Well after all the hard work getting the car's ready for the Lakes Tour 2010, Saturday arrived with a glorious sunny morning.
We met up at Bolton North Services at about 8:30, and set off on the M61, then on to the A6 at Chorley, Preston and Lancaster on the our Breakfast stop at the Truck Haven Services just off Junction 35a M6. This is listed as one of the best transport cafe in Great Britian, and we all agreed with that, the Breakfast was brilliant freshly cooked, and a mug of good tea all for under a fiver.
After breakfast we continue up the A6 to the Lakes, onto Ambleside and up the Struggle which takes you up to Kirkstone Pass and on to Brotherswater Inn where we will stray Saturday night.
Bags dropped off, and a swift pot of tea later we are back on the road down the Struggle, this road is a joy to drive open corners, quite tight in parts but plenty of passing points, then we hit the first snag of the day. Some old block going down and a super wide BMW 6 series decided to pass in the same place, we sat there for nearly 10 minutes whilst a passenger from the BMW tried to guide the old guy in reverse, which he clearly had never had to do ever before as he was in the bushes, across the road, but in the end he did manage to get out of the way so Mr BMW could get through.
We continued to the bottom and Martin in the Westfield pulled away from the junction there was a hell of a clanging high pitch sort of sound, at first I thought it was mine car, but it was soon appearant the Westie was not very well. Luckily I managed to find a side road with just 4 parking spaces, so dumped the Dutton and my Wife and went to see what the problem was, Martin already had the bonnet off, but couldn’t get the engine to turn over. So we pushed the car a long with Martin’s wife Karen through the town up hill into the side road. At first we thought it was drastic problem as the engine would turn but very slowly, rocker cover off, plugs out so we could turn the engine by hand, when it got to valve 1 and 2 opening there was a clanking noise, at first I thought maybe that a valve head had sheared, but then we noticed that the pinch bolt on the alternator bolt was loose and sticking into the alternator fan blade stopping it turning, and stopping the engine turning over fast as the friction of the belt was slowing it down. The nut was lost, but luck changed when Steve found a Westfield Dealer just around the corner from where we where parked. (well, a hardware shop) how had the said 6mm nut at accost of 2p.
This fitted and everything put back together the Westie was back running. 45 minutes we were back on the road. Through the Grizedale Forest down to Broughton, on through Ulpha on upto Hardknot pass, this was brilliant last year, but with the bad weather over winter it was not the smoothest of roads, we nearly lost our fillings going up. It is still great fun but was not fun for the car’s.
On the way back down we found 3 Damsels in distress, They had tried to get up the first part of Hardknot, lost control and rolled back down and over the edge with the back wheel of their Seat tin thingy causing the front wheel to leave the road, the poor girl driving was sat there with the foot brake pressed as the handbrake would not hold, if she had not managed to stop on the edge she would have rolled over the edge and probably turned over. Northern Duttoneer’s to the rescue, we could not believe there where 4 other cars sat there waiting for them to go over the edge nobody got out to help.
After sitting Martin and one of the Girls on the bonnet and also me, all 17 and a bit stone weighing down on the front nearside, lots of rev’s and she was back on the road. Hero’s of the day back in the cars and continued on our way to Wrynose Pass.
More to come tomorrow.
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