World - BRIDGET THE MIDGET

Even Dreams Must End

18th October 200914th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

Friday 16th October is a date that will stay with me for a long time. It marked the final day for this adventure as Bridget and I arrived at Kimber House in Abingdon. An apt destination, as the current headquarters of the MG Car Club, and a tribute to all the car club members around the world that have been so helpful during our trip. We were welcomed by the lady Mayor of Abingdon marking the long relationship between the town and the MG marque. For those that are not MG owners, Abingdon was the location of the factory that produced these marvellous cars and would have been where Bridget started out in life. As well as my family and friends, Julian White, the General Manager of MGCC led a posse of local members and officials many of whom had brought their MG’s. Television and the press were well represented. So we have completed the final leg of this journey and ponder what...

Trouble With Props!

5th October 200914th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

Always something! The container ship has had a problem with her propellors (can't blame Lucas for this one) and had to go into dry dock to have things rectified. Subsequently the final 180 miles drive will be delayed until next week. I have selected to finish at Abingdon and the MGCC has kindly agreed that we may use Kimber House as the official finishing line. A full report on the day will appear here around the 19th October 2009....

Goodbye Canada

24th September 200914th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

We had left Ottawa just after 9:00 am and found highway 20 east easily. The drive was uneventful except for the usual waving, horn tooting fans. We completed the near 200 miles in three hours arriving in time for lunch. Bridget was still running well. It was immediately apparent to anyone that has travelled anywhere in Canada that the city of Quebec is different. Regular readers will have already deduced that I am not really a city person and as we approached the end of this journey my patience with city ways was diminishing. Quebec changed all that and I quickly realised what I had been missing for much of the second half of this adventure; history! One of the few figures I learnt about in school, and remembered, was General James Wolfe and he is one of several characters I had always felt akin to in that he attempted tasks that others felt were unlikely to succeed just because they were...

Winnipeg to Ottawa

10th September 200914th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

I had a bad night’s sleep. For some reason my body has broken out in a serious rash of heat bumps. They cover my head, neck, arms and legs and they itch like mad. Having kept me awake most of the night I am not really in good condition for today’s drive. We left at half past seven in the morning before the sun got up. The temperature overnight caused a light dew and is a very welcome break for me. The heat bumps do not itch if they are kept cool, and so at least the first phase of the drive should be OK. We took Highway 1 east from Winnipeg and eventually joined Highway 17 to Thunder Bay. The scenery is an improvement over the previous drive, with pines and even small hills breaking up the horizon. Then we arrived into Lakeland, there are hundreds if not thousands of lakes everywhere. I would love to find one of the ‘glassy’...

Calgary and Medicine Hat

5th September 200914th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

Calgary, situated to the east of the Rocky Mountains, is home to some one million people. It is twinned with, amongst others, the city of Jaipur, or the Pink City as it is sometimes called (see diary entry – Royal Circles 04/09/2008). We were to stay here for two and a half days and the Calgary MG Car Club entertained me magnificently. They were assisted on Saturday by the Vintage Sports Car Club when I was taken on a Garage Tour to see a number of cars and motorcycles in various stages of renovation. In the afternoon I was taken to experience the Calgary Highland Games in High River where a number of ex-pats threw hammers and tossed cabers, but they were even worst shots than the Talaban, so I stayed. There was also a pipe band competition that I thoroughly enjoyed and the Scotch Pies were excellent. On Sunday we went up to Bragg Creek and the scenery is gorgeous, with mountains...