Visit to Powis Castle near Welshpool                           Sunday 19th September 2004         

Powis Castle and Italianate Gardens. Well worth a visit.
 

   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.

 

 
    Ilma Smith poses outside the entrance to Powis Castle. Karen and John Ridyard make their way through the clipped yew pathways.
 





 

Half the membership turnout. Ken's Healey and Mike's Jag.
                






Pics by Mike Smith.

The spectaluar gardens of Powis Castle