At last!!....

....a respected motoring journalist whose ideas about modern car design concur with my own.

John Simister reviewed the new BMW M235i in 'Octane' magazine, entitling the piece 'Better than it looks', the first paragraph was as follows:-

"Something has gone wrong with modern car design. There are three areas of concern. One, sheet metal is forced into shapes unbecoming of the medium. Two, there is too much fussy detailing and weird, over-ornate angling of visual components. Three, the resulting mish-mash  of slashes, bulges and distortions is neither memorable nor beautiful. That's the tragedy. Beauty has been banished, replaced by a sort of disposable brutality."

Perhaps a good example of this would be the Nissan 'Puke'....sorry 'Juke', and there are so many others, SUV's and 'Chelsea Taxis' possibly being the most notable.

Two days in the Dales.

With a goodish forecast for a couple of days this week we decided to extend our proposed picnic and spend some time in Yorkshire, God's own county as far as my Yorkshire Accountant friend tells me, although being a Lancastrian I would severely question that!

Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle-Carlisle railway line.

Little did we realise when we set off, that a great chunk of our journey to Middleham, where we were staying, was over the Tour de France route, from Hawes to Ripon.

Some of the hundreds of decorations for the Tour de France

As you will notice from the photographs, the locals are taking it very seriously indeed, with all the roads closed on the days of the Tour, businesses stocking up to meet the demands of the expected visitors,  houses decked with bunting,  yellow bikes and various other creations in the fields, particularly advertisements for Wensleydale cheese utilising cylindrical bales of hay....'Wallace and Gromit' will be delighted!

These 'Cheeses' were in many farmers' fields.

In one instance near Hawes, a gigantic white bike has been painted/cut on the fellside along the lines of the ancient white horses carved into the chalk in other places in England.

The 'White Bike' on the fellside near Hawes.

 Highlights of our visit were Aysgarth Falls and return visits to Fountains Abbey and Newby Hall.

Aysgarth Falls

The weather was delightful for most of the time although there was a change  during our final afternoon and on the journey home, but it was mainly Morgan motoring at its very best with the top down and the wind blowing free through my remaining strands of hair!

En route to West Burton.

West Burton, for a welcome pitstop at the hostelry across the Green.

The trip back was a cracker, across the high fells to Ingleton, passed Ingleborough fell and the Ribblehead viaduct, with little traffic on the road, making adventurous driving possible! Naughty boy!

Middleham, horse racing centre of the north.

Heading to the 'gallops', a small group of the 500 horses stabled in Middleham.

Morgan at rest.

Some of the horses residing in Mark Johnson's stables.

Only one hiccup with the car and that concerned the nearside rear indicator which started to behave in exactly the same way as the offside one had done until 'repaired', flashing at a high rate of knots instead of in a nice steady way.

Middleham Castle, home of King Richard the Third, awaiting restoration!

The problem arises within the fitting, when the fibre washer that holds the connector on which the bulb sits, moves and presumably causes a short circuit. Anyway, I did manage to effect a temporary repair but have arranged for a long standing Auto Electrician to have a look at both of them with a view to a permanent solution.

Fountains Abbey

Newby Hall

Replacement via Morgan is £25 + labour of course, so I hope my man can sort them prior to our drive south in a few days, to spend a few days in a cottage at Ross on Wye, which will include a visit to the centenary of the Morgan factory on Sunday 13th July and thence to Surrey and Warwick where our daughters reside

More decorations.....

.....and a lovely pint of 'Timothy Taylors!'

Incidentally one of the major benefits of the Tour for Morgan drivers is that the County Council in Yorkshire has had to fix the roads, potholes and all.....however once we veered off the main route it was back to normal

Perhaps going to be a wet return journey....

....but somehow it stayed dry, even over the high moors. Ribblehead Viaduct in the distance.

Who needs a Plus 8........

....to create an impression!

I've just returned from filling the tank in preparation for another picnic up in the Yorkshire Dales tomorrow.

En route to the petrol station I passed a lover and his lass walking on the pavement. As I drew alongside, slowing for a roundabout, I heard the young chap say, "Wow! look at that beast!".

There's only one thing I'm concerned about. Was it the car or me he was referring to?

The Morgan Experience

My wife and I have just received an email from a very dear friend who has just enjoyed a drive in a Three-Wheeler as part of a Morgan Driving Experience.

