I just love driving 'Bee' but the usual 'day out' runs just aren't enough, so it just had to be the ultimate point-to-point trip in Britain - Lands End to John O'Groats - until friend, Roger suggested the four extremities as well!

What spares should I take? I bought KWD 630 L, a 1973 roadster in Black Tulip, in 1990 for £3,200, basically sound but a bit tatty all round, using it that summer then, restoring to 'smart but nowhere near concourse' the following winter. Since then we've travelled some 14,000 miles together and my faithful 'Bee' has not let me down once. Having read of other people carrying a car full of spares, and then something breaking that they didn't have, I just took manuals and telephone numbers of workshops and parts suppliers in addition to the normal tool-kit.

Roger and I overdid the Somerset and Devon scenery on the first day, ending up about three hours behind schedule, having completed only 340 miles. At this rate Ardnamurchan and Lowestoft looked doubtful, but I simply had get to John O'Groats and back home within the original timescale or consider the trip a failure. 'Bee' seemed to be swinging her tail a bit on bends, so I transferred the toolbox from boot to passenger footwell with good effect.

Tuesday was foul, weather-wise, so we used mainly trunk roads and motorways to make up time. Some rain came through the hood/windscreen seal, quarter-lights and over my right shoulder, not too bad though. Roger is only able to do two days of the trip, so 'Bee' and I carry on up to Cumbria (only hold-ups round Birmingham of course) completing 525 miles and back on schedule. 'Bee's hood looked like Nora Batty's stockings (see Last of the Summer Wine) that night but tightened up again by next morning.

Wednesday morning sunny, meander round some lakes and over the Hardknott Pass, then up to Glasgow. The mountains on the A82 from Loch Lomond (our first wave from an MGF) to Glencoe are really rugged and fully appreciated by keeping the hood down despite cold and wet weather, as keeping to 50 or so sends all the rain over the top even though I am using the wipers (Scots really do say "You should have been here yesterday/last week/last year" if you mention the rain). At the turn off for Ardnamurchan we are just five minutes behind schedule, so go for it and board the Corran ferry. By the way, 'Have I Got News For You' guest publications in the 'missing words' round really do exist, I spotted 'Semen Today' stickers on a car on the ferry. What a change in the weather again - mild and sunny. Return from Ardnamurchan and arrive Drumnadrochit (Loch Ness Monster Centre, purchase model monster for daughter) just 15 minutes behind schedule having travelled 450 miles.

I am finding that a three course evening meal and full English breakfast keep me going all day, and carrying a bottle of water obviates the need for tea breaks. I refuel 'Bee' two or three times a day as I am wary of dropping much below half full, but there are plenty of petrol stations en-route.

Thursday - John O'Groats and Dunnet Head. Traffic throughout the Highlands is light, and there are plenty of safe overtaking opportunities. Arrive just 10 minutes behind schedule having stopped off at the Caithness Glass factory in Wick (purchase piece of crystal for wife). Turn round and head back to Inverness where I see a sign "No stopping for 124 miles" at the start of the Grampians. Mountains less rugged than the Western Highlands although some are snowcapped (in June), and there really is nothing on the A9 for that 124 miles! Meet the first hold-up since Birmingham on the Forth road bridge. Still, I get a good view of the rail bridge and try to spot how far the painters have got. Arrive Jedburgh 10 minutes behind schedule having travelled 490 miles.

It's Friday and after a flying visit to Newcastle upon Tyne to photograph the bridges I head on south. Still on schedule at York so veer off to cross the Humber bridge and head for Lowestoft, Lincoln to Norwich has the most traffic I have seen all week. Seem to be travelling in convoy with a classic Alfa for quite a few miles, and the driver says 'Hello' when we stop at some roadworks. Turns out he is also travelling from Scotland to Lowestoft, where he lives, so he takes me to the most Easterly point (behind the oil tanks!) then to his house for a cuppa. Finally, a long boring drive on the A14 and M6 to Solihull, making 541 miles that day.

As I turn on to the M42 just a few miles from home I get a sudden surge of elation (and the inevitable Sheer Volume of Traffic) that not only have we visited the six points and returned home five minutes ahead of schedule, but my wonderful 'Bee' has performed faultlessly for 2346 miles. She has averaged 31.2 MPG, used half a litre of oil on each of three days and none on the other two, and only suffered half-a-dozen stone chips. The three 'oil' days involved a lot of motorway and dual-carriageway, the extra 10 mph seemed to make the difference. In summary, I spent more time on motorways and dual-carriageways between Lands End and Cumbria than intended, but the main objective had been to enjoy the drive and visit the six points, and this had been a resounding success.

Anybody fancy the route of the Alpine Rally?

As published in 'Enjoying MG', September 1996