Cofton Park - 2005 ........ 100 Years of Austin at Longbridge Weekend 9/10 July 2005
As I say, we set out at about a quarter-past-six having loaded car and trailer the night before. The first surprise was at around seven o'clock near Newbury, when we espied Mike Norris-Hill in the Boat-tail going the other way. Apart from that we had a good journey up to the Corus Hotel. As we turned into the car park we were just in time to see Ray disappearing up the road . We had some breakfast in the hotel, unloaded the Seven, and followed on to Cofton Park. As usual I thought I knew best, and ended up going in the wrong entrance. The good bit was that we got tosee what else was going on the other end of the Park. First impressions were of the enormous scale of the whole thing. I had of course realised that it was going to be a big event, but I had not bargained for the sheer size of Cofton Park. Having parked up in our appropriate year line, we booked in, received our paperwork, plaque, and mug, and then we were free to enjoy the day. The first concern was to track down the brave souls who had driven up on the Friday, and see how well or otherwise they had fared. Particularly the sight of Mike driving south, earlier, had been a little worrying; but no one had any explanation for this. Otherwise it seems that it had been a lo-o-o-ng journey, but 'reasonably' trouble free.
It was possible to go for a coach trip around several of the Austin oriented sites in the area. These included the Austin Village (see picture above) just north of the factory site, Stanley Edge's memorial stone on Frankley Beeches, Holy Trtinity Church, Lickey, where Herbert Austin is buried, The original factory building, and several other interesting items like the hill which was used for testing were pointed out. We were lucky enough the have our trip on a 1964 Harrington bodied, Leyland Tiger coach which was in absolutely super condition, and is once again licenced for PSV operation! Sir Stirling Moss was present on the Saturday afternoon to present the awards to the participants in the Parliamentary Run, who had all driven that morning from Westminster. This was a sponsored event in aid of the NSPCC, and raised several thousand pounds. Saturday terminated with an excellent hog-roast (pig-in-a-bun with all the trimmings!) cooked by a very professional outfit. Christine and I headed back to the hotel after this, but I understand that some of our number stayed on for the music. Sunday was also blessed with the same excellent weather, and we enjoyed the morning. As we had to pass by Silverstone, with the Grand Prix, on our return route we decided to make a run for it at lunchtime. We had an uneventful journey, save that we came across Graham and Mike on the A34 around Newbury. Graham was suffering from fuel vapourisation, but this was overcome and he continued to reach base safely. There is so much more that can be said about this event, but I will leave it to another to fill in these details. Spanner.
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