Shuttleworth Collection
Pictures: Peter Sharp

When we were driving back from the 2009 Spring Run, Gillie said it would be nice to have a Y Type run in the county we live in, Bedfordshire. I thought about it and looked at some possible start and finish locations. Bedfordshire is one of those counties that no one knows anything about. It struggles for any fame; it has no mountains or landmarks, the most famous person from the county is John Bunyan, its most famous show-biz stars are The Barron Knights. So I thought it would be good to have a run that would show the hidden treasures of Bedfordshire. I asked other Y owners whether they thought it was a good idea. They said yes and I presented the idea to the Committee at Kimber House. They said it was a good idea and thanked me for volunteering to organise it!
The rest is a bit of a blur. Jerry Birkbeck gave me excellent advice and encouragement, Peter Vielvoye gave me his support. Gillie and I drove the route a few times and checked mileage and turnings, we arranged rally boards and permits, I negotiated discounts and parking places at the end venue, I wrote the route book, I did some artwork, we advertised the event.
The week before the run I checked the first six websites that appear when you Google ‘UK Weather’. All the ones that predicted rain I ignored, I believed the ones that said it would be fine and sunny.
On the morning of Sunday September 5th I drove GBX 166 to Woburn public car park, checking the route on the way. It was clear with no closures and no one had stolen any signposts in the night. I was happy to see that some cars had arrived already at 10.00am.

Gathering at Woburn

Nine Y Types had booked entries, together with four other MGs and a couple of interlopers. I would not be driving my YA on the run because I wanted to get to the finishing venue before anyone else to check the arrangements. Also we had our granddaughter with us and children under ten can’t be passengers in cars without seatbelts. I had offered to lend it to John and Sue Turner from Tasmania who were visiting relatives in England with their family. They have a YA at home so I knew I could trust them; also I told John I would hunt him down if he put a single scratch on it.
When almost everyone had arrived (see the Y Register section of Safety Fast for the identity of the last arrival) we sent them off. My granddaughter Esme, 2 ¼ years old, waved a flag to set them on their way. Like her mum before her she called it a ‘wag’. It’s short for a waved flag; logical in the way that only young children can be.
We got in the Audi and started out for Shuttleworth happy that everyone had turned up; that everyone had a rally board and a route book and that the weather was good.

Then my mobile rang.

Some of the roads we had checked at 9.30am had now been closed for resurfacing; the planned route and mileages wouldn’t work anymore.

I’ll draw a discreet veil over all the many mobile phone calls I received in the car, my language and loudly voiced opinions of road contractors and my attempts to catch up with drivers to get them back on the right track. I’ll also gloss over a slight mistake in the route book.

When we got to The Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden we found that we had been given a good spot at the front, with dedicated access through the other parked cars and enough space to picnic on.

(The space was in front of the cars but of course all the Y owners sat behind at their boot lid picnic tables.)

Two cars from the run had arrived already; Neil Cairns’ YB and Roger Jackson’s TF 1500. There was another Y in attendance that didn’t take part in the run. Don Avery had bought it the week before in Pembro

keshire and had it trailered to his home in Cambridgeshire. This was the first time he had been out in it and he came to Shuttleworth, ‘To see if he could get any help or advice from other Y owners.’ I told him he’d get more help and advice than he’d ever know what to do with, and then a bit more. Which he did.
Despite setbacks, everyone got toShuttleworth in time for the flying; GBX 166 came in last because John and Sue had been soaking up the charm of Bedfordshire’s villages on the way. Then I could relax.

In the end we had ten Y Types;fiveMG 1 ¼ litre Saloons, threeMG 1 ¼ litre Tourers and two of what Jack Murray calls, ‘Y Type replicas’. The other MGs we

re a 1947 TC, a 1955 TF 1500, a 1965 MGB Roadster and a 1983 Midget.

The flying was superb. I’ll not list everything that was flying, just mention the elegant thirties biplanes flying in perfect formation in a very gusty wind, the even more elegant Miles aircraft, the thrill of seeing (and hearing) the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Avro Lancaster fly past us at what seemed almost arm’s length and the Hurricane and the Gladiator (my favourite) coming back from a display at Duxford in time to perform superbly.

My thanks to everyone who came for making it such a great day and especially to Jerry Birkbeck for advice, Peter Vielvoye for support and to my wife Gillie, my daughter Amy and my granddaughter

Esme for all their help, and the cakes.

There is a film of the display on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVdMAguTLdQ

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21st & 22nd May 2010

The 13th Annual Y Type Spring Run and weekend took place over the weekend of 21st/22nd May 2010 and was centred in Ledbury. It was an occasion blessed with fantastic weather and wall to wall sunshine on the day of the run.

Past runs have been held in the Cotswolds, but organisers Jerry and Jo Birkbeck thought that it might be worthwhile looking to the Malvern’s and Herefordshire as an alternative.

