SKCC - Southern Kit Car Club. A Club for kit car owners across Southern England. Kent, Sussex, East Hants, Surrey, Berks, Middlesex, London

It was EPIC!
Here's some links to blog pages, others will add photos when convenient.
Basic info:-
http://blatterbeast.blogspot.com/2022/0 ... e.html?m=1

Day 1
http://blatterbeast.blogspot.com/2022/0 ... m.html?m=1

Day 2
http://blatterbeast.blogspot.com/2022/0 ... s.html?m=1

Day 3
http://blatterbeast.blogspot.com/2022/0 ... s.html?m=1

Day 4
http://blatterbeast.blogspot.com/2022/0 ... s.html?m=1

Day 5
http://blatterbeast.blogspot.com/2022/0 ... 2.html?m=1

Day 6
http://blatterbeast.blogspot.com/2022/0 ... 0.html?m=1

The last two days will pop up later.

If you have read Tony's blog, you will already know the Rogue Runners Middle earth Tour was a success. Tony did a brilliant job finding an excellent (if quirky) hotel in a great location. The roads were brilliant with almost no traffic all week, and the weather although damp on occasions was good enough to really enjoy the routes.

Alison and I left a day early on the Friday otherwise we would have a had a 420 mile first day. We stayed in a motel near Rutland water ready to join the others the next morning, it worked well, but the weather travelling around London was horrendous.

On the first official morning, we started the Caterham only to hear a new rattly noise that sounded like it was coming from the front of the engine, not great . While the others enjoyed breakfast I removed the nose and bonnet to try and find the cause, all looked OK even running it with the timing belt cover partially removed and with the nose removed there was no noise, so I thought it may be the header tank hitting the glass fibre, I was wrong.........

We did some great roads, and a fifty mile stretch of the M1, but by the afternoon the sun was shining and we were enjoying the roads of the Yorkshire Dales and Ice Cream. Having been split up by traffic we regrouped at the Ice Cream stop:

Weather in the West looked dodgy so we headed north east to Duns and the Jim Clark museum. On the way we encountered a road with a gate, Tony opened the gate and we all drove in, we soon wished we hadn't!

Alison took this as we drove up the track at about 3 mph, there were several rude comments over the radio, but Tony had removed his headset!


The roads soon improved and we enjoyed the road to Duns complete with a small ford:

The museum didn't have a cafe, so as we had seen it before we went into Duns to get lunch at the Jim Clark Bistro that the man on the desk had directed us to, it was closed but the cafe was pretty good.

Next stop Lindisfarne:


Well I say stop, but the car park was busy and expensive and we missed Graham and Roger so carried on round and back to the causeway. Some great Northumberland roads then back to the hotel.

On the Monday the weather seemed better in the west, so we headed to the Lake district, a place well known for dry sunny weather

At first we had a nice run towards Keswick and the Whinlatter pass, we stopped to admire the view and watch Neil's coolant run across the car park (air in the system somewhere we think) and then went to the forestry cafe for a coffee.



While having coffee, the inevitable happened and it started to rain quite heavily, hoods went up and we continued past Buttermere and onto the Honister pass.

It is always slow along this road, which is a bus route! We were held up by sheep and met three Caterhams coming the other way, two friendly, but the third was possibly the most miserable person I have met


Once through Keswick we headed south towards Windermere and the weather improved. A closed road stopped us using Tony's preferred road and we became separated as the satnavs tried to take us to Buttertubs pass in the east.

Heading north from Buttertubs towards the North Penines, there were some road closures, so I stopped at a road closed sign and everyone drew up behind me. Tony and I decided we fancied a drink, and when we turned around we suddenly realised the house behind us was selling refreshments from their kitchen!


From there, the roads were great all the way to Haltwhistle, and some of us stopped for Ice cream at Brough castle.

On the Tuesday we had an amazing selection of roads over 270 miles into Dumfries and Galloway. The weather was good to start and we stayed together until lunchtime when we took over a very nice cafe who couldn't have done more to welcome us. Strangely I only seem to have one photo of that day:


It rained during lunch and Alison and I had to mop out our seats before setting off, so we were behind and Brian was setting a very quick pace in his 420 caterham. As time went on the weather deteriorated, so we carried on at the fuel stop and left the others behind. We had the hood down, and endured a little rain, but soon it brightened up in the east and we bombed down a lovely road to Moffat in the sunshine. Unfortunately we weren't supoosed to go that far, but I didn't mind, it meant we could drive the Moffat to Selkirk road for longer and that's one of my favourites

Heading south towards Haltwhistle, we joined the B708 and it was a strange experience. The road was fantastic, great views, great corners, good surface and sunny BUT every few miles there were road ahead closed signs and there were very few junctions. I think we all dreaded haveing to turn around and retrace 30 or 40 miles if the road was really blocked. In the end, it turned out it wasn't thank goodness! It was a long day but some fantastic roads.

