Mid-Derbyshire Motor Club has moved to the Spanker Inn at Nether Heage

They were also able to view a display of memorabilia from the Drystone Rally, an extremely popular event organised by the club for many years.

Although entirely a coincidence the room that the club was offered for its meetings is the Drystone Suite, appropriately this was used for the display of memorabilia.

The club has been without a permanent base since Covid and lockdown.

Club chairman Lee Burgess commented: “We have been looking for a new base for some time and we are very happy to now be at the Spanker Inn. We first came to look at the Spanker a few weeks ago and explained to the landlords Paul and Cheryl that we were looking for a new home and their reply was ‘welcome home!’

"Ever since then they and their staff have been very welcoming to us. The fact that we are in the Drystone Suite tops it off.”

Mid-Derbyshire Motor Club is an active group of motorsport enthusiasts and is focused primarily on Road Rallies and Stage Rallies. Club members organise, marshal, drive and navigate on these events. They also compete in and organise autosolos, 12 car rallies, Targa rallies, track days, sprints and karting events.

The club is part of StreetCar, Motorsport UK’s initiative to encourage new participants to get involved and compete in appropriate events using standard road cars.

In 2019, the BBC contacted the club for help with filming their Colin McRae Top Gear Special at Chatsworth. Club members prepared a section of the park that was used on the RAC Rally in the late 1980s and early 1990s so that Chris Harris could drive McRae’s iconic Subaru. Members were sworn to secrecy until the program went out in 2020.

Club members now meet for social evenings at the Spanker on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 8pm. Prospective new members are always welcome to go along as well.

It is unclear when the club was originally founded but it is understood to have been reformed in 1950. It had therefore been intended to celebrate the 70th Anniversary in 2020 but the plans became another victim of the Covid epidemic.

The longest running event that the club has been involved with is the Drystone Rally that ran from 1979 to 2011. This was an iconic road rally using 100 to 150 miles of lanes in Derbyshire and the Peak District that attracted competitors from all around the country.

It ran during the night, usually starting just before midnight, but was still popular with spectators, many of whom knew the best places to watch such as on Beeley Moor or at a point near to Youlgreave.

In recent years, the club has organised events at Twyford Woods and the 2022 Twyford Targa Rally was voted BTRDA (British Trials and Rally Drivers Association) Best Targa Rally and the East Midlands Association of Motor Clubs voted it Best Event (Road Rally).