The 90 minute drive took place from the Morgan factory and around the lovely Worcestershire countryside.

He so obviously enjoyed himself , that I knew my band of readers would relish his description of the drive as much as we did.


"........So arriving at Morgan I immediately see my 3 Wheeler ready to go. It's very new - I am told by the instructor (Ian) that Morgan had to modify the suspension after the early models proved a bit hairy - and am assured that I have got a good one. I am fitted with a waterproof jacket (luckily the rain holds off) and a crash helmet. I wouldn't ever choose a helmet of course - it blunts the perception and sensations that are the whole point of the vehicle - but one can see that as a business they have to insist. I am delighted to report that I received no lecture, no instructions, just a few words of advice which I think were "keep the revs up, be careful pulling out at your first junction as the turning circle is huge, and push this button to start her".

I heave myself in - both hands on the framework like the parallel bars at school whilst I try to wiggle my dangling legs under the steering wheel. Bit tight (not for porkies this car - I have read your latest blog. Pies, sausage rolls and chicken goujons but no mention of the salad eh?). Bit of a squeeze wrapping the seat belt around me. Snug is the word. 

The handbrake is fly-off Morgan as in the 4s. There are very few controls at all - one switch for lights on or off - no high beam malarkey. Turn key for ignition. Covered aircraft style button for start.  Lovely binnacle. The indicator stalk is a bit weird. Push the stalk to indicate as normal. And then push again the same way to cancel. Or they will self-cancel after 15 seconds. This was the only part of the design which annoyed me. You have to keep looking to see if they are on or off. Citroens used to have marvellous indicator swicthes - push switch to turn on, push again to cancel - simple & intuitive and I miss them. 

Orf we both jolly well go. First turn is a left out of the Morgan factory gate and I swing massively wide - the turning circle is lorry-like and we are briefly on the right-hand side of the carriageway. After this, careful approaches and positioning at turns become second nature and all is well. Ian's only role as instructor is to point a gloved hand in the direction of travel, saving me the bother of navigating the Worcestershire roads, which makes my drive very stress-less. I had expected a Germanic list of do's and don'ts but they do things casually in Malvern and so I am bursting with happiness.

The 3 pedals are very close together - no driving in hiking boots here - and there is no place to rest the clutch foot, not even behind the pedal, which I would find tiring on a long trip. But of course Morgan themselves admit this jalopy is simply for fun. (It is!) I have been allocated an hour but in the event I think I had 90 minutes. Great variety of roads - A, B, C and some tracks, plus tootling all the way through Great Malvern to get the idea of how she handles in start-stop. Some fast stretches dualling with HGVs, across some moorland with horses grazing at the roadside, then up into the hills where Morgan take their publicity pictures. The scenery is first class. I am sitting low down in the car and cannot really see where the left hand front wheel is or how close to the kerb, but it wouldn't take long to "get it".  Very little weather protection. Ride is fine. There is no real sensation of being in a 3-wheeler in terms of lean or stability. And I can sense everything. Engine very agreeable - this is not a high-revving screamer but a low, throaty torquey beast.

Most of the noise comes from the right-hand exhaust which is close to my ear. Burbles and roars, with occasional crackles and pops. Very agreeable sound. Less agreeable is the constant chirruping & whining from the transmission tunnel. Ian later described it as sounding like a bunch of caged birds. The gearbox come from the MX-5 so is fine.

I quickly feel "at one" and it seems an easy car to chuck around, though I know I didn't come anywhere near to fully exploring it - the guys at Morgan have special courses (I am tempted) to show owners what it can really do when you let rip. The central rear driving wheel is driven by a belt, and it's positioning was noticeable when we went up a track with a grassy/muddy strip in between two bits of tarmac (think farm track) as then the rear wheel suddenly started slipping and the car darted from side-to-side. Huge fun. 

It was all over too quickly of course - but well worth the trip. Everybody (and I mean everybody) stared as the car went by. An attention-seekers dream.

I cannot pretend to myself that I'll ever buy one of these, but I would love to be able to hire one now and again to enjoy a full day of pottering.

Wonderful, simply wonderful"


See what I mean?

Death in the drive....

.......and also in the pond!

