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A small village fete for what I’d likely the last display with fellow TSSC members we do this year. A very pleasant way to spend a Sunday, at least when it stopped raining.

What a blast that was!

A torrential downpour and howling winds greeted the early arrivals on Thursday but thankfully gave way to fantastic weather for the rest of the weekend.

Things kicked off with a Meet and Greet in the bar, complete with a “feely bag” quiz and a few rounds of bingo (well done to Donna on her win!). Saturday morning saw us congregating on the sports field before setting off on a run around Norfolk. Some completed the full 90-mile loop to Cromer and back, taking in optional stops like Norfolk Lavender, Bircham Windmill, Creake Abbey, Walsingham Abbey, Burnham Priory, Letheringsett Mill, Holt Railway Station, and Cromer seafront.

Most of the campers also tackled Saturday’s walking treasure hunt into Hunstanton and along the beach. We capped off the evening with a group buffet and our weekend prize giving.

Sunday morning was show day, featuring a short run from Searles to Hunstanton Green where we lined up over 35 Triumphs. Joined by the Hunstanton Brass Band in the afternoon, it was a glorious mix of sun, sea, cars, music, and ice cream – a terrific climax to the weekend. Sunday night saw some of the remainers in the bar for more beer, bingo and board games.

Thanks go to our Hi-Viz helpers: Steve, Linda, Clive, Sandra, Andrew, Catherine, Lou (great to see you again!), Steve, and especially Andrew and Gill for setting everyone off on Sunday.

Congratulations to our winning teams:

• Feely Bag Quiz: The Lincolnshire Re-moulds
• Walking Treasure Hunt: Clive & Sandra, and the FKJs (tied with full marks)
• Overall Winners: The FKJs (All took home a no-expense-spared stick of rock!)

Finally, thank you to everyone who joined us over the weekend, especially those who brought a Triumph – and a special shout-out to Keith for driving down from Yorkshire in his early Spitfire. Without the Triumphs, there wouldn’t be a weekend!

The weekend raised just under £300, combined with the £461 from our tea and cake afternoon means TSSC Norfolk will be donating around £750 to East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). If you haven’t donated yet and would like, log on to justgiving.com and search for TSSC Norfolk.

With the Tea and Cake afternoon gone and the Norfolk Weekend in a couplee of weeks, we thought we’d give ourselves a weekend break.

Not wanting to go too far we took the Herald/Viking combo to Gatton Waters caravan park near Sandringham. It’s a lovely site even though our pitch was a bit our of the way. Following the weather report we changed the arrival day from Thursday to Friday. What we weren’t expecting was the weather to be so bad on the Friday! After months of sunshine the skys opened in a torrential downpour late afternoon with the rain coming off the caravan in rivers.

The only saving grace was it didn’t last too long and we were able to take a walk to the clubhouse for a quick drink.

Saturday saw us go for a hike to Castle Rising for a cream tea. Losing our way back added another mile to the walk, making almost 8 miles.

Sunday saw another, shorter, walk to the Anvil in Congham followed by a drive up to Snettisham Beach for some lovely fish and chips in the evening.

Home on the Monday in around 3/4 hour, which was ideal. Only problem is the new petrol tank gauge seems to drop a lot quicker than the old, something to bear in mind…

A new car meet that we were eager to support as it couldn’t have been closer. Again we took both Triumphs to join the other classics lined up. Bar was open and the BBQ was on. Perfect evening meeting lots of local people, just a shame we won’t be here for the next one (and last of the year) as we’ll be at Searles for our weekend.

A nice close one for us this weekend, hardly far enough to get the choke in.
So close, in fact, that we took both Triumphs (yes, they are both going!) with Christina following in the estate. I say they are both going; the Herald started spluttering again as we left home. But turning the engine off and restarting seemed to clear it with suspected fuel starvation. Time for the petrol tank to come out and get a clean.

Space was a bit tight; in fact, if we’d known, we’d probably just taken the Herald/Viking combo and left the estate at home.

It’s great that Watton can still put on this type of show (now in its 150th year) with plenty of produce and farm animals on show.

A long day, arriving before 9am and not leaving until 5pm and plenty of folks coming over for a natter.

 

Another day, another campsite. Back on the Sunday from North Norfolk and off again on the Monday to Hunstanton…

This time we were taking Kai with us for a couple of days to Searles, sorting out some of the details for the TSSC weekend in September. So Monday morning was spent swapping caravans – the Sprite 400 with its three-berth layout instead of the Viking with just the double bed. With the estate still getting its gearbox fitted, we were towing with the Herald. The last time the Herald towed the 400 was when we bought it last year.

With special perental permission to put Kai in the front (no seat belts in the back) we had a very easy drive up to Hunstanton, taking just over an hour. Our spot was quite secluded but near the beach path and toilets, and it wasn’t long before we were set up with the awning up.

The 400/awning set up seemed to work well with the three of us, possibly time to sell the Musketeer?

It was good to be using it for a holiday and not on display, although the combo did get a few looks, with a young lad asking questions about the Herald and wanting his photo taken with it at one point.

Searles is a great caravan park to take kids to, with indoor and outdoor play areas, indoor and outdoor swimming pools (yes, we did); there’s plenty to keep young ‘uns amused. Not to mention the beach being just a short walk away.

