2021 Jurassic Coast Tour Blog

Written by Gar Cole.

The morning of Friday 23rd April finally dawned, exactly a full 12 months on from when we had originally booked to go. The forecast was good all weekend and I'd spent the best part of 2 weeks fussing over the Triumph, in fact if I'd touched it much more I feared it would take out a restraining order on me. It was my first long trip in the Triumph 2000 and I was excited to see how it would perform and behave.

Fully loaded I set off from Sunny Sutton Coldfield to meet some of the convoy at the services on the M42 at Hopwood. The decision was quickly made to shoot across to  the M40 and then take the A429 through the picturesque Cotswolds villages and stop for lunch outside Kemble Airfield. Off we set with my Triumph 2000,  the Brooks brothers in their campervan with yellow Stag on the trailer, Nick Arthur and Jo Tait in the Jensen Interceptor and Phil, Lorraine & Lucas Allin in the P5b coupe ' Big Rov,'.  Some lovely driving roads on this route although I was having a little 'V8 envy' as the Jensen and Rover effortlessly left me behind on the big hills.

Arriving at Kemble Airfield we were pleased  to see Celebrity Admin and Fat Bloke Mike Peake who had sneaked out of work early for a long lunch break and brought his Herald convertible 'Poppy'  to join us for a natter and catch up .

At this point Nick & Jo confessed they had missed the instructions to provide your own linen and towels and to bring a packed lunch for today and provisions to cook later. However upon inspection the Interceptor's boot it was found to be full of beer and wine (priorities yanow) so a swift diversion to Sainsburys was quickly arranged with our convoy delighting the locals as we rumbled through little towns and hamlets. We had been killing time as we couldn't get into our accommodation before 5pm, however a phone call from fellow tourist Mick Taylor informed us we could get in from 3pm.

The drive then turned into a scene from Wacky Races as the Stag, Jensen and Rover took off at Mach 1,  leaving me and my humble 2 litre to follow behind.

​Phil took pity on me after a while and slowed enough for me to keep up with Big Rov, however we never saw the Stag or Jensen again until we arrived in Charmouth 😀

​Arriving at Seadown Holiday Park after a steady 6 hour drive,  we were quickly settled into our respective accommodations and the rest of the group started to arrive throughout the evening. I'd made a roast chicken and roast pork joints for my group of 4 and carved them onto baguettes. Between the long drive and chilly evening sea breeze we all decided to retire to the warmth of our statics and were looking forward to the next morning.

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Saturday morning started with a Yorkshireman burbling past in a yellow V8 stag saying 'Ayeup lads,  breakfasts on the go'. After being cooked a fantastic full English by Ian Woodward we all assembled on the touring pitch next to the Brooks campervan to get some photos,   hand out route maps and attach our freshly made tour plaques,  both supplied by Phil and Lorraine at our sponsors 'Alvaston Press '.

We were also pleasantly surprised to see Mike Peake had snuck out from home early in the morning to join us on tour,  thus avoiding decorating duty and risking the wrath of his good lady.

 
Here is the list of cars and owners

• Ian Woodward -  Granada mk2 estate 2.8 Ghia auto,  co piloted by his brother Jon.
• My Triumph 2000 auto co piloted by Jonathan Woodward.
• Capri 2.0s owned by Mick and Gill Taylor.
• MGB convertible owned by Anthony Osborne and his ever patient wife ' Sat Nag Pat '
• Vanden Plas 1500 auto Allegro owned by Andy Perman.
• Triumph Stag V8 manual with O/D owned by the Brooks brothers.
• Jensen Interceptor auto owned by Nick Arthur,  co-piloted by Jo Tait.
• Mike Peake  -  Triumph Herald convertible. 

 
 Pre Millenial visitors
 

• Jaguar XJR supercharged V8 owned by Jason Wright,  co - piloted by Andrea Stanley. 
  
• Lexus LS400  V8 owned by Keith McGovern ,  co - piloted by Mette Cooper.
  
• We were also joined by Darren Williams,  his wife and brother, but they asked for their car not to be featured as it's a modern sporty hatchback.

