MX-5 Spring Rally

After all the meetings and planning the day has finally arrived for the Spring Rally at Pendennis Castle.  Leaving Paul working hard at home on their new bathroom, Mike and I joined Jo on the drive to Falmouth early this morning.  As we’re no longer members of the Club and were in Jo’s Mini we had to park in the general car park and walk over to the entrance.  The gates were due to open at ten o’clock and when we arrived there was a long line of cars queuing to get in …

There was a call on the radio to get the gates open as cars were backing up onto the road and then it all happened very quickly.  We are members of English Heritage and so used our passes to get in then we began to wander around looking at the cars.  We kept bumping into old friends which was great.  Everyone was so pleased to see us as we’d all been instrumental in the original decisions on venue.  Pendennis Castle is stunning and thankfully the weather was kind to us – it’s bleak if wet and no shade if hot. 

We climbed to the top of the Castle and looking down we could see all colours represented.  The cars were lined up on the grass and looked amazing …

There were interesting adaptations to cars …

These two cars are owned by siblings and there is always great rivalry in the competition for best car.  The white one won!

Apart from MX-5’s there were other things happening to interest people.  Not every woman wants to look under bonnets all day! 

The event was officially opened by the Mayor of Falmouth …

and old friends were working so I stopped for a chat …

Activities in the craft tent …

We were entertained by local singers …

and a statue that winked at me when I waved at him!

A unique little caravan and a dog collecting for the Lifeboats …

and of course all the attractions in the Castle grounds …

At the end of the day the rosettes had been handed out and for someone it was all just too much!

When we got back to Jo’s car she had a visitor using her window as a  mirror!

We’d had a lovely time and were so pleased that the day was successful.  Well done the Cornish Fives!

Lunch at Juliot’s Well

Now we’re no longer MX-5 owners we won’t be renewing our membership of the Owners Club on 1st January.   Today there was a run which was stopping for lunch at a not too distant place and we thought it would be nice to surprise everyone and turn up to join them.  Juliot’s Well Holiday Park near Camelford had been used by the Club as a venue for a Christmas Party which we hadn’t attended so it somewhere new for us.  We arrived before the 5’s and parked facing the entrance.  As they drove in I waved and slowly people began to realise who the mad person in the Mini was who was waving frantically!  It was lovely with hugs all round and people saying how nice it was to see us there.  We joined them for a fantastic roast which was the bargain price of £5.95!  There were several new members who we didn’t know but also loads of our old friends and we had a good natter and catch up. 

MX-5 10th Anniversary Run

It's ten years since Cornwall became part of the MX-5 Owners Club and today we held a very special run to celebrate. It began in the east of the region and gathered momentum in the middle at Fraddon before reaching a crescendo at Treasure Park where 39 fives plus a photographer's car all parked up for photos before setting off along the coast road to Land's End.

The weather couldn't have been better for a tops down day and everyone was enjoying the atmosphere. Trying to keep 39 cars in convoy proved a bit too much and we got split but luckily there was a handy bit of road for us to wait and let other traffic through.

The north coast road is one of the best to drive along in Cornwall but it can get a bit narrow in places and meeting a coach is not the ideal thing to happen ...


We all reached Land's End safely though and with a room booked solely for our use we had a lovely roast lunch followed by some cake ...




As we were only allowed two cars at the sign for an official photograph a draw was made and then another thirteen cars were drawn as they could be parked nearby. Our names were luckily called and so were Jo and Paul's.



Our photographer Szymon Dereg was clicking away all day and took loads of photos for us ...

At the end I took a shot of our car with the Longships lighthouse in the distance ...


We drove home via Hayle and while we stopped in the car park I noticed the tide was in and it looked lovely across to Phillack ...