Hartpury

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Traveler The Motherland & Beyond
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- Jun 5, 2023, 11:30am
- ⛅ 14 °C
- Altitude: 45 m
- England Hartpury 51.92253, -2.29127551°55’21” N 2°17’29” W
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Day 19
Cheltenham via Birmingham
June 5, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Jarlath and Jenny dropped myself and "Mr Boofle" off at Rugby station after a great few days of reminicing and seeing Rugby and surrounds.
Of course, the day I left Rugby, British Rail was having a few issues, and I had planned to meet my friends Dave and Bev in Tamworth and then head to Cheltenham by car. But never fear, the Motherland is criss crossed with rail and while the direct route to Tamworth was not running(overhead wires were down), I jumped on the train to Birmingham and then down to Tamworth. Met an interesting character on the train who said his cell phone wasn't working and he needed to get hold of his Governor as he was returning to prison; "Could I phone ahead for him and tell his Gov he was going to be late?" ( as with my new aquantaince, I was just out of minutes 😉)
I arrived in Tamworth to be met by Dave and his brother in law Rob. We headed off to Robs house where I met up with Bev, Dave's wife and Sally, Rob wife and their son , Wills. Rob, Sally, and Wills had been in NZ earlier this year, and I had a drink with them on the Wellington waterfront. Dave and Bev, whom I first met in 1983 in the Motherland, had been to NZ and stayed with me in 2020 just after my accident. It was a great reunion. After sitting in the Tamworth sunshine in Rob and Sallys backyard sipping tea (a cracker of a day), we headed to the "Tame Otter," a local pub by the canal.
After a traditional British pub lunch, we walked the canal seeing a number of " narrow boats" and interesting sites. These narrow boats are so interesting, and as with British Rail, canals also criss-cross the country and in past had acted as trading and shipping channels for the country. They are still in existence and functioning over 300 years later.
So after a pleasant afternoon in Tamworth, Dave, Bev, myself and Coco, the spaniel, headed to Cheltenham. Oh, how I love Britain!Read more
Traveler Me too! Awesome place - the history, the culture, the scenery 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧
6/6/23Reply
Traveler Solid pub grub. Any room for pudding?
6/6/23Reply
Traveler Only room for another pint of warm ale! Luvly.
6/6/23Reply
Should've bin called the Shirley Ann [Sx]
6/7/23Reply
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Traveler The Motherland & Beyond
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- Jun 6, 2023
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 45 m
- England Hartpury 51.922632, -2.29145951°55’21” N 2°17’29” W
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Day 20
Three Counties in a Day
June 6, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Tuesday, we set off to explore Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. This was a lovely road trip, first arriving in Ledbury, a market town, where we strolled the main street and lunched in a pub dating back to the 16th century. I'm sure the beer was 16th century, warm and flat(as a flea's fart - a local saying).
After lunch, we headed off to walk in a large estate, Eastnore Deer Park, admiring the countryside and taking in the view of a local Eastnore castle still in private hands. The countryside is almost manicured with perfectly straight trees that haven't been ravaged by winds and fields with plenty of colour and wildlife.
Wednesday, we made the pilgrimage to Worcester city and the cathedral. A magnificent Roman town with reminents from AD600. We toured the great cathedral and wandered the docklands as Worcester was a port, now home to some luxury vessels and long boats.
In the afternoon, I had fourty-winks, and then Bev and Coco (the dog) took me on a walk up a country lane in Hartpury. The afternoon was finished off by scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam, oh to be an Englishman once again.Read more
Traveler Just on our way back from Eurotunnel after the wilds of S France & caught up with your travels... Glad you're still appreciating the warm flat beer over here! See ya soon... Sx
6/7/23Reply
Traveler Wow! What a perfect day - except arguably for the temperature of the beer, but it wouldn’t be Britain without warm beer 😂 You are having so much fun that I think I’ll come join you. Since the beer there is not up to snuff, maybe I will bring some New Zealand whisky. I hear there is a new label kicking around that promises to produce some good stuff 😉
6/7/23Reply
Traveler 👍🥃🤪🤣
6/7/23Reply
Traveler I hope that new label is paying Excise on its produce, if not, we have shipped in off Cornwall. I know of a good cove.
