The TOC AGM at the Shuttleworth Collection 9th May 2026

Our 2026 TOC AGM was held at the Shuttleworth Trust Collection and a gratifyingly large number of positive and enthusiastic Members attended to discuss the Club’s performance over the last year. The wide range of our activities was covered and approved and two points of policy were put to the vote. 

Firstly, the TOC sends a printed copy of each Magazine to every Member of the Club, wherever in the world they may live, for the same Membership subscription rate. From time to time, it is wise to re-examine this policy and it was overwhelmingly agreed that it should continue rather than moving to a digital format. (It should be noted that all the Club magazines right back to the re-forming of the Club are available to Members on the website).

Secondly, the Club’s approach to spares was discussed. Since our agreement with the STD last year, the TOC deals exclusively with second-hand spares, (excluding some existing new stock which, when it’s gone, we will not repeat). The meeting agreed that our pricing policy for spares should aim to provide a service to Members to keep Talbots on the road, aiming to break even and, if a small cost to the Club was incurred, that would be acceptable.

Following the meeting, which passed in record time, the Club Trophy winners were announced as follows:

The Test Track trophy for articles in the Magazine: James Fack for a consistently engaging stream of submissions over the years.

On this point, I have to apologise to David Thomson, who was awarded this Trophy last year, but never got to hear about it! David’s detailed competition reports are a much-appreciated mainstay of the Magazine.

The Talbot Owners’ Club Trophy: James Mumford for organising, originally with Martin Bryant, and now on his own, the popular Spanish Tour.

The Georges Roesch Trophy: Dick Campbell, a very capable engineer, for his input into the Technical Days, the spares operation and his informative contributions to the Magazine.

The Mike Couper Shield: Austin Scott for competing so enthusiastically in his Edwardian Talbot.

The Percy Lambert Trophy: Neil Lucas for leading the terrific work on the NHS Trust’s Talbot Ambulance, enabling it to move under its own steam for the first time in many a long year. 

The Rawling’s Trophy for 14/45s and 65s: Paul Dennis for his use, and videos of his family 14/45.

The Fox and Nicholl Trophy: Julian Hunt for his work looking after the TOC archives over the past few years.

The Arthur Archer Trophy: Nigel Wills for his enthusiastic use of, and entertaining articles about, his Talbot 105 all over Europe.

The John Young Trophy: Craig Henty of the NHS Ambulance Trust, for creating an excellent working relationship with the TOC and for his enthusiasm in getting the Ambulance back up and running.

The Stephen Curtis Award goes to Carole Lucas, who generously hosts our regular TOC Committee meetings and has also led the strawberries and cream preparation at Prescott each year.

There’s always lots to see at Shuttleworth; it’s a fascinating place and our AGM was held in the Discovery Hangar, which enabled us to have a Talbot in the room alongside the meeting – with an aircraft hanging from the roof above! 

The subsequent behind the scenes engineering workshop tour was interesting, although the young volunteer had some difficulty holding his audience. Leading a group of knowledgeable TOC Members is like herding cats!

Our display out front in a reserved parking area was impressive and attracted a great deal of attention from the Museum’s visitors.

Members really enjoyed the day – the weather was kind, the venue was interesting, our hosts at Shuttleworth looked after us well and the general ambiance was very positive. We look forward to another successful year.

David Roxburgh