• 16 October 2019

BOC Tour of Britain September-October 2018

BOC Tour of Britain September-October 2018

BOC Tour of Britain September-October 2018 1024 466 VEA

Departing from London on Hammersmith Bridge

This shows all the cars present at the beginning

The three cars which will do the whole tour

Parry Thomas’s world speed record car “Babs” The little museum is on the spot where the car was buried in 1927 after Parry Thomas died trying for 200mph. It was dug up in 1967 and fully restored at Pendine Sands in Wales

The tour started in Aberystwyth on Sunday evening September 9th at Nanteos Mansion.

Present were 8 Cars including the three which had signed up for the whole 28 days of the tour.

On the first day of driving we followed the coast road to Fishguard and then turned south towards Carmarthen. On the way we stopped at the small museum on Pendine Sands where Parry Thomas’s world speed record car “Babs” is displayed after being disinterred in the 1960’s.
We arrived at the Broadway Country House hotel a bit short of Carmarthen that evening.

On September 11th we all drove out of Wales aiming for Dunster in North Devon. The drive included the dreaded Porlock hill, a serious first gear job. The Dunster hotel Luttrell Arms had a delightful owner who even moved his personal car so I could park on the High Street as we all had to.

On September 12th we drove to Wadebridge where we encountered the weirdest hotel on the whole trip. We had chosen our meal in advance and it emerged that they had no licence for alcohol and then their deep fryer failed so those who chose fish and chips got no dinner. Eventually they confessed and some very late hamburgers showed up. Utterly Fawlty Towers.

The next day we drove to Fowey via Land’s End where we stayed in the Fowey hall hotel which was certainly one of the very best on the Tour. It is the model for Kenneth Grahame’s Toad Hall and it was comfortable and the food was great. On the way we experienced many single-track roads.

Then we carried on to Sidmouth where we stayed for three days. It’s a lovely little town and we really enjoyed our stay. There was a local car show on the Saturday and 4 of us showed our cars for the day. The weather was perfect.

On Monday we drove to Goodwood and stayed in the Goodwood hotel. The following morning, we all drove four laps of the Goodwood circuit which was an interesting experience revealing how useless unprepared road cars are on a track.
Janet and I absconded back to Barnes from Goodwood missing a very nice hotel in Ramsgate. Our 404 has so little luggage space that we needed a change of clothes.

On Wednesday we drove to Orford where the Crown and Castle proved to be a really nice hotel. Orford Ness nearby is where Wilson and Watt developed Radar in 1935. They stayed at the hotel.

Thursday we were off to Brancaster Staithe. We stopped in Aldeburgh to visit the home of John and Diana Huntingford. On to the White Horse looking out over the Wash where King Canute could almost be seen. In the evening we drove to Little Walsingham to visit the home of BOC members Justin and Julia Marozzi.

Friday was a long drive to South Cave near Hull. The Cave Castle Hotel was another very nice one on a golf course (with weddings in process). We visited the nearby lovely little town of Beverley on the Saturday and ate twice in a great pub in S Cave, The Fox and Coney.

After three days we carried on to Sunderland. We walked along the seafront and visited a park nearby. We found a good family run Italian restaurant nearby.

On the Tuesday we drove to North Berwick. The Nether Abbey hotel was another lovely one. We walked around the town which is Scotland’s most prosperous by house values. I successfully repaired my overdrive wiring in its parking lot with help from the Herdman mobile parts store.

Next stop was Culloden house near Aberdeen, a very beautiful Mansion covered in a red vine. We organised a photo of all the cars outside it before we departed. In their basement was a picture gallery attesting to how many car groups had the same idea.

On to Thurso via John O’Groats on Friday. With two days there we were able to visit both the Castle of Mey and Dunnet Head the northernmost point of the UK mainland.

We drove to Ullapool on the coast road, again some single track and many hairpins. Two interesting days in Ullapool by the harbour. We ate in the Ferry Boat Hotel where the Herdmans were staying with their dog because the food was much better there.

On to Strontian the next day via a five-minute ferry. The Kilcamb Lodge was easily the best hotel of all on the tour with a kitchen to match.
Then on to Ayr where the hotel was beside the Ayr Race Course.

Then to Gretna Green to the worst hotel so far. Our bathroom was a disaster, and the food was worse.

We left Gretna to drive to Southport, but Janet and I didn’t make it. We broke down in Bowness on Windermere where the car refused to start and the drive train was totally seized. I feared we had seized the gearbox through oil loss climbing the Kirkstone Pass, but it turned out the modern High Torque starter had failed. We travelled to SLJ at Warminster on a relay of three RAC recovery vehicles arriving at 1am the following morning. Apparently, we missed the worst hotel of all in Southport.

Overall the tour was marvellous. We now understand the UK geography much better and we met lots of new to us BOC members whom we are very glad to know now.

John Cheffins


At Dunnet head, the northernmost point in mainland Britain

At a remote chocolate factory near the Douneray Nuclear facility

Near Loch Ness, but no monster!

