NSRA Fun Run – Rutland County Showground.

Friday 14^th -  Sunday16^th June 2019

First of all I must nail my colours to the mast and say I didn’t want the Fun Run to move to Rutland. I loved the ethos of the show in Great Yarmouth. To me it was a proper fun run where the emphasis was on the cars and better still, driving the cars. For me, it’s not about the music or the trade stalls and even the show and shine isn’t at the top of the list. It was being at an event where almost everyone had arrived in their Hot Rod and wanted to drive it while they were there. Although many people share mine and Dave’s opinion, some did not and a lot of people objected to the venue, feeling it was too far out of the way. So onward and upward. The committee had a very difficult job choosing another venue. There are so few places that can accommodate such a large group of people and having found a suitable venue in the centre of the country, it was unfortunately necessary to change the date and then the work really began to organise an event in yet another new venue, no mean feat. I take my hat off to all the committee members who worked tirelessly on behalf of the members to make this event run smoothly. To make life even more difficult the weather leading up to event was shocking with the danger that a) it might have to be cancelled and b) would anyone actually turn up?

Of course we Hot Rodders are made of sturdy stuff and even with the weather forecast for the weekend being pretty awful, one by one, we all arrived. Thankfully, Dave and I don’t do camping, so after registering we went off to our nearby pre-booked B and B, getting there just as the rain came down in biblical proportions.

 

Saturday morning and there was a good crowd of cars waiting in line for the cruise. We were looking forward to taking part in it, glad that we hadn’t organised this one. Colin and Sue did a tremendous job of planning a picturesque route, which took us around Rutland Water. We had been divided into two groups which made for nice photo opportunities when we saw cars coming in the opposite direction. After 30 miles or so around 75 cars arrived at our destination, Rocks by Rail Living Ironstone Museum, which is set in a disused quarry in Cottesmore. We received a warm welcome from the volunteers who had opened the museum especially for us and they even laid on rides on the diesel locomotive named Betty, for anyone that wanted it. Some of us wrestled with the quiz and the more sensible ones went to the café for tea and cake. For those of us (and I am one of them) who like their trains this was an excellent venue. 

Betty

Oakham Signal Box

Unfortunately, due to the continuing wet weather, quite rightly we were asked not to park on the showground on Saturday afternoon, which left some of us at a loose end while others went to the camp site to meet up with Jack Daniels and friends. We explored the town of Oakham, had a rest back at the B and B before returning to town for an Italian meal at Wildwood and then returned to the showground for the evening entertainment and to chew the cud with other members. The indoor building was nice but I am really tired of being given plastic glasses just because the owners of this type of venue are too lazy to wash up. We are all grown-ups, we can be trusted with glass! (What’s the point of banning plastic straws when we create a mountain of plastic glasses?)

The weather gods were still against and it rained overnight with the threat of more showers during the day which meant a depleted number of cars arrived on the show field for the show and shine, partly due to the failure of Sunday only cars turning up. Nevertheless, we had a quality display of vehicles, which was reflected at prize giving. Participants’ choice went to a deserving car, Andy and Deb Crockett’s beautiful red Willys. It is my opinion that this car has won this prize twice in three years for a very good reason- not only is it a show stopping car, they take it out on the cruise, whatever the weather, even though it only does 4 miles to the gallon! We were surprised and delighted to win a prize too, the second time we’ve won in two events and both times Dave didn’t bother to clean the car! This time it was the Cruise Pick, chosen by someone from museum. Last time it was chosen by the staff at Old Warden. Dave was astounded on the day I clapped eyes on the car back in 2007 and said “I really like that car”. I had never said that about a Hot Rod before. So he now thinks it has something about it that appeals to the psyche of non-hot rodders and is why we won these prizes. Either way, we were pleased with the recognition. I am also in awe of the committee for the sterling job they did throughout the weekend under very trying circumstances.

Participants Choice

Somehow we managed to drive home in the sunshine on a lovely journey of less than hour, through pretty villages on the A6003, avoiding the rain showers circling around us.

My verdict on the new venue? Well I’m afraid it hasn’t changed my opinion. To me, the Fun Run here is just a mini Old Warden. The camp site was full of camper vans, caravans and trailers. I am holding out hope that most of these people had intended to bring their cars but left them at home because of the weather. If so and if the show returns here next year, I do hope most people will bring cars, apart from those who are currently building or are between cars. Putting aside the weather, the show just felt like “the same old” whereas Yarmouth was a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively. I also question whether we should be having another event that exposes the membership to another large financial risk and involves the committee having to do so much work. The NASC decline started when more people started coming for the cheap weekend and the party rather than the car show and I would hate to see the NSRA go the same way.

A Trio of Car Shows

Sunday 9^th June 2019

 

 

First stop was the A602’s monthly Breakfast Meet at the Shuttleworth Collection in Old Warden. The turnout was better than I expected even though there were other events happening today. At least we had a respite from the rain for a day. An added bonus was watching a Hurricane take off from the airfield.

 

Then it was a 20 mile cross country drive to Luton, stopping off at The Vauxhall Heritage Centre where they were holding their annual open day. The car park was full of Vauxhalls of various models and ages, including at least one of each model my Dad owned in the seventies, including a Viva, a Chevette and a Cavalier. The museum is jam packed with vintage Vauxhalls and the visit was worth an hour of anyone’s time. 

