First of the Year Run - 2005 ........ FIRST OF THE YEAR MEMORIAL RUN 1st January 2005 (Convoy rules abandoned after less than a mile. Is this an all time record?) It started off very well. Although dull, the weather
was mild and there was no rain. The rain came later! En route to the start we passed through Winchester's Broadway where we rubbed shoulders with several interesting old buses that were taking part in the annual King Alfred Bus Rally. Nineteen Austins, eighteen Sevens plus John Pike's Twelve, gathered in the car park of the former Little Chef at Meon Hut. We set off a few minutes after 11 am and headed north on the A32 for 400 yards to make a right turn at the traffic lights onto the A272. That's where it all started to go wrong! The traffic lights permitted only a part of our convoy to get through at one time. About nine of us made it at the first attempt and while the last three cars of the nine slowed right down to wait for the remainder, the first six shot off in an easterly direction with convoy rules and rear view mirrors totally forgotten. By the time the last of us had cleared the traffic lights, the first six were nowhere to be seen. At this stage, as we found ourselves to be the leading car, we reached for the route instructions to try to work out where to go. Now the instructions were fine as a guide when to expect turns when driving in a convoy with a leader who knew where he was going, but for someone who was lost, as we were, the lack of place names made comparison with a map well nigh impossible. Nevertheless 'we pressed on with twelve faithful followers trailing behind and tried to make something out of the conundrum, and anyway we were sure we would meet up with the vanguard sooner or later hadn't they noticed there was no one following. At first all seemed to go well: we knew we were on the right route when we passed through Bower Farm and found a left fork some four miles from the start which looked promising. But where was the vanguard? A brief stop to ask a dog walker if he had seen any lost Sevens produced a negative response and we began to worry as it became increasingly difficult to differentiate between crossroads, side roads and lanes leading to farms. Fortunately the Ruby immediately behind us was being driven by Mike Tye with whom we had a few consultations, and while Mike appeared to be as mystified as ourselves, his moral support was a great help. Suddenly we hit the A32 again only two miles north of our starting point having completed almost a full circle, as one does when lost! At least we knew where we were at this stage (nowhere near the12 route!) and as there was an identifiable place name (Selborne) some five mile to the north we decided to make for there knowing that it was only a few miles further on to our lunch rendezvous. So far so good: at some stage on the A32 our missing vanguard emerged out of a side lane (we suspect they were lost too!) and then when we stopped to regroup at East Tisted, our lost leader zoomed up to take his rightful position at the head of the convoy and we were off again.
We didn't take part in the shorter afternoon ride to Mike and Jean's at Beauworth, but instead made for Winchester as the rain came down and the weather was closing in. Just after passing through Alresford we met up with Mike and Chris Knights-Whittome who kept us company on the ten miles to Winchester. We are grateful to Jean for planning a very enjoyable run through places which we seldom visit, with a well organised lunch stop, and we were very sorry she was not able to be there to enjoy it with us. Getting lost added to the excitement. Perhaps we should have a "mystery tour" as a future event. Alastair Mitchell |
We really enjoyed the last few miles through some fascinating hamlets and
wooded hill-sides to finish up at the Rose and Crown in Farringdon where we were
greeted by a reserved space in the car park, and part of the dining area set out
for us. The food, service and warmth were excellent.