A shropshire lad

Day 6

The morning was fair though there was a fair amount of rain overnight and we decided to pick up the caravan steps. Discretion being the better part of valour I went off in Henry rather than subject Richard to another trip down Pole Lane. And there it was – gone!

Never mind, onwards and upwards (or rather Southwards) towards Shrewsbury.

The last time I’d done this journey was with Lyn in an old Winnebago Motorhome that we had a number of years back so It was quite a poignant trip.

Strangely, even with a top speed of only 45/50 mph, we didn’t really hold people up that much so we made quite good time down to Whitchurch and past the Prees Heath Hotel and Garage which despite being pretty derelict always seem to have a few vintage/classic cars around. We shot past so fast there was no time for any pics so here are a couple I found on the Web.

As we reached the Shrewsbury bypass I managed to take a wrong turn and we ended up in an Auction Mart car park. Once sorted we were off again. I pulled into a layby because I thought I’d lost the nut on the hood mechanism as I heard something rattling on the rear wing. It turned out just to be gravel and Richard had the same happen to the motorhome behind me.

Rejoining the traffic on the dual carriageway was a bit of a challenge as the traffic was doing at least 70 mph uphill and Henry doesn’t pull out very quickly! Why do people hog the inside lane when they can see people need to pull out?

Eventually we sprinted slowly up the hill and it was off again on the picturesque run down by the Long Mynd to Church Stretton. Our destination was the village of Leintwardine a few miles short of the Welsh Border in the delightful countryside of the Shropshire Hills. We were booked into a little private campsite just outside the village which had been recommended by Nick Williams who we were due to meet. It was a windy narrow road passing near to Clun and true to form just as we were about ½ mile from the village we were met with a ‘Road closed’ sign. Relying on the satnav we were redirected down some very narrow lanes, much to Richard’s consternation. But found our way to the pretty little campsite.

It was fairly basic but suited us well and we took a walk into the village to get some food and beer. As we came out we saw Nick was outside in his Morris Oxford Special with the emphasis on the word ‘special’. He reckons it is probably the fastest road-going prewar Morris in existence and he took us for a pretty impressive drive and I can well believe it is the fastest.

He took Henry for a spin too and was very complimentary filling me full of confidence for the rigours ahead. A few drinks were taken and then we popped round the corner to Nick’s impressive workshop. He has a magnificent collection of fairground organs that he has restored, a fine collection of cars including his Cowley trials car, an early Oxford with a Budd all steel body and his Salmson amongst others.

He’s also a collector of automobilia and we talked for ages back at the motorhome. It is refreshing to find a true enthusiast with so much knowledge at such a young age. He got his ‘special’ when he was 17 and has driven it constantly ever since. It is his daily driver and it is a testament to these great cars that he continues to do so. He also competes with it regularly.

It was dark when Nick left and he decided to show off his homemade led headlamps. I took a couple of pics for comparison. They put mine to shame and he also has a Barker mechanical dipping system. To add insult to injury he can turn his lights to amber for use on the continent.