ONCE IN A LIFETIME: TURN LEFT - THE RIFFS HAVE RISEN

[Ian Grace]

And here's a closeup of the mascot. This, and the photo on the website were sent by Ian and Isabella Gilg - Ian being one of the other sons of Cameron Gilg. It will be a tremendous honour to invite the family to Prescott next July as our Guests of Honour and to see them present our new long-distance award for the first time. So, if you have a Minor and live a good distance from Prescott - what more incentive do you need to start planning your attendance. Now, where's that chap in Capetown who has a Minor ...

[halbe]

Lovely picture and great guests of honour

Regards halbe

[Ian Grace]

Halbe, get fettling - you might be in with a chance of the award. You have just over eight months.

[Ian Grace]

I had a long and very pleasant chat with Andrew Gilg this morning. He will be at Pre-War Prescott next year with his mother Barbara (Cameron Gilg's wife) and some other members of the family. Clive Holland has offered to bring his 1933 tourer and the plan is to put on a display of Cameron's 1933 memorabilia - maps, photos, etc. It should be fascinating. And if we can secure the serpent at Bonhams, then we have our long-distance award, which Barbara will present for the first time. It should also be possible to play the Yorkshire TV programme - probably in the restaurant in the evening after the BBQ.

[Ian Grace]

The photos of Barbara Gilg remind me of this photo of Olive Willats with the rally flag and cup that she won in Venice in 1964 after driving her fabric saloon from Godstone. The photo was taken when David Roscoe visited her with his Semi-sports, which was before her car was re-discovered in deepest (or is it flattest?) Lincolnshire.

[IanWegg]

On 6th March 1979 Yorkshire Television transmitted a documentary entitled ONCE IN A LIFETIME: TURN LEFT - THE RIFFS HAVE RISEN - ACROSS AFRICA IN A MORRIS MINOR
. Has anyone managed find a way to obtain a copy ? I am sure it would be of general interest. The documentary is largely based on film shot in 1933 by two young men who embarked on a quest to drive a Minor from Cairo to Capetown - it was an amazing true story.

One scene I recall was as they were driving across The Sahara another car appeared far off in the distance and when at last they met, it proved to be .... another Morris Minor coming the opposite way !

I hope nobody minds me resurrecting this topic. I remember this extraordinary TV programme from when it was first broadcast and I've retold the story of the meeting with another Morris Minor many times. I've been trying to track down the programme for some years but it was only today that it came to mind again and a Google search revealed this site. I think this forum is the only place on the internet where this information exists!

Now, thanks to this topic, I have the programme name, transmission date and the names of the two gents I have been able to research further.

I have found the TV Times listing, although not yet the article that went with it...





As mentioned, the programme master exists at ITNSource, custodians of the old Yorkshire archive, who will sell you a heavily restricted copy at a huge price. There is also a copy at the British Film Institute so it may be possible to view it there in London.

I recall that in the programme the two drivers were reunited for the first time since their epic journey. It seemed strange to me that they hadn't kept in touch during the intervening 45 years but this wasn't touched upon in the programme as far as I remember. Perhaps the book explains?


Unfortunately you guys seem to have mopped up the supply of the book! There are some Amazon sellers with second-hand copies but they are a little pricey so I will try the library first.

If anyone is able to post the picture of that mid-desert meeting from the magazine articles I'd love to see it.

~ian

[Ian Grace]

Hi Ian,

Welcome to our forum and thanks for the fascinating input on this topic.

I will scan/post the image from the book tonight that shows the two Minors meeting mid-Sahara and post it here - unless someone beats me to it. The book makes no mention of any further contact between the two crews after the meeting.

It was a privilege to have Andrew Gilg, son of Cameron Gilg at our Summer Rally where he presented our new Long Distance Award in the form of a replica of the serpent radiator mascot attached to the Gilg Minor back in 1933. Andrew has all his father's memorabilia from the expedition, including maps, his diary, which he brought to our rally and including a DVD copy of the TV programme, which he has rights to reproduce, as he provided the material that went into it! I will e-mail him and see if we can get some copies made - PAL and NTSC. Watch this space.