The Wednesday run was to be Not at Home, a reference to Dominic Cumming's visit to Barnard Castle

The route had been designed to be easy to cut short if people wanted a shorter day. As Tony kept saying, it is a holiday! A nice run to Brough Ice Cream parlour started us off well, but the forecast was dire so hoods went up for the run over Tan Hill where it was wet and very windy. In Reith there was a camera van waiting for us to leave the moor and enter the 30, but it wasn't a problem because with the weather, driveways and a steep blind brow, anything over 25mph would have been reckless anyway!

When we reached Leyburn, the petrol stop turned out to be ludicrously expensive so the other rogues got separated and we turned off to have a relaxed lunch in Richmond. It was dry and sunny by the time we reached Richmond as it stayed for the rest of the day. We parked in the cobbled square and had just managed to obtain a parking permit when Linda drove past! This came as a surprise, and it turned out she had lost everyone at Leyburn, seen a sign to Richmond, remembered we were going there and just followed the signs. We had a pleasant lunch and some souvenier shopping before we finished the route over the brilliant North Penine roads below:



Tony had one more surprise for us, we turned down a narrow lane like the one above, but it got steeper and narrower and eventually there was a very tight turn over a bridge followed by a steep climb us tarmac that was more like rubble mixed with grass. I was very relieved we didn't meet anything coming the other way!

The run on Thursday was a best of old routes run north to Hawick, through the forest to Moffat, up to Selkirk, back to Hawick and then down into Kielder via Bonchester Bridge. Once again it started a little damp but it had dried before we reached the great B road south of Hawick and everyone stopped to lower hoods.

Heading towards Moffat

Moffat to Selkirk road:

Lunch stop at the Glen cafe St Mary's Loch, sunny but windy


The Rogues at the tea stop at Tower Knowe Kileder

Linda tries the bench for size.

The Friday morning was a little sad as Brian and Neil had to leave, it was definitely quieter in the evening without them.
We had a shorter 130 mile best of the corners route that involved doing Hartside pass both ways, some of our group were behind a police car one way
We had a cake stop at Whitfield Village, and the cakes were delicious, good find Tony!
After coffee, some finished the route, headed back to the hotel and fell asleep in their rooms, but we fancied going to Alston for cheaper petrol and some lunch. Tony and Linda joined us and we found a very nice cafe Saddler's Bakery where the lunch was very good and reasonably priced. Tony wanted to inspect some of Hadrian's wall so I lead them to Sycamore Gap/Steel Rig where the wall is most impressive and we turned back to the hotel.
In the end, there were just six very dirty cars in the car park ready to head home.



On the Saturday, Graham and Roger headed to Hull on a two day route home, Tony and Linda retraced the first days route and we headed over the North Penines with Matt to pick up the A1 at Scotch Corner. The pertol at scotch Corner was eye wateringly expensive and I already have bad memories of that garage after losing my clutch there many years ago. Well my Scotch Corner curse returned, because within fifty miles we were to discover where the noise from the engine (that had disappeared earlier in the holiday) was coming from.

First we could smell burning rubber, then we heard something hit the floor of the car and then Alison could see smoke from the front of the car . I dived onto the hard shoulder, switched off the engine and we jumped out fearing the worst. Fortunately, we weren't on fire, so as we could see the exit, I decided to chance driving off. It sounded horrible and soon the charge light was on and the temperature gauge climbing. as we reached teh roundabout I switched off and we rolled to a place of safety and called the AA. It turned out the auxiliary belt tensioner pulley had failed, I think it siezed and as it was plastic then melted and fell off leaving the belt wedged against the remains. The stationary belt then started to be cooked by the flywheel pulley until it caught fire. The resourceful AA man got a different pulley that wasn't right but good enough and a new belt and after a bit of problem solving the two of us managed to get the belt running ok and it lasted the 250 miles home. we were knackered and the next day we had to help my daughter move house, but that's another story

EPIC!