November 2025 | Issue 784 | Page(s) 3 | Gaynor Cauter
You would think that by this stage in the game, things would be quietening down and our minds would be turning to Christmas shopping and tins – or rather, nasty plastic tubs – of Quality Street. Whatever happened to those nice old tins? My grandmother used one to store her huge button collection, left over from her days as a Court dressmaker.
Instead of shutting up shop, everyone seems busy organising festive meals up and down the country. Meanwhile, I am delighted to say that the reach of the JDC grows ever stronger because we now have a new Area 141 in… Estonia! See Area News for new rep Nick Vocht’s details and if you live in Estonia or are travelling there, please give him a call.
I know a lot of you will be busy filling out SORN forms, but don’t forget we still have two more Jaguar Breakfast Club meetings at Gaydon – on Sunday 2 November (and please note, not the usual Saturday) and on Saturday 6 December. We will be supporting both, although maybe not with the big gazebo – as those of you who were at Jaguars at Gaydon will know, our showpiece tent was only prevented from landing amid the bullrushes in the ornamental lake by a tree. The weather was not discriminatory either because the JEC’s gazebo ended up there too and they have both now joined the great gazebo graveyard known as the local council waste disposal facility. Hopefully, we should have a replacement for the NEC so, if you’re planning a visit, come and see us in Hall 1 where we will also have our new water boiler, plugged in and ready to make tea and coffee for our members. You can still book, too – turn to the NEC ad for your discount code.
By the time you read this, we will have a new Chairman of the Board – more about this in Bryan Mander’s Vice-Chairman’s report in Club News. However, I can’t sign off without mentioning the recent loss of Pat Quinn, who died in October in her late 90s.
Many of you will remember Pat, not only as Sir William Lyons’ eldest daughter, but as wife and rally partner to Ian Appleyard in the 1950s. At a time when most women stayed at home to raise a family, Pat was out there with her husband tackling some of Europe’s most challenging trials in one of the most famous XKs of all time – NUB 120. This month, as a tribute to Pat, François Prins looks back at that amazingly successful partnership and the car that made it possible. It goes without saying that on behalf of the Jaguar Drivers’ Club and all its members, we send our sincere condolences to Pat’s son Michael and the extended family.
Gaynor
