'Triumph' - London to Brighton Run - Sat 8th August 2009

[Purplebargeken]

The Marina sounds cool. It'd be good of you to get me a contact number. Thanks

Piccies as promised:



















A 2000 or 2500 would be the only car that I would swap or sell LD for, they are lovely. Two excellent examples on the run

[xvivalve]

Excellent effort chaps, after this and the less well attended trip to the Welsh borders in March I think I can see the future of Club collaboration. Static meets almost bore me know, we should be getting our cars out there en masse in the public domain more often. Probably the best publicity and membership attraction any of the clubs could have...


What's next, where and who is organising it. Ideas please...new thread for each?

[mbellinger]

I totally agree Alun.

Matt Cotton has a great picture of the Dolomites in convoy down the A27 on Saturday afternoon - the best advertising a Club could have.

No end of people gawked, pointed, and came up to talk to us everytime we stopped. The presence of the TR's and the big saloons gave a different dimension to things and always helps with numbers, which at the end of the day helped make the Run a reality.

This was hard work, and involved a lot of correspondence and phone calls; as well as an entire weekend reccying the route. less than half the time would be required next time, even if I vary the route slightly.

All of this pales into insignificance when the event is a success.

It is a shame that the Club Committee chose to distance themselves from the event. Now that it has been proved a successful formula, it would be nice to think that next time Ken and I could count on some more formal support from the Club.

It is to Ken's credit that he made up certificates for all the participants, so everyone had something to take away to remind them of the day.

For us, this sort of cross collaboration between Clubs that involve using the cars is the way forward.

[garyk]

Ken, re: feeback on the event.

What made the event really good for us was a short(ish) run with numerous (pre-arranged) stop points so we could join in en-route. The fact that lunch was also "a venue" at reduced cost was also great.

Despite the fact that more than half the group managed to miss the turn-off after Groombridge, I think that a slighly more off-beat route would be warranted. For example we could cut across the Ashdown Forest to Nutley then go cross-country to Detling Beacon. We'd miss out on the Lewis tunnel but also on much of the traffic.

Personally I think that a few people getting lost en route all adds to the fun, so long as we have plenty of places to regroup. However I am speaking from the position of having a navigator on board...

Cheers,

Gary.

[Howard81]

Here are some of my photos.

Greenwich Park - I can see my house from here



Parked at Groombridge





Some TR's and a Stag turned up too



Some fat Dolomites turned up



Club Russet



And the finish in Brighton

[merlind100]

I'm gutted to have missed this but i really did have to work. I can't agrre more with comments about using our cars, it is afterall what they are for. Roll on a repeat in 2010

[Matt Cotton]

A really great day out and a huge thanks to Ken and Martin for organising the day.
It was a long day for us, 7 a.m start and rolled in at 11.00 p.m having enjoyed fish and chips and a restful time on the beach before leaving.

The only slight downside was sitting in traffic in 80 degree heat on the north circular. A good test of my cooling system and patience! All was fine in the end, but it may have been better for us to have met with the Box Hill boys... However we both enjoyed bacon sandwiches at the Ace Cafe!

Due to the hold up, time was a bit limited to enjoy the gardens, and I know Claire would have liked to stay a little longer. A lovely location that would possibly make a good venue for other informal gatherings in the future.

The ride from Groombridge to Brighton was the highlight for me ( did we take a wrong turn?) and it amazed me how many people admired the cars as we drove through. It really is the best form of advertisement for the club and cars.

Shame we couldn't stop and chat for longer in Brighton, I know Martin did try his very best to sort out a small area for us. It was exceptionally busy though, which made me wonder if we could do a similar run in Spring or autumn possibly?

All in all though we both really enjoyed it. For me it centred around the cars and club friends old and new, for Claire it was more about the final destination and the promise of ice cream and fish and chips!

Looking forward to next year already. Well done to all involved.

[Reg]

Hello.
Reg has let me (Lee Smart) use his computer to put this thread on here, as my one is a bit fickle at the mo.

I had a great day on the London to Brighton run on sat, and was very pleased to be part of it.
A big thank you to Martin and Ken for organising the run so well.
Here's a few pics I took of the run down to Brighton.
At Groombridge:















A quick stop:


Approaching seafront:




On the drive:










I'll be up for the next one
Lee Smart

[Powderfinger]

Great run guys! Really enjoyed it, I hope there will be a repeat next year!

[Sprintinbits]

Guys, what a great day this looked.
Gutted I couldn't make it

On the plus side, my car is back on the road now so roll on next years L2B.

Well done to Ken and Martin for all your efforts, it seemed rude not to come along