Broadland MG Owners Club heritage run on 3rd May 2010

The yellow Elan took part in this on a very windy and sometimes squally day. The start was at Caister Lifeboat station just north of Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast and with a few “don’t roll it overs” we set off to look at the remains of a Roman fort in Caister on Sea.
Parked next to Graham Boulton’s lovely Elan.

Then on to Great Yarmouth where the fish finger was invented in 1952 – well someone had to.

Two interesting medieval flint churches later, one with a thatched roof, it was still too cold to picnic so along with an assortment of MGs and a Ford Capri we sat in our cars at Ventor Icenorun the old Roman town at Caistor St Edmund (not to be confused with Caister). No wonder the Romans had underfloor heating.

The run finished at Gressenhall Museum of Rural life which has a fascinating display of old farm machinery and buildings, together with a good cup of tea and homemade cakes. A good day out meeting up with friends from East Anglian Lotus club, MG Club and Porsche club.

Brock helps with repairs

Midsummer Classic Car Run
20th June, 2010

The start at Hingham had 92 cars with 7 Lotus Elans, the most we have ever seen on the Run. Two Stanley steam cars attracted much attention and were later spotted filling up from a stream ant the Lake at Holkham Hall – good alternative to petrol.

A run to Foxley Wood led on to morning coffee at Reepham Old Railway Station and the most enormous scones ever seen, at very reasonable prices. The day was overcast but no rain.

As usual the route was along little used roads and even those entrants who travel round Norfolk a lot found some new tarmac. We were given a tulip route book but most turns had red arrows put out for us so it was a bit too easy this year.

Next to Heydon Hall and a walk round the grounds with Jezz and Sheila, from a yellow S4, with a view to a pub lunch after. Heydon Village is very picturesque and is often used for film and TV locations because of its unspoilt surroundings. The Go Between and Dr Who have been filmed there. The pub was fully booked because it was father’s day so onward to Walsingham with it’s 16th century buildings and shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham. Lunch in a café there but no other classic cars around.

Everyone was at Holkham Hall where we had permission to park in front of the Hall. The two yellow Elans had pole position but were asked to move by a group of MGB owners with a portable flag pole.

We by-passed Bircham Mill home of a working mill which also serves quite large scones having been there before and went on to the finish at Pensthorpe where several Springwatch programmes have been filmed. This is the home of the Jordan family who probably make flour for scones along with their meusli.

In the car park we saw a familiar face and were pleased to meet Rob again whom we had last seen on Endurorally’s Casablanca Rally last November and before that on the London Dakar Rally. He is off next on the Peking Paris and it never ceases to amaze me how many folk from Norfolk are involved in motorsport in one way or another. Must be the Lotus effect.

Thank you SCCON (scone) for another good day out.

South by Southwest

2020 was not a good year for Rallies. We had planned to go to China, Tibet and Nepal in April but that got cancelled in late January so we booked a trip to Italy which was also cancelled. Then the Tibet organisers cancelled a 2021 rally to Mongolia and announced they were giving up rallies to spend more time with their spouses and gardens!

So when John O’Groats to Lands End came along as the post-lockdown rally (or should that be inter-lockdowns?) we were up for it. Events were still conspiring as our 4 year old collie, Quinn, needed an operation to remove a grass seed from his thigh. We couldn’t leave him and his new wound in kennels as he would soon lick it raw – so he had to come too along with collar (renamed airbag) and “lampshade” to stop licking.

Two adults and a collie in an Elan is not comfortable so the Skoda had to substitute. There was a rest day part way through so the plan was to take dog to kennels, retire the Skoda and finish the rally in the Elan – at least that bit worked!

Our route up north started with the long, slow grind on the A47 west from Great Yarmouth, via Kings Lynn to Newark and the A1 north. Then to a random field to give Quinn a brief walk and on to Alnmouth, where Allison remembered her childhood holidays and on again to our overnight stop in Dunbar.

