I took delivery of a red series 1 E-type today so now I have two Jags so I needed to take this car up to my brother's garage until I can put it in my new Eastbourne garage... life can get very complicated!
It was a cold day but the roof and windows remained down as it is a rule of mine whilst driving this car. Only if I get caught out in rain will I put the hood and windows up, and that is very rare!
End Mileage 84,741(6 miles)
Georgie drove me over to St Leonards to collect my E-type which Melvin driven over there on the 6th October. The breaks had been binding on again so they fixed that, also the car had nearly overheated when we got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the 20th Sep, the cause of which was a broken wire to one of the fans which they repaired. I also had all the lights upgraded to LED's as the headlights were so poor that you could hardly see that they were on! I had new rocker switches for the lights fitted as that had become tempermental and finally they fitted a new earth battery lead as the old one was also proving a little tempermental! All in all the bill was a shade over £1,500 so my expenses on the E-type this year has been very reasonable.
The journey home was uneventful but as always good fun. The car drove very nicely and I pusher her a little just to give it a good airing!
End Mileage 84,735 (24 miles)
Note: The car was with Just Historic Cars from 06/10/20 to 19/10/20. I had the breaks fixed as they were binding on, the lights were upgraded to LED's throughout along with the replacement of the faulty rocker light switches, the broken radiator fan wire was repaired and the battery earth cable replaced. £1,516.75. The car covered 62 miles whilst away. See Invoice 19/10/20
What a journey! Georgie and I had arranged to meet our friends Mark and Stephanie at the Bolney Stage for lunch at 1pm. We haven't seen them for quite a long time so were very much looking forward to it.
The weather was good and as we are coming near to the end of our journeys in the E-type this year, we decided travel in style. Firstly we hit horrible traffic all the way down to the Cuckmere river due to everyone avoiding the road works at Polegate. Once we were through that and onto the A27 to Lewes all seemed well.
FUEL: Selmeston 84,577 – 66 lts £73.85 (189 miles, 14.518 gallons, 13.02 mpg)
We made good progress to the A23 and once there it was only a 10 minute run upto Bolney... or so we thought! All of a sudden, just south of Hickstead we hit standing traffic. It took us well over 2 hours to get the final 5 miles! The car was constantly in danger of overheating so I had to turn the engin off where ever possible which meant that I had to keep turning it on and off with the risk of fatting the battery.
As it was, we managed to get to the pub at 4pm by which time Mark and Stephanie had long gone. Sadly things didn't get much better from there as I had to send my Roast Beef back because it was tough and then I got the lamb which was poor. We text our friends to ask how their meal was and they said that it was rubbish. What a shame as I have had many good meals at the Bolney Stage and it is one of our favourite places.
After leaving the pub we set off home via Haywards Heath and Maresfield. The journey was uneventful but very pleasant despite the sun setting and having to turn on my lights.
I took this photo from the car as we sat in traffic.
End Mileage 84,649 (85 miles)
It was a lovely day today which was fortunate because we had booked lunch at the Vinyard in Lamberhurst a week earlier in the hope that we could take the E-type.
Naturally I left it a bit late leaving so we had to sprint up there instead of taking our time! When we drove into the carpark it was heaving with lovely cars all out for a Sunday 'spin'. There was a magnificent Aston Martin which would be top of my list if I could afford one! Also they had TWO McLaren 570GT's one in bright orange and the other in dark blue.
As Georgie and I say eating our lunch we saw two chaps having a meal opposite us. Naturally we assumed that they were the two McLaren owners so we decided which one would have the orange car. WRONG! one left in a Mercedes and the other in the blue McLaren! It seemed incredible that the two owners were not with each other.
After a lovely lunch we took the sceenic route home as you can see on the map.
End Mileage 84,564 (84 miles)
I think that I will call this the "up-side-down man carrying a rucksack" run on account of the shape of the route!
Georgie and I just fancied a run out in the car but were not sure where we would go. We started by driving up over Beachy Head and then headed down through Jevington as we don't go on that road very often. We then had a lttel blast up the A22 to Horam.
We then just wandered along taking any road that took our fancy so consequently we backtraced oun ourselves a few times.
The breaks are sticking on which is a real pain and spoiling the driving experience so I must get them fixed... AGAIN !
