Morgan Friends,
Thanks to all who provided tips on visiting the Works in Malvern Link before
my December 4 visit. It was GREAT! In this report I'll mention some things I
learned that may help future sojourners (the usual disclaimers here - sorry).
I hope that something I mention here will help you in your own visit.
(This is part one of a three part report)
Jack Claxton
339 Grand Avenue
Cornelia, GA 30531 USA
1956 +4 4-seater
Background
In 1994 I was smitten totally with the Morgan mystique after reading an
Atlanta Journal article and first learning about the marque. Last year I
bought a basket-case 1956 +four 4-seater stored in a barn in Pennsylvania for
18 years (yes; this is a true story!). It is currently at Morgan-Fab
Industries (Don Simpkins) in Demorest GA where it is undergoing a frame-up
restoration. At some point, Don will give the car to me to finish out. In
preparation for that time, I've been scrambling for the last year to establish
sources and learn everything I can about the car. I have bought 20 books,
joined three Morgan clubs, made lots of Morgan friends, contacted many Morgan
suppliers, and collected multiples of catalogs of available parts. This hobby
is great fun, involving some great people!
As it happened, my boss and I were to travel to Dublin, Ireland on business
Dec. 2, with a planned return home on Dec. 7. With Birmingham, England only
one hour away by air, a day's vacation for a round trip from Ireland to the
Works at my own expense provided a factory visit opportunity at a bargain
basement price. The prospect was irresistible, and so I made the plans.
Planning the Trip
I had to make a lot of decisions quickly, because the opportunity arose so
unexpectedly. I was concerned that in my haste and inexperience I would
totally blow my visit to Morgan Mecca! Responses I got from fellow Morgan
listers were very helpful and comforting that I was not alone, at least in a
sense. The biggest decision was how to get to Malvern Link, some 40 miles from
the Birmingham airport. Despite available train service, I opted to rent a car
due to having only a day to get to the Works and back, from Ireland. I
estimated that train schedules would be inconvenient for my purposes, and a
rental car would provide the most control over my schedule. Besides, I knew
that Holden Vintage & Classic (a large Lucas parts supply house) and John
Worrall's Heart of England Garage (John is an expert on old Morgans) were in
the vicinity. A rental car gave me the best chance of visiting these
facilities if everything went faster than I planned at the Morgan factory. So,
a rental car it would be! My travel agent confirmed that my Georgia driver's
license would be good in England (amazing). I forgot to check about proof of
insurance, and I took none (I keep all that in my cars, not my wallet). Maybe
I was lucky that no one asked for it.
In checking available flights, Aer Lingus (Ireland's main airline) had a
flight to Birmingham at 7:45 a.m. (arriving at 8:45), and return flights at
5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The round trip jet service fare was $230. I later came
across Ryanair, an advertised low cost commuter air line, with more and better
flight options and with a fare of $180. I never checked if they had jet
service, as my flights were already booked on Aer Lingus. I probably would
have chosen Aer Lingus anyway, although I never did find out the meaning of
the word "Lingus"! I chose the 5:00 return after learning of the local sunset
time of around 4:00. I had never driven on the left side of the road, and I
did not want to do it in the dark my first time. Besides, the 8:00 flight
would be my fall-back position if something went wrong and I missed the 5:00
flight.
I contacted the Morgan folks to make sure they were open the day of my planned
visit (they were) and to make sure that I could tour the Works (I could). They
told me that they do not allow visitors between 12:30 and 2:00. They also told
me that taking photos and using a camcorder was perfectly OK (I went out and
bought one).
Back now to the rental car. I got a Vauxhall Astra (probably horribly
misspelled, a GM related car, I think) from Alamo for around $48. It was
classified as a compact, but it was not too small, and I did not feel unsafe
in it. I could have gotten a lower rate, but I wanted an automatic
transmission. Besides not have driven on the left, I had not shifted with my
left hand, and I didn't want to on my first try. Incidentally I did consider a
manual transmission briefly. While trying to decide, I wondered which foot
operated the clutch on manual shift cars. My travel agent didn't know. I
learned from a business associate from England, that manual shift cars use the
left foot on the clutch and the right on the accelerator, as we do here in the
States. I had never paid any attention to that. I thought that working the
clutch with my right foot and the shifter with my left hand driving on the
left side of the road would have spelled disaster!
The next decision was to plan my route. I thought of going cross-country to
the Works to see some countryside (my previous two visits to England were to
London and vicinity), with a utility return route on the fastest motorways.
The local B. Dalton bookstore provided a road map for about $10 (I later
decided it was not detailed enough) and an "Eyewitness Travel Guide" to Great
Britain by D.K. Publishing, New York for about $30 (these guides are great
with beautiful illustrations - fun to read even if you're not even going to
the country). Don Simpkins gave me a recommended route through the countryside
(I'll share that later), and the motorway return route was apparent from the
map. Once I mapped out my routes, I bounced my plans off my business associate
that is from an area near Bristol, England. It was in talking to him we
realized my map was not detailed enough, and he recommended buying a road
atlas upon arrival in Birmingham. I thought that I would do that, but only if
I found the map normally supplied by the rental car folks to be inadequate
(more on this later).
Next time - "The Journey Begins"!
Jack Claxton
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