The first Sunday of November is as usual the London to Brighton vintage car run and as we have been doing for the past, well more than 20 years, we are helping out Rory get his vintage Humberette down to Brighton, in one big long traffic jam.
Helen and I opt to meet everyone at Crawley rather than getting up at 4 in the morning for the official start in hyde park at 7. It was foggy in parts when we left at 8:30 from home. The M25 was busy but moving at full speed. Just before the M23 we checked in with Rory to find out where they had got to. That had just left the usual coffee stop just before the M23 so we headed south on the motorway to park up at Crawley.
After last years fiasco when the official stop was moved to a Honda dealership just outside Crawley then missing out the High Street, the compromise this year was stop at the dealership and drive up the High Street. A real shame but it did mean we could meet at the White Hart.
The car broke down just before the stop, when it overheated. Mark thought he might have to deploy the fire extinguisher! They had to push start the car to get moving again, and when it stopped in Crawley the radiator cap had be replaced by a cork and paperclip indicator. Ozzie Dave was with us for the next part of the journey which continued at 12:00 about the same time as most years. The traffic was not quite as heavy as I remember from previous years.
We overtook the car and stopped a few times, then peeled off to Brighton just before Burgess Hill. The traffic jam to Brighton delivered us to the hotel by 14:00 just on time for checking in. Dave and I headed to the sea front and Helen went shopping. Martin was down on the seafront at the entrance to Madeira Drive. We saw the Humberette arrive, then we walked down to the parking area, where we jumped the barriers to get to the car. We hung around for a while chatting, and watched the spectacle that is a starling murmuration over the pier that is still standing.
The fog had burnt off in Brighton and people were wandering around in t-shirts and sitting on the beach enjoying the sun. Helen read somewhere that it was the hottest November day on record!
When it was time to go back to the car I volunteered to be the passenger so as to get the car loaded on the trailer quickly. I was the only ones Rob trusted to do it properly. By the time the others reached office on foot the car was loaded and tied down all Rory had to do was just check that it was to the correct specification. Luckily for us smokehead parked near the tender vehicle and as there was only 5 of us we all managed to squeeze into his Renault Megane and we headed back to the centre of town through the traffic jam was trying to leave Brighton.
It turns out we had parked in the wrong car park we have parked in the NCP car park but if we had part that the RCP car park it would have only cost us £10 for 24 hours rather than the £26 that the 24 hours going to cost us.
We agreed to meet up at 7:30 to go out for something to eat so I had 2 hours to relax and have a shower before heading out. We met up the in reception where the drinks were two for one, Helen enjoyed her large glass of wine for the price of a small one.
No one would commit to the type of or which restaurant type to go for, we ended up at an Italian called Donatello, mainly because we could not see an establishment with a free table for 10 or agree where to go. They sat us at a round table so no one felt they were out on a limb. The food was tasty but nothing special, we all had starters, and drinks (except Jonah) and some had desert, the the final bill was £23 per person including service charge, which is good value for money. We stopped ofc at a pub for a pint, I had a nice IPA, then headed back to the hotel and bed.
We met up at 09:00 in reception and headed to Bills for a cooked breakfast, I had the veggie one which has toast spread with spicy humous and another with guacamole, which is very tasty. Next we did some window shopping and a few if the girls bought boots, and Rory bought some frog salt and pepper pots. We left at 12:30 ish and dropped by one of Helens relatives for a spot of lunch, then headed home. The traffic was busy but we were home before the real rush hour at 17:00. Another great London to Brighton.