Classic Car Outings 2021

A bit of a last minute decision after seeing it advertised on Facebook the night before. We were already going to an open garden, with free entry for classic car drivers we thought we’d tag this one on too.

Our first car show in I don’t know how long. We arrived later than most and was suitably impressed with the number and selection of classic cars parked up. The gardens were well worth the trip too.

I’ll hopefully remember this one for next year and see if we can sort out a club convoy to it.

This repeat of our 2020 New Year run replaced our planned End of Lockdown which we had to cancel due to the lockdown being postphoned. With Christina giving out route maps in Swaffham and me doing the same at the Easton layby. Nick came along and hitched a lift in a very nice looking Spitfire mk2. Seven Triumphs and an Aston Martin attended. It was great to see some new faces and some youngsters joining in with the co-piloting.

This was the first run we’d been on in ages that we hadn’t organised. Starting at the Skeyton Goat with a bacon roll and a cuppa sharing a table with stalwarts of the run Kevin and Lou.

With our route map duly picked up and the official photo taken with the starting banner we were off.

Slightly different to the usual tulip route that we do in so much as there wasn’t any mileages given, just directions. Which, according to my navigator, actually made it easier.

The atmosphere was very friendly if a tad old. We spent the first part of the drive stuck behind an MX5 being driven very sedately.

Incidentally the MX5 seemed to be one of the more popular cars on the run, not what you’d call Classic but it does seem to be the car classic owners resort to when they’ve had enough of old cars. No surprise really because the are good cars that still has the old sports car feel.

We took a break at the Langham Dome (a restored anti-aircraft training facility) where, possibly not be chance, the East Coast Retros had arranged a meet up. Now on our own and Mazda free we could set our own pace.

Next stop off we took was the ruins of Binham Priory with a coffee sign. This turned out to be machine coffee so was declined by the navigator in favour of a plant.

Driving along the north Norfolk coast the clouds turned very dark and five minutes later the rain started. Thankfully we didn’t need to stop and the speed we we’re going g meant the rain went over the car keeping us dry.

We arrived at Creake Abbey just in time for lunch. 70 odd miles without a mistake, my uncertainty of using a route map without miles between junctions specified was totally unfounded. A great day to take the Herald out. It was about time she had a really good run.

For more information on the rally: www.charlesclarkrally.co.uk

Another weekend, another run for the Triumph Herald. This one Mike’s TSSC Norfolk run to Dunwich for fish n chips.

9am saw us arrive at a Sainsbury’s on the east side of Norwich wondering how the 50 mile run was going to take until the 1.30pm meet time. 

Our first stop off was for a cuppa and a wander around the Sparrows Nest gardens in Lowestoft. Whilst not our first time here it is well worth the stop. It also managed to use up 45 minutes of our run time. Our next stop was at Ness Point, the Eastern most point of the United Kingdom. While there wasn’t much there we did meet up with the owners of a Herald estate for chat. Another 30 minus off our run time.

Next up was Henstead Art and Craft Centre and another 30 minutes down but we still had time to spare. It was starting to look like our next stop was Dunwich and we were looking like we were going to be early.

But, on one of the back roads, we spotted an open garden, Henstead Exotic Garden, well worth a visit incidentally, and another 45 minutes was spent.

We finally reached a very packed beech car park at Dunwich, we were the last Triumph to turn up, bang on 1.30pm. With some skilful manoeuvring we managed to get most of the Triumphs parked together in-between the rows of moderns. After 4 1/2 hours of driving the fish n chips were well worth it. The best we’ve had in a long time.

This, one of our favourite Triumph weekends, is always enjoyable. Our first proper trip out in the Herald / Viking combo for almost two years. it was great to be towing again. We arrived early on the Thursday which gave us Friday to walk partway around Rutland Water (where we got drenched in the rain) before the weekend kicked off.

Saturday saw us going on a scatter treasure hunt very similar to the ones we’d organised in the Norwich area. The difference being each point was a village which we walked around getting clues. With ours we choice just a point of interest with clues. We will definitely be adapting ours to use the village idea next year!

Evening entertainment was put on after the BBQ with Paul taking part in the fun. Sunday should have been a run out to a point of interest, but the rain put paid to that. We did however do the show n shine line up.

We remained with a few others on the Sunday for travelling home on the Monday.

The only disappointment was the number of modern cars and caravans at the event. Looking out of the caravan window we could quite easily of been at a caravan club rally. I hope it’s not the start of the way these things are going.

A bit of a funny one this. Not too sure what made us decide to go the night before the show. We had intended to go with somebody else who dropped out, leaving us spending the night in our Herald / Viking combo on our own in the middle of the show field.

It was good to see the cars arriving in the morning though. This year we spent the Sunday in the field catching up with friends we hadn’t see for a couple of years due to the lockdown.

Much smaller than previous years but still worth attending.

Our big road trip of the year, driving up to the Yorkshire Dales for the TSSC Yorkshire area’s Dales Run.

A long but enjoyable seven hour, traffic jam free journey up to the Dales along the A17 and A1/(M). Plenty of people taking photos and interest shown when we parked the combo up for our lunch break. We’d forgotten how much attention the Triumph Herald and Viking gets. Driving through the narrow cobbled streets of Hawes we even got a load cheer from a group of bikers sitting outside a pub.

The fun started when we came off the A1(M) along the smaller windy, hilly roads. Especially the final road to the campsite. It’s amazing how many campsites are on roads that are a tad difficult for caravans to go along. But this one was well worth the trip. Amazing views from the caravan!

