They all were in great condition glinting in the afternoon sun. All date from the 1950’s with the group consisting of a 234 Sapphire, a 346 Sapphire, a Hurricane drophead coupe and a Whitley.

The elegance and quality of the vehicles was evident, with all lovingly restored to concourse condition. One can only imagine the arrival of the entire national club in Beechworth for the weekend. It would be feast for the eyes if nothing else.

Australia was an export market for an Armstrong Siddeley “ute” based on the Hurricane and Lancaster models with single cab and dual cab versions being made called the Utility Coupe and the Station Coupe respectively. It is believed that more than half of nearly 2000 “utes” produced came to Australia. Their success in Australia was short lived as they were soon replaced by the Holden FJ “ute” and as they say, the rest is history.

At the southern end of Yass Street, there is a slightly confusing arrangement with the main street, which is called Yass Street till that point, then changing to Hume Street as it heads out to re-join the Hume Highway.

If you are looking for high numbers on Yass Street, you must know that it continues straight ahead up the hill and joins Cooper Street. The signs on that end date from the Gunning Shire and probably are a hangover from the renaming after the bypass. As there are more new residents in that part of the village, it may help to visitors to identify the street numbers quickly if it both Yass and Hume street were clearly signed at the junction.

The Gunning Men’s Group are holding several presentations throughout the year. The first of these will be a presentation by held on Saturday, March 24 at 11am in the Gunning Library by local historian, Michael de Percy, on the topic of “The Safety Razor and Using One to Save Money”.

All are welcome for what will no doubt be informative presentation and taste of what the remaining presentations will hold.

The latest development in ‘vital call’ personal alarms now use a mobile network connection rather than a landline. This gives the wearer greater flexibility in being monitored.

While this is a great improvement, it highlights that village and country mobile coverage is increasingly a critical part of life. One bar of reception in the main street of Gunning may not be adequate with farms often faring far worse.

The Gunning Focus Group concert being held in the Court House on Sunday, March 25 commences at 2pm rather than 3pm as previously reported.