The end of the road in Bowness on Windermere.

The tour started in Aberystwyth on Sunday evening September 9th at Nanteos Mansion.

Present were 8 Cars including the three which had signed up for the whole 28 days of the tour.

On the first day of driving we followed the coast road to Fishguard and then turned south towards Carmarthen. On the way we stopped at the small museum on Pendine Sands where Parry Thomas’s world speed record car “Babs” is displayed after being disinterred in the 1960’s.
We arrived at the Broadway Country House hotel a bit short of Carmarthen that evening.

On September 11th we all drove out of Wales aiming for Dunster in North Devon. The drive included the dreaded Porlock hill, a serious first gear job. The Dunster hotel Luttrell Arms had a delightful owner who even moved his personal car so I could park on the High Street as we all had to.

On September 12th we drove to Wadebridge where we encountered the weirdest hotel on the whole trip. We had chosen our meal in advance and it emerged that they had no licence for alcohol and then their deep fryer failed so those who chose fish and chips got no dinner. Eventually they confessed and some very late hamburgers showed up. Utterly Fawlty Towers.

The next day we drove to Fowey via Land’s End where we stayed in the Fowey hall hotel which was certainly one of the very best on the Tour. It is the model for Kenneth Grahame’s Toad Hall and it was comfortable and the food was great. On the way we experienced many single-track roads.

Then we carried on to Sidmouth where we stayed for three days. It’s a lovely little town and we really enjoyed our stay. There was a local car show on the Saturday and 4 of us showed our cars for the day. The weather was perfect.

On Monday we drove to Goodwood and stayed in the Goodwood hotel. The following morning, we all drove four laps of the Goodwood circuit which was an interesting experience revealing how useless unprepared road cars are on a track.
Janet and I absconded back to Barnes from Goodwood missing a very nice hotel in Ramsgate. Our 404 has so little luggage space that we needed a change of clothes.

On Wednesday we drove to Orford where the Crown and Castle proved to be a really nice hotel. Orford Ness nearby is where Wilson and Watt developed Radar in 1935. They stayed at the hotel.

Thursday we were off to Brancaster Staithe. We stopped in Aldeburgh to visit the home of John and Diana Huntingford. On to the White Horse looking out over the Wash where King Canute could almost be seen. In the evening we drove to Little Walsingham to visit the home of BOC members Justin and Julia Marozzi.

Friday was a long drive to South Cave near Hull. The Cave Castle Hotel was another very nice one on a golf course (with weddings in process). We visited the nearby lovely little town of Beverley on the Saturday and ate twice in a great pub in S Cave, The Fox and Coney.

After three days we carried on to Sunderland. We walked along the seafront and visited a park nearby. We found a good family run Italian restaurant nearby.

On the Tuesday we drove to North Berwick. The Nether Abbey hotel was another lovely one. We walked around the town which is Scotland’s most prosperous by house values. I successfully repaired my overdrive wiring in its parking lot with help from the Herdman mobile parts store.

Next stop was Culloden house near Aberdeen, a very beautiful Mansion covered in a red vine. We organised a photo of all the cars outside it before we departed. In their basement was a picture gallery attesting to how many car groups had the same idea.

On to Thurso via John O’Groats on Friday. With two days there we were able to visit both the Castle of Mey and Dunnet Head the northernmost point of the UK mainland.

We drove to Ullapool on the coast road, again some single track and many hairpins. Two interesting days in Ullapool by the harbour. We ate in the Ferry Boat Hotel where the Herdmans were staying with their dog because the food was much better there.

On to Strontian the next day via a five-minute ferry. The Kilcamb Lodge was easily the best hotel of all on the tour with a kitchen to match.
Then on to Ayr where the hotel was beside the Ayr Race Course.

Then to Gretna Green to the worst hotel so far. Our bathroom was a disaster, and the food was worse.

We left Gretna to drive to Southport, but Janet and I didn’t make it. We broke down in Bowness on Windermere where the car refused to start and the drive train was totally seized. I feared we had seized the gearbox through oil loss climbing the Kirkstone Pass, but it turned out the modern High Torque starter had failed. We travelled to SLJ at Warminster on a relay of three RAC recovery vehicles arriving at 1am the following morning. Apparently, we missed the worst hotel of all in Southport.

Overall the tour was marvellous. We now understand the UK geography much better and we met lots of new to us BOC members whom we are very glad to know now.

John Cheffins

Departing from London on Hammersmith Bridge

This shows all the cars present at the beginning

The three cars which will do the whole tour

Parry Thomas’s world speed record car “Babs” The little museum is on the spot where the car was buried in 1927 after Parry Thomas died trying for 200mph. It was dug up in 1967 and fully restored at Pendine Sands in Wales

At Dunnet head, the northernmost point in mainland Britain

At a remote chocolate factory near the Douneray Nuclear facility

Near Loch Ness, but no monster!

The end of the road in Bowness on Windermere.

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