Cornwall Austin Seven Club 

Event Reports
Short reports of events, holidays and shows enjoyed
by our members in the past four months.

Our members are always out and about with their 'Sevens'

The main aim of CA7C is to encourage members to drive their 'Sevens' whenever possible, even throughout the winter months when, surprisingly, quite a few members do enjoy being out and about on the colder winter-time runs.  However, we do draw the line on the very wettest of days as there is no point driving in bad weather with the non-optional water entry around the ill-fitting windows and doors!   Mostly we are able to enjoy warm, sunny days with Cornwall's splendid inland and coastal scenery at its best whatever the season of the year.

These edited reports were written by members and are taken from our monthly magazine, Seven Focus.

The suggested routes for some of our past runs are available on our Run Archive at www.dropbox.com  
When asked for sign in information use the following details: Username : ca7c.archive@gmail.com  and Password : runarchive.  Then click on the introduction or a route of your choice, and it will download and open automatically.

NB: You do NOT need to sign up; you do NOT need to download anything, just click 'Sign In' using these details.

More photos of each event may be found on our Facebook link.

 

East Cornwall weekend; Well, Well, Well - 8/9 June.

A few of us went to Callington for the weekend event and enjoyed a great event, full of site-seeing, picnics, unusual roads and good company.   The theme was to visit various wells in the area and everyone was presented with a fact sheet with details of the wells and other places of interest that we were going to visit during the weekend. 

Throughout the weekend we went along some lovely country roads, including plenty of hills and one very unusual road which turned out to be a bridleway and entailed some pruning of the undergrowth so that we could get the cars through.

 

On the Saturday we headed to our first well at Dupath, a lovely well inside a little chapel with a posy of flowers on the windowsill.  After a few photos we moved on.  

At Duloe we looked at the Duloe Stone Circle, and had a lunch stop in the sunshine eating our picnics.  From there we headed off to another well, the St Keyne Holy Well.  There is a legend attached to this well, it is said that whoever of two newly-weds first drinks the water will gain the upper hand in the marriage.  We didn't see anyone drinking from the well!

 

 

Then we were off again heading down lanes until we came to a crossroads where the road ahead was designated as a no through road.  We were assured that the road did go through to St Cleer and we would be okay going down the road in our Austins, so off we went.

 

 

 

The road got more and more narrow and eventually became a track but we ploughed on (literally!) through the undergrowth until we came to a halt, having committed to the route we would have had difficulty in retracing our steps.  A quick check of the route led to a bit of pruning before we were able to continue. The lane did go through to St Cleer but how many cars will ever penetrate the lane again?

 

 

Finally we visited Trethevy Quoit, a large structure of stone slabs with a gravity defying cap stone. Originally the stones would have formed a chamber beneath a mound of earth.  Very impressive!   After an ice cream in Minnions, we headed back to the campsite at Callington where we had arranged to have a meal in their restaurant.  All who took part agreed it was a very enjoyable weekend, lots of fun.

  

 

 

 

 

Coffee Morning - 11 May

Three 'Sevens' sat in the car park at Penhale Round, Fraddon, a 1934 RP, a 1935 RPE and a 1935 Ruby MK1.  They were alone, bewildered, surprised, where were all their friends?  They all appeared presentable with their chrome glistening in the sunshine. They sat there waiting, perhaps others would arrive, but no other Club members came.   So four members went for coffee and met two others who had come in a modern.

 

 

The "Sevens" met at Scorrier and with clear blue skies and warm sunshine we wound our way down narrow Cornish lanes lined with wild garlic/onions, and a huge variety of wild flowers in full bloom.  Trees green with new leaves and blossom were overhead.  The Hawthorns looked like they were covered in snow. In the fields, tractors could be seen ploughing accompanied by wheeling gulls.  A sparrow hawk was seen surveying the field from above waiting for the slightest movement of his prey.  On the elevated road from Newlyn East to Mitchell we could see the remains of engine houses and stacks.  A patchwork of fields, some covered in rape seed led to the sea on the horizon.

All went well but then the APE suffered with a lack of power on the homeward run and following a compression test and the removal of the cylinder head revealed number 4 valve had a piece missing out of its skirt.   Otherwise an enjoyable run, somewhat lacking in numbers.

 

 

Drive it Day run on Lizard peninsular - 28 April

 

The meeting point was Sainsbury's at Helston, it was still raining when we moved off.  We were soon into  the green lanes were covered in white garlic blooms, the valleys filled with bluebells... but alas no sunshine.  The occasional use of a windscreen wiper gained valuable vision; the steep turns, hill climbs and deep banks were enjoyed by all.  On passing Gear Farm we turned left to enjoy more small narrow lanes with the best of nature being displayed in the hedgerows. The art of changing gear from 2nd to 1st quickly was a requirement on some of the climbs.

 

 

 

We then returned to the flat plains of the Lizard, supporting flora and fauna that are unique in this country. Cadgwith Cove was another challenge with a sharp right hand turn and climb in a matter of yards.  Finally after only 22.8 miles we reached Lizard Green where refreshments were taken in a variety of establishments.  A Riley enthusiast took our group photographs and to our liking it had stopped raining.