6/7/23Reply
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Traveler The Motherland & Beyond
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- Jun 8, 2023
- ☀️ 22 °C
- Altitude: 44 m
- England Hartpury 51.922469, -2.29124451°55’21” N 2°17’28” W
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Day 22
Malvern & Morgans
June 8, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Another gorgeous day in the Motherland, and today I'm going somewhere very special. I'm off to the Morgan Motor Company and factory in Malvern to pick up my new Morgan and to arrange shipping. I had kept this quiet, but in keeping with my single status, I needed a "chick magnet," and what better than a Morgan with me in my Tinder shots.
I arrived at the factory and was greeted enthusiastically by the staff. Before getting my new Morgan, I did a tour of the factory. Morgan's are the last true British hand-made sports cars in the world - every single man's dream....... other than Rachel Hunter(NZ super model).
Morgans are made in some of the same hand-made processes and machines used for the last 75 years. The car is still made using Ash wood in the frame, aluminum hand beaten panels and boxing, and leather from Scotland. Touring the factory was like letting me in Santa's workshop. I was in awe of the tradies producing such quality. My guide said that they produce about 1,000 cars a year and every part except the engine and tyres are handmade.
Most Morgan's today are fitted with BMW engines (so sad), and the majority still have manual gear boxes. You can have any colour combination, leather and wood finish, and a choice of solid, mag, or wire wheels. What amazed me on the tour was how close you were to the production, standing right along side of a tradie hand beating fenders or hand planing wood. I watched a skilled seamstress manipulating the leather into beautiful car head rests and other tradies crafting the wood facing dashboards and bending Ash into shape for the structure - British craft at its best.
The tour ended up in the gift shop where you could buy every conceivable extra for your car from hand crafted driving gloves, exquisite Morgan wrist watches through to British wicker picnic baskets.
This was a tour not to be missed!
By the way, I did tell you, I got my Morgan..........................................................................embossed woollen scarf and decided to ship it back home in my bag. I will really look the part in my Tinder photos.....(sigh)............

(Now you didn't really think I had bought a Morgan sports car, did you?😉 (not at $180,000 and a 12 month waiting list - Gordon Bennet! 🫢))Read more
Traveler That's amazing that it's still all hand-done and as you say, so close to the workers
6/8/23Reply
Traveler It was amazing Allan, and the staff would stop and talk to you about their skills . Every car being built has a production number and they still use a clip board to sign off each job, take photos, etc so when you pick up your new Morgan, you have a photographic record of its production and each tradie has signed off the work they did.
6/8/23Reply
Traveler Cool
6/9/23Reply
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Traveler The Motherland & Beyond
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- Jun 9, 2023
- ⛅ 24 °C
- Altitude: 45 m
- England Hartpury 51.922624, -2.29135951°55’21” N 2°17’29” W
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Day 23
Down the country lane.......
June 9, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
What is more exciting than going to the Morgan factory? Driving a Morgan down a country lane also walking a country lane with my new BFF, Coco.
Bev took me to their local church and to see the Tithe barn opposite the church. Located in the church grounds was a very ancient bee hive or Bee house to house hives.
M.y good friends arranged for me to meet their good friends, Martin & Vanessa of Rosetree Cottage, and head out in their 1998 Morgan, I was in heaven.
The next day, we headed for the Forest of Dean, where we .trekked through a Royal forest that Henry VIII once hunted in, and probably King Charles hunted for Camilla in, or was that lusted after............
Saturday evening, we all headed for Tewskesbury to hear Dave's Choir, Cotswold Male Voice choir, world famous! Before the concert, we toured Tewkesbury having an ale in a 14th century pub still serving beers in barrels.
Today, even more cars. Dave took me to Highnam Court, a stately home owned by a friend. There were classic cars on show that would be exstinct or never seen in NZ.
These experiences really make England such a great place to visit. Within a 10 mile radius of my friends house and village, there is more history and experiences than we can ever imagine in NZ.Read more
Traveler Oh Wow! It looks just like our neighbourhood. I hope I never get lost in England. So many of these lanes and woods look identical. Won’t be able to offer you drives in a Morgan when you visit us; we only have a Mazda 6.
6/11/23Reply
Traveler Oh dear, lowering my standards, Mazda! I have just been in Sports car heaven🤪
6/11/23Reply
Traveler Surely it’s only a matter of time till you build your own Morgan Gavin??😎
6/11/23Reply
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