The August run had been organised by Brian & Beryl, & the group left the Spring Inn, Rochdale guided by Graham, up over Buckstones through Delph, Uppermill & into Greenfield.

 Brian & Beryl had arranged to meet us there at the new supermarket car park. You would think that it would be a good place to meet at llam on a Sunday morning, but some bright spark had arranged a car boot sale in the same place & the whole area was packed out with parked cars.

Anyway, the cavalcade of excellence was guided by Brian & Beryl through customs and into Yorkshire. It was a dull & grey morning but true to form as soon as we drove up the hill towards Holmfirth the sun came out & we enjoyed a warm & sunny day.

 Our next stop was at the Royd Moor Wind Farm which is a bit unusual that you can drive virtually underneath the windmills, for a break & enjoyed the magnificent views. Then on to Penistone for a short comfort stop & a chance to view the new Cruck Barn that has recently been constructed.

Heading towards the M1 we enjoyed a blast down the A roads which in this area never seem to be congested. crossing the M1 & travelling alongside it southwards we turned off towards the village of Wentworth Woodhouse and into the garden centre.

 A really pretty village & a wonderful garden centre. We were now in the grounds of Wentworth Woodhouse, a grade one listed building & one of the great "Whig" Political Palaces.

The house has the longest country house facades in Europe at 606ft. There are 365 rooms and the building covers an area of 2.5 acres.

 It was recently featured in "Country House Revealed". Unfortunately for us it is privately owned & has never been open to the public.

A really fantastic day out was enjoyed by all and everybody managed to get their passport stamped.

 

We even had a TVR join us this month.

    Is this one of the new electric cars charging points?

TREASURE HUNT & SUMMER BUFFET

 

This year's event was hosted by Graham and Pauline on a bright and warm Summer's day!

 

The Treasure Hunt took the Cavalcade of Excellence across Lancashire and West Yorkshire on a cracking run that lasted over three hours that was inter spaced with questions for the quiz at two locations. At the second stop, at Coldhurst Visitor Centre, a very nice lady presented everyone with a welcome choc ice to help them as they searched for the answers to the clues. The winners of this Treasure Hunt were Dave and Fran Soye.

 

The happy MG crowd arrived at Graham and Pauline's home full of energy and zest - well prepared for the fun and games to follow. But first we all partook of Pauline's sumptuous buffet and possibly a well deserved Pimms or two.

 

The games then followed. MG garden racing cars (throw a dice and move a place). Mini golf (no holes in one!). Skittles (a pain to re-set the skittles!). But we never got around to Hooplah, Quoits or pin the badge on the MG because it was time for the cakes and strawberrys and cream. Mmmmm!

 

The winners of each game received a winners medal and we took the opportunity to present Ray and Joan from Cancer Research UK with a cheque for £175 being the proceeds from the recently held Cobblestones Run.

 

What a great day!

COBBLESTONES RUN 2011

 

After days of dullness and rain the hottest day of the year dawned on Cobblestones day!

 

This annual run is our biggest event and attracts all makes of classic cars especially MG's. This year was our biggest yet with thirty five cars setting off on a rather long ninety six mile route through North Lancashire and the Forest of Bowland. The route had varied places of interest as stop off points along the way. The participants in the Cavalcade of Excellence could choose which was of interest to them along the way and could ignore other suggested places of interest if they wished. One or two did go off-piste by accident rather than desire. The additional trip into Lancaster by the Porsche Boxster owner did provide us with some amusement! But no matter, everyone returned safe and sound.

 

Back at the Spring Inn a mouthwatering hot buffet of either a meat and potato pie or cheese and onion pie with all the trimmings followed by a large helping of chocolate fudge cake or cheese cake rounded off the day. Superb!

 

The Cobblestones event may be over but there are still many more Sunday runs and events that are due to take place throughout the remainder of the year. Anyone wishing to view our Events list can do so by viewing our website or by contacting Graham or Brian for more info.

Graham Taylor

May's MG Run was organised by Keith and Louise and started from the Spring Inn on a gloriously warm and sunny day. Well that may be an exaggeration it was in fact wild, wet and windy! But this did not matter to the Cavalcade of Excellence who in high spirits embarked on a tour of West and North Yorkshire.

 

Our first stop was at Oxenhope steam railway where we bumped into the Velocete motor bike owners club on one of their outings. Nice people and nice bikes. Onwards then to Embsey steam railway station for lunch and time for a quick butchers at steam loco "Norman". Our MG's looked really chuffed!