[Ian Grace]

So here is the picture in question - as printed in an article written by Cameron Gilg on his epic trip published in the October 1933 'Morris Owner'. The photo was reproduced by Harry Edwards in his article on the trip published in the Morris Register Journal of Summer 1979. I could not find the photo in the book!

Something for latter-day owners to ponder when trying to decide whether to risk taking their frail little Minor to the local pub meet! Or maybe they are worried that the car park will be full ... of Austin Sevens.

Incidentally, I have found a reference that the Minor tourer UG 1876 that appeared in the Yorkshire Television programme was owned by Stuart Caret of Doncaster - anyone know where it is now/

[IanWegg]

Ian - Thanks very much, that's wonderful. I wonder why the picture wasn't in the book? Thanks very much for posting it.

The TV programme made a big impression on me at the time and I've never forgotten it. However my memory had dimmed over the years so while I was fairly sure it was a Morris I couldn't recall the date or even be sure of the desert, I just remember the scenes of the two elderly men reunited to watch their original film and talk of the expedition ... and meeting another Morris Minor coming the other way. It's great to have all the details now and if there's any chance of getting a copy of the actual programme that would be terrific.

~ian

[Ian Grace]

Andrew Gilg is copying the VHS tape of the programme to DVD (both PAL and NTSC) for us.

He is also aware that the 80th anniversary of the expedition is coming up in January and he plans to scan his father's expedition diary and we will post each day's entries, day by day, on the 80th anniversary of the days on the VMR website, so that the trip can be followed by everyone in 'real time'. He thinks that this will arouse interest in the Gilg Trophy for 2013. The postings will take the form of with a picture copy of each diary entry. Each entry is about a page long, with around 130 pages in all. And as some of the entries are somewhat illegible, they will be copied to text where necessary.

He reports that he and his wife Joyce had a super day at Prescott with us and plan to join us again next year - and probably his two brothers as well - one of whom lives in New Zealand but visits the UK in odd-numbered years.

The family has a vast archive of documents pertaining to the expeditoon, and they are planning to sort them all in date order and codify them so that they can be stored for posterity in the Register archives.

[IanWegg]

I received my disc today of the 1979 TV documentary and it is absolutely fascinating. As soon as it had finished I had to watch it again! The films really bring to life the huge challenges that Gilg and Kay faced.

A quick update on some earlier points in this thread. Copies of the book seem to have come back down to a reasonable price, I picked one up on Amazon for £4.02 plus postage (a friend of mine managed to get one for £3.61 delivered).



There is mention in earlier replies of Paul Stewart’s book “Trek” and I have just read this one too. This is the story of a 1955 expedition of 4 people in a Morris Traveller from Nairobi to London lead by Kenyan farmer Alan N. Cooper. It was this same Alan Cooper who, with a Welshman called Mr. Walsh, made a similar journey in a 2 seater Morris Minor in 1933 … and who Gilg and Kay met in the Sahara. “Trek” is also a really good read but tragically does not end well.

Thanks to all involved in getting the DVD made.

~ian

[Ian Grace]

Ian,

So glad you enjoyed the DVD, and we hope to release the sequel once we have completed the very delicate and high tech exercise to copy onto DVD Gilg's original cine films that we have now been able to track down.

Incidentally, I had another order for the DVD today and can supply to anyone who would like one - perhaps as a stocking filler?

[ian judd]

Did the films turn out to be where I suggested? Good news that you found them.

Ian

[Ian Grace]

More good news. Gilg's original cine films were transferred under armed guard to a secret laboratory in Devon on Wednesday where their priceless contents will be transposed into electrical format and burned onto a master DVD. Once this highly delicate process has completed, we expect to be able to offer DVD's containing the complete archive to members. Watch this space!

[IanWegg]

That's excellent, looking forward to seeing it.

~ian