Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) So, have you driven your Morgan today?

Gordon, a four day stay... Looks like you were pretty lucky with the weather, Sandra and I would often spend the weekends on the moorings in Rothsay bay, eating lunch in the Black Bull opposite the harbour, Sandra was so fond of Rothsay and Bute that she wanted me to buy one of the large Victorian mansions of Royal terrace that was for sale and in need of some work.....Feeling fortunate I talked her out of that I had more than enough work around this place...! (-:

Sewin many thanks for trying to help out, but my +8 is a mid 80`s version with a pre engaged type of starter motor, thus has no bendix. It is quite a common fault on later +8`s for the contacts in the relay which energises the starter solenoid to occasionally burn and stick together, causing the starter to run on intermittently, giving the over run clutch a hard time...

Beautiful color and composition on that picture Luddite

A few photos of our recent trip to Bute. George, we were watching the forecast and booked last minute to get the best chance of some nice weather and it worked out well. We travelled down the scenic route through Aviemore, a wee bit of the A9 then west on some single track roads to the top of loch Lomond and down to Colintraive. Unfortunately a fatal accident around midday closed the road about 20 miles from the ferry so we had no option other than wait for three hours until around 7 when it was reopened.

First day was spent at Mount Stuart House and gardens. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the trip for me! The architecture, material choices and craftsmanship are sublime.




Day two involved a 5 mile hike around Kilchatten bay where we stopped and watched the Waverley steam past then some driving up the West of the island to the Kyle's of Bute.



Day three was spent in Rothesay visiting the castle then museum, a leisurely cheese and wine lunch overlooking the marina followed by a visit to the Victorian toilets 🍷😄


A slight detour on the way home took us through Glencoe with a stop at the visitor centre, on to Fort William and back home via Aviemore.


George , I can understand Sandra's desire to own a house in Rothesay, sadly the town is pretty run down now with many boarded up buildings and vacant shops. Efforts are being made to improve things though. It must have been a spectacular sight in it's hayday with up to a hundred paddle steamers per day arriving packed with tourists!

Gordon, many thanks for sharing your images relating to your Bute trip, last minute booking worked out well for you. (-:

Great pity about someone having an accident, those single track roads are a bit more of a risk in the summer months, with a mix of folk not used to using single track stopping round blind corners to take in the views and locals not adjusting their driving style to suit the tourist season....I have waited longer than 3 hrs at any one time at airports for flight delays, at least you got there in the end Gordon.. Looks like your stay on Bute was well worth the wait

One of our many trips picking up a mooring in Rothsay bay was to visit Mount Stuart circa 2002, when Jonny Dumfries (7th Marquis of Bute) created a classic car show on the lawn in front of the house, the cars initially all arriving after having taken part in a bit of a rally as part of the weekends activities, Jonny also had organised a bit of a hillclimb in the grounds to the rear of the house and a pseudo low level WWI by-plane dog fight, where the aircraft burst helium filled balloons while performing aerobatics. I think he did well to try to create a Scottish equivalent of Goodwood....
Will attach some pics I took on the Saturday of the event.

Mount Stuart is such a great building .... although it's considered 'Gothic Revival' to my eye that central block has a good touch of 'Arts and Crafts' design cues about it ... just love it.

K

Thanks Adam, though my pics seem pretty dull by the time I post them on TM compared to the way they look on my desktop.. Shrug. As for the backdrop in the pics, the scene was partly created by the folk who chose careful positioning of the lay-bys to create a ready made scene for any photographer.. All I had to do was park the Morgan and press the shutter button... The view with the Morgan in it is West Kyle, and the other without is from the layby overlooking East Kyle...

K, for sure Mount Stuart seems to be a most unusual and striking building to find in Scotland, perhaps a tad Augustus Pugin in terms of architectural influences, though built with profits from Welsh coal if memory serves..?
I believe Jonny Dumfries was a bit of a competitor in car racing events over the years..

With another dry and warm day in prospect, I fired up the Mog and headed out on a very enjoyable 200 mile run. The pic attached was taken on the road into Glen Lyon, plenty of sheep about and fortunately no lions..

Lovely shot George.

Graham and I were at the Honiton Hill Rally, full of steam engines even ploughing so definitely one for Graham.

Merlin powered tractors and a flat bed Bedford truck dragging the sledge up the field against the clock sounded fantastic, Otter Ale as refreshment what else could you ask for.
Well Shire Horses, motor bikes, classic cars, lorries through the ages, lawn mower racing to name but a few - a great day out.

Styria - Schilcherland - not the worst place to be....

GEG lunch at Old Buckenham airfield today, home of the USAAF 453rd bomb group during WW2. The actor James Stewart was based at nearby Tibbenham airfield and later at Old Buckenham as group operations officer.



After lunch we visited the small museum in the hut behind cars, reminding us of the huge sacrifices made during the latter part of the war. Breezy but dry return home.

Many thanks to Chris (The Morganeer) for organising.