 

The route then got even better as we weaved along small country roads through some beautiful countryside. We enjoyed extensive views and passed through some very pretty villages. What a treat! Proper MG driving roads.

 

The final destination was a farm shop and tea room with the opportunity for a quick cuppa before wending our way back over the tops via Settle to Lancashire and home. It was a long run and a full day out and we drove along roads that we never new existed. Well done Keith and Louise on planning a magnificent day out.

GORDON & NAN'S RUN

On what turned out to be the warmest day of the year so far we set off from the Spring Inn with Graham and Pauline in the lead car because unfortunately both Gordon and Nan where unable to make the run on the day.

 

En route, the Cavalcade of Excellence passed by the infamous place where Graham and Pauline had a serious MG Midget breakdown that lasted for five hours. This was the second time we passed by the spot on two separate runs and we all feared that it may be tempting fate. But all went well.

 

After a quick coffee stop at Lymefield garden centre we continued onto Buxton over the tops with some fantastic views and to our final destination at the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton. Superb! Sunshine, gardens, ice cream, a band playing outdoors and lots of people enjoying the nice weather and atmosphere.

 

Unfortunately, because parking was such a problem we all got split up for the return journey and we had to say our goodbye's in the park. No matter, we all had a great day out in our MG's.

 

Looking forward to our Annual Cobblestones Run in June. See you there!

Our Sunday Run for March took the Cavalcade of Excellence on a longish jaunt south and out of our region and onwards into Staffordshire and the delights of Tittesworth Water.

 

The run had been organised and planned by Brian and Beryl however, they were unable to take part as they where enjoying the hotter delights of Lake Como at the time.  No bother, Graham and Pauline took over the reigns and led the happy band only getting lost once - which is a personal best!

 

The first stop was the very cosy tea rooms at The Wizard just outside Alderley Edge. We can certainly recommend this place after our relaxed stop-over and in particular the adjacent tiny museum of caving and local mining.

 

So onwards we went to Tittesworth Water.  This turned out to be a delightful place however, it's name prompted a discussion on how to pronounce it!  The views are fantastic and there is a nice shopping experience to be had inside the nice visitor centre.

 

Everyone enjoyed the day even though we all had to set our clocks one hour forward the night before.  It was a strange feeling somehow to be a little earlier than usual.  I suspect we may have lost a couple of cars at the start due to the change in time!

 

Thank you to Brian and Beryl for a great day out.

Well Dave and Frances certainly pulled the cat out of the bag for their February Frolics MG Run!

 

It's a pity the weather didn't do the same.  Maybe raining cats, and additional dogs, does qualify for an attempt at matching the work that Dave and Fran did in arranging the run.  Still, it wasn't all that bad because I am sure I saw the sun peep out a couple of times.  But we did keep the tops up this time.

 

Salmesbury Hall was the main destination and we can recommend it as a good place to visit.  A stately home, antiques, shop and a magnificent cafe are on offer.  We can vouch for the finest scones with low calorie cream that we have ever eaten!

 

It was a fast one too.  We had a good opportunity to give the engines a bit of a test.  So, many thanks to Dave and Fran.

Graham and Pauline's Brrr! January Run turned out to be quite an event with things going quite a bit wrong!

 

Firstly, Ray and Joan locked their car keys inside their TF and we all tried various methods in order to try and retrieve them.  In the end their spare set of keys was brought to the Spring Inn by their son. Off went the Cavalcade of Excellence.

 

In the lead, Graham and Pauline were enjoying the day when Bridget the Midget decided to act up a bit!  Eventually, the MG "failed to proceed".  Despite poking and prodding, waggling and checking, the car refused to start.  So, everyone carried on leaving Pauline and Graham to await the arrival of a nice man called Stuart from the AA.  To say that Stuart went an extra mile to try and fix the car by the roadside would be an understatement.  In fact he went an extra ten miles that involved two trips to a car spares shop in a nearby town but all to no avail and after two and a half hours a car transporter was called.  But even whilst travelling back home on the transporter, Graham received a call from Stuart from the AA with more info on the probable cause of the breakdown and how to try and fix the problem at home.

See below for fixing details
 

The run was enjoyed by everyone who took part and Pauline particularly enjoyed her five hours of sitting in a very cold Midget with very little food and liquid.  Did she say "We must do this again"  No, looking back I don't think that those were the words that she chose to describe the experience!

 

This year's Cobblestones MG Run will take place on Sunday 26th June.  See our advert or visit our website for more details. It should be a cracker!

