I had expected to finish my rebuild in time to do this Vintage Register event as a first outing. But things conspired to thwart me. I blew a head gasket just before we were due to leave and as I had the head off decided to replace the valves, but that is another story.

Thus we left for Minchinhampton in my modern, as it turned out not a bad solution, sorry I didn’t mean to use that word. We arrived at The Burleigh Court Hotel following a leisurely drive down; there were four cars there already, John and Janet Day’s Mk1 tourer, Doug and Margaret Harris’s Mk1 fabric saloon, Mike and Barbara Heins’ Mk1 speed model and John and Marie Burton’s 14/40 two seater. What I didn’t realise was that the Land Rover discovery in car park was John and Tricia Venables. John had injured his shoulder and was banned from driving his 18/80. It wasn’t long before we were joined by the rest of the group, Buddy and Elaine Shapiro and Nick and Liz Benger both in moderns and Patrick and Annabelle Gardner in their Mk1 two seater and finally Phillip and Rosemary Bayne Powell in their 14/40 two seater. Due to unforeseen circumstances Clive and Denis Wells were unable to make it. We had driven down in windy and occasional rain and the forecast was not good either, the forecast turned out to be spot on.

The hotel however was splendid and Julia reckoned it to be probably the best we have stayed in on a VR event. The rooms were very comfortable, food was outstanding and the service excellent. Dinner that first night was a joy, not only to behold but to consume as well.

Wednesday morning we set off in pouring rain and followed a circuitous route through many little lanes and hamlets to Bourton-on-the-Water, which may well have been Bourton-in-the-Water it was so wet. There we had coffee and then visited the Motor Museum a charming nostalgic look back at earlier times, not just motoring but many aspects of life. From there we set off along many other, what I’m sure would have been very pretty in sunshine, byways en route to Painswick and The Rococo Gardens, we didn’t make it as we hit one pot hole too many and destroyed a tyre, I bent my wheel brace a bit more, David Hutchison had previously had similar luck on another occasion, trying to loosen the wheel nuts and none of the others had suitable tools on board, so we had to wait for the RAC man to do the job for us. Fortunately we were close to the Colesbourne Hotel and adjacent garage so we were able to be fed and watered and buy a newspaper while we waited almost two hours for the RAC man to arrive.

It was raining so hard that while the rest had lunch at the Rococo Gardens, they gave a walk round the grounds a miss. Meanwhile we reached Cheltenham by means of a ‘spacesaver’ wheel and ATS relieved me of a considerable sum to replace what had been a relatively new tyre.

That evening we had another superb meal before retiring to the bar and bed.

Thursday dawned wet again, and were we thankful that we had come by modern, having spurned several offers of ‘vintage’ rides. This day we visited Berkeley Castle, the oldest continuously inhabited, by one family, castle in England. We were joined by Tony Hartnell and Jerry & Miriam Targett, Peter and Victoria Jones sensibly stayed at home having previously said they would join us. With the weather so foul both Tony and Jerry & Miriam decided not to come back to the hotel, although Tony did follow me for a while on the twisting route we had been given but escaped up the A38 when the chance arose.

Again another wonderful meal, I haven’t mentioned the breakfasts I was so glad to get home to a more gentle diet.

Friday was again wet and most set off for home, but Julia and I followed Doug and Margaret home as they had invited us to stay as Julia was brought up in Cheltenham where they live. Unfortunately as we left Minchinhampton Common Doug pulled over only to be engulfed in steam, no water could be seen in the header tank and the oil was milky white, so for the second time that holiday it was the rescue services to the recovery, this time the AA to take Doug home.

We offer our sincerest thanks to John and Tricia for an outstanding few days, excellent hotel, meaningful visits and brilliant organisation.

John Cooper