Tribute To Hancock

Tribute To Hancock

It occurred to me that I haven’t said much about my stay here in Gran Canaria and speaking to one or two people at the Car Club it is clear that totally the wrong impressions are doing the rounds. So to put the record straight the following, in the style of the late Tony Hancock, is a typical evening: Scene: Sitting room of my duplex in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria. Me, pacing the room wearing checked, knee length, shorts and a Trinidad short-sleeved shirt with a picture of a Hawaiian Sunset. “Grief, another day of rain. May as well be back in the UK where at least I had an umbrella.” “Wonder if I can get a refund from Primark for this shirt. I’ve hardly worn it. Indoor wear only!” Long pause follows, then a big sigh. “Typical; Gran Canarias’ most important annual classic car show and they choose the one day when a cyclone strikes. Stuck here with the roof down and a...
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Mission Accomplished

Mission Accomplished

Sorry I have been a little dilatory in posting this final report on the UK Tour, but I have been busy at MGLive! More on that later, but now the completion of the tour. My last report finished with me in Whitburn, Central Scotland where Bridget was shown off to around fifty enthusiasts. Once again the weather was unexpectedly good for us and the Scots were their usual appreciative selves; not at all the hard to please audience of music hall fame. The following day I drove Bridget down to Gretna Green where we would stop over on route to Knutsford in Cheshire. Bridget is a hopeless romantic and wanted to see the famous forge and listen to the lilt of the lone piper. In the morning we moved on to Knutsford, a place name, that until now, had only denoted a service station on the M6 Motorway to me. However the town of Knutsford is a charming ancient place mentioned in...
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Scottish Tourist

Scottish Tourist

With a full week free of formal events I decided to first spend a weekend in Glasgow then explore some of the West Highland Way if the weather was reasonable. Uncharacteristically for this part of the country at this time of year the weather remained dry and contrary to the forecasts the sun broke through the cloud to deliver a few pleasant spring days. I decided to travel a little further north to the town of Tynedrum and then walk the West Highland Way up to Fort William. I parked Bridget safely in the Scottish Tourist Information Centres’ car park and removed my back-pack containing the tent, sleeping bag and other camping items, from behind the seats. It has been over forty years since I carried a 60 pound pack and had quite forgotten what it was like over a period of 3 or 4 days. I started off with a half day of walking ahead of me. I walked for just...
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North East and Borders

North East and Borders

I mentioned in my previous report the variety of locations chosen for my talk events and this has continued. MG Car Club’s north-east centre, although one of the smallest centres, had arranged for the use of the Knights Hall at the Manor House, West Aukland. The setting is very medieval and grand and the evening was very well attended. From northern England Bridget took me into “The Borders” area of Scotland and the town of Kelso in particular. Again I took the opportunity to go walking this time along the banks of the river Tweed. This river has the reputation of being one of the finest in Scotland for salmon fishing, but I was here to do a ‘pitstop’ organised by UNICEF. Ken Henderson, Chairman of the local UNICEF branch, had set up for Bridget and me to visit Kelso High School, whose motto appropriately is Do or Die! We were met by the schools’ Director of Education and then spent an...
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Europe Stops, But Bridget Keeps Going

Europe Stops, But Bridget Keeps Going

The whole of Europe has been rendered immobile and isolated by the fallout from a volcanic eruption in Iceland, however if only people needing to travel internationally bought a MG car then the problem would be resolved. Having dug Bridget out of the mountain of volcanic dust burying her on the driveway, she started up first time and moved off without hesitation on the first leg of our UK tour. In the past seven days we have covered the first three locations for the ‘An Evening with Miss Bridget’ talks at Abingdon, Loughborough and Bedford. In total, and after expenses have been removed, we have made around £850 which I think is very credible. Once again, and no surprise to me, it demonstrates peoples generosity when the opportunity arises. The venues were varied, the first being held in the brand new John Thornley Suite at Kimber House, the second in the car showroom of Luffield Cars of Loughborough and the third inside...
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