Pip and Jacky Taylor write:

The 2006 Maximeet took place on Sunday the 3rd September at Moira Furnace Museum, near Swadlincote, Derbyshire. As can be seen from the pictures below, 10 Maxis attended plus members and their families in other cars. The furnace is a 19th century Blast Furnace lovingly restored by National Heritage and local volunteers. Its museum houses a collection of rare artifacts showing how the furnace operated and how its workforce lived and worked on the site. Inside the grounds there is a lovely stretch of canal (which originally serviced the works) and beautiful woodland walks. Also to be had are canal boat trips, craft shops and tearooms.

We were made very welcome by the site manager and her volunteers, who were happy to point out to us some of the finer details of the museum and furnace. If you want to, you can go on a tour (which we did), this takes you across a swing bridge over the canal and up a ramp to the top of the furnace. Here there are picture boards showing how the furnace worked. As can be seen from the pictures below a good view is also to be had from the top of the furnace.

The Maxis were allowed to congregate on the grass field between the tearoom and the furnace, which created lots of interest. Pretending to snooze in the Maxi with the window open Jackie and I had ample opportunity to listen to comments such as “I had a Maxi once; it was called Doris!”. Despite the weather forecasts, we were very lucky, the sun shone all day.

As usual we had a bit of fun voting for Best Maxi (etc). The results were:
Best Maxi - Steve Rose - VRA171N
2nd Best Maxi – Pip Taylor - YVC468K
3rd Best Maxi - Martin Vernon - NKY420X
Previous Winner - P Marrison.
Furthest Travelled - Ian Pennick.
Person making the greatest contribution to the Maxi cause – Charles Lees

Links: NW Leicestershire District Council