August 26th: Vee is despatched to find a new home.
July 14th-17th - North Norfolk coast:
Third time along this stretch of coast, this time based in Thornham near Hunstanton. The only thing worthy of mention about Hunstanton is that you can see the sun setting over the sea despite being on the East cost of Britain, as Hunstanton faces west across The Wash. After that it's worse for cheap tat than Skegness. A very hot journey out, this time we had our lunch stop at Nene Valley Railway at Wansford because I could see from Google maps that it had easy access and plenty of tree shade, neither of which our previous stopping place at Sacrewell Farm has, and a nice picnic area on the bank of the river. A lot of traffic on the second half from Peterborough with some crawling and stop/start sections until we could cut the corner off at Heacham and go cross-county to Thornham. A peculiar thing with the sat-nav at Ringstead was the map freezing although we were still shown moving along the road, fortunately getting back to normal as we left the village - probably one of the satellites blocked. The same thing happened on our return. Staying at the Orange Tree in Thornham. We hivvered and hovered before settling on this place as there were for's and against's about here as well as The Chequers. Upstairs in a modern block 'equipped to the highest standards' - except that there were problems with the toilet and the basin. The former was trickling and not filling the cistern, until I gave the control panel on the wall good thump, had to do that twice. The basin was barely draining. Not what you expect in a place with these prices so I won't provide a link. Shower with electronic controls very good - except that you are in the full blast of cold water when you push the button ... unless you have the door open inside in front of the head :o) Food was quite good quality but a bit fussy and fiddly. Mackerel with green curry sauce very salty, but mushroom linguine and burger were excellent. Ice cream very basic at £3.50 per small scoop. Wines very expensive at £25 minimum, usually we would have had a bottle but had a glass each of what we fancied and that was plenty.
Tuesday we set out to walk to Hunstanton but walking into a headwind we gave up at Holme where we had a coffee, and just managed to catch the bus to Hunstanton - if you miss one the next one is an hour, but they are great for getting along the coast. The problem with this section of coast from Hunstanton to Salthouse - about 30 miles - is the large expanse of salt and mud flats meaning any buildings are about a mile inland. The Navigator likes a beach walk but didn't appreciate the amount of effort needed to get there. There is the Norfolk 'Coast' Path but a lot of it is quite a long way inland - along roads in some places, and even where the two are side by side you can't get between the path and the beach as there is a narrow strip of dune between the two that is protected, so it's boardwalk all the way and nothing worth a photo. Saw the 'delights' of Hunstanton in about an hour, including the 'pier' which doesn't even reach the sea wall let alone go out over the water. Definitely nothing worth a photo here. Went for a cream tea during which we had a spell of rain then a typical British sea side holiday sheltering under a canopy until we caught the next bus back to Thornham.
Rained overnight but managed to mop Bee off to avoid any further bleaching in the expected sunshine. I left under the back of the hood which would have needed me to unfasten everything to get at and we had a bus to catch. The Navigator vetoed anything other than minimal walking so we got the bus all the way to Wells-next-the-Sea - which should be fined under the trades description act as it is a mile from the nearest bit of beach, and if the tide is out it's probably a good 1/2 or 3/4 of mile further to the sea! But a lovely sunny afternoon, not too hot or windy, and after coffee and the beach walk we had an ice cream and caught the bus back to Thornham. It's amazing how time flies when you are in 'slow down' mode. Wells utterly different to Hunstanton and a really nice, spotlessly clean town.
A sunny start for the drive back home but soom clouded over. A couple of short spells of misty mizzle but traffic initially nowhere near as bad as coming. Stopped at Nene Valley Railway again then onwards. The A14 and M6 were a nightmare for traffic especially lorries, and by Coventry had a very sudden and powerful downpour. Only a few minutes though so battled through top down then the sun came out and it was warm and dry for the rest of the way home. Top down all the way, and tee-shirt and shorts for me. 295 miles and still a 1/4 tank left, Bee never missed a beat. No clutch squawks, but voltage still moving a few tenths from time to time in steady driving so time to look at the solenoid connections with no further major trips planned yet.
Bleaching in sun after rain has always been a problem with Bee and lowering the hood for the journey home it was stuck down between the rear fasteners from the effect of rain and sun and very badly bleached, the edge of which shows behind the cockpit cover. I've been pondering repainting that strip, but the edges always show, so may just put up with it as I have done with lighter effects since the start.
12th July 2025 An amazing coincidence? Or inevitable?
