VEC AUTUMN DAY OUT - 5 OCTOBER, 2008

Holker Hall & Lakeland Motor Museum, Cumbria

It had been raining almost continually since 4 o’clock the previous evening. As I walked out of my house in Bewdley at 5am to travel up to Cumbria to take part in this years Autumn Gathering at Holker Hall and the Lakeland Motor Museum on the Southern Peninsular of the beautiful Lake District the heaven’s opened with torrential rain, was this an omen and a sign of things to come?

As I travelled east up towards Birmingham to meet the M5 at Halesowen and start my journey up the M6 all the way to Cumbria, the weather showed no signs of getting any better. The motorway was awash with water with every so often large expanses of water lying in great puddles causing the car to shudder as it ploughed its way on. I had originally thought that I would take ‘HAB’ my 1962 P1800 up to the event but in view of the weather I decided it best to use the 850T5R Estate, which is one of only 200 cars built in order to homologate the 850 for Volvo to successfully race the Estate in the British Touring Cars Championship in 1994.

Traffic on the M6 was very light, usual in view of the problem associated with the road around Birmingham, well it was only 5.30am! As I pressed on the weather continued to be bad and I wondered if the forecast had in fact been correct but as I neared the M55 which goes to Blackpool the rain started to stop and what was that in the distance, blue sky!

Looking at the time, I was going to be very early at Holker Hall so I decided to get off the motorway and travel up the ‘Old Road’ the A6. This would take me through Morecambe a place I had not visited for nearly 30 years since I drove coaches before going to Teacher Training. Driving down the front in the early morning it was hard to recognise the place with many shops and building boarded up including the famous fun fair, all that is left is the fissured and a tall tower covered in scaffolding is all that remains of the rides. One of resort's most famous landmarks is still there and I have to say it is very nice. It is in memory of the comedian Eric Morecambe, who was part of the duo Morecambe & Wise. A life-size sculpture of Eric in ‘Give me sunshine pose’ with Morecambe Bay and the mountains of the Lake District in the background was a fine tribute to the man who gave so much pleasure to so many.

Leaving Morecambe, I travelled north to Carnforth one of the many places I visited as a Steam Enthusiast in the 70’s. Carnforth in those days was the famous stable of Mc Alpine’s engines ‘Flying Scotsman’ and ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ plus other engines under restoration or in preservation. This was one of the few mainline steam sheds to survive and go into preservation complete with coaling tower etc. Today the ‘Shed’ is the home of ‘The West Highland Railway Limited’ who operate a regular daily steam hauled train service between Fort William and Mallaig in Scotland during the summer months. – A real must for any rail enthusiast, the scenery is absolutely beautiful and believe it or not was originally built by the Mc Alpine’s in the early 1900’s to transport fish from the port of Mallaig.

Returning to the M6 I was soon in Cumbria and time to leave the Motorway towards Grange-over-Sands and on to Holker Hall. The scenery was beautiful with the sun shining and blue skies, how very different from the weather I had left in the Midlands. Arriving in the Carpark, I soon found the area that had been reserved for us. This is always a difficult time for me, particularly in view of the weather. Would members come along and take a chance on the weather or would I be the only person attending?

With that I viewed a very nice 120 saloon coming up the drive. The owner had travelled down from Locherbie in Scotland and had just completed the car's restoration. He also told me that he had just purchased a 123GT for restoration, which he had started and was about to put a 144 on the road as everyday transport. Cars started to arrive, and included a couple of very nice white 1800’s a super 145 which the member had owned from new, a Volvo Hearse, which had travelled all the way from Northampton and a beautiful 244 which the owner had for sale.

Holker Hall really is a super venue, with not only the house to visit and parkland but also a great Motor Museum which has many items associated with the speed record attempts of Malcolm & Donald Campbell including full size replicas of the 1935 Bluebird car, the 1939 Bluebird boat (K4) and the 1967 famous jet plane Bluebird (K7) in which Donald Campbell lost his life attempting to smash for the third time his own water speed record on Coniston Lake.

It is funny how you remember certain events in your life, Man landing on the Moon, the assassination of Kennedy, Chernobyl and the sight of Donald Campbell’s boat flipping on our black & white TV, 41 years ago.
           
As is the usual practice at Club Gathering awards were presented to the following:
      Best Car Attending: Anthony Saul, Volvo 1800S 1965 ORO 709D
      R/U Best Car (Classic): Geof & Gill Naylor, Volvo 1800S 1966 JER 888F
      R/U Best Car (Modern): Colin & Robert Hughes, Volvo 740 Hearse WCZ 9378
      Oldest Car Attending: Anthony Saul 1800S 1965, ORO 709D
      Furthest Distance Travelled to Event: Colin & Robert Hughes

Leaving Holker Hall, I once again made my way through the wonderful scenery that is the Lake District and headed to the M6, which was busier that I had expected. Travelling south I reflected on the day, which had proved despite my worries to be a very successful day, with beautiful sunshine and a very good turnout of cars.

My thanks to all those who braved the weather and I look forward to seeing you again in the near future.                                                                                      Kevin Price

Donald Campbell’s Record Attempt:
At 8.42am on the 4th January 1967 world record breaker Donald Campbell commenced an attempt on Coniston Water to break his own water speed record of 276.3mph. On the first of the two obligatory runs Bluebird K7 was recorded at an average of 297mph. On the second run at a speed estimated to have been in excess of 320mph Bluebird soared into the air, Donald’s voice clearly reporting the incident, somersaulted and crashed, disintegrating on impact with the water surface. Navy Divers only recently recovered the boat from the lake along with Donald’s remains in 140ft of water.

The boat following its removal from Coniston Lake is to be restored and will go on permanent display in the village of Coniston. Donald Campbell was finally laid to rest in the Village Church.

Sir Malcolm Campbell and son Donald CBE captured 21 World Land and Water Speed Records for Great Britain.