Coast to Coast Broadland MGOC’s East to West
It was a beautiful clear morning for the start of the Broadland MGOC East to West run. Organised by Graham and Joyce Rowland, the plan was to see the sun rise at the most easterly part of the UK’s mainland, Lowestoft’s Ness Point in Suffolk, and then to drive across the country (avoiding motorways) to see the sun set at the most westerly part of Wales, St David’s in Pembrokeshire. And why not get sponsored to do it? As the sea featured heavily at both ends of the trip, it was decided to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
After the obligatory photos, nine cars and 16 members were waved off at 6:00am by fellow Broadland members John and Val French, who couldn’t make it due to work commitments. However, it wasn’t long before the sunshine was replaced by fog and then, unfortunately, the problems started. Paul Cain and Geoff Barnes broke down after only 30 miles with a flat battery in Paul’s newly restored BGT. A jump start got them going again, and the convoy headed for Baldock for new batteries, home to Brown & Gammon MG restorers, who were en-route. Whilst the mechanics there were changing the batteries, members took the opportunity to have some breakfast at a local café. Unfortunately, the mechanics found that the cable linking the two six volt batteries was actually chafing on the prop shaft and shorting out, causing the premature failure of Paul’s batteries. As this would take a little time to repair it was decided that the others would continue, and Paul and Geoff would catch up.
Waiting for Mark’s MGB GT to be repaired
Alan and Avril have a paddle
Graham Rowland with Neil Thomas
Broadland meets Pembrokeshire
By now the sun had come out again, and it had turned into a beautiful, hot summer’s day. However, within a couple of hours, trouble hit the convoy again. After crawling through Luton and Dunstable, Mark Saunder’s BGT’s clutch slave cylinder gave up the ghost on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard. Luckily, this was close to a small garage who agreed to fix the problem. A new slave cylinder was located at Milton Keynes, and again the convoy set off leaving Mark and his brother Andrew to catch up once the repairs had been carried out. The group continued without too many problems until reaching the Welsh border, where the convoy got split up. This left Paul and Sue Clark in their GT and Terry Lay in his 1954 TF on their own. Unfortunately, Sue fell asleep navigating and both cars ended up on the motorway heading for Swansea!
Unfortunately, Terry’s lovely car ‘Katy’ isn’t designed to cruise at 80mph on an extremely hot day, and his 1250cc engine started to lose oil pressure trying to keep up with Paul, who was trying to make up time. The rest of the convoy kept at a steady pace on the A40 and enjoyed the scenery of the Brecon Beacons. It wasn’t long before Paul and Geoff caught up, but after a repair that cost several ££s. Joyce & Graham contacted the hotel to let them know we would be late, but they were told that if we arrived later than 8:00pm we wouldn’t get any food as they had a party of 55 turning up at that time. We decided then to go straight to the hotel, have some food and then finish the journey to St. David’s Head afterwards.
We arrived at the hotel at 7:15pm, booked in and unloaded the cars, had a quick freshen up and then headed for the restaurant. The food was very good, but the evening was ticking by. Conscious of the time, it was decided to skip desserts (the hotel said they would lay on cheese and biscuits later) and we headed back to the cars. Just as we were leaving the car park Mark and Andrew pulled up after having the slave cylinder replaced on the GT. Forgoing their meal they swung around and followed the convoy on the twisty road to St. David’s. This felt further away than the 25 miles it physically was. By the time we reached the car park nearest St. David’s Head it was dusk. This didn’t stop Avril, Alan Spink and Terry having a paddle in the sea. After a few photos it was time to head back to the hotel. However, just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse Terry found that he’d lost his keys. We had visions of his keys at the bottom of the Atlantic and of towing his car back to the hotel, but by a stroke of luck Andrew found them on the beach with a torch. After a drink back at the hotel it was time to turn in after a long day on the road.
Saturday saw 0406 Club Secretary Neil Thomas, and several members of Pembrokeshire MGOC turn up at the hotel to take us on a tour of the area. These were to places that you would never go to without local knowledge. After a pint and a bite to eat at a pub in a picturesque little place called Angle Bay, we said goodbye to some of the Pembrokeshire Club who were putting up a gazebo for a Club BBQ the next day. The remaining members took us to see some spectacular coastal scenes, and then a quick tour through Tenby in the MGs. This attracted plenty of attention, especially Terry’s TF, which delighted his passenger, Paul and Sue’s son John. He couldn’t believe the female attention they were receiving, and vowed to buy one. By late afternoon Pembrokeshire MGOC headed off to watch England play Portugal in the World Cup leaving us to explore Saundersfoot. After doing the touristy thing we headed back to the hotel. That evening saw a wedding reception being held in the hotel, so we made our way down to a pub/restaurant a couple of miles from the hotel, where we were joined once again by members of Pembrokeshire MGOC. It was a very enjoyable evening, and it is hoped that the Pembrokeshire Club will visit us next year so we can repay the hospitality.
Members outside the hotel
Tenby
Members at Ness Point, Lowestoft
St. David’s Head – at night
The Pembrokeshire coastline
A fairly unanimous decision saw the Club head back to Tenby on the Sunday. The weather was terrific, and with the crystal clear water and picturesque beaches and harbour you could have easily been abroad. It was a day for people watching, eating ice cream and generally chilling out. After a full day in Tenby it was back to the hotel for dinner. After the meal it was decided to go back to St. David’s to see the sun set for the last time. This time St. David’s seemed even further away, but it was an interesting drive. Once we arrived at the beach car park, kites magically appeared from some members’ cars, whilst others headed back to the city (Britain’s smallest) to see the extraordinary cathedral. After exploring St. David’s everyone headed back to the hotel for a nightcap.
On Monday, after a photo opportunity outside the hotel, it was time for the long journey home. We said goodbye to Alan and Avril, who were continuing their holiday down in Cornwall, and Paul and Sue’s John (who was off to Glastonbury), and left for a supposedly quicker route home using some motorway. It was another exceptionally hot day, so to break up the journey it was decided to stop every 100 miles or so for fuel and comfort breaks, which worked well. It was also decided to use the M40, M25 and M11 to avoid congestion around Luton and Dunstable. Apart from some hot engines and drivers the cars performed well without any problems. It was interesting to see so many modern cars stranded, with the bonnets up, on the hard shoulder with, one assumes, cooling problems. However, roadworks on the M25 slowed down our progress quite considerably, and when we eventually arrived home we had only cut an hour from the outward journey on the Friday (which included the breakdowns). From door to door the author’s car had travelled 990 miles.
As well as having a great short break, members raised nearly £1000 for the RNLI. Thanks go to Graham and Joyce for organising this great weekend, and also to Paul and Sue for help with organising the route. Special thanks also go to Neil Thomas, for his help in finding us the hotel accommodation, and also to the members of Pembrokeshire MGOC for all their hospitality. Graham and Joyce are currently planning next year’s adventure. Watch this space.
Roger Parker