The 'National Mini Owners Club' was formed by Chris Cheal in 1979 (the same year as Ray Holman's Mini Cooper Club). Before this there were no National Mini enthusiast clubs in the UK that I knew of except for the 'Mini Se7en Racing Club' which was mainly centred around circuit racing and started around 1966.
These photos were taken by me while attending the first ever National Mini Owners Club Meeting in a field at Twycross Zoo, Warwickshire on 6th June 1982. Much to my surprise on the day I won a trophy for the best modified Mini ! This event eventually grew in size over the years from these modest beginnings to became the Stanford Hall Mini Show which is still organised by Chris Cheal today, although the NMOC is no longer run by him as an owners club due to Chris's wife suffering serious ill health in recent years.
The photos were pretty much all the field of Mini's that attended the event and was the largest national meeting for Mini's that I am aware of up to this date, other than the Mini 20th Extravaganza at Donnington organised by BL in 1979, which seemed to kick off the general interest in forming Mini clubs, shows and enthusiast gatherings.
The only 'traders' were the white NMOC tent/stand which can be seen in the photos busy selling a few Mini parts, accessories, Mini books, MOC club magazines and regalia. Also around this time the 'Mini Cooper Club' was in the early stages of organising the annual camping weekend for a handful of interested members at Beaulieu, which of course grew into todays Beaulieu Mini Cooper Day now run by the Mini Cooper Register.
