TOC 90TH ANNIVERSARY NORTHERN RUN 1st Sep 2024

What is it about the British that we persevere in organising outdoor events for the summer?  It must be an insane desire to defy weather predictions and common sense and press on into the great outdoors. Well, that’s exactly what happened to intrepid Talboteers on Sunday 1st September on the Northern 90th Anniversary Run over the North Yorkshire Moors.

Having bravely announced the date of the run, Claire and I did some route recce runs in glorious weather, marvelling at our fantastic scenery, the quiet roads, the friendly natives, the heather in flower and abundant opportunities to savour the best of North Yorkshire’s food and drink.  The day dawned overcast with the threat of rain at about lunchtime.  Undaunted the runners and riders turned up in Easingwold at Chez Kenworthy for coffee and bikkies before the ‘off’ at 10.30am. 

The intrepid TOC travellers were David and Susann Cook in their AV105, new member Mike Morton in his very smart 1914 4CB, Dan Nicholson in his 14/45 and Claire and I in our BA105.  We were joined by two honorary Talbots – Tim Poole in his 1934 Schafer Indianapolis 500 car and Tony and Liz Buckley in their 1963 Austin Healey 3000.  Paul and Jayne Wignall, old friends of the TOC and participants on the TOC Antipodean Tour of 2019 in their Sunbeam should have been with us but Paul spent the day in casualty having a finger reattached after an argument with a hedge trimmer.  

As everybody had driven quite a few miles to get to Easingwold, the route was intended to be a gentle run over the Moors for the enjoyment of both driver and navigator.  The instructions were in plain English to make life easy for navigators.  Also, at Dan’s request, Claire and I spent an enormous amount of time ironing out the worst of the hills on the Moors!  For those who know the Moors, we went from Easingwold to Byland Abbey, then to the top of Sutton Bank (in the news recently as many Luftwaffe pilots learnt to fly at Sutton Gliding Club before the outbreak of the second World War) and onto the Moors proper.  We couldn’t live without hills and water so the main route went down into a wooded valley, then along a road that was actually a flowing river bed.  Wisely, Tony and Liz decided that the Healey exhaust would be under water, so they took an alternative route.  Through leafy lanes we then arrived at Rievaulx Abbey for a photo opportunity.  (You may wonder at the emphasis on abbeys, but bear in mind this was Sunday!)  Then down to Helmsley and immediately back up onto the moors via Carlton.  At this stage, the rain started and our picnic was taken under the shelter of trees in a Forestry Commission car park.  Mike Morton’s Talbot had no hood so he bravely perched atop his elegant steed and defied the worst of the weather.

On we travelled via Fadmoor, Gillamoor, Hutton-le-Hole until arriving at Pickering, where the run ended at NY500 for tea.  NY500 is a recently opened motoring destination just outside Pickering.  They have regular events, a good café and plenty of parking (www.ny500.co.uk).  Unfortunately, Tim didn’t make it to the end and had to retire and limp home.  Otherwise, all the cars ran well and the rain didn’t dampen spirits.

David Kenworthy