A Problem shared is - a pain for someone

The car had been driving pretty well for about an hour when it developed severe "Kangeroo petrol" symptoms that got worse and worse over about ten minutes.  Eventually, 5,000 revs where needed in order just to set off at lights and to move about one hundred yards where the car stopped for good at the side of a busy main road. No power.  We checked the fuel pump and fuel delivery and that seemed alright.  We checked the HT lead connections and the points and generally looked for the cause of the situation.  The engine just would not start.  When he arrived, Stuart the AA man said that the issues where definitely with the electrical system and located a very poorly performing coil.  A new coil was purchased and the engine did start but it still had a very rough turnover and would not "pull" the car.  It seems that a coil if defective can damage the condenser and cause the pitting and build-up on the contact points.  Unfortunately, a second journey in the AA van to the car spares place found that none where in stock.  So, even after checking and cleaning the points gap Stuart had to admit defeat and sent for the car transporter.  He advised Graham to replace both the points and the distributor at home himself.

 

It was during the journey home in the cab of the AA transporter that Stuart rang Graham again with a further thought.  A friend of his had said that if the small washer was missing from beneath the spring washer on the points fixing screw then it was possible that the screw was in contact with the metal plate that is connected to the vacuum advance mechanism inside the distributor.  Back in his garage at home, Graham took off the distributor and cleaned and oiled the mechanism inside and did notice scratches at the point where the screw had protruded onto the base plate.  With new points and condenser the car started first time and was back to normal running.

 

So, lessons learnt, apart from defective coil and how it can affect the other electrical components, is the importance of the little washer that had somehow got lost over a period of time.  Maybe the poor condition of the coil got to a point where the malfunction of the vacuum advance mechanism developed into a poorly performing engine with no power.  Either way it's worth making sure that this small insignificant washer is still in place when working on the points etc.

We went back to the Spring Inn for this year's North Manchester MGOC Christmas Meal and it turned out to be the right decision.

 

The food was magnificent and so was the company of our members.  Our annual raffle raised funds for the club and there where eight lucky winners drawn on the night four of whom collected Christmas Hampers that had been assembled from donations of wine, food and chocolates etc., from our members.

 

Now is the time of planning for our packed programme of events that will take place during 2011.  The main event will be our annual Cobblestones Run to be held during June.  Our regular monthly runs will take us to the best spots and the best driving roads around our region.

 

All we need is fine and dry weather - but to be honest wild wet and windy weather will not affect our enjoyment of driving our MG's.

"How much?" MG Run by Dave and Frances. September 2010

 

The explanation behind the title of this annual outing "How Much" is hilarious but too long to relate in these pages.  However, we can say that this year's route was one of the best:

 

The Cavalcade of Excellence left the Spring Inn in fine weather and we travelled over the moors and into Burnley to our first stop at a mill shop which had something for everyone.  Here we also picked up two other cars who had decided to meet up with us at this point.  Another route over the hills followed which brought us to the very interesting venue of Clitheroe Castle.  Here the Castle Custodian had granted us the privilege of parking within the Castle grounds.  Onlookers and other visitors also gathered as he had advertised the MG line-up as a special attraction for all to enjoy.  What a wonderful hour!

 

We all reluctantly left the Castle after lunch and proceeded through the Forest of Bowland viewing some some beautiful countryside along the way.  At one point we could see the sea from a high vantage point!

Our final destination was the pretty village of Scorton and a garden centre/shop/lovely cafe.

It was then time to return home with some nice memories of a great MG day out.

Annual Treasure Hunt, BBQ and MG Olympics:  22nd August

 

This year's event was hosted by Brian and Beryl and they certainly made our members and the MG Cavalcade of Excellence welcome!
 

After a full BBQ we all played our usual silly games of car racing, horse racing, skittles, pin the MG badge on the car, throwing horseshoes and hoops.  Winners of the treasure hunt was Jim and the overall winner of the games were Brian and Beryl - a fix!

 

Ray and Joan's "over the hills and far away" run:  Sunday 25th July

 

Seven cars started the run ( with their tops down)  and the first stop was the Whalley Abbey tea rooms.  Then off to Clitheroe and the lovely Lancashire lanes passing through the villages of Waddington, Newton and onto Slaidburn and an ideal stopping place for lunch by the river.  We had time to browse in the village antique shop. Off again over what our members called, an ideal MG road.  This single track road over the moors had steep hills, sharp bends, blind summits, cattle grids and sheep.  Reaching High Bentham we turned left through the villages of Wray and Caton and off towards Lancaster.  One junction down the M6 and onto the A6, a much easier road.  This took us to our last stop at Barton Grange Garden Centre. After a short stop here Members made for home in different directions