End Mileage 84,480 (57 miles)
TO HOT TO RIDE! Surprise surprise, we are having some hot weather! In fact it was too hot for our proposed run which was going to take us all the way to "The Repair Shop" where a television series is being filmed at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in Singleton, West Sussex.
We got to Alfriston before realising that we would roast in the car and decided to return home quickly before both of us and the car overheated!
It's not often that we get beaten by good weather!
End Mileage 84,423 (27 miles)
Georgie and I celebrated getting the keys to our new home exactly one year today. We booked a table at the Gun Inn, Gun Hill a couple of weeks ago and it was just good luck that today was lovely and sunny. Mind you, it was only about 19-20°c which is about as hot as this summer had got! We have had a few good days but nothing exciting.
It was good to see the restaurant full and we felt perfectly safe with a good distance between all the tables. It's a bit odd trying to talk to the waiters who are all wearing protective screens over their faces that makes them sound muffled.
We had a lovely sunday roast and bumped into some friends as we left. We encountered a few smiling faces as we exited the car park in our gleaming E-type and set off for a spin through the countryside.
As usual the drive was really fun and we enjoyed the beautiful views accross the weald. I took this short video so perhaps you will be able to find exactly where it was shot.
When we got back into Eastbourne we decided to pop around to my golfing partners house (Keith). He was out working in the front garden so heard us coming and was by the road when we pulled up. His wife Sue and their daughter Tracey and her little girl Ruby all came out to admire the E-type.
FUEL: Tesco Lottbridge Service Station 84,388 – 65.47 lts £71.95 (179 miles, 14.4 gallons, 12.43 mpg)
End Mileage 84,396 (49 miles)
Georgie and I needed to go to John Lewis up in Tunbridge Wells to look at some sofas so decided to take the E-type. The problem was that it wouldn't start! turning the ignition key just made a little click which sounded to me like I had a bad battery connection. I tightened the connections but it made no difference so I took the battery out and put a new one in which I have had on trickle charge for 2 years! It still didn't work but it was then that I noticed that the auto gear lever was not in park, and as soon as I moved it into the correct possition the car started without a problem... twit!
By now it was too late to go to Tunbridge Wells so we decided jutst to see where our fancy took us. As you can see from the map we just did a big circle via Bexhill and Horam. We stopped for a pint of Harveys and glass of white wine in the garden at the Gun Inn which is the first time that we have been to a pub since 'lockdown'. We booked a meal there at lunch time on the 2nd August and will have to keep our fingers crossed that the weather is good!
End Mileage 84,347 (54 miles)
July has been quite disappointing overall. Generally the temperature has averaged about 18°c – 20°c which is not good for this time of the year. Today was much nicer and we were up to 20°+ so a very pleasant day to take the car out...
And so did everyone else! Lockdown seems well a truly over judging by the number of cars on the road, but sadly the shops and pubs etc. are doing only a fraction of the business that they would have done before this pandemic started. So much damage is being done to business across the World, and I for one think that we have vastly overreacted to COVID-19. That said, I'm certainly expecting a big rise over the coming months, followed by further business failures, some of which we could never have imagined failing before this started.
Georgie and I needed to pop into a shop called Carvills Furnishings in Uckfield so we planned a trip that would take us that way. We stopped for a picnic lunch and just walked up a little track and set up our table and chairs there! Very ad hoc, but very pleasant.
We needed to rush back as we are having a COVID 'drinks do' in the garden at 5pm... No shaking hands, keeping 2m apart, separate drinks tables etc.! None of us can wait to get back to normal!
End Mileage 84,293 (80 miles)
It was another beautiful day today so as soon as I got back from my golf Georgie and I packed up the car and set off for a picknic on Beachy Head. We have found lovely spot just off Crowlink Lane in Friston where we sat set up our chairs and tucked into some delicious salmon sandwiches with crips and a beer! The view accross the downs was magnicent so perhaps you can spot exactly where we sat from the photo below?...
After about an hour we packed up and set off for a run in the car. We had planned to do quite a big run out towards Hayward Heath but becuase it was so hot we decided to cut it short.