The rally start was just outside Inverness with a run to John O’Groats and overnight in Thurso. Flagging off was from the signpost at John O’Groats but the organiser wasn’t having any photos of Skodas in his gallery so our low key start sees just man and dog. Before that we visited the deserted village of Badbea – a memorial to the Highland Clearances when tenants were forced off the land in favour of sheep, and dumped on the windswept cliff to learn to fish. Castle Sinclair Girnigoe has been a ruin since 1680 but is worth a visit; unlike the ruins further south it was free to enter and there was no need to book ahead.
A new feature of this rally was the need to plan everything ahead – meals, evening and lunch, dog walks and the “dog friendly” status of each hotel/restaurant. No more rolling up and assuming you’d get a seat; even breakfasts were timetabled. Most of the Scottish rally hotels were dog friendly – though one said they loved dogs but not in rooms but they could go to the bar. Helpfully adding the bar was closed because of the virus – we didn’t stay in that hotel! Another refused dogs but because we arrived late we were in the annex and after the late night dog walk, there was a navigational error……..which didn’t end in the car. Every morning we were treated to the spectacle of dogs exiting the hotel with their muzzled owners firmly attached to the lead.
From Thurso we went West via Castle Varrich and Smoo Cave, cursing the RVs which struggled to maintain any sort of speed as they inched past other RVs – and this was the main road! Later it got much worse as we drove on single track roads from passing place to passing place. The rally organiser likes narrow roads and we miscalculated how long the loop to Old Man of Stoer Lighthouse would take; so we got to the lighthouse but not the Old Man. Heading south and west again via Ardwreck Castle, our stop was in Gairloch and here we found the most dog friendly pub of the whole trip – the dog’s water arrived with our beer.
Day 3 took us to Applecross and Fort William, Glencoe and, seeking 007 and Skyfall, to Glen Etive before an overnight stop at Port Appin on Loch Linnhe. There were 8 cars in the rally and only the TR6 (fuel injection) had real problems. They had already ordered a spare manifold to be sent to Ullswater for assembly on the rest day but that didn’t solve the problem and they would retire in Bath. Whilst we knew most of the participants, only one car had been on previous rallies with us – the DB6, last seen in Kazakhstan. One mechanic we knew and the other had heard of us – via his father, a Lotus owner and avid reader of Club Lotus News!
On day 4 we deviated from the route to avoid the “Forest Drive” and Inveraray Castle (no dogs) to visit Kilmartin and on to the Crinan Canal and Castle Lachlan. That evening we were in another hotel outside Tighnabruaich (Bute), though we had to visit the main rally hotel for our ferry tickets to get across the Firth of Clyde.
Day 5 was the last in Scotland and took us down the coast to Galloway, pausing for coffee at Dundonald Castle (castle entry strictly with pre-booked tickets, we hadn’t), where Allison gave the visitor centre some postcards from her childhood holidays in this part of Scotland. Despite this generosity, Qunn’s presence meant we had to drink outside in the chill! We stopped at the “Electric Brae” – a stretch of road where the topography makes you believe your car is rolling uphill. It was called electric as it was believed to be caused by electrical or magnetic forces – but is only an illusion. Through the Galloway Forest Park we reached Loch Doon Castle (before it rained). The castle was built by Robert the Bruce (or his father) but on an island in the Loch and the remains relocated in 1935 before the area was flooded in a hydroelectric scheme. Our overnight stop was in a cabin in a deserted wedding venue overlooking Wigtown Bay.
