Bridget the Midget

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 the Domesday Book as “Cunetesford”. It is said that the Danish King of England, Canute, forded a stream here around 1000 AD, hence the name.

I was parked behind a new Aston Martin DBS watching the world go by when a man approached and asked “Did you really go around the world in that?” Having assured him that I had we chatted for a few moments before he asked if he could phone me the following week as he had to go now but wanted more information about my journey. He finished off saying he also wanted to do a similar trip in his Aston!!

Once again I had another atypical venue, this time a cricket club. The talk started around 8:00pm and we finished around 11:30pm keeping the poor steward well past his bedtime. This was not the first time that Bridget and I have been thrown out!!

The pen-ultimate venue was at Bromsgrove in the West Midlands. Organised by Brian Osbourne, who had given us great support whilst we were still striving to complete our adventure, he had booked a local sports club with a truly great selection of fine British ales. Again, a very appreciative audience, no doubt helped by the beverages, it was a fine way to round off the travelling part of the tour.

The final presentation was back where we had started, at Kimber House in Abingdon. With an even bigger audience than the first event, clearly word hadn’t got around, it was a very successful last night.

My personal thanks to everyone that helped organise the interestingly varied venues, to the MG Car Club for promoting the tour and to Chris Seaward for his hard work co-ordinating everything, even if he still hasn’t worked out how much we raised for UNICEF!! Also my thanks, and UNICEF’s, to all the enthusiasts that turned up and supported us making it all worthwhile. I know we raised a little over £2,000 for UNICEF and it is very much appreciated.

Next stop MGLive.

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 over seven miles to Inveroran where I set-up camp by the river. My shoulders were a little chaffed by my pack straps but other wise I was in fine fettle. Camping equipment has improved dramatically since the last time I had used any but you still end up cold and damp by dawn.

I rose at 5:00am and broke camp. Having feasted the previous evening on corned beef hash, I made do with a chocolate bar for breakfast watched by a red stag from on top of one of the mountains. He stood out against the skyline and appeared to be checking to see if the walkers were stirring yet.

Having studied my map I was planning to go just another 10 miles to Kingshouse. Although not particularly far with the combination of the hill climb on route and the weight of the back pack I thought it would be enough. I saw several more red deer crazing on the hillsides and disturbed a brace of black grouse before arriving, quicker than expected, at my destination. I decided to stop for some coffee and a good rest before considering whether to stay for the night or press on to Kinlockleven.

After an hours rest I was feeling reinvigorated and so pressed on. My shoulders and the small of my back was decidedly sore and I realised that carrying tinned food had been unnecessary as there was a hostelry at the end of each section and the weight of the food was a significant factor in the overall weight I was carrying. This particular section also included a fairly high climb. The path for considerable stretches was strewn with hard rough hewn stones that were very tiring on the feet. I finally arrived at Kinlochleven at around 5:00 pm that day. The town was the centre of aluminium production in the UK and is almost twenty miles from Inveroran where I had started my journey that day. My body ached beyond belief and I seriously doubted whether or not I could continue the next day. I must make a note to remind me I’m no longer in my 20’s.

The following morning my back and legs were as stiff as a board when I got out of bed. Following breakfast of sausage and beans I decided to continue to Fort William. As the day wore on my legs improved and my shoulders seemed to be getting accustomed to my load. I returned from Fort William to Tynedrum by train to be reunited with Bridget. From there we drove over to Crieff where having decided not to do any more walking I would endeavour to become incapable of doing so by visiting the Glenturret distillery.

Tomorrow we continue to Whitburn near Livingston in central Scotland for the first event of this final week.

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 hour entertaining many of the pupils. I was pleasantly surprised at the genuine interest in the car and our exploits.

This was followed by meeting some of the local members of a Vintage Car Club at the showrooms of Croall Bryson a large Land Rover dealer that had once been a MG distributor. Both the car club and the dealership very generously presented me with cheques for UNICEF.

Bridget and I are now going to spend a week in the west of Scotland before our next event in Whitburn, near Livingston.