Pulled in to the local Tesco to fill up before a few days away and the chap behind me came up and started talking about his first car, then it dawned on me that it was Bee that had been his first car, and I had bought it off him! He remembered many things about the car when he had it, could see a number of changes I have made over the years, and was impressed with how good she looked. Standing at the pump chatting away a voice came over the Tannoy "Pump number 11 you will have to move your car ..." so I filled up and we moved round to the side out of the way to continue our chat during which I got stung on a finger-tip ... by a bee! He asked if it still had the Gold Seal engine, saying the original had blown up not long after he bought it, and the 5000 miles I bought her with was the original mileage. Another interesting comment was that someone had replaced the sills (not sure if he meant in his time or before) without supporting the body correctly and they didn't line up with the doors - the drivers lower edge overlapping and the passenger's leaving a large vertical gap which was how I bought her. When restoring her in 1990/91 I pondered removing them and doing them properly but decided to leave them until they needed doing ... and they still haven't! He lived locally at the time I bought the car then spent some years in London before moving back locally again, where I still live, hence the 'inevitable?'. He said apart from the blown engine Bee had always been a good car (as she has been for me), on his return from London he wanted to recapture the enjoyment and bought another but it was never the same and sold it.
However that's not the end of the story. The day we returned from our Norfolk trip a pal showed me his phone with this photo on it. In amazement I asked where on earth he had got it from and he said that the chap in the photo was a regular racket ball partner who had told him about seeing his first car and showed him the photo. Pal said 'That's Paul's car' and the chap was as gobsmacked as me. Now that is an amazing coincidence.
July 6th - Cotswold Caper:
First time, friendly people, quite a big run with over 70 cars which meant having travelled down to Tewkesbury that morning we ended up in an overflow car park. Didn't mind that but they didn't start flagging cars away until 10am, with a gap of a few minutes between each one and it took us half an hour to get under way with the main car park emptying first with all the 'after you sir' which meant that quite a few were wandering out of the club house and able to get away from the main car park almost immediately. No wonder someone snuck out the back way without getting flagged, must be an old hand. Would have been better to start the flagging-off earlier and let people go when they wanted to instead of all together. But there we are, clubs have their own way of doing things.
Quite an enjoyable run - 80 miles so one of the longer ones, although I'm not sure taking us through the middle of Broadway on a summer Sunday afternoon was such a good idea. It started raining as we were approaching which is OK if you can keep moving but not in traffic! Fortunately I spotted a space on the side of the road to pull in and get the hood up, and after that it really hammered down for probably nearly half an hour. After Broadway there was a really slow and tortuous route to Broadway Tower for the lunch stop but shortly after our arrival the rain stopped and we could get the hood down for lunch and a stroll. Getting ready to move on again a large black cloud was approaching and more rain, so hood back up, but part way through the second half more sun so it came down again for the rest of the way back to Tewkesbury.
Instructions a bit 'mixed'. I'm sure a couple of the inters weren't correct - or maybe my mental arithmetic is beginning to fail me, but several of the instructions needed some thought to understand and one definitely caused problems. Told to look out for a pub then turn right, the problem was that the main road turned right at what otherwise would have been a T-junction, the real right turn was several hundred yards further on which meant quite a few missed it, it was only because I spotted the signpost that we found it. What annoyed the Navigator the most was the instruction 'Broadway Tower visible on the skyline, this will be your lunchtime stop' when she was ready for her lunch but the instructions continued for another 10 miles! I had noticed when reading through before the start a comment about turning into the field adjacent to the tower so I knew we had a way to go, the instruction should have read '... where you will have your lunch stop'. Another one was a stretch of road about a mile long which had the worst surface I had ever driven on, it was basically a series of almost touching cracks, shallow holes and patches of different heights across the whole surface. Then at the next instruction to turn right onto the B4632 which was glass smooth by comparison it had the comment in red 'Beware potholes'! But 'musn't grumble' as my old Nan used to say, I've never been involved in producing a route. It was certainly a benefit having a dedicated lunch stop instead of driving on and looking for a suitable gateway which is usual for one-day runs, and a new (to us) feature was a page 'PLEASE HELP' in red that you could hang on your car if you got stuck! Would we do it again? Probably not but solely because of the arrangements for the start ... unless we could sneak out the back way!
After a brief P at the end (no raffle which is very unusual) the hood went back up for the largely motorway journey home. About 20 miles of crawling and stop/start from the M50 until Droitwich and the extra lane. Stayed dry for the journey home so Bee dried out ... until about half a mile from home when it started to spit, but that's all it was. 175 miles, clutch squawked a couple of time on the run but not in the stop/start on the motor way so nothing to worry about. Voltage consistently 14.2/14.3v dropping to 13.7v with the heater fan on to clear the screen, so that will need looking at.
June 25th - Bee's service Went OK, the offside rear wheel cylinder I changed last year and stuffed the boot with red rubber grease still moving well, the other side very stiff. So shoes off peeled back the boots and stuffed some in there, pushing the pistons back and fore and rotating them which got them moving freely. Then a trip round the block for a quick check and the voltmeter was showing 14.2v instead of the 14.4v I am used to.
June 21 - Lucas Classic Shelsley Walsh (and something to remember in the current heat-wave - all downhill to winter now ...).
