Eastnor 2013

We were full of ideas of things we wanted to do following the Alps trip so we headed to Eastnor with anticipation of finding loads of toys to buy and some parts to resolve some of the things that have been needing sorting out for some time (and one bent bumper which is a more recent addition)

We found a new bumper, but not the other items we were looking for. I did find this very important part that is factory fitted to all new Land Rovers so it was good to see a large pile of them available for those who need a replacement

Katy as usual took her place on the club stand and attracted a lot of attention from people and we had a lot of visitors wanting to look over her insides and her undergarments (suspension) as there are quite a number of people out there who are either working on or thinking about a similar venture

One thing we were really happy to see was Katy's Great Great Grandpa Huey. HUE 166 is the first series 1 Land Rover and held in great reverence by all enthusiasts and this is probably the most sought after seating position in all Land Rover circles. Sadly it was out of bounds, but nice to take a look at it anyway.

 Here's HUE166 in it's full glory

And here it is in the open air as it should be seen
 

Our club did a line up in the centre ring, including us 

and one of our members won a prize for his efforts in the twist off competition and for his enthusiasm for Land Rovers which shone through... Well Done Ryan

Back at home today I've stripped and painted the new bumper and the bull bars ready for refitting when the paint has dried

Eastnor 2012

We had our first outing to a Land Rover Show this weekend - it coincided with my 50th birthday which makes me twice as old as Katy this year.

Arriving on Friday Night we set-up the camp-site. The weather was not good so there were loads of the members of the SWLRC running around putting tents in the rain up whilst we put the kettle on which was great for us (we did feel quite a bit guilty)

The stand was left until the Saturday morning because of the rain, and even then it was further delayed by the complexities of fetching "lost" and late members of the club onto site. Luckily the team sprang into action and with extensive use of mobile phones and a lot of arm waving we managed to get everyone together

Given the rain of the day it wasn't much of an event to wander around and take pictures, but we did have a pleasant surprise when Ian from the 127 Ambulance club popped over with his recently rebuilt pulse ambulance which was quite a treat for those who managed to get out to see it despite the rain (which you can see on these pictures)

Compared to Katy the  Pulse is quite a beast. it looks quite a lot more aggressive and it is a whopping 20cm (8 inches) wider across the body which does have the possible advantage of putting beds across the body instead of along it if you were to do a camper conversion, but according to Ian is a problem on some narrower roads

Sunday was quite a bit nicer and the club stand started to resemble a nicer place to be (apart from the mud underfoot)

On a walk around I was pleased to bum pinto some more 127 owners (well they called themseleves the
Land Rover Special Vehicles and Defender 130 Club) and they sold very nice jam indeed.

They had another of the 127 variants on show  and in this picture you can see a Locormotors (left) nest to a Pulse). The Locormotors like the Marshalls has a sloping front, but it also has the flat roof.

From what I have been told they were made by simply taking a pickup and adding a new body behind, and if you dril into the corners behing the seats you can hit the curved windows which are still in place 

We had quite a line-up on the SWLRC stand as you can see from the pictures below. From the nice 90 next to Katy, then a Freelander and closest is Nick's old Land Rover Special Vehicles radio truck now in a fetching red colour

Katy being the largest on the stand proved to be a useful flagpole

OK, the place was a complete mud bath, but it was still a lot of fun and we learned a lot