Heading off from the campsite onto the Jurassic coast road towards Bridport and the B1357 towards Burton Bradstock, Abbotsbury and our first destination at Portland Bill. Of course despite me asking everyone to fill up the night before to avoid immediate fuel stops we had to 'immediately'  stop for fuel for surprise guest Mike Peake (apparently there's no fuel stations between Swindon and Charmouth) 🙄.
 
From there on Dorset started to charm us very quickly. The road along the coast is a stunning set of sweeping curves and climbs and descents, a real driver's road that's guaranteed to put a smile on your face all the time admiring the deep blue sea,  immaculate beaches and the sun reflecting off the water.

Always eager to find a spot to pull in and take photos, myself and co pilot Jonathon woodward looked for a layby big enough to take 11 cars but they were either too small or already had cars in them, until I spied what I thought was an empty car park with a great view across to Portland Bill.

I saw just one car with an elderly couple enjoying a cuppa by it,  so we turned in and surrounded the bemused couple, only to realise it wasn't a layby after all but a private single track drive to a farm - oops!  Nonetheless we all squeezed down the lane and took some pictures right before the farmer turned up hoping to exit his own driveway.  Cue 11 old cars frantically trying to reverse or mount the grass verges to get out his way; to be fair he smiled as he drove his rusty and battered old farm truck between our cars with inches to spare either side 🤔

From here we headed across the stunning Portland beach road seeing the cruise ships moored up before the long climb up to Portland Bill. We parked up near the lighthouse with everyone emerging from their cars uttering the universal first question "Where's the toilets?". Suitably relieved, we set about very carefully traversing the outer path alongside the cliffs to take in the breathtaking views. The strong sea breeze made it feel colder than it was, resulting in a few of us getting sunburned balding heads.  Once we returned to the cars we chatted with some excited other tourists who were taking pictures of the cars. 

At this point Mike Peake was handed the keys to the Stag; now much as Mike loves his Herald it's quite a jump from a 1.3 to a V8 and the resulting smile as we left Portland Bill speaks for itself. We all enjoyed a spirited drive past Weymouth to our next stop at Cerne Abbas,  and once more the visiting V8 pre Millennials certainly made short work of the hills.

I decided on a cultural stop at Cerne Abbas to admire the ancient stone giant carved into the side of a hillside. Naturally it quickly descended into crass "Carry On"- style humour in which I refused to partake "ahem". Jo Tait asked "What was the point of the giant?:  To which I cuddled up next to her and in my best leering voice said that if you wanted to conceive it's believed you improved your chances by making love on the giant,  to which she replied "After climbing that hill I couldnt be bothered!" 
 
The 'Druid ' atmosphere however had more of an effect on Lorraine Allin who took herself off up the mountain to get a better view of the giants ummm charms - either that or she wanted to prove she's fitter than the rest of us fatties. Sensing the gang was flagging a little I loudly asked "Anyone fancy going to the pub?"  Well - they were down the hill and back in the cars in record time!

A few car swaps happened again here as I handed over my Triumph keys to Jon Woodward and Ian gave me the keys to his awesome Granada estate as we headed off for a well-needed drink at the Half Moon Inn near Melplash. We arrived 45 minutes before they opened at 5pm, but they were so delighted to see the old cars, they let us in in groups of 6 and sat us in the beer garden. The landlady's 3 young sons were very pleased to see the old cars and took many photos for the pubs Instagram account,  with the promise we'd be very welcome back anytime as would most classic car clubs,  beautiful old pub that serves Dorset Gold.

Saying our farewells to the pub we headed back to Charmouth and our waiting dinner. My brother Neale (who lives in the village) had very kindly offered to cater for the 22 of us and brought to the campsite a lovely slow cooked beef in red wine stew,  fresh baguettes and jacket potatoes while his good lady Paula made 2 big Dorset apple cakes with cream for dessert.

It was very welcome after the day's activities and we were all grateful to them. My soon-to-be-14 yo nephew Thomas is just starting to get interested in classic cars, and instantly loved the yellow Stag,  especially after being taken for a circuit of Charmouth village in it.

Just as we thought that was it for the day the Warden of the camp site approached Tosh and made him an offer for the Stag which he accepted and just like that the Stag was sold! What a result as it was for sale.
 
All in all just about a perfect days touring,  a steady 85 miles and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did 😀