 

 

The return journey took us through Mullion and Poldhu Cove but we then dived inland to a picturesque valley towards Milliwarne.  A round route via Gunwalloe eased the journey back to our starting point where several of us took afternoon tea.  

 

 

Round Cornwall Tour - 13/14 April

After following very mixed weather forecasts leading up to the Saturday the morning arrived in a blustery, but thankfully dry, style. The six Sevens made an early start from various parts of the county to assemble at 8.30am at Playing Place for the start of our trip. 

With fuel and levels checked,we went down to the King Harry Ferry and on to the lanes, which were sheltered from the winds and lined with glorious spring flowers.  We crossed the Roseland for a brief stop and sea view at Port Holland, on through Caerhays to Pentewan for a coffee stop.  Pressing on up Pentewen Hill, across the lovely Carlyon Bay and into Fowey Town, where the cars were greeted with smiles and hand waving. Onto the Bodinnic Ferry, followed by more beautiful quiet lanes to a pretty steep run down into Polperro, then another steep and narrow road down to west Looe (including a patient wait for a small bin lorry to load up as there wasn’t even room for Seven’s to pass by). Our picnic lunch was enjoyed in the sunshine sitting in our cars overlooking Looe Island and beyond.

Now refreshed, we followed the coast roads to Seaton sea front; some of us even managed an ice cream. Then onwards through picturesque villages to The Little Fox Hotel at Crafthole for our overnight stop - 70 miles recorded on day one of our adventure. Several crews opted for a late afternoon nap, before we met up again for drinks and happy conversation, which continued over dinner, before all retiring for an early night.

 

A hearty breakfast was enjoyed on Sunday and though the weather was still dry it was probably more blustery than before. We gathered together for a 9.30am start for day 2. driving via Anthony and down to the estuary and splashing through the Ford to Torpoint.  Stopping en route to refuel before the ferry journey.  Skirting Plymouth and crossing the Tamar Bridge up to Carkeel Island and heading N.W, happily leaving main roads and following more narrow lanes through sleepy villages, such as Botus Fleming and Quethiock to a coffee stop by an ancient stone bridge over a shallow stream. Two drivers sorted their electrical problems as we enjoyed our break. Off again across Bodmin Moor via Alternun and Davidstow airfield to a windy Tintagel for our pasty lunch.

The little convoy headed west by scenic coast roads and villages through Port Isaac to Wadebridge, to go through Padstow.  We continued down the coast, stopping by the airfield to say our goodbyes before splitting up at Newquay with three cars heading west and the other south towards our bases.  On arrival home we had 182 miles on the clock after a well constructed, interesting trip whilst enjoying the good company our little cars generate. The format of the weekend was excellent and we look forward to the next.  

 

 

A to Z of Cornwall Run - 6 April

 The idea was to take photographs to form a list of A-Z places.  Carnon Downs Garden Centre was the start for four crews.10 am,   Early concerns about the range of permissible places were allayed by the instruction sheet which clearly stated that any place, business or street name would count. Many could perhaps be found within Carnon Downs itself. Some letters are harder than others to find so there was quite a lot of clunking as brains were engaged and outline routes were planned. We set off around about 11 o’clock, disappointed that no-one else had come to join in; never mind, on each of our routes it was unlikely we would see anyone else, unless we all headed to Zelah and Ventongimp.

We set off through Carnon Downs to Devoran and then into Truro (interesting on a Saturday!).  We then went through Threemilestone, Hugus and the edge of Baldhu down to Bissoe, Hick’s Mill, Frogpool, Gwennap, United Downs, Crofthandy, Todpool and Wheal Busy.  We had a pasty lunch and then onto the Tregothnan Estate, Little Beside, St Day, Vogue, Pink Moors (love the name!), Scorrier, Mount Ambrose, Redruth, East Pool Mine, Illogan and then to Olde Penny’s at Bridge for most excellent cakes.  The entries were marked and then awarded prizes for the places found and the devious solutions.

 

Our final selection was: Adams Row (in Scorrier), Besore, Crofthandy, Duckworth’s Industrial Estate (although we did like the Defibrillator in the telephone box in Devoran), East Pool Mine, Frogpool, Gwennap, Hick’s Mill, Infirmary Hill (Truro), Jubilee Wood (in Carnon Downs off the Carnon Inn car park!), Killiow, Little Beside, Mount Ambrose, Nangiles, Old Tram Road (Devoran), Pink Moors, Quay Road (also Devoran), Richard’s Garage (Bissoe), Scorrier, Tregothnan (part of the estate is in Wheal Busy), United Downs Raceway, Vogue, Wheal Busy, Xen’s noodle bar (Truro) Yummy Scrummy (cafe in Devoran at the old Visicks garage site) and Zeb’s  (Young person’s centre, The Leats, Truro). Many, many others were snapped but not included.

 

 

 

 

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