"This event itself has now spread into 4 days. After meeting most of the cars as they arrived in Bury St Edmunds and directed to the hotel the entries had a few hours to look at this historic town. In the evening a carvery meal was arranged in a nearby restaurant. On Saturday morning the convoy of 8 cars set off for the Museum of East Anglian Life at Stowmarket where we were a display feature for the morning. A guide welcomed us on arrival and soon we found ourselves on local radio with a Morris Dancing group in which Mary Brotherton joined in and her performance was very impressive. Our party then went on an informative guided tour of the site which includes buildings housing products made locally by Ransomes and Robert Boby.

 

We left the Museum at 1pm to get lunch at Stonham Barns, passing the garden with a display of water pumps, weather vanes etc. After a filling lunch and a look at the numerous craft and antique stalls we watched a display of Birds of Prey in action. At 5pm we were off again on the last leg which took us to Felixstowe where we had taken the complete hotel for our group. The day was completed with a walk along the seafront and a drink of the local beer for those that wanted.

 

Sunday morning we took a short drive crossing the mighty Orwell bridge, and then took the road under it where we stopped for a break. Then onto the Royal Hospital School at Holbrook for a photo call. Our next stop was to Shotley which gives a good view of the ports of Harwich and Felixstowe. Again a photo call on a day which became warmer by the minute. We then headed into Ipswich and joined a cavalcade of 600 vehicles heading for the promenade at Felixstowe, and Union flags were in abundance as the many hundreds of people watching and waving admired the cars. We were then able to walk the 2 mile prom and see the vehicles close up on a day that became a scorcher. In the evening we had the event dinner in our hotel followed by a quiz and a sing along with Judith Over at the piano.

 

Monday was our last day and we were visiting Sutton Hoo, the site of ancient burial mounds, and with an informative guide learned something of this area. Then it was lunch before heading back to Bury and the dispersal point for the entrants.

 

All attending enjoyed the variety and although we had some rain on 3 of the 4 days our party was able to stay dry with the locations we were in thankfully.

 

If you like to use your car in a run of this type instead of simply parking up in a field then you are invited to join us next year. There has to be a maximum of 15 cars, so if you are interested make your reservation now to Ian Leggett.  It will be the May Day weekend 2005.