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Aln Valley Railway

23/8/2015

A friend and fellow MGCC Tyne Tees Centre member organised a British Sports Car Picnic and we did a quick sprint up the A19 in the B GT to take part.

The Aln Valley Railway is only just over three years old and an amazing amount of work has been done in that time. From a bare field to a station, track, shed, cafe and other things has been a lot of hard work and there is more to come as they have big plans.

They did hope to have steam on the line but boiler work on the loco was delayed and they hope to have it up & running for next year.

There was a good turn out of cars and there was a steady stream of visitors.

The weather was good to us and it was a wonderful day with friendly people. It doesn't get much better than that.

If you are in the area, this railway is well worth a visit.

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Croft Nostalgia Weekend - Sunday

9/8/2015

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Today started out much cooler than yesterday with cloud cover and a chilly wind. We arrived at Croft early as the instructions said expecting a long queue. There wasn't one and at the noted closing time for entries the field was less than half full. Cars were still coming in at lunchtime which makes a mockery of the instructions.

We did the usual walking around interspersed with trips back to the car for refreshment. It was on one of theses visits that we had a surprise.

There was a young lad looking at the TA while his dad was looking at the car next to us. I asked the lad if he wanted to sit in, which he did, and I told his dad there was a photo op for him. After taking a couple of pictures the dad said he knew me from somewhere and asked where I lived. I told him and it turned out he was the guy who bought the white GT we saw yesterday. Thankfully he had no complaints and was really enjoying the car.

We watched some of the racing before out track parade time came round.

Then it was back to the embankment to watch the racing. Real wheel to wheel stuff. Seeing a Mustang spitting flame going in to Sunny In and the chasing Lotus Cortina locking up the left front was thrilling stuff.

There was a lull in the racing at 3 o clock for the Avro Vulcan display. The beautiful aircraft is in its final year of flying as the airframe is coming to the end of its flying life. It's such a shame but it can't be helped.

I only managed to get a short video clip. I was using full zoom on the camera and it was difficult to follow it.

We stayed till the end of the last race and quite a few had left before us so the queue to get out wasn't too long. It was, as usual, a great weekend and if you get the chance to go, don't miss it.

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Croft Nostalgia Weekend - Saturday

8/8/2015

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We loaded up old Numbum for an early start to help erect the MGCC Tyne Tees Centre display shelter but when we got there it was already up so we had a cuppa & chatted before wandering off to see the other exhibits.

With it still being early there weren't many cars about but still plenty to see & photograph.

While we were wandering through the classic car lines, we spotted an MGB GT which looked very familiar. We had a good look around it and were almost convinced that we were right but it took a photo comparison at home to comfirm it.

Yes, it was the GT I sold a couple of years ago, converted to chrome bumpers and a much improved interior. The owner wasn't around to chat to so we left and carried on with our day.

Period dress is encouraged and I'd been considering it for some time and this weekend I bit the bullet. I already had the cap & goggles and I found the white overalls for the princely sum of a fiver and I was set.

Most of the afternoon was spent on the banking watching the racing. Our favoutite spot is on the straight between Sunny Out and the Complex which gives us a good view of the action.

All too soon it was time to set off for home and it was on the way that I had an oh dear moment. The road home has a few roundabouts with good sight lines and if the road is clear I like to have a go. Drop into third, a touch of the brakes to steady things and power through. Today the application of power produced a good sized puff of blue smoke. I guess it's eaten some valve guide seals. I can't complain as apart from a broken crankshaft a while ago, this engine has stood up well to the abuse I give it.

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Tees Valley MG Owners Club Tees Valley Trail

2/8/2015

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It was raining as we loaded up old Numbum and set off for the start of this great run at Stokesley.

On the way there we were alarmed by clouds of smoke coming from under the dash. It's a good job we were topless as the car would have been unbearable with the top up. I found somewhere safe to pull over and investigate. The smoke didn't smell like burnt wiring so I decided to look under the bonnet. I saw that the engine was covered in oil and the cause was in plain sight. Somebody had topped up the oil before we set off and hadn't put the oil filler cap back on. I wonder who it was? Oil had splashed out of the top of the rocker cover and once it ran down to the exhaust manifold it produced the huge clouds of smoke. Thankfully that was the only problem we had all day.

We arrived at Howards Cafe in Stokesley and collected our route book and plaque. Over a cuppa we chatted to other entrants and studied the route before heading outside into the wet to prepare for setting off.

The route book was great and easy to follow and we had no trouble at all. About 20 miles in we ended up in a long convoy and decided to take a break. The village hall in Boltby had a pop up cafe so we stopped for a cuppa & a scone to allow the convoy to get well ahead of us.

Once on the road again we realised that the light refreshment had only wetted our appetites and we soon stopped again for lunch. The halfway point was Helmesley, which we knew would be busy, so having eaten, we didn't stop there but kept on driving.

The route was superb with some amazing little lanes. The two fords were good. The first had little water and I could get through it briskly. The second had more water and a left hand bend which meant I had to be a bit more gentle.

As the day progressed the roads dried out and we had a very enjoyable drive arriving at Roots Farm Shop just after 2 o clock where we spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting and taking pictures.

I won a box of toffees in the raffle. They're probably the most expensive toffees ever, not because of the cost of the tickets but the cost of having my fillings replaced.

As the oldest car in the run I gladly took the prize of a bottle of wine.

A great day out with super people and lovely roads. A big thank you to Reg & Babs for all their hard work in planning the run and Derek for managing the raffle.

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Aln Valley Railway

Croft Nostalgia Weekend - Sunday

Croft Nostalgia Weekend - Saturday

Tees Valley MG Owners Club Tees Valley Trail

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