The Queen's Jubilee

The Queen's Jubilee

After spending a few days in London and seeing the Thames Jubilee Pageant with Helen and marvelling at the number of vessels and the stamina of the Queen (and getting wet), I headed north east to Kings Lynn. We were met at the station by Keith Dewhurst in his immaculate 236 (although I do prefer the colour of Helen's 236; not so noticeable as the bright blue).

We spent the afternoon at Sandringham House and the display of some 15 Armstrong Siddeleys in the grounds attracted a lot of attention from families enjoying the attractions. Four Dutch AS's joined us later in the day. I was most impressed by the condition and presentation of all the cars and to see a number of 16s and 18s including two Hurricanes and two Typhoons. Sandringham House was quite homely but still full of treasures, while the Museum held another treasure. The 1929 A/S 30HP Shooting Brake owned by King George VI was the highlight among the Daimlers and Rolls Royces.

It was good to meet up with Selwyn and Jenny Allen from Victoria who had been staying with Keith and were enjoying their time in the 236. Selwyn is organising the Tasmanian Tour which will follow on from next year's Federal Rally at Bendigo and was encouraging ASOC members to join us.

On Tuesday morning we lined up (not in chassis number order) again at Sandringham to set off in groups of 4-5 cars headed for Windsor. The route was a mixture of motorways and minor roads and the 236 performed faultlessly at up to 75 mph. After a very pleasant lunch en route including free jubilee pancakes, we arrived in good time at the gates to Windsor Great Park for our procession through the Park. It was a wonderful sight to see all those cars, including the Mk2 Star which had joined us at the gate, proceeding in a stately manner past polo fields and vast open spaces and magnificent trees.

As is common with AS events, the run concluded with more food - a cream tea at the Royal Berkshire Hotel, after which we said farewell to our English hosts and Selwyn and Jenny and headed for Hungerford so Jenny could check out the antique shops on the Wednesday

But for Keith, Helen and I, this was not the end of the adventure: Nicky and John, the owners of the Mk2 Star had kindly invited us to dinner at their cottage and we all had the privilege of sitting in the Star, by that time it was too late, wet and dark to go for a ride in it..... but what a car!

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