The Super Nats were cancelled a couple of months ago when the committee realised they would not be able to comply with current government guidelines on gatherings during the COVID crisis. So instead, they came up with a novel idea: "For one year only- The Hot Rod Supernots 2020 at Lockdown, UK". Nearly 1000 event T shirts were sold for the event (as opposed to 400 for a normal event!) and the committee organised a number of on line events for this weekend. Today, it was a virtual cruise around Central Bedfordshire. We and the Sharmans decided to actually do the cruise rather than follow the online version because a) the start point is only ten miles away from us b) it was nice to do a Super Nats cruise that we haven't organised and c) it was a lovely day.
There was a slight delay due to Shirley's 34 having a spot of bother with the gear box, but that was soon sorted and we were on our way from her house, down the A1 to Old Warden Park. We blagged our way in and took some photos of the cars with Shuttleworth College as the back drop. The only difference between this and any other year was about 1000 cars, 2000 people and the red double decker bus (which doubles as a fish and chip shop) were missing! After another photo stop at the park gates we were on our way for the 40ish mile journey around central Beds. It was the perfect weather for cruising and our route took us through Broom, Langford, Henlow, Stotfold, Clifton, Shefford, Clophill, Haynes, Cardington, Cople, and Northill. The cruises we've organised in the past have been through all these villages at various times but not all on the same cruise. We might have had complaints about the number of speed humps otherwise. (They can't be avoided in this area but we do try to keep them to a minimum).
Like most of the cruises we have organised, it wouldn't be right if something didn't go wrong at the last minute and this one was no exception. "At the roundabout with A507, turn right towards Shefford" which we duly did, only to be confronted with freshly laid chippings and cars hurtling towards us at 60 mph. We didn't have Hannah and her crew there to organise a detour for us in the usual fashion, so after a slightly hairy three point turn and a short diversion, we were soon back on track. We had a cracking drive around the area and even stopped off briefly at the King's Arms in Cardington where a small classic car gathering was going on (and a few of the A602 members were there with their cars too.) We ended our journey just short of the final destination at Ickwell Green, home of a quintessentially English maypole, cricket pitch and pavilion and there was even a match in progress. All the players were wearing the traditional whites, but not so traditional was the inclusion of women players too! A very civilised way to end the journey, we had a delicious picnic and watched the cricket!
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