Ken Broster had taken over the arrangements for the run to Powis after
scheduled organiser Richard Frisk had had to pull out due to an important
business commitment clashing with the arrange date.
Ken had pulled the stops out and put together a pleasant run
starting close to Oulton Park in Cheshire. Regrettably there was a
disappointing turn out with only two Healeys turning up and one of those
was Ken himself. The Healeys were joined by the E Type Jaguar of
Mike Smith, the first time it had been on the road for over a year, as his
Healey is undergoing essential maintenance to the handbrake prior to MOT.
It was good to have Chairman John Ridyard joining us after his
major op. Looking much better now (and much slimmer). He is already back
at work and well on the way to total recovery.
The three classics drove in convoy to the scheduled coffee stop,
which turned out to be closed. No bad thing we all felt as it looked
decidedly run down. We stopped at Ellesmere at a delightful cafe beside
the mere and watched the ducks and geese as we took our elevenses.
The rest of the trip was not without mishap, a level crossing
catching out Ken and we all stopped to effect repairs to a trailing
exhaust. Ken's better half, Kathy, remarked on how it always seemed to
give a strange pleasure to the male membership, sorting out mechanical
problems during a run.
Arrival at Powis Castle was around lunchtime and we were met by
Derek Olivant and Fran in their road car. His Healey had survived the St
Moritz trip, but he had removed the head to check why it was using more
and more oil only to find holes in the top of three of the pistons.
We wandered the castle and the spectacular gardens with their steep
drops and had an enjoyable lunch at the castle restaurant before heading
back home by our own routes
Thanks to Ken for the organising, the weather was a bit changeable
but we managed with the hoods down all day, a pity it was so poorly
attended. Lets hope that the next run to the Fat Lamb near Kirkby Stephen
brings out a lot more Healeys.
Who is organising that? Why Ken Broster of course.
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