Our first stop was at Long Man brewrey in Litlington to pick up some of their very tasty Long Blond and Best Bitter. From there we just went up to the Hailsham roundabout via Arlington having first tried a dead end and then back home via Stone Cross with a fill up at Tesco on Lottbridge Drove.
FUEL: Tesco Lottbridge Service Station 84,209 – 56.37 lts £58.57 (160 miles, 12.4 gallons, 12.9 mpg)
End Mileage 84,213 (30 miles)
It is 8 years to the day that my sister Candice died and every year I go to Ashburnham Place where her ashes are scattered. The forecast was for cloud and possibly some showers, and that’s how it appeared this morning. But quite unexpectedly the skies cleared and the sun broke out. By midday we were enjoying a lovely summer’s day so clearly Georgie and I could take the E-type.
We left home just gone 1pm and took the long way via Bexhill, Hastings and Battle. When we finally got to Ashburnham the gates were shut due to the COVID-19 epidemic but fortunately a car was just leaving so the gates opened and in we shot!
We walked around the lake and I spent some time in contemplation at her spot before returning to the car.
Being such a lovely summer's day we decided to call our friends and see if we could pop in for a cup of tea in their garden, keeping the 2m distance regulations due to COVID-19. Unfortunately they had a tradesman around doing a quote so we just drove past their house in Cowbeech and gave them a 'toot' on the horn
As you can see from the map, we did an accidental loop before heading home via Heathfield and Chalvington. It was a glorious run and so nice to be out on the roads again in such a lovely car!
End Mileage 84,183 (85 miles)
We have been having a wonderful run of good weather over the last week and I needed to re-fuel the car, so I decided to pop down to the petrol station on my own.
FUEL: Tesco Lotbridge Service Station 84,049 – 68.01 lts £?? (182 miles, 14.96 gallons, 12.2 mpg)
Naturally, with such a lovely warm, sunny afternoon, I couldn't resist taking a trip in the car. As usual I didn't have a plan so just headed out of Eastbourne and headed for the lanes around Hankham. One lane led to another and so it went for the rest of the journey. It was wonderful just pottering down the country lanes enjoying the sunshine and beautiful countryside.
My quick fill up ended up taking 1 1/2 hours and over 50 miles! EXCELLENT!
End Mileage 84,098 (52 miles)
It has been a difficult start to the year. The last run out in the E-type was in September 2019 and since then the weather seems to have been largly windy and wet. Certainly the start of 2020 saw more rain and wind than I can remember and therefore almost no opportunity to take the car out.
Little did we realise in February that rumblings of a virus would lead to what happened soon after. It started when some good friends offered us an elbow instead of shaking hands! Georgie and I had no idea what they doing so they told us of this Coronavirus that was spreading like wildfire. I have to admit that we certainly didn't take it seriously at the time.
On the 4th March 2020 my wonderful father became ill and was taken into hospital. To our surprise the doctors started getting conserned about the need to rule out Coronavirus, which they did, but it became obvious at that point that something bad was happening. Sadly Dad passed away passed away on the 17th aged 95yrs due to old age.
By mid March a world wide pandemic was anounced and on the 24th March our Country went into 'Lockdown' which meant that we could not see anyone and certainly not go out in our cars unless for urgent supplies etc. But fortunately last week the restrictions were eased which meant that Georgie and I could take the E-type out for a spin if we wished.
Today was perfect weather. Blue sky, sunshine and about 24 degrees so after my game of golf (last week they allowed us to play) Georgie and I gunned the car into life and set off with nowhere in mind.
We ended up in Uckfield where we dropped in to see Sonia and Gordon who were Georgie's neighours when she lived there. There was no hugging or shaking of hands and we had to sit quite some distance apart in their garden. Naturally talk of COVID-19, the restricions and the devastating effect it is having on our Country was top of the list. But when all was said and done we agreed how luck we were to be retired and not to have the worry of losing our jobs or businesses as so many other people are experiencing.
When we left Sonia and Gordon's we took the long way home via Heathfield. The car was running really well and it was such a pleasure taking it out.
We are expecting a second wave of Coronavirus to take hold as the lockdown is eased, so there is a good chance that we could be confined to our homes again which means that there may be few opportunities to take the car out this year.
End Mileage 84,046 (66 miles)