Since the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the Y Type held in 2007 the format has been for a weekend, rather than a run on a Sunday. That was a very special occasion, which was sadly spoilt by pouring rain on the day of the run. Moreover, it’s the only occasion where we have pulled together nearly 50 cars. As so many entrants travel a considerable distance to get to meet up, it has been sensible to arrange a venue where a Dinner can be organised together with an overnight stay. Finding a hotel large enough to cater for around 30-35 couples’ staying overnight has not always been easy and has often been more expensive than individuals sorting out their own B and B. Such was the case for this weekend, although the hotel was large enough to cater for around 18 of us.

The Royal Oak in Ledbury is in the centre of an historic and diverse town which deserves a good look round should you ever be passing through. In a fine listed building, which was undergoing repairs, owners Brendan and Sheila were doing a fine job in enhancing the image of the Hotel which had, a few years earlier, a poor reputation. They looked after us well, ensured that we had the exclusive run of the place from 8.00pm onwards, looked after the cars and in all were truly welcoming – thank you so much.

The Dinner, attended by 42 was a great success, and care was taken to ensure that everyone had a good seat! We would have had a couple more, but MGCC Director Paul Smith had to miss the evening as his wife had had a nasty fall at home. However, they and `Little Gem’ the YB that has been left to MGCC by the late Tim Pennicott, were present the following day.

The Spring Run commenced from Ledbury Rugby Club, where there is a good sized car park and of course, the ever important coffee/tea/bacon butties and loos!

As organizers, we had looked at several routes from Ledbury together with a number of potential destinations. The recently restored National Trust property Croome Park had been an early choice, but this had already been booked by the MGB Register. Alternative venues included Eastnor Castle, though that was too expensive, and we settled on Berrington Hall, to the north of Leominster. This too is owned by the NT. A very generous deal that included the usual free entry for members and £6.05 for a couple, who were non-members.

We had thought of passing through Malvern, though a quick check established that this was not viable due to likely heavy traffic over a weekend. The route to the north of Ledbury and west of Malvern was sadly lacking in terms of views and interest.  Jo suggested following the floodplain of the River Severn, which lies to the east of the Malvern Hills and then cutting cross country to Berrington. This with a few tweaks ended up as our chosen route – a distance of around 53 miles from the start.

All these weekends have the occasional mishap and breakdown and this was no exception. However, principal interest lay around the lack of a working starter motor in the Birkbeck’s recently acquired YT. From home to home, at every stop a push was needed and the starting handle proved to be ineffectual. However, as we were to discover there was a reason for that!

Mike Silk’s YT had a problem with his dynamo not charging. Brendan at the hotel kindly charged the battery up overnight, and the Y tecchy experts confirmed that Mike would have no trouble making his way to Berrington and then back to Wakefield - and they were right! 

On the Sunday, the weather was once more superb and during the day rose to 26 degrees. We managed to get all the cars – 30- away. There were 25 Y’s and five interlopers, not a worry as we are a very accommodating group.

Remarkably for such a fine day the traffic was very light and the route that Jo had selected was excellent as we passed through a diverse range of landscape types. As we made our way through the wooded and hilly countryside of north-east Herefordshire and into Worcestershire the roads became narrower, though we rarely met any other vehicles – save for the occasional tractor and Land Rover.

The Birkbeck’s YT experienced a miss-fire half way through the journey and we found our way into a large pub car park. This was also a handy stopping point for around 15 other Y’s. The YT’s misfire was quickly diagnosed by Derek Moore as a poor set of points. Somehow he seemed to be immune to goodness knows how many volts as he deftly checked the plug leads! Anyhow, thanks so much to Derek for his fault finding and repair. Once more and of course with a push we were on the road again.

All the party reached Berrington Hall safely and the cars were duly parked in a fine setting outside the main entrance.

We did our usual YA, YT and YB that individuals would like to take home with them and at the end of the day the following awards were given out:

The NTG Cup for YA’s

1949 model registered UML 241and owned by
BILL & HELEN BENNETT

The YT Steering Wheel
*It's only a replica steering wheel (3 in diameter) on a plinth!!!

1949 model registered IR 4304 and owned by
MIKE & SUE SILK

The Bill Atkinson Cup for YB’s

1952  model registered UMG 84 and owned by
RICHARD KNIGHT

The `Piston Broke’ Award, should have gone to Jerry and Jo’s YT as It had to be pushed (duff starter motor) and had misfiring problems (rotor arm and points ).  But as organisers we changed the rules and awarded it to Alan (and Mary) for their regular attendance over the years and of course they are a wonderful couple. What I hadn't appreciated was that Alan has owned his YB for 51 years - something of a record and of course due a celebration – so why not now?

Alan did comment that he had won the award in the past, along with others – not least being Register President Dennis Doubtfire. However, we noted that Alan’s Y like many present ran perfectly.

It was also a moment to thank Paul Smith for travelling all the way from Lincolnshire in `Little Gem’.

Once again this event proved its popularity and Jo's choice of Herefordshire and the route (as a change from the Cotswolds) turned out to be inspirational. A brilliant weekend with 42 at the Dinner, lovely people, lovely cars and lovely weather - what more could be asked for?

Jo is recommending the Peak District next year -might see some of you Northern Y Typers there –eh Malcolm (Hardy)?

Jerry Birkbeck

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