You may remember the efforts I made to frighten cats away from my garden. Well, I think that it may be categorically stated that they have failed miserably!

The proof being that on two occasions over the last few weeks, since erecting my 'scarers', I have opened the rear door of the garage that leads to the Morgan's home and there on the drive were the bloody remains of a fat Wood Pigeon and the more dainty body of a mangled Collared Dove.

Not only that, but I have also found partially eaten chicken bones, not that we keep chickens, we don't. but something must have been given or purloined these things to munch on and I suspect my feline friends are the culprits.

Remember this fearsome fellow?

More worryingly, as I was cleaning the wheels on the Morgan and greasing the front suspension, a job that I did say recently that I would leave to the professionals to save my poor wracked body from more contortional damage, I checked the pond....no fish!

To think that we do this for fun!

Had they been knobbled by a large avian with a long pointed beak or were they merely resting amongst the weed growth? Anyway, I went to the pond to check on the situation today and saw, to my horror, just one fish that was clearly on its 'uppers' and breathing its last breaths. It was removed from the pond and to save any further suffering, because that's the sort of chap I am, despatched it with a brick!

Clearly, cats and Herons are unmoved by my artistic creations and continue with their devilish activities.

Sod the World Cup and all other distractions, where are my fish and what am I to do about those wretched cats?

Another Picnic in the Fells.

The Bleasdale Fells to be precise and a drive to the Trough of Bowland, mostly owned by the Duke of Westminster, who kindly allows peasants like us to visit his land.

Our trip followed the usual pattern, strapping chairs to the luggage rack, a quick drive to our favourite baker to pick up a pies, sausage rolls and the wonderful chicken goujons they produce which are mouth watering to say the least when dipped into mayonnaise and finally the leisurely drive into the fells.

It is a beautiful, restful spot where the silence is only broken by the sound of birds, the babbling stream, not yet a river and the arrival of one Bryan Rawlinson, former Treasurer of 'Norcemog' who had spotted us as he was driving past and stopped to have a natter. He was driving his new 4/4 with only 45 miles on the clock, a special order that had a spare wheel and luggage rack fitted and various other goodies.

As an aside I must say that I felt that the new style 4/4 without a spare or a luggage rack was a retrograde step. In my opinion it rendered it pretty useless as a serious touring machine.

Bryan in his lovely new 4/4

Anyway, it was lovely to speak to Bryan who is delighted with his new acquisition.

Yours truly...I really will have to lose some weight!

On the outward leg I realised that the offside rear flasher was not working so on our return I set about checking the bulb and the bullet connections. Still no success, so having exhausted my knowledge of electricity, an ineptitude that is on a par with my feeble knowledge of plumbing, I took the car to my local friendly garage who fixed it in a jiffy. The problem was that a fibre washer had come adrift from a thingumajig and this he promptly fixed for nowt!!!!

4/4 to Ayrshire

‘May the fleas from a thousand camels infest your armpits’,  I cursed,  as yet another tailgater attached itself to our rear as we travelled on the A76 from Dumfries to Irvine at 60 miles an hour. This Arab curse, rather wordy I agree, is nevertheless I feel, highly appropriate for this most dangerous of motoring bad practices.

Whether or not my curse had any effect I do not know, but we arrived at our destination at Annick Lodge in Ayrshire, all in one piece after a good 4 hour drive from Lancashire.

At Westmorland Services on the M6

The weather forecast for the week was not good and it was clear from the start that there would be few idyllic Morgan driving experiences with roof and sidescreens off. However, as it turned out we were able to drive top down on many occasions between showers.

Annick Lodge Mains, our cottage.

On the day of our arrival, I visited the Scottish National Maritime Museum in Irvine while my wife, not being a person with any nautical interest,  relaxed in the car.

Scottish National Maritime Museum, Irvine

The following day we reconnoitred up the west coast to Wemyss Bay via Ardrossan and Largs, as we had planned two ferry crossings to both the Isle of Arran and the Isle of Bute and wanted to investigate the parking facilities, as we intended to travel as foot passengers on both occasions.

Monday found us at the factory shop of Begg & Co in Ayr, www.beggandcompany.com  manufacturers of cashmere garments where cashmere can be bought for a fraction of the full retail price. Needless to say.....!?