We have completed the first six events at Abingdon, Loughborough, Godstone, Norwich, Lincoln and Liversedge. With approximately £2,000 raised for UNICEF it is proving well worthwhile and everyone seems to be enjoying the experience.

For my part I am using the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my own country and its history and nature. In Lincoln I visited both the Cathedral and Castle, and then took a morning walking around the Whisby Natural Park. With a free day in Yorkshire I drove over to Bolton Abbey near Keighley to see the ruined priory and walk the banks of the River Wharfe. It is a really pretty location although a little too civilised for me, gravel paths and cafes, but the scenery is beautiful and I saw some Mandarin ducks, a breed I have not seen for years. Had I had more time I would have done some serious walking over the Yorkshire Dales but I must move on although I hope to be able to get time to visit Barnard Castle tomorrow.

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 the church of St Marks, Brickhill, Bedford. The latter was the first time a car had been inside the church and was also a first for Bridget! Our special thanks to the Vicar of St Marks for this special occasion.

Bridget is running very well and now has a new speedometer, the old one having broken, and had her tracking corrected following un-even tyre wear. However on route to Bedford I noticed a knocking in time with the wheel rotation rather than the engine beat, but after stopping and looking for a cause I could see nothing wrong. The knocking got louder as we proceeded and I stopped again, but there was still no obvious sign of a cause so we proceeded. Then as we entered Wing, in Buckinghamshire, it became so bad I had to stop. Noticing the noise and vibration appeared to cease as I braked, I decided to jack up the front of the car and check the wheel areas.

As I lifted the jack from the boot I heard a voice say “Do you need any help?” I looked across the road and there was the chap that had called out. “It’s a bit dangerous there, but if you would like to pull across the road into my drive I have all the tools you could want to sort out the problem, and also most of the expertise.” The gent turned out to be the proud owner of an AC Cobra and justifiably so as his motor is a beautiful example of the marque. I told him what the symptoms were and we jacked up the front of the car to remove one of the wheels and to our surprise discover that all the wheelnuts were loose. A quick check discovered the other front wheel was the same. There would be no reason for the garage that did the tracking to remove the wheels and it is over three weeks since I had then off whilst replacing the shock absorbers, since which it has been through an MOT and covered nearly three hundred miles, so how and when they became loose is a mystery. However once again I mused how it was that we stopped opposite a classic car enthusiast’s house rather than 300 yards before or after.

I wonder what unexpected events the remaining 11 locations of this tour will hold?

I now feel complete. I was honoured to deliver the inaugural talk of my UK Tour at the MGCC headquarters in Abingdon on Friday 9^th April. The building, Kimber House, is the Mecca for the MG marque and I was fortunate enough to be the first to use the new extension suite due to officially come into commission in just a few weeks time.

Bridget looked resplendent under a spotlight at the rear of the suite. She is now running really smoothly and has had her interior restored to almost the state it was in when she started the journey. Nothing at all has been done to her external bodywork, except for some underseal, as she suffered so little damage during the adventure.

We will now be travelling to the Midlands and then on around the country returning to Abingdon again on the 14^th May. All profits from the series will be donated to the UNICEF charity at the end of the tour and I am hoping we will make up some of the shortfall from the actual trip.

I will shortly announce the general route that I shall be taking around Europe starting sometime in the middle of June.

Starting shortly after Easter Bridget and I will be touring the UK, delivering talks about our world travel adventure. Entitled ‘An Evening with Miss Bridget’ the talk lasts about two hours with a comfort break halfway through. The itinerary currently is as follows:

• Abingdon           -     9^th April
• Loughborough    -    14^th April
• Bedford             -    16^th April
• Godstone          -    19^th April
• Norwich            -    20^th April
• Lincolnshire       -    22nd April
• Yorkshire           -    24^th April
• West Auckland    -   28^th April
• Scottish Borders  -   30^th April
• Caledonian        -     9^th May
• North West        -    11^th May
• Bromsgrove        -    12^th May
• Abingdon           -     14^{th May}

There may be additional venues added before the start and updates will be displayed here. The tour is being promoted by the MGCC, but is open to anyone wishing to attend. E-mail roy.locock@btinternet.com for further details.