Like Prescott last year in being the first time back for a few years, after that completely different. In the past long queues to get in, this time behind two other cars for several miles then straight in. Very few other cars there by 10am and barely any arrived after that, a marshall asked if I was in the display to which I replied "Well, I haven't paid" to which he replied well you might as well go in anyway. Put the top up on arrival as heavy rain was forecast and I didn't want to have to run down the hill in a downpour. Other things not expected were that apart from possibly two cars on the hill they were all road cars, and no timing of runs. Not that many 'competitors', I think I saw some cars four times at various points on the hill by the time I came away at the 1pm lunch break, I did work my way all the way to the top though. Wouldn't bother with that event again but would for competitive events. Navigator ducked out as temps of 30 plus were forecast but in the event cloudy and pleasantly cool on the hill. Two showers, little more than spots not even wetting the hot (from the previous few days) tarmac, but half the journey home was spent under the second one, then sunny and hot back home for a barbecue. Quick way there scenic way back, about 100 miles. LED indicator tell-tales a success being eye-catching even in bright sunlight, so the sounder can come off.
May 20-22 - Happy Birthday Vee, born 50 years ago:
But sadness as I have decided to sell her. She gets very little use now - not much more than a Tesco shopping trolley, and it's getting harder to crawl over round and under two cars every year for maintenance and servicing.
May 20-22 - New Forest: A freestyle trip as we gave up on long-distance weekend trips for organised runs last year because of the traffic, also avoiding Fridays for return journeys for the same reason! A return to The Forest Park at Brockenhurst where we had stayed half a dozen times in the past for the local run, although we did stay elsewhere for the last run we did as it had become a bit run down particularly the bathrooms, which was a real shame as it is a lovely Edwardian building and gardens. The weird thing was a couple of years later we were staying in London, got back to the hotel after our evening meal and happened to turn on the TV - it was an episode of The Hotel Inspector and within seconds we realise it was The Forest Park! A builder had bought it with a view to renovating and running it but he was hopeless. No idea about style and decor, and the Inspector was getting frustrated with him because - typical builder - he kept starting new jobs without completing anything. We looked at each other and said he would never make a go of it, and not long after I happened to check online again to find he had given up and someone else had taken it on. But they were an intermediary, from the brochure in the hotel this week Lincolnshire-based chain The Coaching Inn Group had bought it in 2022 'coincidentally with a full refurbishment' i.e. implying they hadn't done that part themselves. The reviews have been excellent particularly from wedding parties, some of them taking over the whole place for the weekend. We have always loved the area so took the plunge. Just as odd was that the group operates 34 similar hotels in England and Wales and other recent purchases have been two other places we have stayed at in the past.
We booked a Spring Break as it was a special deal with breakfast, two courses for dinner, tea and a cake one afternoon, and a bottle of house wine on the second evening. An extremely good deal as the two courses were off the main menu - not a limited one, and not an allowance of a certain amount against the total meal price that we have had elsewhere. The upshot was that you could choose anything between the cheapest and the most expensive items on the menu i.e. anything from about £22 to nearly £50 for the two courses, and everything about the food was stupendous! Very please to see how little had changed outside - the gardens always were beautiful, nor inside the public areas with only a relatively small change round the reception and bar. Bedroom and bathroom standards very good. Overall we really enjoyed it, travelling down a cool but sunny start so we layered up, then very warm by the time we arrived. Showery next day but stayed dry for a 5-mile walk in the morning. Sunny for the journey home driving into cloud - Waze routing us round the Wrekin to avoid an accident after Lyndhurst and traffic in Romsey - we layered up again at Chieveley services but still pretty cold by the time we got home - is that it for the summer? 290 trouble-free top-down miles.
April: Superb weather continues so Bee getting some good runs a couple of times a week.
Late March: Finally, two downpours to clear the salt and lots of sunny weather so some good runs in Bee. Finally bit the bullet and tackled the coolant and oil leaks from Vee's inlet manifold gasket.
8th March: What a beautiful day for a drive in Bee ... marred by two people pulling out in front of me, roadworks, horses, cyclists, farm machinery and someone crawling along pulling a wide trailer, a lot of salt in some places and some lying water in others despite no rain for two or three weeks. Sunday mornings aren't like they were 35 years ago. I'd have been better off using Vee for the 200-miler yesterday.
6th March: Some beautiful sunshine over the last couple of weeks and dry, but repeated applications of salt overnight, and no rain in the offing. Annoying as I have a 200-miler coming up and I don't want to risk running into heavy applications that some authorities insist on slathering about.
13th February: Roads finally dried up enough to get Vee out for an hour in 5C and dunkelflaute, Bee just round the block to check the new alternator as hood down it was too cold for anything further and I couldn't be bothered to put it up for what would only have been a few minutes more anyway. Next two nights frost and more salt! Subsequently had some rain to wash that off, and a bit of sun that tempted me out in Bee to confirm the alt, but pretty wet on roads not in full sun, even busy-ish roads.
1st & 2nd February: After a dire winter for classic car use (and it's not over yet ..) I get the V8 out for an hour on Feb 1st in cloud and a bit of damp then Bee next day with mostly sun but still a bit damp. Bee only for about half an hour though as 15 minutes in I suddenly realised the alternator is not charging.
1st January:
This year's jigsaw - Life in the Slow Lane by Czes Pachela. Rather apt at our time of life (although maybe less so when driving the MGBs to get there ...).