Where did you drive to with your TR today

[Drewmotty]

240 miles from La Rochelle to Concarneau today, passing over the bridge at St Nazaire. 

[Drewmotty]

290 steps up Phare d'Eckmühl on the west coat of Brittany today.  

[Steve-B]

It looks like y’all are having great weather for your sojourn Andrew!

[BRENDA1]

We’re of to the lakes, first stop and Christmas has arrived.

Mike Redrose Group 

[Drewmotty]

Concarneau to Roscoff with a patisserie stop. Brittany Ferries to Plymouth and back across Dartmoor to home in north Devon. 

[Bfg]

2 hours ago, Drewmotty said:

Concarneau to Roscoff with a patisserie stop. Brittany Ferries to Plymouth and back across Dartmoor to home in north Devon. 

Nice one .. well done indeed 

[Misfit]

On 9/17/2025 at 12:33 PM, stuart said:

The TR group from Brittany were over in Cornwall this week so we had a run out with them.

Stuart

 

I’m sad I didn’t know that. I’d have loved to meet up with Mr Leftoy.

[Lebro]

Carrick roads ?

[PaulAnderson]

Just got back from the  Beamish museum classic car show.  I heard one of the staff say that 500 classic cars attended.  It’s a fabulous open air museum hosting zones of various historical periods.  We had trips on old buses and trams between the zones.  
Here’s a few photos of TR’s amongst the crowd of cars.

Paul

[DOG_MORGAN]

Done 260 mild on the walled town run north run fantastic day thanks to all the organisers put putting on a great day out👍👍👍👍🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺

[Bfg]

Distinguished Gentleman's Drive - last Sunday.

Following up on my post of 26th September.., On Sunday I did indeed take part ' The Distinguished Gentleman's Drive'. Driving Katie, my '67 signal red TR4A , I met up with others likewise in dapper attire from the East Saxon's (Essex) group of the TR Register, to then meet up with all marques of classics and retro for a parade through Colchester town centre. Franks Motor Company were our hosts for the gathering, with their sales showroom being like a mini museum with interesting cars and bikes on display. Our gratitude for their hospitality.

Our apologies to the daily traffic through Colchester, Essex, that experienced delays due the procession of fifty or so cars, with police escort.

This event coincided with thousands of other classic car enthusiasts all around the world, similarly raising funds & awareness for both prostate cancer and men's mental health for the charity ' Movember '.

Dressed and moustached especially for this dapper day, I was personally sponsored to the sum of £87 towards the cause. My sincere thanks to those who generously gave. Katie of course performed without fault for the 100 mile round trip, and the weather stayed fine.

Should anyone like to add to this figure.. then please follow the link below to do so .... Even if just the cost of a beer or a cup of coffee - it all goes to help the charity serve those in need.

https://www.gentlemansdrive.com/driver/PeteBird21372

Photos attached of the run, with my, and our, Thanks. P.

 

[RogerH]

Hi Folks,

didn't drive the car yesterday but we did send Graeme & Sue off back to Canada last night.

We took them out for dinner to a pub that I had not been to for over 50 years. The pub has survived very well.

They came over quite some time ago for the German gathering. Then back to Yorkshire. Then down to London for the flight.

It would appear that they had a rather good time.

 

Roger

[Trev Good]

Just to show that my TR6 is my everyday driver, today I  filled the boot up with the rubbish that my refuse collectors won't take and we went down the tip. Admiring glances from the tip operators.

How mundane can we get with a 'where did you drive your TR today'?

[PaulAnderson]

 

As the weather forecast on Friday seemed decent we decided on a trip out in the TR.  We headed north west from Tyneside into Northumberland, passing tourist attractions of Belsay Hall (English Heritage), then Bolam Lake Country Park , and Wallington Hall (National Trust) before heading further north into the Northumberland National Park and onto our main destination of National Trust property Cragside Hall in Rothbury.  It has a great history as Wikipedia reports  and was the home of industrialist William Armstrong and his family.

William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, was the founder of the Armstrong Whitworth armaments firm. An industrial magnate, scientist, philanthropist and inventor of the hydraulic crane and the Armstrong gun, Armstrong also displayed his inventiveness in the domestic sphere, making Cragside the first house in the world to be lit using hydroelectric power. The estate was technologically advanced; the architect of the house, Richard Norman Shaw, wrote that it was equipped with "wonderful hydraulic machines that do all sorts of things".  In the grounds, Armstrong built dams and lakes to power a sawmill, a water-powered laundry, early versions of a dishwasher and a dumb waiter, a hydraulic lift and a hydroelectric rotisserie. In 1887, Armstrong was raised to the peerage, the first engineer or scientist to be ennobled, and became Baron Armstrong of Cragside. 

