswick barracks, before Nick took us on a guided walking tour around the whole Keswick site. The barracks has a fascinating history going back to 1912, playing an important part in WW1 mainly as a hospital for injured soldiers, and a horse stables and agistment area. The original buildings are beautifully preserved and restored, and there have been many additions over the years, including more accommodation, artillery storage, mechanics workshops and the like. We discovered the present-day government has earmarked the site for sale and repurposing as affordable housing. There was a fair bit of discussion on this topic, very little of it favourable to the idea.

Following the tour, we sat down to lunch in the picnic area just across from the museum, for some welcome rest, shade and sustenance.

After lunch we were free to tour through the museum at our own leisure. The museum itself is wonderfully done, very comprehensive with displays all the way back to the Boer War; WW1 including the Western Front, Gallipoli, Tobruk, Beersheba; WW2 including Europe, the Pacific and a great display on New Guinea; Korea; Vietnam; Iraq and Afghanistan. Uniforms, weapons over the years and many stories including a feature on SA VC winners. The volunteers who work there are so knowledgeable about the barracks and our military history in general, and have some wonderful stories to impart. Truly one of the best military museums I have seen, I would recommend it to anyone. I spent an hour in the museum and that wasn’t enough.

Many thanks to the staff and volunteers at the Army museum for a memorable day, and thanks to everyone who came along.

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All British Day March 3rd 2024 Echunga Oval

Australia Day Weekend Run Jan 28th 2024

Our annual Australia Day weekend run was held last Sunday morning 28 January, attracting some 54 club members to participate in a leisurely drive though the streets of Adelaide and North Adelaide, making their way to the Albert Greenshields Reserve at Ridleyton. The reserve looked a picture under the clear blue skies, especially ordered for the day, and looked even more elegant with eleven tables dressed with white linen cloths, delightful english crockery so kindly provided by club members Daniel Cooper and Cheryl Andrews-Cooper, quaint floral napkins with a container of potted colour - Pink Petunias - in the centre of each table.

Then, the stars of the morning arrived, some 15 attractive Morris's of all models, lowlight, highlights, 2 doors, four doors, Utilities, Panel Vans, a Morris Commercial and even some Tourers, all with tops down of course. Our guests then made their way to the adorned tables, where they gathered their cups, saucers and plates, to help themselves to the Tea-Coffee and delicous home made Scones, with lashings of plum jam and whipped cream. Needless to say, they appeared to be enjoyed by all in attendance. Before we knew it, it was time to make tracks to our next port of call, the Largs Pier hotel, where our crew enjoyed a well earned lunch. Huge thanks to Michael & Sharee Tansell, Michaela Gauci, Josh Kerr, Margaret Gauci and Andrew Partridge, for their priceless support and assistance, from begining to end. May I also give much thanks to Ms Anna Daly who recorded the event with the beautiful photos attached. Thank you all.

Sunday 26 August 2018 - 70th Anniversary of the Post-War Morris

A varied collection of Morris Related vehicles assembled at Water World Aquatic Centre on the day. The weather was perfect and everybody enjoyed themselves.

Blessed with beautiful weather we assembled out the front of the Police Museum. We were then invited to take our Morries into the museum grounds. We were then greeted by our tour guides from the Police Historical Society. We started our tour with a small discussion about the police Barracks, which is still an active place today. The Barack’s still holds about 250 Police Officers, as well as Star Force Officers,Police Dogs and their handlers, as well as Mounted Police and their beautiful (horses). Our very own Malcolm Hill interested us with a story about the demise of the Watch Tower Bell which disappeared one cold,wet, Adelaide night and sometime later re-appearing after its donation to the Historical Society. Before setting off on a wander throughout the rest of the facility we were treated to a lovely coffee/tea and delicious scones with jam and cream, provided by the ladies of the Historical Society. During out tour we were able to see numerous police vehicles in there collection. Various confiscated artifacts from some dubious members of society, timelines of drug abuse, missing people and unsolved murders. we visited a room where viewed the worlds biggest collection of police uniforms, including badges,pins,cuff links, hats and more. We were fortunate enough to see a few horses in their exercise ring before being escorted into what can only be described as the “Hilton of Stables”. Our tour finished with a group photo taken by our guides of us surrounding some of our Morries. However our run did not finish until a gathering at the Mile End hotel which included great company, some good drinks and a tasty meal. A great day was had by all who attended. Cheers Tressa

20th January 2019 - Australia Day Run

43 Morris fans met at the Home Maker Centre Gepps Cross for the start of the run. From there they drove to Williston for a self serve breakfast. From here we had an interesting drive through, Kapunda, Hambly Bridge and Stockport, to Roseworthy Agricultural museum. Here we were treated to a very enjoyable Apple Pie and cream, tea or coffee. The volunteer staff at the museum put on live demonstration of some of their Museum pieces.also started up an ancient Caterpillar Crawler Tractor. There was two incidents on the day one with vaporization problems and one with brake problem. All in all a very well organized outing, well done by the Coopers and the Jessers.

Copper Triangle weekend Friday 17 May to Monday 20 May. A group of six cars met at the Caltex Service Station on Port Wakefield Road Bolivar. Morning tea at Port Wakefield then onto Moonta. A weekend away was very enjoyable by those in attendance.