Monthly Archives

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Another year North Devon hosts the amazing Legendary Grand Tour to raise money for the Children’s Hospice South West. This year the weather was dry for us all be it a little windy.

Saturday night, The Kebab Run, or The Saturday Night Cruise as it is known these days!!  The run set off from The Burrows, drive through Westward Ho! Northam and Appledore with a finish at The Big Sheep.  Well this run was the end to one of our club cars, not at this stage we knew this, a bit of tinkering was not enough.

We met on the Sunday at Westward Ho!  Once the Bideford Youth Pipe Band had done their procession it was our turn to make some noise so with much tooting and merriment we set off to terrorise, sorry, I mean tour through many towns and villages in Torridge where people were lining the streets.

Then a BBQ for us, on disposable BBQ’s that were rubbish and we ended up putting it under the grill instead!!!

On Monday the majority of mad mini people put on their fancy dress costumes and spiced up their minis and made their way down to Bideford Park.  After driver briefing, the Bideford Youth Pipe Band did their thing again and we then set off to entertain the good folk of North Devon, with a stop at Lee Abby for a bite to eat, a stretch of the legs and a comfort break we ended the Grand Tour for another year in Ilfracombe.

This day was also a tragedy for one of our members cars going down the other side of Valley of the Rocks the car lost power, they managed to limp to Ilfracombe and back to their B&B but there was no way it was going to get back to Bristol.

Tuesday, we all pack up and a recovery truck picks up the first of our ill minis and they said how busy they were, not sure exactly how the conversation went but they then went round to pick up our 2^nd sick mini and they came back together, ahhh!!

The 39th annual Gloucestershire Steam and Vintage Extravaganza made a welcome return to South Cerney Airfield this summer, offering three days of exhibits and entertainment, displays and demonstrations, stalls and much, much more.

It took place from Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th August 2013, more than 15,000 enthusiasts and families were expected at this year’s extravaganza, which is regarded as one of the biggest and best steam, vintage and countryside events in the UK.

The steam section was the heart of the show and was be packed with more than 100 full-sized engines, including some that have never been displayed in the country before, while the vintage section featured an array of buses, tractors, military vehicles, static aircrafts, classic cars for us to feast our eyes upon – it was also a chance for visitors to learn the rare and remarkable stories of some of their restorations and histories too.

Highlights of the exhibitions included a 1904 CGV Talbot, one of only two left in existence; a rare 1970 Mini 9x Prototype designed by Alec Issigonis; a 1933 Stanford 9; a record-breaking Jensen 541 Prototype, chassis number 1; a restored 1929 Cadillac; and an iconic Bedford OB bus.

Alongside the hundreds of vintage vehicles were steam-driven vintage and modern fun fairs, complete with dodgems, a big wheel, waltzers and a ghost train; ‘electric yachts’; steam-driven ‘gallopers’; and face painting; plus the return of the Ken Fox Wall of Death, which wowed the crowds with tricks, acrobatics and high-speed chases on 1920s Indian motorcycles.

There was also an Animal and Countryside area which played home to a diverse range of animals, from Shire horses to ferrets, but also drew families in with horse logging, falconry, and Paws for Thought dog displays.