Wonderful story, Stuart! I lived in Southampton from 1949 to 1958 and
experienced my first actual moments behind the wheel of a car (my dad's
1932 Hillman Minx; the MGs came later) in the New Forest near Beaulieu. I
also pedalled many, many hundreds of miles around that area on a 10-speed
Rotrax (made in So'ton) which was my pride and joy in those days> I, too,
visited Beaulieu before it became the big museum it is today, and I
remember - like you - having tea there and looking at a few vintage cars
and some old motorcycles, including a very rare AJS "Porcupine".
I drove around the New Forest roads last November in Vauxhall Vectra. Funny
how all the journeys between towns have shrunk so much since the fifties!
What used to take an hour and a half in the Hillman is a 25 minute ride
today!! When my PA restoration is done, I plan to take the car back to
England and try and make all those roads as long as they used to be...
Lawrie
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> From: stuart farmer <k7wf@kalama.com>
> To: mgs@autox.team.net
> Subject: Memory Lane
> Date: Wednesday, March 18, 1998 8:53 AM
>
> A Trip Down Memory Lane
>
> For Christmas my wife bought a tonneau cover for my 1979 MGB. She ordered
it
> from Moss and it really is a fine gift. I installed it in about one and
a
> half hours and have been waiting for a nice day so that I could drive
> around town and show it off to my friends. The sun does not show itself
very
> often this time of the year in the State of Washington, but yesterday,
for
> about three hours, it was nice enough to give it a go. With my winter
coat
> wrapped around me and my woolen gloves and cap I ventured out in my LBC
with
> the top down, and had the time of my life. (All of 67 years I might add)
>
> When I was 21 I thought nothing of driving my (then) 1939 MGTB in all
kinds
> of weather. I then lived in Wales and believe me, the winters could be
> horrible compared
> with what I've experienced since moving to Washington State 41 years ago.
> Driving around town yesterday in my "B" brought back fond memories of
those
> wonderful days after W.W.II when my new bride and I drove our MGTB to the
> South of England on our honeymoon.
>
> We spent the first night in Southampton, where we took a boat ride around
> the huge
> liner "Queen Elizabeth", not realizing at the time that we would be
sailing
> across the Atlantic on that ship four years later. On leaving
Southampton
> the following day we drove through the New Forest, where we came upon
> Beaulieu Castle. It was open to
> the public so we went in and had afternoon tea and noticed that there
were a
> few "old" cars on display. Remember, this was in 1953. This "old" display
> has now blossomed into the home of the National Motor Museum, having over
> 250 cars displayed. It is situated
> between Southampton and Bournemouth in the South of England, and to reach
it
> by road
> makes a beautiful drive through the New Forest.
> We had but seven days for our honeymoon as I was on leave from the
British
> Army (Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers) in which I served two
> (compulsory) years. So we made our way back to our home town in South
Wales
> in the MGTB. That LBC performed beautifully on the trip but as we
entered
> our birthplace the voltage regulator stuck (love that Lucas fellow) and I
> hastily had to pry the points apart before we had a serious fire.
> Oh, the joys of motoring !!
>
> All this was going through my mind as I drove my MGB yesterday morning,
and
> before
> I new it I had covered 50 miles and was ready to return home for a hot
cup
> of coffee.
> Thanks to the Christmas present from my bride of almost 45 years I had a
> great morning's drive and am eagerly anticipating many more in the
future.
>
> Stuart ....1979 MGB…..(with the top down)
> Stuart Farmer
> 2724 Florida St.
> Longview,WA 98632 k7wf@kalama.com
> Tel: 360-423-1769
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