Boarded and ready for take off!

Final list of participants and their cars

No.	Driver	Co-Driver	Car	Engine Size (cc)
1	Max Stephenson	Julie Stephenson	1923 Vauxhall 23-60	4200
2	Bill Bolsover	Biddy Bolsover	1927 Bentley 3/8 Litre	3983
3	Chris Lunn	Nicola Lunn	1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre Le Mans	4500
4	Sir Gerry Acher	Lady Joyce Acher	1931 Ford Model A Tourer	3225
5	David Cohen	Adele Cohen	1931 Ford Model A	3285
6	Mark Winkelman	Dorinda Winkelman	1932 Plymouth PB3 Coupe	3213
7	Mark Seymour / Chris Evans	Louise Seymour / Sophie Evans	1936 Ford Phaeton	3200
8	Xavier del Marmol	Ines Bodmer	1937 Chevrolet Master DeLuxe DHC	4000
9	Richard Cunningham	Paddy Walker	1937 Buick Coupe 40hp	4000
10	Mark Robinson	Yvonne Fuller	1937 Rolls-Royce 25/30	4000
11	Frank Bird	Ross Oakman / Belinda Oakman	1939 Willys Sedan	3300
12	Jorge Ruiz	Agustin Panes	1955 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn	4556
14	Jose Romao de Sousa	Maria Romao de Sousa	1956 MG Magnette ZA	1798
15	Adrian Shooter	George Harding	1958 Morris Oxford	1489
16	Dougie Lawson	Kate Lawson	1959 Jaguar XK150 DHC	3442
17	Peter McLaughlin	Jane Kitchel	1964 Pontiac GTO	5508
18	Jan van Gemert	Marion Huijbregts	1965 Ford Mustang	5000
19	Alastair Caldwell	Snjezana Poljanec	1968 Porsche 912	1972
20	Roger Allen	Maggie Gray	1971 BMW 2800CS	2788
21	Alan Pontin	Carol Jessica Pontin	1973 Jaguar E-Type V12	5344
22	Gerd Buhler	Birgit Deymann-Buhler	1979 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC	4520

 

Further Godwin-Austen history in North East India

Last Saturday I saw Steven Godwin-Austen, Alice's first cousin who told me that Alice's Great Grandfather, Arthur Odling had been a tea planter near Darjeeling and that Alice's Grand Mother, Beryl, had worked at Dr Graham's school in Kalimpong. This was confirmed on Sunday by Richard Godwin-Austen at his 80th birthday lunch.

Arthur Odling was a partner in Armo Tea Company of which I haven't been able to find any current details. His daughter Beryl worked at Dr Graham's Orphanage in Kalimpong. The orphanage was founded in 1900 by Rev Dr John Graham a missionary of the Church of Scotland. The family of Homes that were created raise children through adolescence, their teenage years into adulthood and currently encompasses an area of some 400 acres.

Both the current Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchen Ushering Tobgay and his predecessor, Lyonchen Jigmi Yoser Thinley (2008-13) attended Dr Graham's Home in Kalimpong.

Kalimpong is known for its educational institutions many of which were established during British Colonial rule. It used to be the gateway in the trade between Tibet and India before China's annexation of Tibet and the Sino-Indian war. China's annexation of Tibet in 1959 saw many Buddhist monks flee Tibet and establish monasteries in Kalimpong. They brought many rare Buddhist scriptures and in 1976 the Dalai Lama consecrated the Zang Dhok Palri Phodang monastery. the Sino-Indian war in 1962 resulted in the permanent closure of the Jelep Pass seriously disrupting trade and the local economy.

Driven by increasing local demands for independence the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council was founded in 1988, a body with semi-autonomous powers. Since 2007 the demand for a seperate Gorkhaland state has been revived by the Gorkha Jammukti Morcha and its supporters.

Arrangements for our extended trip to Greenwood Tea Garden

Bee has done sterling work in Assam and not only tracked down my Great Grandfathers Tea Garden but has found the owners and arranged for Paddy and I to visit, dine and stay.

 

Hugh Macnish was the manager of the Greenwood Tea Estate located just outside Dibrugarh. It is now owned by the Assam Company India Limited.

 

Bee has made contact with Mr Sanjib Bhuyan the Senior Manager who is now expecting Paddy and I on the 25^th November 2015 for lunch, a tour of the surrounding gardens, dinner and overnight stay. It will be strange staying in the same house my Great Grandfather and my Grandmother lived in so many years ago.

 

Otherwise final arrangements are in place. Injections arranged, passport sent away for my Indian Visa, flights booked and car in transit. One month to go.

