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Visit to England: Triumphs

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KVH

KVH

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I have relatives in London who want me to visit. My wife would come along, and we'd see some things and places we've always wanted to see, including Nelson's ship the Victory.

I'm trying to justify some detours along the way to see Rimmer, Revington TR, and maybe some other "TR" places. I assume nothing of any Triumph interest remains in Coventry.

Would this kind of a "detour" be worthwhile to someone's spouse only moderately interested in Triumphs, or am I asking for some real trouble here?

If the word "fascinating" could never accurately be used to describe such a detour, I may have to skip it.
 
My daughter, husband and 2 kids lived in London for the summer. This gave my wife and I an oppertunity to visit for ten days. I had considered doing some Triumph related things also. However I discovered that we would be there during the Open Championship, which happened to be in Sandwich last year.
I traded a day by myself at the Open for a day of babysitting while my wife and daughter went into the city for a day of shopping and dinner. I didn't have to pretend to be interested in shopping and she didn't have to pretend to be interested in golf.
I did keep my eyes open for british cars as we know them. Only saw an MGB and a GT6. Not as many as I had expected.
 
I live in the Cotswolds that are 1 hour and 40 minutes from London on a Train, it's one of the most beautiful parts of the UK and has quite a few Triumph owners who'd be happy to show you their bit.

Get in touch if you have time.

Ash
 
KVH said:
...I assume nothing of any Triumph interest remains in Coventry...
Click to expand...

Well you could stand at the corner of Herald & Vanguard...

Coventry.jpg


https://g.co/maps/z4cmq

Alas, I think the Standard Triumph Club is a 'social' club, perhaps no cars other than pictures. The Triumph Amateur Boxing Club sounds intrigueing.

For me, a visit to Gaydon &/or Beaulieu would top the list for automotive day trips out of the city.
 
If you could get the timing right, you could pick a time when something is going on. Here's some possibilities:

2012 Events

The Standard Triumph Marque day is always good, also International Weekend hosted by the TR Register. I made it to the Marque Day when it was at Brooklands which made for a great day. The Stoneleigh parts show is fun, but not what I'd call picturesque - but it is close to the Heritage Museum in Gaydon which is worth a stop. And at that point you are not far from Coventry and if I were to do it again I'd find the monument Don Elliott helped commission to honor the Triumph factory.

I missed going to the Beaulieu Autojumble which is said to be really good. Goodwood revival would also be a thing to consider, pretty country down where it is located.

Never made it to Revington as it is out west - but that area is said to be great too. Around London for sure you can hit up the Moss London shop, other places are around there too but I liked Moss best for basically spending money.
 
You could visit the site of the old TR facory in Canley on Herald Avenue and have your picture taken next to the Triumph Monument which was unveiled in 2000. I was there for that. Here is a photo of me next to the Monument taken last July when I was driving TS2, the 2nd TR2 ever built (see behind the monument) for 23 days and 2088 miles. The TR Register loaned it to me. The last 17 days the top and sidecurtains were stowed in the boot. I also did 4 runs up the Harewood Hillclimb and attended the TR weekend with 750 TRs attending.

Check out all that is happening on the TR Register site.

https://www.tr-register.co.uk/
 

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Awesome ideas, guys. I've got to plan something.

Don, you say they loaned the 2nd TR2 ever built? That took some pull I assume!!
 
Rimmer's warehouse is just outside Lincoln. It's just a warehouse. Lincoln is quite nice city with an ancient cathedral which is worth seeing. Revingtons place is in Somerset pretty much in the middle of nowhere. You could combine this a stay in Bath which is a wonderful old city. The TR Register meeting this year is in Malvern in August. That is in the same part of England.

Apart from the sign in the previous post there is nothing else left of the Triumph factory
in Coventry. I wouldn't make a special trip.

The British Heritage Motor Museum in Gaydon is well worth a trip and you could combine this with a visit to Oxford, which is close.

Don't know about borrowing vehicles from the TR Register but there are several rental firms in the UK that run classic cars.

As with all things in the UK it all depends on the weather. And old Triumph sports cars are not renowned for being waterproof.....

David
 
KVH said:
Awesome ideas, guys. I've got to plan something.

Don, you say they loaned the 2nd TR2 ever built? That took some pull I assume!!
Click to expand...

It might be just me, but I think its hard to find an uninteresting part of the UK. Plan, plan, plan. You will definitely enjoy it.

And if you want to stray a bit, I personally recommend the chunnel train. I've done it twice and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Its fun to just hop on a train in London and a couple of hours later land in Paris.

As for Don - Don is being modest. We're lucky to have him on our forum. I don't have the exact details, but he's one of the main people responsible for the Triumph monument he's standing next to. And if I could find the picture, I know that's not the first time he's been standing next to it. He's a very good friend of the UK TR Register, I suspect that allows him to borrow the car keys to TS2 once in a while!
 
Randy - I have been a mamber of the TR Register since 1987. You are correct about me having something to do about the Monument. I'm the one who wrote to the executive that they should erect a Monument. This was right after I had heard that everything was pulled down and replaced by a modern Industrial Estate.

I have owned my 1958 TR3A since I was 20 years old and being an original owner, I always wanted to take my TR to drive for a month or more in the UK. I was discussing this with the Brits about this and that's when they offered to loan me the use of the TR2.

Here I am at the hillclimb last July.
 

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And here I am with the Stoke-on-Trent and the Stropshire TR groups fording a creek with 6 inches of flowing water. At 30 MPH, that bow wave must be 6 feet on each side of the TR2..
 

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Take a train out of Waterloo to Weybridge and tour the Brooklands museum.
About 45mins on a slow train, maybe half an hour on a "fast" (fewer stops).

https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/

Always something neat going on; they have a Concord.

If you have an hour to kill in Central London, visit Motorbooks, just off Leicester Square:

https://www.motorbooks.co.uk/

There are (or were) some treasures in the basement; original versions of factory manuals, BMC publications in 3 and 4 ring binders; many still in the protective paper overwrap. Haven't been there in about a year, but they had hundreds for all different marques.

The London Transport Museum is just aside Leicester Square too, some neat stuff in there:

https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/
 
I'm already getting anxious. Herald and Vanguard, just for Photos. The Ace Club and on to Malvern in August. Only thing left is the pitch to the boss.
 
And don't forget the Olympics.. steer clear unless you have tickets! Gonna be crowded!
 
Don, that is a great story!! Thanks for sharing your experiences.
 
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