Day 1 - Saturday 10th June

Whitby To Cromer

287 Miles

Start Accomodation: Stakesby Manor - Whitby
End Accomodation: Anglia Court Hotel - Cromer

We will be assembling at the small carpark adjacent to Captain Cook's monument and the infamous whalebones. People wishing to joing the cavalade on the first leg of the journey should assemble at this point around 9am for a 10am start.

At the Humberbridge viewpoint a seperate route is available to take people toward the A1 at Boroughbridge. Anyone wishing to join this group should contact Jason Helps

Special Notes

a) THE PARKING FEE HAS BEEN WAVERED BY THE SCARBOROUGH COUNCIL.
b) BE AWARE THAT NOT ALL THE CARS TODAY ARE ON THE FULL DAYS DRIVE.
c) WE WILL STOP AT THE HUMBER BRIDGE VIEWPOINT BEFORE CROSSING THE TOLL BRIDGE.

The Route

Map
Directions
AutoRoute 2000 Map - software required
All maps are copyright of Microsoft and CANNOT be reproduced without express permission. The images have been cropped for easy of display

Daily Log

The day started nice and early after Steve Watkins birthday party the night before, with the erection of the Start/Finish line at the monument and then assembling the cars doing the full route behind the line , something Steve had practiced for at the Croft day beforehand!

by 10am there was quite a crowd on onlookers and MX-5/Roadster owners there to see the team off. Before the departure the official photographs were taken too. And a new TEAM is born - TEAM MEMBER!

Each car was officially waved off and the 'Union Jack' starters flag will be taken round with the team and signed by as many of the people who take part in the event as a special souvenir.

 

 

 

Other cars leaving Whitby and in the Streets.

Then from Whitby onwards towards Scarborough

  

Then onto Bridlington, Hornsea and to the view point at the Humber Bridge, where a small group would leave and more join the merry throng on their way to Cromer.

Some pictures courtesy of MARK ELLIOT can be found on his website by clicking here

(http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Highway/6584/2000.htm)

Some more photos from David Bell available by clicking here (http://themx5.homepage.com/abd) 

Skegness RNLI Station

END OF DAY REPORT - 'from the team out there'

35 cars meant a great send off in Whitby - how many hangovers were there?  Brilliant sunshine all the way.  A few shiny faces this evening - is it the sun or is it the beer?
Highlights of the day:
Hornsea to Withernsea - nice, bendy road, seeing the lighthouse at Withernsea, a minor detour to get a special video ---??? (jeremy Clarkson for Steve since Liz misled him into believing that Jeremy was no more!)  On to the viewpoint at Humber bridge, 15 crossed it (at huge expense!), 3 more joined us, and on to Nunns Mazda at Grimbsy - very clean, curled up sandwiches due to our late arrival, but a warm welcome from the RNLI people.  A photo in front of the showroom, goodbye to more friends and off again, very behind schedule.  On to some faster roads, through the flat roads of Lincolnshire - lot of cabbage smells.  Into Skegness to get a picture of the historic clocktower, and we found another RNLI station, no-one at home, but a chance for ice creams and more photos.  Unfortunately our illustrious co-ordinator had a slight altercation with the local police ( we considered running away and leaving him, but stayed to get the incriminating photo!)  Actually, they were quite nice about it!
Off to Boston, and around the Wash, very fast, and much nicer than we expected.  Gary was running out of fuel (there's always one!) so we made a stop at a local petrol station, and a new face appeared - an owner on holiday locally who couldn't pass up without stopping to see what we were up to - we did manage to offload some raffle tickets on him.
Rumbling stomachs and aching limbs, and off we went onto the final leg, through some very pretty villages - beautiful cottages and lots of windmills  We did have a standing invitation to call in at Sandringham for tea, but one  was running late, so one blew her out.  Very close to the coastline now, and Cromer in sight - tantalising so, but we did get here eventually.  A very quick change, and off into town for a meal - the local chinese restaurant proved to be very satisfactory.
Overall impressions of the first day:
we need to be very flexible with the route, and where and when to stop - the planned timetable doesn't always work; we need to use more suntan lotion - Gary's face resembles the colour of his car. Liz: - "the two way radios are the best thing since sliced bread and we should think about buying some." Steve: - "it went smoother than I expected."  Gary: - "if the rest of the drive are as enjoyable as today, the last 18 months planning will have been worth every minute"  Mark: - "it's been extremely fun, and a family because everyone has been able to talk to everyone else with the radios."
Signing off now