All too soon it was time to leave again and nice to be back home in just over an hour. I could get used to just caravanning in Norfolk.
So completes a busy start to summer camping, with the last eight weeks having 26 nights spent in a caravan, with 60 being spent at home.

This is always one we enjoy, using the Herald/Viking combo for the North Norfolk Railway Golden Years event. This year we were away from the main event at Holt and back to Weybourne, where we were the only activity; they usually have scooters and Morris Minors to help get folks off the train. That being said,  we seemed to be just as busy as previous years with a sudden rush every time a train came in.

The “Carry On” shower we took went down well, although it’s starting to look a bit tired. I think it’s time for some new faces.

The weekend also saw the first public appearance of the N2 1744 steam train since returning to service after its refit.

Our second big trip of the year, to Gaydon via Ashwell, near Baldock, to drop off the estate’s gearbox for rebuilding.

As with the trip down to Cornwall the other month, this trip was to be during another heatwave. But we were taking the Herald/Viking combo…

With the rear seat of the Herald removed and put in the caravan, and the estate gearbox loaded in its place, the caravan hitched, and we were off. A nice easy run with the roof down, we arrived at Ashwell after a couple of hours. Grateful to have been breaking the journey to Gaydon in two. After unhitching at the campsite, we dropped off the gearbox at the repairers and officially switched into relaxation mode for a few days.

As the temperatures climbed up to the 30s, keeping cool came to be the name of the game. Paul made the mistake of falling asleep in the shade for the sun to come round the caravan and burn his legs while his eyes were closed. The coolest spot in the village turned out to be the natural spring (the source of the River Cam).

Christina enjoyed a civilised paddle, while Paul got collateral-damaged by a young girl engaged in a high-stakes water fight with her friends. We also took the Herald out for a trip to Hitchin, where it seemed to enjoy not having the weight of the gearbox or the caravan on the back to contend with.

On the Friday when it was time to leave, we had cameras both sides of us which, while nice to be appreciated, did make us feel a bit self-conscious. The temperature was in the low 30s and, not wanting to be towing in the heat of the day, we arranged to stop mid-way at Bletchley Park to spend the majority of the day. A fascinating place with lots to do, although it was too hot to do it justice. We vowed to come back in the autumn for a proper visit (the ticket allowed for repeat visits). While on the way there, we had a call for help at Gaydon so didn’t stay as long as we intended and ended up leaving in the heat of the day…

All was good until around 30 minutes from Gaydon when the car seemed to be getting especially hot and started to stutter as we went up a hill. I did start to feel a bit guilty putting the Herald through it. After a couple of minutes it seemed to clear, but I took it as a bit of a moan that I was pushing her too hard in the heat. But she made it!

Thankfully most of the heavy work was done by the time we arrived, and it wasn’t long before we were set up and having a good natter to the other campers.

Friday night Paul went to take a look at the bar and didn’t get back to the caravan until quite late, but it was very nice (and at £3.33 a pint, cheap beer) apparently.

The fridge seemed to be having trouble keeping cool in the heat with the milk going off pretty quickly and the spread being runny, so on Saturday, while there was a drive out organised we decided to go for a short run out to make sure the Herald was behaving itself along with topping up with petrol and buying a few supplies, and again seemed to enjoy not having the caravan to hold it back.

Saturday night was the party night, and we splashed out and bought dinner (a great deal at the same £3.33 a portion, and very nice it was too). So they could finish before the England game, the band came on early, and while the first set was a bit empty, by the time the second set started the tables were full, and it wasn’t long before the dancing started. Not being overly fussed with the football, we retired reasonably early and let the others watch it on the big screen.

Sunday was the day of the BMC/BL Day and while tempted to take the caravan down to the display area, decided against it and just took the Herald down and then gave a hand getting the shop up and the marquee down.

We had a look around the museum, as last time, the most interesting place is where they keep the cars that aren’t on exhibit, upstairs above the red Jaguars. Lots of interesting stuff packed into what is, in effect, a car park of rare cars.

We decided to gamble on doing the journey home in a single run, crossing our fingers that the Herald wouldn’t hold a three-hour drive against us. Leaving around 4 (with a quick pitstop near Cambridge), we rolled into our driveway before 8 in the evening without a single hiccup. If only we could get the estate to behave the same…

A tip for the hot weather was to take the demister tubes off and direct them to the footwells, which helped stop our feet from overheating.

Our first trip out in the Herald/Viking combo since September last year. A short 30 minute drive to Old Buckenham for a few days coinciding with the July meet of the TSSC Norfolk monthly meet. Great to get away for a few days and great that we didn’t have to go to far, something I suspect we might be doing a bit of this year.

Christina had work to go to on the Friday so the Corsa came too. It’s been a while since I drove the combo on my own, but thouroughly enjoed getting them out again.

The meeting on the Thursday evening saw 27 Triumphs coming together . Amongst the usual selection of small chassis Triumphs we also had a number of TRs from a TR3 to a trio of TR7s as well as a 2500PI, Stag, Roadster and a Sammio Spyder special. A great variety of cars to look at.

All in all, a great few days. Next run-out for the combo will be in a couple of weeks to the TSSC National at Gaydon.