The Longbridge Camping & Caravan Club was started in 1969 with eleven dedicated
campers and first met on the 14th November to form an official
“Works Camping Club”. At the first meeting, a committee was elected,
the Chairman being Frank Richards, Treasurer Les Crockett, Secretary
Mo Richards and the Chief Camp Official Rex Hamilton – all of whom
were employed by Austin Motor Company, Longbridge, which at the time
was part of the larger British Motor Corporation (BMC). In the early
days, it was hoped to call the club “The Austin Camping & Caravan
Club”, but this was not possible and so we became “Longbridge Camping
& Caravan Club”
Monthly meetings
were held at the Rednal Social Club, until this no longer became available,
when they were moved to the Dog & Pheasant at Bromsgrove. Eventually,
meetings took place in the factory and continued to do so until the
Longbridge plant closed in 2005. They now take place at the Greenlands
Social Club which borders the former plant site. At the first of these
meetings, the membership was set at 5/- (25p) per year. Today, the membership
fee is £12.00 with an initial joining fee of £2.00. Initially, the
club was for Longbridge employees, but eventually, non-employees were
eligible to join, but had to be proposed by an employee. Before the
plant closed, membership had become open with non-employees eligible
to propose new members.
By May 1970,
we had 82 members and £24.00 in club funds and the membership has continued
to grow. In December 1970, a meeting took place between the Camping
& Caravan Clubs of Fisher & Ludlow, Standard Triumph and Longbridge
with the object of forming an Association of Clubs, thus, the British
Leyland Camping and Caravan Association was born. (BMC had by now become
“British Leyland”) It was agreed that once every year, member clubs
would get together for the Association Rally where they would participate
in sports and games with each club providing a trophy to be played for
and held by the winning club for one year. The Association has now grown
into 15 clubs with a Senior Citizens section and currently has over
2000 members. Longbridge CCC has 240 plus members at present.
Every year,
we hold a “Birthday Rally”, where we celebrate in style, having
big celebrations for our Silver Anniversary and 30th birthday,
here’s looking forward to our 40th birthday soon.
Our club has
always put on a good selection of rallies and for several years now,
foreign holidays to France and Ireland have gone down well with the
members.
Our members
enjoy good times together on weekend rallies, Bank Holiday rallies and
holiday rallies, so why not come along and join us; you will never make
a better decision.
Copyright 2010 by Nick Slater. All Rights Reserved.