What a difference a day makes. After a seven mile trek around Dent on Friday morning we returned to find a motorbike group setting up camp between us and the view. Nice enough crowd but will be happy when they go and our clear view is with us again.

A leisurely afternoon with a few more Triumphs turning up. Chilli for dinner followed by a cocktail sitting outside Keith and Lynn’s tent made for a very pleasant evening.

Saturday, the Dales Run day. A twenty mile round trip to get some E5 petrol, a sign of things to come perhaps? Then back to the campsite to join the gathering of five Triumphs to set off for the run. Some very windy steep hills and fantastic scenery including the “Buttertubs”. Making the occasional stop to let sheep cross the road we ended up at a pub for some lunch. Taking more major roads after the lunch stop gave us a good chance to put our foot down. A hundred miles covered in total, including our search for E5.

Saturday evening saw us congregating in the local village hall for some fun and games orchestrated by Alan. Great fun but probably for all the wrong reasons.

Goodbye Sunday saw us left on our own with the views. The over riding question is why are these events so poorly attended? Don’t get me wrong, we thoroughly enjoyed it because it was such a small gathering. But it deserved to be so much bigger.

We spent the day relaxing in the sun by the caravan after a walk to the local shop for an ice cream. It was starting to feel that we were actually on a holiday. Monday saw us driving to Hawes for another walk and ice cream at Wensleydale Creamery. Followed by another trek to the M6 for fuel. On our return the view at the campsite had now been taken over by a bunch of cyclists and a very bendy woman doing yoga next door to us.

Looking at the weather for Thursdays trip home where thunderstorms were forecast. Our thinking is to leave on Wednesday. So on Tuesday we did our final long hike. Another 7 miles from the campsite in glorious sunshine. Followed by a leisurely afternoon trying to work out what the best time would be to leave, with the least amount of traffic on the narrow, windy road out of the campsite.

So the last day arrives. A short walk in the morning followed by a fry up and leisurely packing away. The worst part of the journey, five miles on a single track road from campsite to the main road, went without any problems. We even manage to stop on a bridge for a scenic photo. The rest of the drive also went without a problem, very little traffic but oh such a long way. Seven hours later saw us sitting in Swaffham market place having fish n chips. Another big trip under our belts. 

We had planned to go to the pre 1940 Triumph Club Picnic being held at the Walton Hall Hotel since I had suggested to the Triumph 2000 Register (now that I had found myself on the committee) that we use it for their 40th birthday celebration with free cake for big Triumph owners.

Like the Dales break the other week it seemed a shame to just go there for the day, so we decided to make more of a break of it. As we were helping organise it, it seemed obvious to take the Triumph 2500S estate along. So we had a deadline to get the Sprite Musketeer habitable.

Most of the rebuilding work was done. At least the cupboards etc were, in but still needing laminating. We had electric but no gas, but we were ready to go. The biggest problem was the Triumph running a tad hot. I’d flushed it through a couple of times before we went but it only seemed to make it worse. I had the feeling I was just pushing sludge around.

But Tuesday the day we were due to go, rain was forecast the whole day. For once I was happy to do a four hour drive in the rain with the caravan on the back if only because I figured the temperature would be cooler and better for the car.

We started off at 9am and luckily we met with only minor traffic and the temperature gauge didn’t get any higher than the 3/4 mark. We did stop halfway for a cuppa in the caravan. Followed by using the loo in the Sprite bathroom. A very useful facility that the Viking caravan hasn’t got.

Getting to the campsite for lunch, we spent a restful afternoon in the caravan after setting up. The rain cleared giving us a chance to pop down to the pub which unfortunately didn’t open for another hour. So back to the ‘van for our first night curry.

Wednesday was lie-in day, as I struggled to get over the drive and the two ring pulls I’d had the night before. A visit to Banbury to see the cross and do a bit of charity shop shopping before lunch and a four mile hike across fields in the afternoon.

We were starting to like the look of the Sprite and also enjoying the extra room, 14’ length as opposed to the 10’ of the Viking, although we didn’t seem to be using the extra room much.

Our last day of Triumphing until we leave on Sunday led us to Stratford upon Avon. A great place to visit if a tad ‘Bard’ heavy. A nice walk along the canal and around the shops in the town. Topped off with an ice cream and back to the caravan. Where the pitches opposite were taken, meaning we weren’t alone on our part of the campsite anymore. And, to make matters worse, ‘our’  toilet now had its doors locked meaning we now have to remember the keypad number for the main toilet block.

A look at the map showed us that the National Herb Centre was in walking distance, so Fridays day was sorted. A pub lunch on the way back rounded the day of nicely.

Saturday was a lazy day but still involved a five mile walk to the local shop for some bread (we also treated ourselves to some tea and cake sitting by the canal). Pack up time in the afternoon ready for our quick getaway on Sunday morning.

A quick wash for the car on Sunday morning before setting off for the Triumph picnic in time to help set up. 30 Minutes later we were lined up ready. A great turn out for the  Triumph 2000 Register with around 30 cars, more than any of the other triumph clubs that were attending (not that it’s a competition 😉 ). A really good day meeting big Triumph members for the first time and meeting old friends of the TSSC we hadn’t met for a couple of years. On mentioning my over heating problem to those that know the bonnet was soon up with work being done on it.

Leaving it as late as possible before heading home on the off chance the temperature would be cooler. We got as far as the A14 before the temporary gasket fitted during the afternoons attempts at fixing things gave out. This was suitably replaced with a bit of cardboard and on we carried. After a stop at the services for a break the dipped beam gave out, so with gaffa tape applied to the main beam to stop it shining at oncoming vehicles we continued. It would be nice to get this Triumph as reliable as the Herald!