MGB Trip Report No.2 (Plymouth, Uxbridge and back)

Right after my trip I started a new job. Therefore, this blog update is a bit delayed.

The ferry crossing from Santander to Plymouth was “smooth sailing” and the ferry arrived on schedule. Even though Maggie had a spot in the second position to the exit ramp – offboarding took longer as the modern Hybrid car in front of me had battery issue. Without battery the electric parking brake did not disengage – it was not even possible to roll the car off the ferry. So, I had to wait until the entire middle section of the ferry had been cleared. My oldest daughter, who is doing her Master in Plymouth, was already waiting for me at the port exit to show my Plymouth.

We visited most of the Plymouth tourist attractions for the rest of the day. The Barbican area in Plymouth in was nice, but the Devon coast has even better spots to offer. So, we decided to visit Exeter together on my way back home. If you are in this area, make sure to take the beautiful A379 to Torcross, Strete and further on to Darthmouth. On the way we passed along Slapton Sands – the place where Exercise Tiger (the rehearsal for D-Day) took place in WW2. We had a coffee at Strete Gate beach, and I insisted on taking the Lower ferry in Dartmouth. Ever since my first time in Darthmouth back some 30 years ago – I have been in love with the place and ferry.

We continued along the coast via Paignton and Torquay to Exeter. After a great afternoon in Exeter (the city center, cathedral, and river waterfront are recommendable), I had to drop off my daughter at the train station and I continued my journey towards Uxbridge. Instead of taking the motorway of well know A303 – I decided to follow the coast to Dorchester – following the A35 – as well as many B roads. Somehow, I missed the turn for Codgen Beach in Bridport – so I looked for alternatives on the map. A stop at the Royal Oak pub in Swallowcliffe – the pub that James May bought – came to my mind. The roads became really narrow – often just slightly wider than the MGB. The fun I had driving on these small roads justified the stop at the pub – although there were plenty of other opportunities along the way which also looked good if not better.

After the break it got dark and started to rain – but I got to Uxbridge without any problems. On my last day I collected quite a few spare parts from my son’s place. Just after loading everything into the MG, a fox showed up between my son’s Saab 900 turbo and Maggie. He/She followed us, and it was like the fox was asking for help. His/her rear was bleeding and from the looks I would guess it had a bad case of mange/scabies. Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything you can do to help and when I started the engine it was gone as quickly as it showed up. From Uxbridge it is a short drive to JB Sports Engineering in Welwyn Garden City where I could finally pickup my Morgan’s rear axle.

Even the best vacation has an end and I returned home just after midnight on April 1st. This has been quite a trip with the MGB GT. Some stats:
2953km in 7 days.
~40h behind the wheel plus 22h on the ferry.
312 liter total fuel consumption (0.2 liter oil topped up on my last day)

Would I do the trip again? – Yes, right away if I could. But I would take more time, just drive between 300 and 500km per day and take even more B roads.