Next day we crossed Hadrian’s Wall and into a damp and drizzly England, we tried to visit Hermitage Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots visited her lover Bothwell – but it was closed (virus). Instead we went off route to Hexham Abbey, where my great grandfather was instrumental in rebuilding the Nave in 1908. We got wet again visiting the old lead smelting furnaces near Nenthead before arriving in Ullswater and the end of the rally for Skoda and Quinn.
The Elan engine had been noisy so I had replaced most valve shims and re-set the timing chain tension to ½ inch but it was still noisy so I tightened the tensioner by a turn and hoped it wouldn’t be too tight – its still running! The east coast of Norfolk to the west coast of Wales is 290miles and we were late leaving as we couldn’t drop the dog off before 10.00 but reached Portmeirion in time to wander round the Italianate folly in the dull evening drizzle. The rally, now complete with the arrival of the Elan, was staying in the Castell and newly dog-free we were able to eat in the Hotel Portmeirion estuary side restaurant – in our carefully plastic-screened isolation from other tables.
We left the coast for the Hellfire Pass (Bwlch y Groes), a 1930’s testing ground for Austin and Standard Triumph before more single track roads took us on to the bleak moorland east of Aberystwyth. We failed to get to the Elan Valley – shame! The closest we got was Strata Florida Abbey, resting place of various Welsh princes of the 13th century. Another hill pass took us to the overnight stop at Llyswen. The hotel restaurant was vastly expensive so we ate out – joined by pure coincidence by another pair of exiles. There had been concern about more Welsh lockdowns so there was relief all round when we were able to leave without being pushed.
Next stop Bath, via Gospel Pass and Tintern Abbey; entry to the Abbey was ticket only, so we booked online the previous evening. When we arrived the car park was full but the Abbey reasonable – no idea where all the visitors got to between car park and the gate! We arrived in Bath in time for a wander round the city and a last minute entry to a museum. Back at the hotel the TR6 was being worked on but the problem was terminal.
Our last rally night was Rock; before then we stopped in Lynton to see the 1888 water powered cliff railway, built on the simple concept of two carriages attached by cables on a steep slope. One has 700 gallons of water in its tank and the other does not. The water comes off the moors so no need to pump it back up; it’s the braking system that’s complicated! And on to Tintagel. By now it was wet and cloudy, my jacket kept my top dry and as we clambered over the ruins my trousers and shoes got wetter and wetter, the cloud thickened and visibility diminished – who would really want to build a palace in this place? Seemingly the Earl of Cornwall in 1230, maybe he hoped to acquire a slice of Arthur and his magic?
Next day we drove the organiser’s narrow roads with high banks and incompetent RVs towards Lands End. It was busier than our other locations, the traffic stop/start, the electric cooling fan had died (along with the horn and handbrake but they were less important just now) and we had had enough when we reached the massive car park and declined its £7 fee for a brief photo op before the final rally lunch back at St Michaels Mount. Then we headed home; a brief rally for the Elan and a new experience requiring organisation and planning as we all try to escape the virus – but as Canute could not stop the tide can we stop the virus?
What about 2021? As Mongolia has been cancelled we have booked with Scenic Car Tours for Chernobyl – what could possibly go wrong?

