Geoff Allo buffs his 20 hp Rolls-Royce

MEMBERS of the Jersey Old Motor Club are well accustomed to negotiating the Island’s narrow lanes in their pre-1951 cars, but a recent 500-mile expedition to the Cotswolds provided a change of scenery – as well as posing a few challenges.

Sailing from St Helier to Portsmouth on the overnight ferry, participants followed a planned route on mainly secondary roads to Stratford-upon-Avon, where the rally hotel was located. A tour of the Cotswolds followed, taking in the beautiful villages of Broadway, Stanton, Bourton-on-the Water and Lower Slaughter, as well as some spectacular landscapes and an excursion on a steam railway.

Among the 17 cars taking part were a beautifully restored Alvis owned by new club members Richard and Gwenda Chadwick, two Model A Fords and no fewer than six Rolls-Royces, all dating from before the Second World War.

There was plenty of time to explore Stratford and the surrounding countryside before, on the final day, the party split into two groups, one visiting the famous country show at Morton-in-the-Marsh and the other Blenheim Palace, ancestral home of the Duke of Marlborough.

The weather stayed fine until the last day, but there were a few mechanical mishaps, all happily resolved. Less happy was the outcome of a minor collision which meant that one of the cars had to stay behind for repairs, but spirits were undimmed and the club organisers are already turning their attention to next year’s expedition to foreign parts.