 

 

An extended visit

After a bit of a discussion with my old friend Bee I have decided to prolong my visit to India and visit my Great Grandfathers Tea Garden in north east Assam.

Andrew Boyden (Bee) set up his fishing business (www.rivertribe.net) to provide some of the most adventurous and memorable fishing in the world. From a fishing perspective he knows the rivers of India better than anyone and some years ago a group of us went in search of the Golden Mahseer in Arunachal Pradesh as well as visiting the battlefields of Kohima and Imphal. It was a truly brilliant trip in some of the most remote parts of north east India. River tribe is based in Dibrugarh.

Bee has found the Greenwood Tea Garden, contacted the current management (The Assam Company) who are happy to welcome me and if we want to stay the night. 

Greenwood is located about 1 hour outside Dibrugarh which is about 1.5 hours flight from Guwahati where we finish the rally on Monday 23rd November. I have booked a flight on Jet Airways from Guwahati to Dibrugarh at 12.30 on Tuesday 24th giving me some time to visit the old colonial town in the afternoon and to soak up a little of what my Great Grandfather and my Grandmother experienced when they started growing tea in north east Assam. A damned good curry with Bee that night and then off to Greenwood for the day on Wednesday. We may stay at the Tea garden or alternatively we will return to Dibrugarh that night catching a flight to Kolkata and then home overnight on Thursday, landing at 06:40 on Friday.

I think that Paddy is coming along as well which will be fantastic.

Otherwise the car has shipped, tickets booked. I just need visas and jabs and I am done. God how I still hate injections!

Things are beginning to happen!

Well at last we can see the rally beginning to take off. Paddy has sent the Buick to Charlie in Northumberland for a bit of pre-rally tlc. He was getting through a set of tyres a day(!) on the the Midnight Sun Tour so there might be a little bit of tracking to sort at the very least.

Cars Uk are shipping the car and it is being delivered to them by 21st August for shipping to Calcutta early in September.

This weekend i have sent off my application for my International Driving Licence 1949 edition and my third attempt to get my second passport. Firstly Polka my incredibly greedy labrador ate the original. I sent off for a replacement and needed a letter from my employer confirming the requirement. Sadly I was busy and the application timed out so I had to start from scratch. Finally I got it all together the application was successful and delivered but signed for by my 20 year old student son, Rory. That copy has never been seen since!. So this weekend i have sent off all the necessary paperwork once again in a desperate attempt to get my passport replaced. No complaints whatsoever about HM Passport Office but quite a few about my dog and my offspring! Still plenty of time to get everything sorted.

The Cunningham Circular

My Great Uncle Jack was my grandfathers eldest brother. He was born in Campbeltown in 1876 and educated at Allen Glen school, Glasgow and then St Andrew's University. From 1905 to 1907 he was Professor of English at Pachaiyappa University in Madras. In 1912 he was appointed Director of Public Instruction for Assam and a member of its legislative council.

By the 1930's there was a significant Assamese nationalist movement and of course the Indian nationalist movement. The violent elements of the Assamese nationalist movement were initially directed against the British. In 1930 Jack issued the infamous Cunningham Circular which imposed a blanket ban on any anti-British and/ or pro-swadeshi activity by students. He ordered them to sign an undertaking to the effect that they would have to leave their schools and colleges if they participated in anti-government demonstrations or movements. The Circular also obligated parents of students to stand as guarantors of their children's behaviour.

Thousands of students refused to oblige leaving their schools and colleges. There were 400 such students in Guwahati alone. A group of philanthropists came to the rescue of the students and decided to start a swadeshi school in the city on the same lines as schools already established elsewhere in India. The Kamrup Academy still exists at Chenikuthi.

Though Jack as DPI in Assam took decisions which inevitably had significant political dimensions he was also a distinguished Hindu scholar and was involved in setting up numerous educational institutions throughout Assam which contributed substantially to the development of the region.

Jack retired to Campbeltown in 1931 but returned to Assam in 1935 to conduct the Assam University Enquiry which examined the viability and terms of reference of a University in Assam. In 1939 he was made a doctor of literature at St Andrews University. In 1941 his house, which he shared with his sister Madge, was completely destroyed by a misdirected German magnetic mine intended to block the harbour. He died the following year.

My cousin Islay said "He was a bachelor who determined very early in life never to marry, but was admired and indeed loved by nearly all that knew him…Kind and understanding, without ambition and modest to a fault, he had a great sense of humour and his conversation was full of wit and unexpected and telling phrases."