YORKSHIRE MOORS RUN – SUNDAY 3rd JULY 2005

Gregs F355 Berlinetta

Greg and Jean Bloodworth with the event organiser Steve

Carl Windsor and Fred Sanderson

Damon Herring and Hayley

Chris and Vanessa Hirst

Tony and Debbie Hunter

Peter Key and Liz

Failed atempt to 'hotwire' Freds car

Mac, Jackie and Joanne

Watch out for them sheep..!

The delights of Whitby

Whitby

Classic car show on promenade

Nice handbag Carl - Whitby's famous fish and chips

Cracking day, thanks Steve and Andrea. Members under a real whale jaw

The day dawned in Scarborough with blue skies and fair-weather clouds – perfect weather for the run this year as opposed to the washout of last year. I decided to check for any last minute emails before leaving home and I’m really glad I did. Thirsk member Chris Hirst had emailed me to ask if it would be possible to join us on the run? I managed to contact Chris and we arranged to meet at the lunchtime venue – the Lion Inn.

Andrea and I left Scarborough in her MR2 with Andrea enjoying a rare drive of her car and me enjoying a very pleasant passenger ride – pleasant due to the T-bar glass out and the great open top aspect this afforded. Perfect.

We arrived at the Coulby Newham MacDonalds meeting point at about 11.00am to find most members of the club there, including Greg and Jean Bloodworth in their Ferrari F355 and Carl, Bev and Victoria Windsor in their Subaru Impreza WRX.

We then left the “Golden Arches” in convoy heading south for Stokesley and onto the Moors. Everything was going well until a service bus pulled out at Great Broughton and insisted on doing 35mph along the length of Bilsdale – only Mike Sheavills and I could get past it! You would have thought that the bus driver would have seen that it was some sort of car run and pulled over for 15 seconds whilst everyone overtook. Yeah, right! So most of the convoy spent the next 16 miles behind the bus. Poor.

Having regrouped in Helmsley we were delighted to see a fine helios blue T-bar approaching Helmsley roundabout from the Thirsk direction. It was Chris and his wife Vanessa! Talk about good timing! They were therefore able to join us on our journey from Helmsley to Kirkbymoorside and on through picturesque Hutton-le-Hole. We were then back onto the Moors and onto the superb Blakey Ridge road. This year there were no “Sunday drivers” in evidence so it was a good opportunity to put the foot down and have some fun (watching out for sheep, of course!)

So we arrived at the Lion Inn – the same lunchtime venue as last year – and not without good reason! They are very mk1 friendly and this year had allocated us space in the car park. The meal was a great success and a good opportunity to chat with longer-standing friends and new ones.

After dinner I got a real treat. Greg offered my a ride in the F355 – I’d never been in a Ferrari before so this was really special. Thanks Greg! Mike Sheavills couldn’t resist a pop in it either – and insisted on photographic proof of this. I did hear him offer Greg his white T-bar and Joanne in exchange for the Ferrari but I’m not sure what the outcome was! After that Carl Windsor offered me a ride in the Impreza – what an insane car that is! Thanks Carl for an exhilarating trip!

Just as we were getting into the cars to start the afternoon leg of the run: disaster struck! Fred “Uri Gellar” Sanderson had the misfortune of the ignition key snapping off in Flud’s drivers door! Unfortunately the spare key was back in Loughborough! We tried everyone’s keys in his car just on the off chance but to no avail. After consideration of hotwiring the ignition we decided to call in the cavalry – the AA. Andrea and Doris remained at the Lion Inn to await the arrival of the AA patrol (I guess there are worse places to break down). They insisted that the remaining group continue with the run as planned, so Fred joined me in the T-bar to head up the second leg.

We headed north from the Lion Inn and continued along the spectacular Blakey Ridge until we dropped down into Castleton. We then travelled in convoy along the very scenic Esk Valley – which included many peaceful villages and very steep hills, notably Limber Hill out of Glaisdale. We joined the A171 and headed the short distance to Whitby. A well deserved fish and chips/ice cream at the harbour marked the end of this year’s Moors Run.

When we arrived at Whitby Andrea phoned to say that she, Doris and Flud had arrived by AA towtruck at our house in Scarborough so after saying our goodbyes to the rest of the group Fred and I travelled down to Scarborough. Fred and Doris were able to get a new key cut at a locksmith on Monday morning. This did mean they extended their stay “oop north” longer than they expected – hopefully they found the Ivanhoe’s food and accommodation OK!

In summary, Those who were able to make the run this year were:
Mac and Jacqui Sheavills
Michael Sheavills and Joanne Thom
Peter and Liz Key
Tony and Debbie Hunter
Chris and Vanessa Hirst
Greg and Jean Bloodworth
Damon Herring and Hayley
Fred and Doris Sanderson
Carl, Bev and Victoria Windsor
And us: Steve and Andrea Raettig

This year’s run highlighted some important things:
Always take your spare set of keys with you on runs. If you don’t have a spare key, get some done! Money well spent!
Club members and partners really are a supportive bunch and I know that Fred and Doris really appreciated that!
When you’re planning a run out you can’t legislate for everything e.g. slow moving buses and people with key-snapping tendencies!
Ferrari 355s and Scooby Doo Imprezas are fast cars.

Finally can I say a big thank you to everyone who came along: some of you travelled a very long way to join us! I think the run was still really successful – and we had excellent weather this year! Next year lets make it even better – let’s aim for 10 MK1s and lots of spare keys!

STEVE RAETTIG