As you can see on the National Trusts web page, the primary fireplace isn’t too bad either.   The site includes huge gardens and a six mile woodland drive which is also dotted with lakes, some of which powered and power the house.  There’s a modern Archimedes screw as well as the old hydroelectric plant still there to see.

 

We then headed west and passed through the village of Elsdon , Northumberland.  It has the remains of a Motte and Bailey castle dating back to William the Conquerors time and a pele tower (a fortified tower house), one of many in the Scottish borders.  Bodies from the nearby battle of Otterburn in 1388 were buried here.   The village has a hangman’s gibbet too.  Even the local village church, rebuilt in the14th century was supposed to have had the remains of Saint Cuthbert rest there on a journey in 875 AD.  Plenty of history for such a small place.

We then continued west, through Otterburn, with its castle hotel and nearby home of the second biggest military firing range in the country, and over the beautiful Northumberland moors and southwards towards Bellingham.   It has an interesting history too, including that of its grade one listed 13th century church.  Further south we just missed Chesters Roman Fort but did briefly pop into Corbridge Roman town site.   Its museum has a great collection of artefacts which includes some Roman armour that has international significance.

 

During the trip we passed over multiple abandoned rural railway lines and stations, mostly lost to the Beeching plan cuts.   For the journey home we ventured wide of the city to avoid rush hour traffic and overall, it was about 120 miles of touring, with lots of sunshine and a decent temperature for October.

 

Edited October 12, 2025 by PaulAnderson

[Misfit]

Some might find it boring but I enjoy the South Ham round trip, especially when joined by members of one’s family plus the dog. 😊.

[Hamish]

Lovely coastal route and fish and chips at start bay inn

[Bfg]

I had hoped to go to Kersey Mill's classic and retro gathering on Saturday morning with Russell, from our Suffolk TSSC group, but it had been piddling with rain half the night and it was forecast to continue while we drove there.  A little light rain doesn't generally put me off, but on this occasion I opted out to save having to clean the car again.! 

Instead I went across to Framlingham Castle on the Sunday, in the hope of buying a book about the Bigot's of the c.12.  The castle is a pleasant cross country drive away, which then has a good coffee shop.

The castle's (English Heritage) shop was very limited and they didn't have what I had hoped for, but instead picked up a copy of Terry Jones (formerly one Monty Python) fun essay on 'Medieval Lives', which is most insightful and yet still light enough to enjoy the read. . . 

   

^ Halloween events at the castle include costumed storytellers in a marquee which, with fun interaction, of the audience talked of witch hunting.

The weather in the morning was bright with modest cloud and blue skies. But 2:30 there was a drizzle and so I then headed for home. 

^ curtain enclosure looking back towards what remains of the gate house. The slot for the portcullis (drop gate) is still very apparent, as is the arch but aside from that I understand it was slighted by Henry II so as to be largely indefensible against Royal armies.   The arched arrow slots are perhaps 8ft above the present courtyard level. I guess at one time there was a walkway all around.  On the outside of the wall there's a 30-40 deep ditch (dry moat / defensive earthworks.)  

The later overcast skies help with architecture photography insomuch as the shadows are not too deep. But really I think it's about time I invested in a better camera. 

English Heritage is perpetually active in preserving (rather than restoring) their / our historic sites.  Although the castle was built (in stone) c. 1170 it was a working building and a home, which saw both conflict and peacetime.  After the widespread introduction of gunpowder to Europe and Britain, castles were no long the impregnable defences that they once were.  Even if the walls would withstand cannon fire, the possibility of blowing up a gate or underneath a wall ended their military status. Those that didn't fall into disrepair and fail from subsidence took on more of a sedate and romantic role.  During the Tudor period Framlingham was revitalised with the attractive brickwork chimneys and the (above) bridge across the moat. The bridge was a walkway to the castle's 'pleasant gardens'.  And now, many centuries later, the columns that remain need preserving ..I presume for public safety as much as anything).  It looks a costly process.  

Hope you're enjoying your TR's while the weather holds. 

Pete

 

 

 

[Misfit]

Lovely sunny day, had to take car out,  breakfast at Moorland Hotel, followed by a drive then lunch at the Rugglestone before making our way home and seeing rainbow in distance, fortunately missed any rain.

