2022, July. Air Salvage International and Dursley Rotary Club Classic Tour

 

10th July:  Visit to Air Salvage International

Not strictly a car related event but it was organised by a fellow TR Register Glavon Group member and we all went along in our TRs.  Air Salvage International dismantle aircraft that are past their economic best and are based at Kemble - now called Cotswold Airport.  It was a fascinating visit to see how they take aircraft apart for all the useful spares which are then sold all over the world.

TRs lined up at Air Salvage International

 

Boeing 747 parts anyone?

Boeing 777 engine missing.

They were working on commercial aircraft of all sizes from a Boeing 777 and several 747s down to smaller ones like Airbus 320.  Apparently the engines are the most valuable parts being valued from one million to 25 million Dollars.  So worth selling then.

....................................................................

17th July: Dursley Rotary Club Classic Tour

This tour starts about 400 yards from our house so is not to be missed.  It is organised by yet another old rally mate called Graham Peake who also owns Bear Street Garage in Wotton under Edge.  It used to be a Ford dealership which was very useful to me when I was building my Cosworth Sierra rally car in 1992. Graham was good enough to get me all the Ford Motorsport parts at cost price which saved me a small fortune.

The weather for last years' run was one of the hottest days of the year and this year it was even hotter with temperatures up to 30 degrees.  Obviously this meant the DHC was the car to use and a quick check over and wash was required. Everything was in order and good to go.

This year the route was about 100 miles and headed west over the old Severn Bridge into the Forest of Dean.  A few years ago I was lucky enough to have the chance to go up one of the bridge towers when I was there for my work as a BT planner.  Naturally I took the camera along and got to super pictures  from the top.

View into Wales from the east tower.

Coffee stop was at theWhite Hart Inn near Newnham on Severn where we sat right on the river bank and the only problem was finding the sunscreen to put some on our faces.  

The return took us round to the north of Gloucester and back to Rednock School in Dursley for a generous buffet.

Driving up Frocester Hill, almost at the finish

Another great day out in a TR7 and the DHC had behaved perfectly.
 

2022, June. Lavender Run & Newark Park Show

19th June: Wyedean Lavender Run 

An old rally mate called Jos Way has bought himself a TR7 V8 which has re-kindled his love of driving. He has also joined the TR Register Wyedean group and organised a nice little local car run for them. He also invited some other TR Register members including yours truly to come along. 

About twelve various Triumph cars gathered at Roses Garden Centre near Newent for coffee before setting off.  It was nice weather so the DHC was our ride for the day. Directions were given to us in the form of descriptive notes with mileages to make it easy for everyone. The route took us out through Upleadon and across the River Severn at Haw Bridge. It was nice to see it on a dry day and not flooded like it so often is when featured on the TV news! From there we cut up through Bishops Cleeve and Winchcombe passing the Iron age long barrow of Belas Knap and on to the top of the Cotswolds. The lanes here were familiar and brought back many memories of road rallies in the 1970s and 1980s. The pace of our Triumphs on a sunny Sunday was a good deal slower than those rallies on dark Saturday nights! 

We stopped for a short break at the old prison in Northleach. This is a recommended place to visit with an excellent cafe and the chance to see the old prison cells and courtroom. Prisoners here were put to work on a treadmill to grind corn which must have been pretty grim. They also have a fascinating rural life collection of old farm waggons which is much more interesting than it sounds. Interesting to see how they were built, how the axle keyways were made etc.  They are really heavy duty construction so would be very heavy even before any load was added. Must have used some powerful horses.  There is also a forge complete with all the old tools the blacksmiths had used. 

Cotswolds Bow Wagon from around 1880.

After our refreshments we headed further north to Cotswold Lavender near Snowshill.  You have to pay to get in but they give you a nice packet of wild frower seeds for your garden with your ticket. It comprises a couple of fields on the hilltop covered in rows of lavender.  Turns out there are loads of different kinds - who would have thought.  The rows are each labelled with the different varieties.  

Triumphs at Cotswold Lavender

There is alot of lavender

A late lunch was now beckoning so we headed off down through Broadway, full of tourists as usual, to the Ye Olde Hobnails Inn at Little Washbourne. They were expecting us but still very busy and short of staff like so many places these days.  Our food was worth waiting for and we all left completey full. 

...............................................................................

26th June:  Newark Park 

Every year the Austin Seven club have a show at Newark Park. This is a National Trust house only about 5 miles from home so only a few minutes away.  They do encourage other classic cars to take part as well and we were invited.  Weather was forecast changeable so the FHC was the car to take this time.

We got there early at about 10:00am before most of the Austins began to arrive.  They were a surprising variety of the same basic car. Open, closed, sports bodied etc etc.  One of them had a plate from the "Peking to Paris by Austin Seven 2007" run. It seems such a small car to drive on such a long and difficult journey.  Lets be honest, many of us would not like to do it in a modern car with all the comforts. Some hardy folks these Austin Seven types.  There were about 30 Sevens in total.

On the left, Peking to Paris 2007

There were lots of visitors to see the cars and the TR7 attracted particular atention from a Chinese family who wanted pictures taken with it.

Chinese taking pictures with the TR7

 There were all kinds of classics including a couple of really nice Rolls Royce that Jo liked.

Jo really liked this Rolls Royce

 

The weather forecast turned out to be correct when a couple of heavy showers whizzed through making us all dash back to our cars for a few minutes, but it was lovely afterwards.

Another excellent day out in a TR7.