Fosterian Magazine 1979 - Old Fosterians and Lord Digby's Old Girls

THE MORRIS MINORThe Morris Minor, designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, first showed its head in1948, at the Earl's Court Motor Show. The car, at that time, was consideredmodem, and outdated most of the small cars of the time technically, and becauseof its compact shape.The tirst Minors, from '48 to '50, the M.M. series, were available as saloonor convertible. The headlights were set down in the front grille and the windscreenwas split (two-piece). The engine was a 918 c.c. side valve engine, typical ofMorris.But in 1951, owing to a North American regulation, the headlights were setin the wings, and to improve power an 803 c.c. overhead valve engine wasintroduced. The very famous Traveller came on the scene in 1953. This serieswas the Series two Minor.The Minor changed yet again in 1956. Again the engine was increased, nowto a 948 c.c., and the split screen was replaced by a one-piece screen, and also alarger rear window was titted. At last, after thirteen years, in 1961, one millionMinors had been made, and to celebrate this several hundred mauve Minors withwhite interiors were produced.In 1964 the engine capacity was increased yet again, this time to 1098 c.c.,titted now as standard to all cars, and a few other improvements were made,mainly to the interior.But tin ally, in the late sixties, owing to the increased cost of materials andlabour, it was no longer possible to produce Minors economically. In their place,faster, luxurious modem cars were being produced which were, and still are,"tinny" and short-lived. So sadly, Minor production came to a halt. Theconvertible was stopped in 1969, the saloon in 1970, and the Traveller in 1971.The Minor, although rather old-fashioned nowadays, was in its time verymodem. The front suspension is torsion bar independent suspension, and the rearsuspension conventional leaf springs with dampers, then later shock-absorbers.The Minor is noted for its light handling, and this is due to the rack and pinionsteering system. The fourteen inch wheels were thought to be small compared tothose of other cars at the time.Although production of the Minor stopped nearly ten years ago, even nowthere are literally hundreds in everyday use. Most cars would have beenforgotten, but not the Minor - people kept them because they liked them, and theMinor was considerec. ..:me of the family, particularly by old people who oftengave it a fond name. Because of its popularity, the Morris Minor Centre was setup in Bath, and here you can have your Minor restored, orjust buy a" banger" torestore yourself. A completely restored car from there could cost up to £3,500,but you must remember you could get a new car for that much. This is by nomeans the only place that deals in Minors, and the second hand market is growingrapidly. ..I became interested in Minors some time ago, and so I started to look out forone. My tirst one was in fact an old van, which I got from a friendly local farmerwho said that I could have it. Then I decided to look for a car, as it was morepractical. So now I have a 1956 split-screen model, which I am restoring.. Restoring a Minor is a satisfying, interesting hobby, which might seemexpensive but is not really because the finished car is quite valuable, but most ofall it is fun. There is even an owners' club for people owning or just interested inMinors. So ifthe "Minor bug" has caught you, why not find out more about them?NIGEL PIPE52CONSCIENCE A haggard man, about seventy years old, sat writing at a little desk. Droplets ofperspiration welled from the furrows ofhis brow as the ball-point in his Biro spunfaster and faster, to give increasingly less legible results."I, George Herberts, confess to the murder of my retainer, RichardBridgebuck. I did it yesterday by loosening the brakes and sending Richard off toGillingham on an errand."After Richard had set off, I sat down for a thoughtful evening, andimmediately began to feel nervous and uneasy. Out of the corner of my eye I sawsomeone sulking by the curtains, but when I twisted round I found myself glaringinto an empty space."When I went into Richard's room, the heater bared the bars of its grill atme. By a pile ofbooks, an Anglepoise stood listening, motionless, waiting for meto incriminate myself somehow. The alarm clock was ticking atme,scolding andscornful. In a little bowl of odds and ends, I perceived an unknown menacelurking."In the night, I found myself positively identifying Richard's voice,dissolved in the rain and the wind. When I curled up in comfort at the fireside thismorning, the flames seemed to rebuke me. Hideously scowling faces appearedand disappeared in an instant, but were branded into my mind. Since then, Ihaven't liked to look too closely into flames, clouds or even running water.""Mr. Herberts, sir!" There was rebuke in the voice of the younger man whohadjust entered the room. Deciding not to drive down because of the storm, hehad had a long, cold train journey to Gillingham, just to wait two hours in thepouring rain and return by a miserable little night train.The old man started at the sound of his servant's voice and then floppedacross the table at which he was writing. The younger man sprang forward to feelfor the pulse, his harshness engulfed by anxiety. It wasn't there; the man had hada heart attack again. Within minutes, an ambulance had been rung for and twomen were carrying their patient into it.As the strains of the siren faded away, a silence enveloped the house. Theservant discovered his employer's note. Even before he had finished the last line,his fingers were tearing at it. He threw the tiny fragments into the leaping fire.A STEP IN THE DARKlAMES ALLWRIGHTN A S A scientists, in the race with the Soviet Union to land men on Mars,had for some years been ahead, and had got the breakthrough in space technologythey needed. Thus the 10 years of research finally paid off on that Februarymorning at Cape Kennedy, as the U S Encounter, manned space-probe, blastedoff.Things had come a long way since the Apollo missions of the 60s and 70s,for now a completely new breed of space-craft had developed, far out-reachingthe mighty Saturn V. The one-only rockets and re-entry vehicles had beenreplaced by re-usable space-craft, capable of longer ranges and continual reentry,and were similar to the old space-shuttle craft. However, all this led us tothe Mars expedition, code named 'Operation Close Encounter'.53