Friday 11 July 2014

Landcrab 50th birthday tour

To celebrate 50 years of the Landcrab cars, we drove off the carferry at Harwich with two landcrabs. Weather was very wet and our Wolseley decided to backfire for a while and almost lost a wiper at the worst of the rain, but in the end all went well and we reached a good breakfast spot.
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Here we tucked into a good cooked breakfast to make sure we'd reach the next destination. Weather had improved much, so we continued in a bright mood.
The Duxford museum was the next stop. We were just in tome to witness engine and flight testing of some interesting planes. The rest of the hangars are filled with so many interesting planes it's impossible to see them all in a day.
This Dragon Rapide is completely restored to comply with modern regulations - the last word in civilised sightseeing!
 
We arrived at the campsite and pitched our tent in the dry field.
As you can see there was plenty of space!

Facilities could be considered "rustic".
Sunday took us to the British motor heritage museum at Gaydon
To celebrate 50 years of motoring excellence, 53 Landcrabs of all years, models and makes gathered in front of the museum building.
 There were other models too,like these rare Mini Countryman and Traveller estates.
 But inside the museum Ans, our navigator, found her favorite: a Maxi rally car.
The raffle was a big success and everyone enjoyed a piece of the Landcrab celebratory cake.
 Back at the campsite it was "red at night"....
 Next day we visited Stratford Upon Avon where we walked by the canal
 And the river
In the chancel of Holy Trinity Church, William Shakespeare's gravestone bears an epitaph which Shakespeare himself supposedly wrote: 
"Good friend, for Jesus' sake forebeare
To digg the dust enclosed heare;
 Bleste be the man that spares thes stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones"
 But we prefer his birth house.
 Then we made the scenic drive to Bourton on the water.
 To visit the motor museum
 Sadly this pretty town is also filled with modern cars.
 Tuesday was spent enjoying Royal Leamington Spa
 With the weir and Elephant walk.
"The Jephson park. First laid out in 1831 as informal riverside walks along the River Leam. The original Newbold Gardens were developed into formal pleasure grounds after 1846 in honour of Dr Henry Jephson, who had promoted the town as a spa. Jephson Gardens gained renown for its band concerts, archery and tennis, illuminations, trees and flowers."
 We saw this Morris Minor. Actually we first heard it's distinctive sound. 
 On our last day we drove back to Harwich by A14. Of course we had a good lunch break.
We arrived at the Shuttleworth collection in time to see and listen to an engine test on this de Havilland DH.88 Comet. This was a twin-engined British aircraft designed for the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race. Three examples took part in the race and one of them won it. The type set many aviation records during the race and afterwards, as a pioneer mail plane.
We hardly had enough time to see all the planes and vehicles on display inside those 8 hangars.
 
Finally, after a good dinner stop in Stow Market, we reached the ferry in Harwich. Our Wolseley did a good job.
You can see more photographs of this trip here