Preparing Bridget for the tour is now a priority. She needs a new windscreen, the twin SU’s need rebuilding, replacement mirrors and window winders are required and the interior needs renovating. I have a replacement windscreen glass, kindly donated by Mike Authers of Abingdon. Mike restores and sells MG Midgets for a living, and has for the past twenty years.

It’s amazing how one can pass hours of fun on a Sunday afternoon dismantling and rebuilding SU carburettors, dismantling and rebuilding, and dismantling and rebuilding. Then you discover the reason it isn’t right is that the supplier has given you two different length jets and not a matched pair. Don’t you just love ‘em!

The Canadian Classic MG Club held it’s annual awards night during December and honoured Bridget with the ‘Dirty Boot’! This was in recognition of the amazing amount of spare parts, cleaning materials, tool kits, axle stands and the all important trolley jack that emerged from Bridget’s boot before entering the slalom event in Vancouver during August.

In the best possible tradition ‘Bridget was unforunately unable to be at the ceremony’ and so Peter Tilbury accepted the award from the previous winner, Afton Cayford, on the night.

Needless to say Bridget is very proud of this latest accolade whilst I am still waiting for the New Years Honours list to be announced!!

The news of Bridget’s retirement was somewhat premature and I can now confirm, with great pleasure, that she will be back in service next year.

There are some minor repairs required and a little adjustment to her make-up is needed, but then she is going to undertake a tour of the UK and Europe making personal appearances in aid of UNICEF.

More information will appear here in the near future.

Friday 16^th 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 lies ahead, but first I need to reflect a little on our achievement.

As the BBC so succinctly put it at the start, “You only speak English, you are not a mechanic and you are going to drive a totally unsuitable car around the world….” That helped to focus my mind on what I had undertaken and at the same time hardened my determination to do it. Now some 39,000 miles later I can ask “Was it really worth it?” Since the ninth day out I have had no doubts whatsoever that the personal experience was worth whatever the cost turned out to be.

I have been privileged to touch the lives of thousands of people in 27 countries around our globe, many of them children. In most cases the experience was fleeting, a laugh, a cry of glee or just a smile as we drove past, but if seeing Bridget caused even one child to develop the ambition to improve his or her life then I shall deem the event a success.

The contrasts of the different cultures are fascinating yet it is the common desires for love, peace and harmony, all very overworked adjectives, that is so striking. The vast majority of differences are superficial; the way our food is cooked, the work we do, the buildings we live in, but when given a media slant it makes “them” different from “us”. Add some emotive words such as “alien” and soon there is distrust and even hate.

Seeing and experiencing the extremes of nature such as the floods in Australia, the landslides in Ecuador and the earthquakes in Panama; or the beauty of the Andes, the spiritual effect of the Himalayas and the wonders of the deserts in Pakistan, Australia and Peru gives a true perspective of mankind and our insignificance.

There are so many people to whom I am immensely grateful for their support during this adventure, in particular as I mentioned earlier the members of the MG clubs in England, Australia and Canada. There are also the fond memories of individuals around the world that helped me or who I have swapped stories with. They are not forgotten even though I may not have actively kept in touch, such as the Reithers in Austria, the lifeguard in Iran, the Mullah in Esfahan, and the students in Kerman. I am still trying to establish that they are safe after the trouble following the elections in Iran.

Will there be a book? As long as I can find a publishing agent that thinks there is a suitable market then yes there will. I hope to make an announcement on this site before the end of the year.

Would I do it again? Probably not in the same way or even the same route because I’ve done that, but I certainly won’t stop travelling. There is so much more to see, for instance I have only seen the northern Arabic countries of Africa and there is still Russia, Mongolia and The Gobi Desert. An MGB might be more suitable for The Gobi, or perhaps an Austin Healey. If I was to strengthen the rear suspension…………….