|
Then Pete had a great idea, why don’t we go to the pub for a Sunday dinner. Fantastic idea, so my and my girlfriend, Pete and Dee, Geoff, JJ along with Kerry and Marion all set off to the Albion pub. The place was so warm and so inviting compared with a drafty tent and food from a burger van. Between us we had Lamb, Beef and Turkey with all the trimmimgs and a pudding. Better still both main course and the pudding was only £5 - almost the same price as a burger and chips off the van. We looked out of the pub window and despite the rain, figured we should be heading back.
Back on camp it seemed that a few more folks had now vanished, as there were bare patches where cars and tents were everywhere. Pretty much everything was still indoors but they had got a manoeuvrability competition of sorts just off the road so I had a go. It involved driving your car up to a cane as close as you can (I stopped 5” away), then reversing onto another cane (I hit it), then reversing between two canes (I had 3” one side and 9”) the other and finally getting your back wheel close to the kerb. Being a van, Ole Blue isn’t the best thing to drive as there are so many blind spots, you can’t see a thing, especially with the few windows I had being all steamed up. So, I didn’t do too well at that. In years gone by, I would have tried it in different cars, but most folks were just staying inside. We never even had a Telford team enter as we have won the cup for that over the last couple of years.
Geoff entered New Blue into the Car of the Day Rescued class and I thought I’d enter mine into the Older Reliants class. I won 1st prize in the rescued class last year and for me a car can only be rescued once - so it seems strange to me that folks enter it year after year with the same car. When the results came in, Ole Blue came second and New Blue came second also. Ironically in the rescued class, Bond Bugs that have both been on the road for a number of years came first and third. That’s a shame as to me rescued class should be for cars that the year before were in danger of being scrapped. Years ago at the National a battered old Reliant could win the rescued class but against vehicles that are not used regularly, they don’t really have a chance now which is a pity. Once the price giving and raffles etc had been drawn, I then charged back out into the rain and loaded up Ole Blue with a rather soggy tent and all its contents. Ole Blue was missing slightly (as were most Reliants in the rain) and so heading back on a 62 mile trip I was thinking, “I hope she makes it”. My girlfriend no doubt was thinking the same thing. I need not have worried though, once on the motorway she soon got into her stride and happily sang away at 50mph.
Mind you, on the M54 there was one long incline and being fully laden with two people on board she did slow down to 40mph but then she was soon back onto 50mph and in some parts the needle even bounced across to say hello to the 60mph marker. On the M54 I saw a brown Reliant Scimitar behind me, he flashed his lights to say hello, and then roared passed and soon vanished in the distance. “That”, I thought, is the advantage of having a Scimitar and not a Regal. As I also had my Satellite Navigation hooked up I did notice that when the Regal speedo is reading 50mph, the Sat Nav says I am doing 46 / 47mph. When,in a mad moment, it bounced over to 60mph, the Sat Nav only reported 52mph. It seems after 50mph, the Regal speedometer isn’t accurate at all but then I usually never ever do more than 50mph. Reaching home with a huge sigh of relief, I quickly unpack Ole Blue before taking her back to a nice warm garage and hanging out the tent. Then it was back home for a nice cup of tea and a cheese sandwich. So whilst it was great to see so many Reliant faces again, it was such a shame that the rain had taken command of the day - and by the time we left, the field was starting to resemble a swamp. Lets hope for the 50th National Rally next year, the weather is a bit sunnier.
Elvis Payne.
May 2007
|
