Astral cars

[brrm]

Today was the MG Owners' Club 'Regency Run'. I got up at 8am, and drove down to Brooklands, and parked on the short section of banked track that remains. I still find it hard to believe that someone allowed Britain's first Proper raceway to be mostly demolished, and houses to be built on the land. So what now remains is a rather sad 500m or so of the track, slightly overgrown.

At 10:30, it was time for my number group to set off. The route was beautiful. Parts of it seemed like a kind of green leafy wormhole through southern England - single track and completely surrounded by a tunnel of trees. As we drove through the little villages (including the amusingly-named Pease Pottage), children and their parents waved as we went past. I don't recall seeing any evidence of industrialisation whatsoever. Just green rolling fields and pretty little villages, punctuated briefly by the rather impressive Hurstpierpoint College.

The final leg of the journey climbed up DItchling Beacon, through steep hairpins which reminded me of the corners of Germany and Switzerland I'm used to, giving a fantastic view over the countryside below.

The pace notes provided by the organisers were *great* - listing each and every junction and crossroads on the route, along with the mileage from the start, to the nearest 0.1 mile. So, all I had to do was set my trip counter to zero at the start line, and could just glance at the notes to see what turn was coming up next.

We descended from Ditchling Beacon, down to Madeira Drive, where the 500-odd MGs had mostly assembled, parked in two neat rows on either side of the seafront drive. By this time, the weather had deteriorated a little, but it was bearable. Many many MGBs, and a few interesting older MGs, and a few rarities, such as a dark blue racer, of which apparently only three were built.

I met up with Evangelia and George for a bit, had an italian meal followed by a half-pint at the pub. After which, it was pretty much time to be heading back to Oxford.

The route back was entirely different - A23, M25, M4, A40. As I glided along the A23, I saw a few of the villages we passed through on the way down - Warninglid, Pease Pottage, Straughton, .... I thought it so much more enjoyable to actually be able to drive through each of these small villages, and be waved to by the residents, than just to blast past on a drizzly motorway.

As I approached Oxford, the rain abated, and the low sun illuminated the base of the clouds, giving a silver lining effect, which reflected almost perfectly in the curves of the MG's bonnet stretching in front of me, as the reflected trees slid over it. Radiohead's Pyramid Song was playing, and I suddenly found myself in one of the peaceful, contemplative moments I occasionally experience while driving.

All in all, a very enjoyable day. And, now I have the pace notes for the route, I'm tempted to go again, maybe on a sunnier day, maybe with some company to read the notes. ;)

Oh, and I took some photos
4350 and 4351 are an MG WA. I want one.

Update: I've just discovered, while trying to put names to cars, that there exists an MG J4. It seems only 9 were made. "Strictly not for the amateur, these cars were a serious contender in all-out racing."