ON the afternoon of Wednesday, August 10, 26 members and friends of Defford WI assembled at the Morgan factory in Malvern for a tour.

The first Morgan we saw was quite a shock, not at all what we expected as it had been painted in a multitude of colours in a psychedelic design.

We returned to normality and the tour began with a short film taking us back to the beginning of Morgan cars just over 100 years ago.

The introduction of the Morgan arose when Harry Morgan needed a nippy vehicle to take from his home in Herefordshire across the Malvern Hills to work in Malvern.

The famous three-wheeler was the first car produced by Morgan, and was registered as a motorbike because it had no reverse gear.

In the first of the factory bays, we were shown different models of the car, including the only automatic Morgan, belonging to the wife of one of the owners.

From there, we saw how the cars were assembled beginning with the chassis, with one worker responsible for completing it.

We saw how the panels were cut from sheet aluminium, how plywood was shaped for the sides and seats, and then on to the upholstery shop.

We saw the new three-wheeler which, although not yet in full production, has sold 500 vehicles – before any have been test driven by their prospective owners.

Our final port of call was the museum, where we were able to gain an interesting insight into the history of the Morgan family, as well as the history of the cars.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 14, at 7.30pm in the village hall when Anne Angood will talk about Sri Lanka – Life, Costumes and Customs.