May 2017 and the Scotland North Region heads South of the Border, down Northumberland way. 19 cars and 33 members took over the excellent Marshall Meadows Country House Hotel, which is situated between Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border - just half a mile into England.
Those of us who were lucky enough to get away early for the weekend and travelled down on the Thursday were rewarded with a sunny afternoon to sit on the terrace and compare notes on our route to the hotel. We and several others had stopped for lunch and part of the afternoon at the Scottish Museum of Flight at East Fortune. The collection, based at the former WWII RAF base, includes civil and military aircraft as well as explanatory models and interactive displays. The Concorde supersonic airliner and the Vulcan delta-wing bomber are star attractions. They also have a Comet in Dan-Air livery, which I'm pretty sure I flew on in the 1980s!
Vulcan at East Fortune
I had prepared a list of some suggested venues for members to visit as the area is rich in attractions. One of the most popular was the Jim Clark Room in Duns, commemorating the life and racing career of one of our driving legends. It's a small museum but well worth a visit, with a well laid-out display of informative panels progressing year-by-year and accompanied by photographs, trophies and other memorabilia of the popular and successful driver.
There was a suggested drive route for the Saturday which some of us followed, taking in the border towns of Coldstream, Kelso & Jedburgh before re-crossing to England at Carter Bar. From here it headed south to Otterburn and then East again, cross-country via pretty villages to Warkworth Castle, then north again via the fortified towns of Alnwick and Bamburgh. I have to give thanks here to Rob Kehoe's pals Paul & Steph from the Z4 Club, who kindly shared some of their favourite roads with us when we met up with them on our "recce" trip earlier this year.
Alnwick Castle
Bamburgh Castle
Sun on the Northumberland landscape
The "Deepest Penetration of English Territory" award goes to the team of Andy James & Brian Innes who went off to explore Hadrian's Wall and got within 14 miles of Carlisle before heading home!
After a very active driving day we all gathered back at Marshall Meadows in the evening for a fine dinner, and perhaps a drink or two. The toast was "Good roads, good driving, and absent friends".
Dinner at Marshall Meadows