Another 1000 miles!....

.....bringing the total mileage we have completed in 6 glorious years to 24,100.

The call for our babysitting services came from two fronts with the proposed dates close enough to justify making a holiday out of it. What is more, the Morgan factory Centenary Celebrations on Sunday 13th July was an added bonus that could be incorporated into the sandwich!

A light lunch near Much Wenlock

The drive to our first port of call took around five hours instead of the usual two and a half hours, as we decided to avoid the Motorways and went via Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Kidderminster, Redditch and then to Warwick and Leamington Spa.  Longer, but at least our brains weren't assaulted by the motorway traffic noise and on that point it is interesting to note that the new surfaces being put down on the motorways seem much quieter.

'Hooks Barn' near Roson-Wye, our hideaway.

The garden area and beautiful valley beyond.

Forest of Dean boundary marker by our front door.

After a couple of nights we moved on to a cottage on the fringes of the Forest of Dean, via Alcester, Worcester and the Malverns. Lovely, peaceful accommodation, just right for a romantic getaway!!! Who am I trying to kid!

Sadly, under a leaden sky

Bonnets

The day after our arrival was the Factory event which was heavily supported with a fine display of Morgans, factory visits, a fairground, food and drink stalls and entertainment. Whilst there I purchased two rear indicator assemblies as we had been experiencing problems with both units.

What a beast!!!

As Lucas no longer exists, these are 'imitation' items made in Taiwan or somewhere and so instead of being able to buy the offending  innards you have to buy the lot. The problem is not unknown to Morgan and is caused by a 'fabric' washer eroding allowing a short circuit to occur at the bottom of the bulb. It used to be made of 'Bakelite'......such is progress!

Ledbury

Anyway, having enjoyed the visit we returned to our hideaway, having stopped for a look around Ledbury and my wife said, why on earth hadn't I arranged to have the job done by the factory on the next day? Good idea, so I phoned them at 9am on the Monday, got an immediate appointment, so made another trip to the factory. After a couple of hours we were on our way with reliable indicators we hope! The factory are sending my old units away for inspection by the manufacturer.

Hereford Cathedral

Hereford Cathedral and the 'Mappa Mundi' was next on the agenda, followed by a drive to Hay-on-Wye in Wales, the home of the annual Book Festival and countless bookshops.

Hay-on-Wye

The river at Hay

After a swift pint we then made our way through the 'Golden Valley' which, on the day of our drive was a most appropriate name, as the sun shone on fields of golden wheat, that in the Morgan were annoyingly hidden, along with much of the rest of the scenery, by the sort of banked hedgrows very much in evidence in Devon.

In the 'Golden Valley'

Cheating, surely!!

En route we stopped at the ruined Border Castles of Grosmont and Skenfrith.

Grosmont village

Grosmont Castle

Skenfrith Castle

Next day we drove through parts of the Forest, on roads that probably hadn't been surfaced for decades and which would have given my best friend ample fodder, as he regards us as masochists for wanting to drive around in a Morgan! When we finally got to Westbury-on-Severn to look around the National Trust garden and have a welcome 'cuppa', I was beginning to agree with him!

The garden at Westbury-on-Severn

Goodrich Castle is a beautiful ruined medieval pile that has sufficient of it's walls still standing and elements within those walls still recognisable, enabling a good impression to be gained of the lives of the residents there. We enjoyed our visit there very much on our final day.

Goodrich Castle

Bridge close to Ruardean, taken from Goodrich Castle

Ross-on-Wye

An early start the next morning found us battling with the rush hour in Gloucester, as we aimed for Swindon to pick up the M4 to Bracknell and thence to Camberley in Surrey for a few days with our daughter. Great fun especially as it was the Farnborough Airshow and from her property a good view of some of the aerial activity is possible.

The homeward trip was broken at Warwick for one night and then it was a very quick blast up the M40, M42, M6 Toll, M6 and M55 to our home.

The Morgan behaved impeccably and we are already thinking of a possible next trip, will it be the road from Belfast to Londonderry via Stranraer or maybe even the Route Napoleon from Grenoble to Cannes across the Alps.....we shall see.