Anyway, with all these luxury items stuffed into the Morgan we made our way to Dumfries House near Cumnock.www.dumfries-house.org.uk

Dumfries House

Scottish admirers!

One of Britain’s most beautiful stately homes it has sumptuous interiors and magnificent furnishings. Built between 1754 and 1759 for the 5^th Earl of Dumfries it has been described as an 18^th century time-capsule.

One of the gardens at Dumfries House

In 2007, HRH Prince Charles headed a consortium that purchased the House to keep it accessible to the public. When we visited there was a tremendous amount of  work being carried out in the gardens which fortunately did not detract from the beauty of the place,  certainly a highlight of our trip.

Wemyss Bay Station and Ferry Terminal

The wonderful boardwalk to the Ferry at Wemyss Bay

En route to Rothesay

The following day found us on the ferry to Rothesay on the Island of  Bute with a visit to the Gothic/Victorian ‘pile’ of Mount Stuart www.mountstuart.com being our objective for the day.

Arriving at Rothesay

First impressions of Rothesay were poor, it having a very ‘down at heel’ look about it. As I said to my wife, while surveying the sea front, “There is not one business here which looks welcoming”. However, we had an hour to kill before the bus to Mount Stuart arrived so we wandered up to the moated Castle which is very well kept and impressive.

Rothesay Castle

We joined a guided tour of  Mount Stuart, a neo Gothic stately house which we found, regardless of its reputation as one of the UK’s great buildings, totally ‘over the top’and somewhat eccentric. We did say that the Marquess of Bute would be better advised to spend money on the frontage at Rothesay rather than on this house.

Mount Stuart

Culzean Castle www.nts.org.uk/Property/Culzean-Castle-and-Country-Park was next on our agenda, having given up the idea of a day on the Isle of Arran due to the poor weather conditions.

Culzean Castle

The castle is situated near Maybole, south of Ayr, and enjoys a dramatic cliff-top position. In the late 18^th century the 10^th Earl of Cassilis instructed Robert Adam to build an impressive castle on the site of a previous more basic structure and it was completed in 1792. It was the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa, the chief of the Kennedy Clan.

Culzean Castle

Ailsa Craig in the mist!!!

On our return to our cottage we stopped off at the little fishing village of Dunure for some refreshment and to take a picture of Dunure Castle.

Dunure

Dunure Castle

We decided next day to take things easy so we visited Troon, some 20 minutes from the cottage and had a delightful lunch of 'Cullen Skink' at Scotts Restaurant and Bar scotts-troon.co.uk . This is a lovely place to eat, overlooking the Marina and there is another restaurant at the end of the Dock Road, an Oyster Bar which has excellent reviews.

The Isle of Arran from Troon

Troon Marina

Our final day saw us at the Robert Burns Museum www.burnsmuseum.org.uk where due to the dim effect lighting we couldn’t read any of the descriptive cards etc.,  for any exhibit!!!!! So precious little came from the visit in the way of understanding!!....and we are not blind!

Robert Burns Museum

Burn's Cottage

Brig o'Doon

As we toured Burn’s Cottage some time later, I mentioned this to an American and his wife from Edinburgh and they had the same criticism, that it was poorly lit and badly designed, and he had had experience of designing similar events/exhibitions.

The short walk to the ‘Auld Kirk’ and ‘Brig o’Doon’ was worthwhile and enjoyable.

The River Doon and the gardens of the Brig o'Doon Hotel

At last, a decent hand-pulled ale at the 'Ship'

Fortunately, as we set off for home it was dry but this was shortly to change as we battled heavy rain and high winds, a miserable mix in a Morgan! So out came the bits of towelling to ram in the orifices that were allowing water to be sprayed inside with the odd drips on our legs just having to be ignored!

As we travelled south before Shap Summit on the M6 there was a cheery ‘toot, toot’  from a fellow Morgan as it raced passed us, laden, as we were, with a suitcase on the rack.

This shot reflects the sort of weather we endured for much of our stay...it is a picture of the Isle of Arran taken from the seafront between Ardrossan and Largs!!!!!

Regardless of the lovely properties we visited, the best fun of all was driving the Morgan in all weather and I truly cannot understand owners who merely pamper their cars as we do, but NEVER drive them!

706 miles completed, meaning that our total mileage since buying the car is 22,878.