The Rally photo album with loads more photos – click here

September 2023 and, having taken the Porsche to France, it was now for the yellow Elan to take a trip. Our first destination was the Elan Valley, which we failed to visit in 2020. Our journey was marked by heavy rain and thunder storms an the western end of the A14 but we made Rhayader without incident. We had been warned that the bar might get noisy as Wales played Fiji but the publican’s hoped-for crowds failed to materialise and the narrow win didn’t excite much.
The valley is a marvel of late Victorian engineering.

The City of Birmingham bought most of the valley in the 1890’s, constructing 4 dams with a fifth added in the 1950’s. The water had no need of pumps and flowed by gravity all the way to Birmingham – taking 2 1/2days to travel 73 miles and falling 52 metres in the process. From the Elan Valley we had planned to meander round North Wales to Holyhead but events intervened as a rubbing from the rear alerted us to a loose wheel nut and a roadside stop. The steering column dashboard bracket also came loose and fortunately we found a proper hardware store in Ffestiniog for a new bolt. Afternoon tea in a damp Betws y Coed and on to Holyhead for an overnight stop before the 8.00 ferry to Dublin.
The Irish Sea was calm and we arrived in Dublin in sunshine and onto the M50 Dublin ring. This is an electronic toll so I paid in advance – only to find they’d refunded me the next day! After we got back home we received a demand for payment of the toll plus a penalty for not paying on time! So they did manage to read the number plate – oh well I had hoped…. We stopped for lunch in Kildare and visited St Brigid’s Cathedral before resuming a meander to sunny Westport, our first night where we met the other 3 cars in our group. The E type had brought supplies of fuel additive as its all E10, 95 Octane in Ireland and the UK press has been full of the dangers to old cars in the high ethanol fuel; I just stuffed in whatever I found and had no ill effects though I was intrigued by the 95 octane “extra miles” alternative – I tried that as well but didn’t check the mpg in detail. The other cars were a modern Mazda and Porsche so they weren’t worried.
With Scenic, its group meals but as a lot of the hotels catered for coach tours as well, the dining room noise levels just rose and rose so that hearing yourself think was a major problem – followed by blessed quiet when the coach tables emptied!
Our next night was Galway but as it was a wet day we stopped for coffee at Leenane where Allison enjoyed a lecture on wool and weaving. After lunch it was still raining but as part of our tour of all available peninsulas we came upon Bunowen Bay, Ballyconneely, near the site where Alcock and Brown landed in a bog after the first transatlantic flight in 1919. This remote spot was previously in the news in 1907 when Marconi transmitted the first commercial transatlantic radio message.
The following day was bright and sunny – just as well as we had booked a ferry to the Aran Islands and a couple of bicycles. Allison had an electric assist, which was fine but very heavy. There were surprisingly few sheep but the gift shops were still doing good trade in woolly pullies. Our return ferry was via the base of the cliffs of Moher (scene in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). We had the sea to ourselves but the E type crew who visited from above said it was packed and not worth it.
Our route to Killarney could have taken us to any number of castles but this was another damp day and our first stop was a chocolate factory, where the credit card was splashed! Castles being off the menu for the day, we chose the Flying Boats museum at Foynes on the Shannon – seemed a logical visit after our trip to the Zeppelin museum in Germany last year. Flying boats seemed the successor to airships for long haul flights in the early 1930’s but the war changed that and aircraft took over. . Another meander took us to the ruined cathedral of Ardfert and the nearby monastery
We had two nights in Killarney so on the rest day, bright and sunny we retraced our route back to the Dingle Peninsula on the lookout for a ruined castle. We found Rahinane – but only because we stopped at a craft shop and asked the next customer where it was – she was off to see the local farmer, who owned it! At the end of the peninsula is Dunmore Head with views across a quiet sea to the Blasket Islands but the greater prize was Kruger’s Bar which claims to be the most westerly pub in Ireland – good enough excuse for a lunch stop. Then back via some Clochans, “Beehive huts”, stone built sometimes ancient but others modern used for storage – and at 3 euros per person to visit help the local farmer buy his Tesla.
We had planned a scenic drive round the Beara Peninsula on the Sunday, missing the popular Ring of Kerry but events intervened. Before the trip I’d got new rear springs hoping to stop the car grounding and apart from a few gentle nudges that had worked – but not today! Over a bump and boom – the exhaust pipe pulled straight out of the Y piece and was digging into the road. Fortunately (as ever!) there was a handy track off the road which I could reverse into, jack the car, remove silencer, put the pipe back, reassemble and off we go? Not so easy, as I jacked the car down, it kept going down and the rear tyre got flatter and flatter. Allison refused to go any further without a spare so we returned to Kenmare where the garage put us in touch with Shane’s Ring of Kerry mobile tyre repairs – he already had a customer in a hire car waiting on the forecourt. An Irish 15 minutes later he arrived and from his van produced a new tyre for the hire car and a new inner tube for us. 30 euros and off we went. Now that was lucky!
Everyone has heard of Fastnet – the lighthouse, the rock and the yacht race – but getting there isn’t an option so we went to Mizen Head lighthouse instead where on a good day you have a clear view of Fastnet and today was nearly good. Nearby Crookhaven was another Marconi location where he tested ship to shore radio transmission before WW1. It was also a pirate lair in the16th century.
Leaving Cork, we found Shanagarry and Ballycotton Bay. We had stopped at a craft shop but talking to a local farmer we found we were opposite Shanagarry House, the home of a teenage William Pitt in around 1669. We continued to Waterford, where we spent some time tracing the City walls and visiting the museums. One section of wall is preserved in the centre of a department store and we found a pub in a shopping street which closed at 6.30 in the evening! En route to Dublin we had a brief stop at another weaving factory in Avoca. Rescued from near bankruptcy in the 1920’s by three local sisters, who introduced modern and vibrant colours to its range, its now a large employer, exporting worldwide.
Storms were forecast for our return ferry and all the lorries were strapped down, delaying our disembarkation in Anglesey. The Elan – still damp from the outward journey was now exposed to sea spray on the upper deck. I should add that the handbrake was still working but we did get chocks just to be sure. An overnight stop in Prestatyn before the long haul home in time to collect the dogs from kennels – and with over 40 mpg on that journey I was well pleased with how the car performed. And I have now fitted more new rear springs – USA spec which give about 1 ½ inches more ground clearance – time will tell for how long that exhaust stays in place!