Blog Archives

Tees Valley MG Owners Club Tees Valley Trail

31/7/2011

Another great run with the Tees Valley MG Owners Club. The Tees Valley Trail was about 90 miles through some great counrtyside, with some treasure hunt questions thrown in. Starting and finishing at Roots Farm Shop in East Rounton, the route took us through leafy lanes and across rolling moorland. The weather was kind to us with bright warm sunshine all day.

It was a relaxing run with no time pressure and some took the opportunity for a pleasant break in the sunshine.

Whilst we were stopped by the roadside for a quick cuppa, Mark & Mandy flew past in their lovely restored TC.

This event is run on a charitable basis and this years charity is Northallerton & District Diabetes UK who will benefit to around £650. Well done to all who contributed.

At the finish were were very pleased to collect the trophy for the oldest car on the run.

We appreciate that an event like this takes a lot of time and mileage to plan and get right. John & San did a great job and we owe them a big round of applause.

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Ripon Old Cars

24/7/2011

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It was almost a sense of Groundhog Day as we set off in the TA to head for the Ripon Old Cars gathering at Ripon Racecourse. The route we followed was the same as last weekend as the racecourse is only a mile or so past Newby Hall. Thankfully the weather was better and we had a dry if chilly run down the A19.

This event attracts a lot of entries and, unless you are attending a club stand, you are parked up in the order you arrive. This means that there is a great mixture of different cars in each row and it keeps the interest alive.

The sun soon rose high in an almost cloudless blue sky and the temperature rose too, and it turned out to be a very pleasant day.

A wide range of cars from the beautifully restored, to the rough but running (our TA) and some pretty cool custom jobs made an eclectic mix of motoring history.

As usual I took too many photos to put here individually so here's the slideshow

As well as the cars, there was children's entertainment and good refreshments, and an autojumble. This time I found what I was looking for and the 71 GT will soon have a door mirror on the passenger side again.

Amongst some of the people we chatted to was a guy who was parked up on his way to Newby Hall last week, thinking of heading for home because of the weather. He saw us, cagouled up, blasting down the road in the pouring rain, and thought, if they can do it, so can I, and he continued to the event and had a great day.

It was a great day all round and our thanks go to all the people who put in much work and long hours to make the day so good. We also hope that a good sum was raised for this year's charity Macmillan Cancer Support.

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71 GT Becomes my Daily Driver

23/7/2011

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My daily driver Audi has some serious issues and I've had to take it off the road. What has this got to do with MGs? you may ask. Well, I need a car to do my job and the only candidate is the 71 GT so it was press ganged into service. I was pleasantly surprised to find that business use was readily available on a classic insurance policy and at reasonable cost. There were some issues to sort out with the car. The horn ceased working which had to be done, the overdrive didn't always engage and the tachometer would sometimes drop to zero whe running. The last two were minor irritations that I'd lived with when the car was only used occasionally but were driving me nuts using it every day.

I decided they had to be tackled and got stuck in. The horn was an easy one. The car has an aftermarket steering wheel and because there is no horn push, a previous owner had fitted a spring loaded flick switch for the horns. Investigation revealed that one of the connections was loose and had dropped off. Easy fix.

As I was already working under the dash I decided to look at the overdrive switch. I always check the easy things first. Testing showed that the switch was only switching about four out of ten attempts. A replacement switch fitted and all was good there.

Next, the tachometer. As I put my hand up under the dash to find the securing nuts, I felt a wire move. Yes, another loose connection. I couldn't believe my luck.

I'm quite enjoying using the GT every day and what was originally planned as a temporary solution whilst the Audi is being sorted, may well become permanent.

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Newby Hall

17/7/2011

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We don't normally do static events as we perfer to be driving, but there are two that we do and today was the first of the year. The North Estern Club for Pre War Austins host an annual event at Newby Hall near Ripon in North Yorkshire.

This is a massive show and there were just short of 1600 cars, vans, motorcycles and military vehicles on the entry list. There were a few empty spaces around the field, probably because of the bad weather. It started to rain heavily just before we set off so we had a damp drive down. Thankfully it eased up later and apart from a couple of showers it was dry. The rain must have had an effect on public visitors too, as there weren't as many people about as previous years.

There were a good few autojumble stalls but I didn't find what I was looking for.

With the jump in and turn the keys cars of today, I wonder how many could cope with this. I'm not sure I could handle it.

Spot the odd one out.

Two different rears.

We had a great day, and met up with some people we only see once a year at this event. Even the torrential downpour on the way home couldn't dampen our spirits.

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MG Car Club Tyne Tees Centre Prince Bishops Run

10/7/2011

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It was a bright warm morning at the Lord Stones Cafe where members of the Tyne Tees Centre of the MG Car Club met for the start of the 2011 Prince Bishops Run. 40 cars on the list and I think all but two made it to the start. I'm not aware of any that didn't finish.

After morning refreshments, I saw quite a few bacon & egg butties going down, we set off for the 89 mile run to Durham.

The first part of the run was 40 miles to The Hardwick Park where there was an optional break for refreshments. En route we saw some dark clouds beginning to form so we stopped to don waterproofs. Whilst stopped we were given some good natured ribbing by other cars with the tops down. We got our own back when the heavens opened and we passed them all frantically putting hoods up. Thankfully the rain didn't last long and by the time we reached Hardwick Park, it was dry again.

The next leg was 15 Miles to Auckland Castle, the home of the Bishop of Durham and some took the opportunity for a tour of the castle.

We had a quick cuppa there before setting off for the final 34 miles to The Palace Green in the beautiful historic City of Durham. It was a great honour to be able to park on the green, right next to the Cathedral, as normally cars aren't allowed in.

The cars attracted a lot of attention and many owners were deep in conversation with people asking questions. Great fun!

This event was also very special as each of the T Types was represented. 1 TA, 1 TB, 1 TC, 3 TDs, and 1 TF. That has to be a rarity anywhere and for a local club run, it was exceptional. We lined up the cars for a photoshoot, and there were many cameras clicking away.

One of the features of these runs is the selection, by an independent person, of the car they would most like to go home in. Diane, the manager of the Almshouse Cafe chose Numbum, much to our surprise.

This is the second time, as we were selected on the Cobweb Run earlier in the year. I wonder if we can make the hat trick on the Old Speckled Hen run, later in the year.

You can get a flavour of the event in this short video.