What a fantastic day we had doing the rally today

Threre were four cars, Helz's brava, stuart's Stilo chris's bravo (also steve in with chris) and my bravo

i arrived very late i missed the junction i needed for the meeting point so i had to drive an extra 30 miles to get back on track - oops

we all met in Rocester at the garage there and we then set off for our first task - er we got a little lost kinda found the nature park in the end lol took a bloody while though.

the other tasks went a bit more smoothly er i say a bit

we decided to go as a convoy - which was sooo much fun especially on the motorway.

we stopped off for lunch in subway in Altrincham hmmmm well deserved

when in wigan we stopped over to see dawn and kev - thank you for taking us in lol and supplying us with brews and bikkies

We also met mark (arc) in lytham with Gex then had a meal at wetherspoons we left there about 10pm.

Just like to thank you all for coming and it was great to meet everyone - hope we can do it again next year

soon to follow.....pics and more posts - just too tired to bother tonight - i did nearly 400 mile round trip - am sure some others were much more

Sounds like fun, shame i couldnt make it, well i did to one of the points (dawn and kevs, u prob saw my car there )

cant wait for the next one!

yep we sure did see you car - kev was working on it when we got there - i hope more peopel will do the next one - it was far better than i thought it was gunna be and there was only a handful of us - brilliant day

sammiboo said:

we stopped off for lunch in subway in Altrincham hmmmm well deserved

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Dammit! I had just got up after a night drinking at lunchtime. Would have joined if I hadnt destroyed myself doing my sump!

aww nevermind tom - you will have to do the rally next year then

https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?t=16124

Here's some pics, a great time was had by all even though it was a long day. More to say tomorrow. Hope Stu is home safely, no word from him since his pee break!

stu got back safe - he said he was knackered lol felt sorry for him having to drive all that way back to northampton - when we left at gone 10pm - luckily for me i can get home from blackpool in forty mins

lol i bet stu is still sleeping

A few more details:
As Sammi says Rocester was rather hard to get to, what with the massive queues for Alton Towers (and two accidents) so everyone was late. If there's anyone still sitting at the pub waiting for us to turn up then we're very sorry . Parts of the route were done on the M6 where we were never sure quite how fast to go - speeds varied from 70 to 120. Then it was varied with town centres, country roads and all sorts. Despite thinking we had maybe lost someone once or twice due to lights changing/ people not letting you out we all stayed together remarkably well!

The first task was a country park and with it being in the middle of nowhere we got VERY lost. Sammi and I had one set of instructions; Stu Chris and Steve had another and after much driving around they were both wrong so we had to phone the place for directions (and still ended up going the wrong way) and got there just as the rain came down, so no country walk for us . By thsi time it was 1pm

Task 2 involved finding a plaque in Wilmslow, which proved VERY hard to find. First of all the main route to Wilmslow was closed, with NO diversions so we had to drive through country roads in the pouring rain (big thanks to Stu's sat-nav here or we would have been stuffed!). At one point we came around a corner at quite a pace to find a red traffic light there and all narly went into each other (but not even a bump!).When we got to the town, the plaque wasn't where the town guide said it would be and we were runing around for AGES trying to find it before the girls (clever as usual) found it at the bottom of a hill.

Task 3 was to get a picture of some stocks and a whipping post in Altrincham market, which was sadly shut so no luck there . We took a picture of another plaque instead then headed for Subway, nuff said .

Task 4 was to find Wigan pier, which was actually quite easy as it was signposted all the way, then onto Dawn and Kev's (thanks guys!) for a cuppa made by their incredibly well trained children.

The last few tasks proved quite easy as Steve and Chris had some knowledge of the area. So they pointed us to the miniature railway at Tarleton, where we engaged in a lengthly conversation with some burly blokes about how one goes about rebuilding a steam engine. Lovely chaps but they do like to talk! On then to Leyland where again we would have been stuffed if not for the lads and we saw the Leyland trucks plant. Then Steve went to collect his car and we took a quick jaunt up to Lytham to visit their windmill, just as it was getting dark and VERY VERY cold and windy. We met up with a few other folks there then went onto Wetherspoons in St Annes for a bite and drink then home via Blackpool.

All in all a really long day - what we thought would have taken a few hours (it's only 90 miles from Rocester to Blackpool as the crow flies) ended up taking 10 hours! It's been a big learning curve but we really enjoyed it and now we know how to organise it better would lurve another one next year. As Sammi says it's a bit different from the norm . My only complaint is I did over 500 miles in one day and my right leg is feeling it today!

Helz said:

A few more details:

Task 3 was to get a picture of some stocks and a whipping post in Altrincham market, which was sadly shut so no luck there . We took a picture of another plaque instead then headed for Subway, nuff said .

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Is there one there? I did not know that.....

oh god yeah those traffic lights on a blind bend without warning how stupid lol it was almost an ff rally multi-pile up - but our skills of driving pervailed and avoid such an incident

The rain was insane though it was a total wall of rain - i had my wipers on full and they couldnt cope - lol it certainly tested my dodgy sunroof anyway.

ALso the mishap of the road being closed we needed in wilmslow and there was NO diversion - how stupid you think a posh place like wilmslow would have diversion signs

and that silly bloody guy in the Nova on the motorway arrgh - was doing our heads in

hmmm the speeds were quite amazing really - the car hasnt been pushed like that for a while

Sounds like you all had a brill time
I Hope next time to be doing it instead of just providing a coffee and bikkie stop
sorry i was at work when you arrived
(kev says we have the kids jumping through hoops on a sat )

Helz said:

A few more details:
As Sammi says Rocester was rather hard to get to, what with the massive queues for Alton Towers (and two accidents) so everyone was late.

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Lol, some of us got there at 9.25am - but I didn't come in via the M6 but via the M1.

What a cracking day, think Helz summed it all up perfectly. Will post my pics up later, when I can be arsed to go back to the car! Had enough if it for one day!

Plus I only had a FEW warning lights [auto gearbox failure, oil pressure, etc], so overall not bad really, considering most of us were pushing it at some stage! Chris619 even gave me and Helz a big scare - I was screaming down the dual carriageway into Lytham, and Chris decided to take a pic of Steve in his Cinq as he overtook him - all I saw in my rear view mirror was a double flash of his camera - was doing a somewhat excessive speed at this time, and I bricked it!?!

hehe, guessing you mean the dual carriageway that runs from preston to lytham (goes thru warton/freck) thats a good bit for a opening the car up on

shame i had to work, but meeting up at the windmil and then the convoy into st annes was really good. i did kinda abandon stu, helz and sammi in spoons as i was meeting a load of other people there. (didnt make it back home till 4:30am.. work at 9.. and my ears are still ringing!)