Old ‘Crocks’ in the sunshine – London to Brighton 2017

Sorry we’ve been quiet since Goodwood but there was catching up to do and then we actually had a holiday. No blog or photo’s as we went in a modern car and saw very few classics although we had a great time. There hasn’t been much happening on the car front at all, the last couple of Goodwood Breakfast Clubs were cancelled due to the poor conditions of the carparks after the Revival. James is currently on the RAC rally of the tests, navigating the Fiat 2300 for Michael Moss again.

Last weekend, on a beautiful sunny November morning we went to spectate on the 2017 London to Brighton Vintage Car Run. We went back to the Friars Oak near Hassocks which is a good place to watch from and obviously has facilities and is a good location to meet up with fiends. Some of our friends were taking part in the event and they can stop off and say hello.

We were there in good time and wanted for the veterans to come along. As it was such a lovely day classics of all ages were out in force and we wish we’d made the effort to bring Mario along! The route for the run had been altered due to roadworks in London and it was causing a lot of problems which meant the cars were quite slow in coming through but it wasn’t too long before Jan and Mike came along in their De Dion Bouton. This is a different car to the one James took part in with Mike, a bit more modern and comfortable and more reliable. They had a guest from Bonham’s with them, who’s Great Grandfather had had a similar car.

After waving them off to Brighton we watch some more cars come through. Everything was running rather late, in part due to a serious accident in Reigate involving one of the entrants and several modern vehicles. Hopefully the crew will make a good recovery and the incident won’t have any implications for the future of the event. As it was already 2pm we decided not to go into Brighton to Maderia Drive.

Anyway here are some photo’s from the day – I had a new camera to play with and I was quite pleased with the results. They were much better than previous years  although it is quite difficult to know if that’s the camera or the better weather conditions!

If you are interested the full set is online

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A warm day for the London to Brighton Veteran run…

The weather was unseasonably warm for the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run although for much of the route it was rather misty and foggy, in Brighton it was glorious sunshine… This year we were only spectating and hoping to meet up with and support several groups of friends and clients taking part.

We had considered taking Mario along as lots of people turn out in their classics of all ages and join in or park up and watch the veterans going by but we weren’t organised enough and to be honest by the evening when we were travelling back, the fog was so bad that we were really glad we hadn’t as the visibility was terrible on our cross country route home.

Not being very good at getting up on a Sunday morning we went to just North of Hassocks which is fairly close to the finish to watch from outside the Friars Oak pub. We quite am assortment of vehicles come past including our friends Mike and Jan in their De Dion Bouton and Radio 2’s Chris Evans, Ken Bruce and Alex Jones in classic buses which were driven for Children in Need raising £320,000. Chris had been talking the event up on the radio for weeks and whether it was this or the mild conditions but there were certainly loads of supporters out lining the route.

We went on into Brighton although the amazing November sunshine had brought people out in droves and getting into and parking in Brighton was horrific. Luckily we had passes and so were able to go into Maderia Drive and the Bonham’s area to meet up with friends and enjoy a bowl of finishers chilli. Most of the people we knew finished the event although it would appear that quite a high percentage of the entrants didn’t make it to Brighton, a bit strange as the conditions were so good.

Anyhow it was a great day out as always…