The "Journal" Magazine

[Steve Hainsworth]

I am in possession of issue no 9 of a monthly magazine named "the Journal--The monthly magazine for Austin Seven owners " April 1976.
I guess from this it began in  June 1975.  The editor at this time was Barrie Argent  Twickenham , Middlesex. It is full of interesting articles on sports and originality  etc, plus reports from A7OC , Thames valley,Oxford,  N. Hants,  N. London, Bristol ,Essex, 750 MC Brooklands Centre, Scottish Austin 7 club and South Wales.
Questions  : how much longer did it survive, and does anyone have  a scanned set on PDF ?
Can I assume it  petered out as the Grey Book gained status ?

[squeak]

Hi Steve, this journal edited by Barry Argent and containing much material from his own archives and numbered 1 to 15. I have a few spares and  can photocopy the rest for you,  cheers  Russell

[JonE]

Great that it's safely stored/archived.

That does beg the question of:
1. is he still around?
2. should it be permanently in the public domain, if its intent was charitable (if its not already)? and
3. if so, where should it be?

[Archive Project]

I'm checking to see whether this is in the Archive collection already and will report back.

Hugh

[Edgar Lowe]

Hi JonE
Are you referring to the journals 1 to 15 or Barry Argent own archives to be in the public domain? Or both?
Barry Argent passed away few years ago.
E

[JonE]

I was only thinking the journals just as they are obviously published and in the public domain (or were once)... but plainly if his archive was important, still exists, and IS about Austin 7s, then why not ask further!

[Steve Hainsworth]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Russel has what I am looking for. Does anyone know the real reason for it finishing up ?.

[bystander]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Russel has what I am looking for. Does anyone know the real reason for it finishing up ?.

Barrie Argent became the Editor of the Austin 7 Owners Club (London) monthly newsletter in the mid Seventies and re-named it The Journal. It was a fairly crude production, as were most Club newsletters of the time, but full of incredibly interesting material drawn from Barrie's own extensive knowledge and archive material. Also, not widely acknowledged, a significant contribution to content and archive material was made by David Howe.
Barrie then moved on to be Editor of the Association grey mag, again bringing his unique experience and collection of rare material to a wider audience.
Sadly, he suffered a severe stroke several years ago and was left totally incapacitated, eventually passing away without any significant improvement in his condition.
On a brighter note, David Howe is still very much around, occasionally contributing his erudite comments on this forum.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Many years ago I bought a very early car, with it came with a collection of paperwork - amongst these were some of the original foolscap editions of Donald Doughty's Austin Seven 'Ramblings' (I think), they predated the Association.

I gave the originals to David Cochrane to help complete the Pram Hood Register collection he has - I have the copies I took somewhere.

I also have originals of the (only) three Gordon England Register newsletters produced by Martin Lee in 1972, 1973 and 1976.

All this will be well be worth digitising.

[Archive Project]

As a result of this thread, the Archive has tracked down the Barrie Argent archive, which we are hopeful of having donated to the collection. It may also end up with some other important materials being acquired by the Association as well. The Archive generally is moving to a more 'acquisitive' outlook for Austin 7 related materials and over the last year or so has acquired some remarkable stuff - so much in fact, that we now have a backlog in terms of cataloguing and publishing of digital images. Please bear with us, we are a small team and are always on the look out for more help...

We are always interested in hearing about materials that might bolster the collection...