Mini, adventuring
Autokarna 2011, with Notts About Minis. (The car has different plates on here. Those plates are in fact the plates off my Mother's mini, 'Colin'. This was for photo reasons only for the show.)
Skegness Mini Fest 2011. It was a bit muddy!
Sophie at Stanford Hall at the National Mini Show 2011.
BSM 'L' plates fitted once I'd started to learn to drive.
Lining up with the mini stox! Maybe not.
One of Sophie's first outtings with the alloy wheels on. The original steel wheels have been taken off as they were looking a bit too scruffy and rusty. I am hoping to restore those at some point so the car looks as original as possible like a Mayfair. For now, the spare alloy wheels originally off my Mother's mini are on Soph.
One of Sophie's first outtings with the alloy wheels on. The original steel wheels have been taken off as they were looking a bit too scruffy and rusty. I am hoping to restore those at some point so the car looks as original as possible like a Mayfair. For now, the spare alloy wheels originally off my Mother's mini are on Soph.
It was a rainy day at Lincoln Mini Fest in 2012.
The Road Trip. Three weeks after passing my driving test and finishing my first year of A Levels, me and my Father decided to go on a Road Trip to the south of England. The car was full of camping gear and plenty of spares, and we added a plastic spade to the front because the car was going to the seaside - as you do! Although its always the one thing you don't carry that breaks... Like the alternator. We fixed the alternator on what must have been one of the hottest days of 2012 in the car park of Halfords in Poole.
More of The Road Trip. It was a bit cold up on Dartmoor as we left Dorset and travelled across Devon and into Cornwall. By the time we ventured to Land's End, we were considerably sunburnt! The last leg of the journey was along the coastal roads in Cornwall into North Devon, the last stop being Lynton and Lynmouth in Devon, before driving back up to the Midlands again.
I decided to put the car back to how a Mini Mayfair would have looked, by putting black bumpers on the car instead of chrome ones. Although now I've got the alloy wheels on instead of the steel ones. Dammit! This was taken at the monthly car meet at Melton Mowbray in the market place, which happens every last Friday of the month in the summer.
I decided to continue using my mini as an everyday car and took Sophie with me to Aberystwyth University. The hills proved that putting a new clutch plate in before leaving was one of the best things I could have done. There seemed to be a lot of classic minis around and in Aberystwyth, one of which lived a few houses away from myself. My housemates thought my car was amusing, especially when it came to shopping trips for food and everyone yelling "KNOB!" at whoever was attempting to climb into the back of the car - this being because most people went to pull the leaver which adjusted the seat tilt rather than to lift the seat. It ended up becoming something to just yell at whoever had the pleasure of sitting in the back with bags of shopping falling all over them! The roads around and near by in Aberystwyth were absolutely amazing to drive on. I discovered a old rally stage which used to be used in the AA Rally in the 70's. Apparently minis used to be used in this and a mini held the fastest time along that stage of 21 minutes. The road itself was a brilliant drive from Tregaron to Abergwesyn. It still had all of its curves and hills exactly as it had been in the 70's. Bizarrely, the road had been recently completely resurfaced down the entire of the stretch, yet when driving down there, you were lucky to see more than two cars coming the opposite way.
More photos from the Abergwesyn to Tregaron rally stage.
Trip down to Bristol for a casting, and then further on down south to Tiverton to visit close friends. (This mini owner is a nutter.)
A day out at Scarsdale Hall ruin in Derbyshire.
My Father bought me an electric buffer from Halfords. Its safe to say that I spent a silly amount of hours using the buffer on Sophie, especially on the paintwork repair I'd attempted to fix before hand. She looked very shiny indeed five hours later...
Day out with Notts About Minis at Twycross Zoo.
Special mention to Smudge, the French Lop Rabbit, who I bought in Aberystwyth at University. She's an absolute nut case, AND she put up with travelling for four hours in Sophie from Aberystwyth back home to the Midlands (she appeared to enjoy her travels too). This nutter now goes mad whenever she hears an A Series engine fire up, because she thinks its me coming back home. Bless.
Lincoln Big Mini Day 2015 with Notts About Minis
One of Sophie's car mascots - Nutty, the red squirrel.