The Opel and the MINIs
Beastmaster and Peanut Adventures
The Great Malvern Run 2005
 | Operations HQ Review Photo Album |
The run will be in three legs with kick off at 10.00 am for a ten thirty start and a scene setting first leg ending with a coffee break at elevenish. The second leg will finish with a lunch stop which will be a reasonably leisurely affair at a local pub and the afternoon final leg will culminate with the short, easy walk to the top of The Malverns, with a run end time of about 4.30pm.
Full pace notes, meeting point etc. will be posted closer to the date and the run will have all the standard run ingredients – twisty single track lanes, stunning scenery and the obligatory ford crossing!
TonyM
Details of the run are hosted on Mini2.com, if you would like to join us post your interest in this thread and please also read the Mini2 Guide on run etiquette, which can be found here.
UPDATE (12th
March 2005) Due to the popularity of this run, we have had a slight
re-think on the pub lunch. Basically, the pub is going to set aside
their function room for our use and lay on a full buffet style lunch.
This is going to be a fiver a head and we will pm everyone on the run
regarding this shortly. This will enable us to all get fed and watered
in a fraught free fashion, in a reasonable time frame that will ensure
that the run sticks to schedule. As it should be a hot day we will be
able to cascade into their gardens with our grub. We are using the pub
as a stop as it has good plentiful parking, which is a rare commodity
in The Malverns in Summer and it hedges our bets should the weather be
drizzly. Because we are using the pubs premises and parking it would
not be appropriate for us all to turn up with our own picnics. We hope
this appeals to everyone, but if anyone has any questions please PM me
with them.
The Start point is the car park in Upton Upon Severn opposite the river and adjacent to the Texaco garage (See Map)
and as stated it is 10.00am for a 10.30 start. Toilets are available at
the car park and petrol can be obtained at the adjacent texaco garage -
Optimax lovers need to plan ahead as nearest Shell garages are 15 miles
away!
For those attending the evening meal at The Swan we are meeting there at 7.30 for a meal booked at 8.00pm.
The Route Map and Pace Notes are now available for downloading and here is an overview map of the run.
For those concerned about crossing the Ford (View here) there is a cut through you can use by following this map. MAP AVOIDING FORD
2. TonyM and Marilyn (Stonehouse Convoy)
3. Beastmaster and Peanut (2 for evening meal)
4. Chill
5. Shorty
6. Roger and Marion
7. Fru_T_Bun and Marie
8. The Jaffa Racers (Stonehouse Convoy)
9. Mike Edwards (evening meal)
10. Surfnirvana (plus one)
11. ScoobyDoo (plus one)
12. andymcr
12a. Jay Cooper
14. Minisoopercooper (Stonehouse Convoy)
15. Megamini (Tom and Ruth)
16. Stu2 and Skippy
17. Restyle + 1
18. The RVWs (Swan booked and Sat.night meal)
19. Mini Friz and Mandy Moo
20. Gregg Chandan (Joe and Anna)
21. Minibee (Neil and Sarah)
22. M.2 (Graham and Tracey)
23. L13 Cooper (& Laura)
24. Minimaxime and Hayley
25. Interceptor
26. MiniAngelD
27. Hickster
28. SteveM3
29. donna-iana
30. Schapman (Stu and She)
31. Am3n3 + 1
32. Emma and Gareth
33. Jane
34. Hypermarc (Stonehouse Convoy)
35. Funkymonkey
36. MCdicky and Simon
37. Emu_p (Pat and Tracey) (Stonehouse Convoy)
38. SallyOne (and Tony) (two for evening meal)
39. Richard + 1
40. MattCooper (Matt and Clare)
41. Griffer
42. DeanoSupremo (Dean and Mel)
43. Valleyboy7 (Stonehouse Convoy)
44. MiniOne_Menace (?+1)(Stonehouse Convoy)
45. crazy_drummer5 (+1 or 2) (Stonehouse Convoy)
46. chrisandjax (Swan booked, two for evening meal)
47. ADE90J (Adrian and Suzanne) (Stonehouse Convoy)
48. BlackEyedPurple (+ Steph)
49. gumballgroupie (Jono & Kate)
50. wildsMCSC (Andrew & Julie) (Yew Tree booked, two for evening meal)
51. little_voice_uk
The Great Malvern Run 2005 - Operations HQ
The Great Malvern Run 2005 - Review
Although the Malvern Hills are quite a well kept secret, they are very centrally placed and easily reached, which might explain why what we thought would be a small run (15-20 cars if we were lucky) turned into something a lot larger (49 cars on the day).
The first leg took us from Upton-on-Severn along a wonderful scene setting drive towards the Malverns on a straight empty road. We then cut across some common land and wound our way around the southern end of the Hills to come out at
then on to Ledbury and back up the other side of the Hills to stop for a break at British Camp. Unfortunately the sunny weather had brought many others out for the day and it was a bit of a squeeze getting 49 Minis parked up. But Mini drivers are nothing if not resourceful, and although a little distance apart we all succeeded.The next leg was a longer drive along the west side of the hill, through the Wyche cutting, Great Malvern itself and out exploring the western slopes. We chose as many narrow twisty B roads as we could, mostly for the fun of it and because they are fairly free of traffic, but as you are driving along high-hedged lanes you get surprise glimpses of the hills. Well you do if your eyes are not glued to the person in front, or to your pace notes, or both!
The Cabrios on the run were a bit distressed at the dust that was kicked up as a lot of these roads had seen very little use and the rain this week had left quite a bit of mud on the roads, which by now had of course, dried. But the alternative to dust was rain and they wouldn’t have wanted that either!
Our return to the Hills involved a climb up from Colwall back to the Wyche Cutting and although we did mention “a few hairpins”, we left it for our adventurers to discover exactly what that entailed! After a brief run along the other side of the hill, we then had a speedy run to Welland for our lunch stop. We arrived in small groups as by now the long second leg had split the run considerably, and so it was perhaps 20-30 minutes before everyone was back. As well as eating and drinking, this was time to walk the dogs and discuss how and why we got lost.
Then on for the last leg, northwards this time, and returning through West Malvern to finally gather on Black Hill car park, which was even more of a squeeze, but with the advantage of an Ice Cream man this time. We tried to make the walk to the top of the Ridge easy so that everyone could appreciate the views to be had. The rolling countryside of Herefordshire one way and the flat Severn plain with the Cotswolds in the distance, the other. Having climbed to the top we had a group photo
(with the dogs) after which people said their goodbyes.It’s surprisingly stressful on the day when it is your idea, and you feel totally responsible for everything that happens, but it’s very nice to be able to give something back to the Mini2 community when you have had so much fun yourself from events others have organised.
For Jono and Kate from Bath (self confessed avid GoMini readers) it was their first run and they thought it was “Fantastic, and the scenery is beautiful”. Similarly, Am3n3 (Doris and Tony) thought it was “awesome” – and this despite getting lost straight out of the car park at British Camp! It was nice to see so many newcomers on this run and we hope we have revealed to them a new facet to owning a Mini and give them all an excuse to get out and about to places they have never been before and make new friends. It was something that we never thought of when we bought one – we thought it was just a car!
Chrissie Gates
Eastnor Castle,