 

After this, it was just a short drive up the hill to Stockwood Park where the Chiltern Vehicle Preservation Group were holding their annual fund raising car show. There was an excellent turnout of all types of vehicles from vintage trucks to classic cars and not forgetting a few Hot Rods. Being a local show, of course we knew all the Hot Rod owners. The event is organised by volunteers and all the money raised goes to local charities. Stockwood Park is a pretty, public park (formerly the estate grounds for Stockwood House which was demolished in 1964). Only a few minutes’ walk from the show area is Stockwood Discovery Centre- a free museum containing the Mossman Collection of old carriages, rural crafts and so on, beautiful gardens and a nice cafe. It is housed in the old stables and walled garden of the former Stockwood House.

 

After all that, we enjoyed a pleasant drive home along the A6.

Bedford Festival of Motoring and Classic Cars at Earls Barton

Saturday 1st - Sunday 2nd June

The first Bedford Festival of Motoring took place along the Embankment at the same time as the International Kite Festival in Russell Park. We originally planned to take the Hot Rod but when the details came out we discovered we would have to pay £12 to display our car while the public didn't pay anything to look at it. So we walked into town instead and were glad we left the car at home. At paying car shows most people treat the cars with respect but at a public event it's a free for all. People seem to think it's OK to lean on, climb over , touch and even get in your car. One poor chap with a lovely Corvette reckoned he's got half of Bedford's DNA on his car! There were about 200 cars altogether, some older classic cars but mostly modern classics and special modern cars.


Wednesday 5th June

Dave took the Phaeton over to Earl's Barton but found the numbers are much depleted especially for older classic cars. I think it has become a victim of it's own success and because the owner isn't actually into the car scene has not appreciated that a brand new BMW is not something people want to look at and it would have worked better had they segregated parking of old and new cars.

Pre 49 Event revisited

The reason for holding back this report was that I submitted an article to The Gasser and it has now been published!

 
This is the article:

The most important hot rodding event in my diary is the Pre 49 weekend. Dave and I are regulars at most NSRA events but the joy of driving our Model A Phaeton around beautiful countryside to interesting destinations, spending time with a bunch of  friendly Hot Rodders, enjoying the comfort of a nice hotel ticks all the boxes and it has become a must do event for us. We even left our son Paul to his own devices at Santa Pod Raceway when we would normally be crewing for him rather than miss this event!

For the third year running it was organised by Bob and April Sheppard and once again it was a fantastic weekend. This time we found ourselves just north of the M25 at Theobolds Estate, just outside Cheshunt. The beautiful hotel building and grounds provided the perfect back drop for the 31 weekend registered cars plus a few daily attendees to assemble each morning for the cruise.

Everyone arrived at their leisure on Friday. Our rooms were allocated together surrounding a courtyard and had the weather been a little warmer this would have been perfect for everyone to get together for pre-prandial drinks each day. However it didn’t take anyone long to find the bar instead and so the weekend began the same way it finished - mostly with beer and wine. (And not a plastic glass in sight!)

We awoke to sunshine on Saturday and set off on our first cruise, a 30 mile trip through Hertfordshire and Essex countryside to the (not so) Secret Nuclear Bunker in Kelvedon, an enormous three storey building buried in a farmer’s field.  This was a fascinating and thought provoking place. After a couple of hours we moved on to Lee Valley White Water Centre where the London Olympics canoeing was held in 2012. This is now a busy sports centre and has a huge terrace café where most of us bought drinks to warm ourselves up after surviving the downpour of rain and hail on route. I take my hat off to Valerie and Barry Tickle for braving the deluge in their Model T Nickelodean! The evening gathering in the Barn for a carvery was followed by a “Ladies” race night. Our horses were definitely nobbled as our table didn’t win a single race, earning us the moniker “Losers” for the weekend. Thank you to everyone that contributed to our losers’ prize - an NSRA goodie bag containing an empty Malibu bottle, a dirty napkin, empty ice cream pots….. Never mind, the running order sheets made good paper planes. The evening was topped off with entertainment from the incredible DJ Harley (aka Mick Harle).

Sunday morning and the sunshine gods blessed us for our next cruise along the M25 to the RAF Museum in Hendon. Confronted by Justin Woolmer’s Rat Rod roaring past him, the Mazda MX5 driver decided to stop showing off to the rest of us! Incredibly we managed to stay together and arrived in convoy, to the delight of other museum visitors. A Pre 49 day was held here in 2009. Since then there has been a major development of the museum and is even better than before. Mick and Paula Harle organised both cruises and used their local knowledge to keep us off the M25 on a busy Sunday afternoon for the return journey, taking us on country roads and showing us some of the lovely places the area has to offer. Our final evening was in the splendid Lambton Suite. For some reason the alcohol consumption was more muted than for Saturday. Our meal was followed by the now traditional quiz and I feel I must mention that “The Losers” won.

Monday and it was time to say goodbye. While long distance award winner Brian Daly started the long journey home to Scotland, some of us topped off the weekend by cruising to the A602’s Wheels on Woolmer Green show before heading home for some much needed lounging on the settee.

I’d like to extend a big thank you to Bob, April, Mick and Paula for organising this weekend. I know this was a difficult event for them this year. They faced numerous problems with the hotel staff leading up to the event but from a participants point of view we had a blast!