"Drive It" to the Royal Oak, Bishopstone

Following on from last years inaugural event at the Royal Oak in Bishopstone, the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (I think that was their grand title) organised another meet at the Royal Oak.

Yesterday the weather was horrible, really cold and wet and windy so I didn't get a chance to get my old Rover tarted up and ready to roll. I've had a problem with the engine charging the battery since last summer so I expected to be unable to start the thing. It must be some 6 months since I last drove it. Thankfully I had managed to fix my old VW Golf on Thursday with a new water pipe and get that running again so I had a car to jump start the Rover with.

This morning the weather was grey and overcast but at least dry. So I rose early and got the polish out and made half an effort to make it look good. Before long old classics were rolling by my house en-route to the pub, honking their horns as they passed me with my polishing rags.

Soon, my neighbour Paul who also owns an old (but newer than mine) Rover came over to see if I was going to go to the pub and we planned to go together. We wandered round to see if there was any space and were greeted by 30 or so lovely old used classic cars. I'll let the picture tell the story. At least 5 or 6 of us in the village own (at least one or more) running classics and we were all there. My favourite from the village is Rob's Morgan 3 wheeler powered by a mad V twin JAP engine mounted right out front. Nick was there in his Austin Healey 3000 and Chris had his very rare V8 BMW convertible (the very same one Jeremy Clarkson derided on BBC Top Gear and the Stig rather enjoyed...) Tom didn't bring his old BSA bike but was there, and Steve no showed. Doug's Minor isn't road worthy at the moment and Stuart's Austin has yet to make an appearance. There are others too. Amazing for such a small community.

Elsewhere on show were a couple of Hot Rods, an old Ford and a Chevrolet pickup truck. There were a brace of beautiful Alfa Romeos, Fiats and Lancias. Including a supercharged 1934 Lancia. This was beautiful. From the Brits there were Vauxhalls (including a rare Cresta Station Wagon), Lea Francis, Triumph, Sunbeam, Mini, Rover, MG, Austin, Wolesley, Jaguar, various assorted motorcycles and others. It was a very good showing for a small gathering.

The pictures tell the story.

Embarrassingly my car wouldn't start at the end, and I had to return home to get my VW Golf to jump start it again after failing with the "Starting Handle"! A nice Bishy day out.