[Bfg]

Having changed Katie's engine oil and filter over the weekend, hand having fed the leather in her MX-5 seats, yesterday, I drove down to Colchester, Essex to meet with Bob (TR6) from the East Saxon's group, where we then went onto Frank's motorcycles Coffee & Cops morning.  The weather was clear and dry, but the roads still wet from overnight rain. The drive down the A12 was repeatedly annoying... at first due to a car and trailer (60mph speed limit) barely overtaking a group of four lorries. Leaving sensible distance between myself and the next car, the lorries in turn pulled out in front of me to again barely overtake their mates.  Ten miles seems a long time when you're sitting in the road spray of such vehicles. Finally, having passed them, two other drivers in succession likewise pulled out in front of me to overtake slower traffic, despite my driving to the legal speed limit and having my headlamps on, and no vehicle close behind me.   It seems that very few drivers nowadays look beyond their car's length to see that if they wait just one minute until a car passes that it's clear behind them.  I often wish I had cannons built into the side lamps.!

At Franks, the biker demographics of a Tuesday coffee morning was pretty obvious. Grey hair and aged skin prevailed. many look very old, and I say that as a 69 years old.   Still the bikes in the showroom were worth the visit. A very nice silver with blue 1977 Ducati Desmo (Desmodromic valve system) which I'm guessing it was the 900ss, had a price tag in £10,000 in excess of my Katie's.  Other Ducati, Motor Guzzi and BMW's similarly attracted my eye, in particular an R1100S for £3000.  And a Honda six was in the back of the workshop waiting for its turn with the mechanic..  There was also a K100 cafe racer with Yamaha front forks and brakes set-up, which was only of interest because I used to ride K-series BMW.  At over £-seven-grand I can't see it rushing out of the door, but then what do I know. 

Franks motorcycles also has its cafe, with display window to the workshop.  Coffee was good ..as was the English breakfast I had for lunch. Bob had a (huge) burger with fries, which seemed to go down pretty easily too.  We had a good chap with the Community Support Policeman, with Bob asking about the getting rid of the Police Commissioner.  I don't follow current affairs or the news so I don't know if that was for the Essex force, or for the country.  As far as I was concerned a Police Commissioner was something from a Batman movie, I didn't know we had them in the UK. And perhaps we won't soon. 

After a very pleasant morning, we returned to Bob's home to drop off the Dynolite Classic Engine Oil he wanted (we combined postage) which I'd bought on offer (half price) from Moss UK, which was wrapped in Rimmers tape. And then it was a great drive home ..again to the national speed limit, Katie does like the seasonally cool air. It seems to boost her performance by a good 10%    

I visited my old boat in passing, to pick up some bits I wanted at home, and then dropped in a Aldi to top up on groceries.  It was a beautiful dusk sky as I finally headed for home. Only a 75 mile round trip, but the an enjoyable drive (..after the outgoing frustration). 

Thank you Bob for the invite. Perhaps a shame that others were otherwise busy, but still it was a good morning out in bright sunny weather.

Pete  

p.s. Franks motorcycles . . .

https://franksmotorcycles.co.uk/used-motorcycles/ols/products

who also have a car showroom. 

https://franksmotorcompany.co.uk/car-showroom/ols/all?page=2

[John Morrison]

Christmas Shopping in Carlisle this morning - glorious driving.

John.

[NigelC]

run out to Marlborough to see one of our groups Austin 7 single seater build (after a good breakfast of course!) and then on the way back dropped into the Hub where further intake of fuel was taken.

Edited December 1, 2025 by NigelC

[harlequin]

Morning All

I drove over to the nearby village of Woodhurst for this mornings dog walk and as there hasn't been a lot of traffic on this thread recently I thought I'd post a couple of photos.

It's a beautiful day here in East Anglia, we even have a tree coming out in blossom.

George 

Edited December 15, 2025 by harlequin

[dblenk]

23 hours ago, harlequin said:

Morning All

I drove over to the nearby village of Woodhurst for this mornings dog walk and as there hasn't been a lot of traffic on this thread recently I thought I'd post a couple of photos.

It's a beautiful day here in East Anglia, we even have a tree coming out in blossom.

George 

George looking good 

[Steve-B]

The pictures I took of my first drive in 2 months today are all in my mind  Did a nice loop of 🏡 Marlow Bottom - Bourne End - Cookham - M'head - Bisham - Marlow 🏁 to shake out any cobwebs, test Jason's fuse box ✅ and "lubricate" the parts 😉 

Not a cloud in the sky 🎉

[Lebro]

In a car, or a boat ?  

Bob