FORD CONSUL ZEPHYR ZODIAC

NORA’S TRIP DOWN SOUTH

Well, north of south…..and slightly west.

 

Setting off from sunny Lochwinnoch around 11 o’clock on the Friday, we made our way to Tatton at a leisurely pace.  The run down was great until we left the motorway to look for a supermarket.  Ironically, it was at Wigan, which is where my car spent most of her life.  However, that last ten miles of a 240 mile trip took two hours!  Trying to get out of Wigan then hitting gridlock on the motorway.  Surely, she wouldn’t over heat now. Bless her cotton socks, she did not!

 

We were met at the entrance to Tatton by Dave 375 (sorry don’t know your second name) and arrived to an enormous “arena” with everyone beavering away trying to set their space up.  Our campsite was amongst some beautiful mature trees, which offered protection from the unfamiliar fiery ball shining in the sky.  After setting up CAMP NORA we wandered back over to the club stand to get the worst of the fly strikes off the car (yes, Jonny, I polished my car!!!). Eventually Jonny and Gill turned up after hours stuck at the side of a motorway due to a fatal crash up ahead.  I think if he had been able to lick the beer out of his can, he would have, a very thirsty boy indeed

A walk about, a few beers and a fish supper and we headed to bed.

 

Saturday morning – Dave 375 and Jonny made breakfast for everyone with military precision. We went over to the stand to see all the rest of the cars arrive then did a quick scout of the auto jumble. Our eyes lit up at all the goodies. We picked up a spare thermostat and some cheap polish then went to watch some more cars arrive.  Amazing all the different tones of the engines and also to see what people consider a “Classic”!! Hmmmm……

 

By mid afternoon, everyone was toasting and thoroughly sunburned – Dave j was an excellent example of someone who did not reapply! Ouch! It was then that we were given a token for the “Prize-giving”.  We, as a club, had won third place on the board – out of 83 club stands.   Kindly, everyone decided I should be the one to collect the prize, which I did with gleaming pride!

 

I must also mention the superb entertainment laid on by the Alfa Stand that day.  A man dressed so spectacularly, in white short shorts and crop top – GORGEOUS!!! As Gunther in Friends might say, “Hey man this is a family place – put the mouse back in the house!”

 

As the day ended, Dave 375 lit the BBQ, attempting to burn the English flag as he went!   Shirl and Clive set about making the kebabs like a perfected oiled machine with Gill making sure no one got food poisoning as the dwindling flames of the BBQ faded, much like the majority of people, exhausted from the heat (and perhaps from drinking since breakfast – no names mentioned)

 

Craig and I felt a bit “wabbit” so staggered over to the stand to find a highly competitive game of Badminton going on.  We formed a team and promptly thrashed the current team but sadly as the sun set – it WAS in my eyes – we lost to Shirl and Lesley.  That was the final straw and the volleyball would sort out the champions. After a spectacular diving attempt to get the ball, Gemma fell flat on her face, tripping over the guy rope followed instantaneously by her crying daughter.  We were HELPLESS with laughter!!!!

 

“Enough of that” we all thought and a few of us hit the banging “Club” otherwise known as the beer tent. 

 

 

 

 

 

 “Time to take the Piss me thinks!” said I.  Shirl learned a sore lesson, to never insist I dance to Cotton eye Joe with her. 

 

 

 

I threw her around the floor in a series of dizzying Salsa/ Merengue/ Ceilidh spins – can I just say we got a round of applause for our effort from the drunken contents of the tent. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we headed back to Camp and filled Dave 375’s tent with an adequate amount of fire smoke to put an Arbroath smokehouse to shame, left him to his stinking van and hit the sack, a little worse for wear but not so drunk as to go into someone else’s tent (as I believe a certain little lady did at a previous event!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As morning approached, a few bodies started to straggle into camp for Dave’s notorious kitchen skills.  One body was very much not there. Clive was out for the count with a nice dose of sunstroke – shame!

 

Our day involved a non stop procession of Nora’s old owners – going back to the 1960’s – including a guy who had learned to drive in Nora from Australia, his brother, their cousins, their children and grandchildren etc etc. Overall, we counted over twenty people who came specifically to see the car.  Even Bob came along and reluctantly stood in a photo or two!(Cheers !)  Sadly, Eddie didn’t appear as this would have completed the line of ex-guardians of my much loved car. Another time, perhaps.

 

Wayne’s Cresta on our stand won a prize that day along with Keith’s Velox who won a prize for his car that had been sitting outside the judges tent all day – auto suggestion comes to mind! Well done boys!!

 

All too soon, it was time to leave and as we said our goodbyes to some new friends, Craig was able to play his part in getting a car running again with his amazing car first aid kit.  We left grinning manically and a little tired and emotional and made our way towards Preston to pick up our “Bling” heater box.  Just as we approached Charnock Richard, an immaculate Anglia Estate overtook us with a fanatical waving man in it – our Pre67s friend and webmaster, Craig F, from the East Coast who had been at Classic Ford Day.  We stopped for a chat and ended up bumping into Paul from the Klaymore Kruisers, Glasgow’s hotrod club who meet at the same venue we do.  He’d been at Billing.  How spooky was that.

 

After a good nights sleep in a lovely Band B, we headed for a look at Blackpool where I convinced Craig to go on “The Grand National”.  He wasn’t very brave about it and cursed me for making him do so.   I had the adrenalin rush and immediately hopped on a scary dangly leg, upside down thingme, and screamed my head off all alone! Fantastic.  So time for home – I didn’t say anything out loud about how sweet my car felt on the run back up, as I didn’t want to tempt fate - until I pulled up in Lochwinnoch and put the handbrake on.   “YA F&*KING BEAUTY” What a very good girl she was – not a single breakdown in 600 miles when modern cars galore were falling by the wayside.  What a star she is!

 

Thanks to all who made us so welcome and made our first show experience so special.  Thanks also to Craig for all his tinkering with Nora – without him, there would be no Nora.  In addition, special thanks to Jonny and Gill, who really did find me the car in the first place and have been a wealth of information and, more importantly, ENCOURAGEMENT through our buying and ownership.  I wish you all the best for the show season and hope to meet again soon.

 

Jane AKA Dollina Tube, guest member of NW3G’s.

 

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