Alpines at the Hall - RGEA Glevering Gathering

In early June a number of East Anglin Alpines took part in the first Rootes Group of East Anglia (RGEA.org.uk) event orgainsed by Chris Hurlock, based around Glevering Hall. Those of you who came to the final day of the 2017 National in Ipswich may remember that we met up with the Sunbeam Tigers at the Hall for the final event of the weekend - so we were hoping for the same camaraderie.

I was looking forward to the shakedown, as over the winter I had spent quite a bit of time on my car but had been able to do very few miles since. Amongst things I attended to were the leaf springs, having them re-tempered, replacing the doggy distributor and coil, had the leaking fuel tank refurbished, balancing the twin Webers and finally had the car set up on a rolling road. I even got the bonnet to shut properly after 17 years. However, to my dismay the fuel tank outlet got blocked almost immediately (which meant taking the tank out again) and I even suffered from water mixed in the fuel - so I was only back on the road a few days before the weekend.

I thoroughly cleaned the car Friday night and even managed to get a shine on my poor paintwork by cutting it back and applying two coats of wax on the bonnet. As I finished working the weather forecast had changed and it now predicted thunderstorms all Saturday. There was nothing else for it, I was going to have to put the roof up. I rarely use the hood, especially as it seems to take about an hour to erect it on my Series 1, so I found I first had to re-stick the rubber seal on the header rail which had fallen off. That done, I clipped it on and found it had shrunk a bit and was snug to say the least, but at least it would keep the worst of the weather out.

The weekend started with a run across Suffolk, the route taking us to Thorpeness on the coast and Westleton for a pub lunch. In addition to the five Alpines (including Andreas who had come all the way from Northern Germany in his very smart Series II) and five Tigers, we were joined by a Sunbeam Rapier Coupe, a Sunbeam Rapier convertible and an ex-racing Ford Flat-head Hot-Rod.

From there it was onwards to Bentwaters Airbase - now a business park containing everything from ex-cold-war military fighter aircraft being restored to bulk Onion storage, power generation and a Film studio - it also has the hidden cold war nuclear warhead storage bunkers now used to hold cars, wine etc. We assembled at the control tower to climb up and see the views before we were given a VIP guided tour of the airfield by the owner.

The first hanger was full of aircraft under restoration including a Gloster Meteor and an English Electric Lighting. Then we were escorted around the bunkers before being taken to the private museum.

The first unit we went into contained more tractors than I had ever seen in one place – that was until we crossed the road to the actual museum. The collection is outstanding and contains many rare tractors, pre-war cars and other vehicles, as well as hosting working traction engines and agricultural machinery.

Part of the museum was run by the owner’s wife and contained an exhibition of dresses from the last 100+ years - which I would admit was more interesting for the men that we expected.

The good news was that despite the odd shower, we avoided the ever-present thunderstorms most of the day. However the bad news was that on the journey back my car had started to make a clunking/crashing/rumbling noises from the rear. This got worse and worse as we drove on the bumpy back lanes. We got back to the hotel and I could not see anything loose – but bouncing the rear quarter immediately brought the noise back.

On the Sunday the weather was great, so I took the roof off (taking almost as long as putting it up did) but I had decided not to put the car though too much stress as I needed to drive home later, so I gingerly drove the car to Glevering Hall, parked up and joined everyone in another car. The run took a growing number of Rootes cars across Suffolk, past windmills, crinkly walls and after a stop at an Antique shop we all met back at the Hall again for a BBQ. 

About 30 vehicles assembled on the lawn in front of the Hall as we chatted, ate the BBQ food and looked at the cars. By the end of the afternoon we had glorious sunshine and a great turnout. I counted 30 cars including a 1940’s Humber staff car, a 1953 Sunbeam Talbot, an Imp Chamois, Hillman Hunter, a Husky, plus more Tigers and most of the cars from the first day. Oh and a Bedford lorry that had delivered the Husky.

I left late and carefully drove home listening for the noises to get worse. Home safely, I left it a couple of days before I had the courage to get under the car - only to find that the off side leaver arm was held on by two threads on the bolts. Somehow I must have missed a washer off when I put it back together and that had loosened everything else – luckily for my pride the U-bolts were fine although I gave them a tighten anyway.

Finally, thanks to Chris and his team: Rob, John, Alex and Tom who helped make it possible and we hope to see more Alpines next time.