Back in the UK

Those of you who have been following our journey and viewing the "BEN" blog will have seen that the 1,888 mile long "Trafalgar Square to Red Square Rally" turned out to be a great success for all concerned.

No accidents, no serious mechanical breakdowns, (not even a puncture) and best of all no serious tantrums in any of the vehicles.

Ok, so our exhaust system did come apart a few times and we suffered a major electrical failure (burn out) of the windscreen wiper motor and, on occasions, the only way we could keep the engine temperature below 110 degrees was to put the heater on FULL and drive with the windows open, but at least we gave the AA guys some regular roadside repair work to do and despite all of these little problems we still managed to keep up with, and often outrun, the rest of the pack.

Needless to say, we both found the event very challenging and, at times, the level of concentration needed to just to try to drive at any reasonable speed around the massive pot holes, unfinished road repairs, over (un)level crossings and along loose shale covered and dusty roads in the face of oncoming traffic really was so great that on many occasions, for half an hour or more, the only words uttered in our car were expletives !!.

On the other hand, cruising slowly through the towns and villages always caused a stir and the finger pointing, waves and the very strange looks we sometimes got from the locals always raised a smile. Fuel stops, loo stops, lunch stops and the need to wash the vehicles always created a lot of interest and, without a doubt, our Anglia and the AA Mini Van always drew the most attention.

The images we have provided on these blogs can only give a small flavour of the event and we hope that this is enough for you see that, for a 43 year old Car and two 59 year old drivers, this really was a serious challenge.

On behalf of Team Anglia we would like to thank all of the companies and individuals who, by gifting parts for the car or by agreeing to financially sponsor our entry, enabled us to make this fantastic journey and, at the same time, to make a valuable contribution to BEN

Our special thanks go to.........

1. Ford Motor Company Limited for their generous donation to BEN and for manufacturing a delightful car that was economically to run, big enough to hold all our luggage and spares yet small enough to get between the lorries, and best of all was immense fun to drive.

2. Burton Power Products for all the fantastic help and support that they have given us from the start and for their donation to BEN.

3. Cobra Seats for making our journey so comfortable.

4. ALK's "CoPilot Live" Sat Nav for making sure we did not get lost on route and for providing all the necessary information needed to help us keep our beer money in our wallet and our driving licences clean.

5. FPS - Automotive Parts Distribution for donating essential brake components and other much needed service parts.

6. NGK for the spark plugs.

7. Autocar for donating the Lumenition electronic ignition kit and lead set.

8. Millers Oils Limited for donating all of the lubricants and fuel additive we needed.

9. Hella UK Limited for lighting our way to Russia so brilliantly.

10. East Kent Trim for donating the windscreen seals that kept us dry.

11. Maccess Woodford for donating the kit bags and ice box.

12. Radar Signs Ilford for making and donating the roof stickers.

13. CAM Autos for donating the much needed armoured flexible brake hoses.

14. Car Toonz for donating and fitting the alarm system which gave us such peace of mind.

15. GAZ for donating the steering damper which smoothed our way over the bumps.

16. Jags Bodyshop for making the car look a Million Euros.

17. Anyone and everyone else who gave us parts, pledged or donated money or in any way assisted our entry on this ver memorable event.

18. And finally, to BEN for providing the challenge, Classic Tours for arranging the route and hotels, our Russian hosts, On Time for bringing the vehicles home and everyone who took part in the event and made us feel welcome.

John & Roy...

PS, This blog will remain active until the official results have been published by BEN at which time we will put our BEN Elephant up for sale on e-Bay and wait for your bids.......

If you have any comments to make about our trip or our blog please do so but keep them clean...

Made it to Moscow !!!

Well folks, first thing, our apologies for not updating the blog during the past few days but we had serious problems with the internet connections from the salt mines..

The journey from Kaunas to Rezekne took us the whole day (Thursday) including stops to re-fit our exhaust which continued to give us problems. Otherwise the car is running perfectly.

Friday was probably the most traumatic as it involved the crossing of the Russian border at Sebezh, passing a 24km queue of trucks waiting to cross. It took us 8 hours which when you compare to the four days it takes the truckers, we didn't do too badly.

We arrive at Velikiye Luki at around midnight and then ate our supper. The last leg on Saturday took us into Moscow. The drive alone would take too long here to describe so we will be able to give a full report when we get back.

See the BEN Blog for details and pictures www.trafalgar2redsquare.blogspot.com

Whacky Wednesday

We left the wonderful Hotel Masura in Ostroda at about 08.30 after watching Roy and some of the the AA guys taking an early morning dip in the lake. Thankfully, despite the "bombing" contests and all the splashing about none of them actually drowned.

Once on the road, we took the point and led the convoy Eastward towards the Lithuanian border, and thereby hangs a tale. In addition to the suicidle lorry drivers heading towards us on both sides of the road, we had to deal with ten inch wheel ruts and un-level crossings at regular intervals. Despite the ups and downs of this route we managed to retain the exhaust system, thanks to the immeasurable help provided by the guys in the AA suppport vehicle.

The journey into Kaunas and the Best Western Hotel was very eventful due to the closure of the main A5 route into the town. Claude, our tour guide, managed to find a very long (about 10K)stretch of unmettled road which took us around the road works. This road enabled us to show what fun the RWD Anglia was to drive with massive wheelspins and handbrake turns at every opportunity which, at times, almost buried the following vehicles in clouds of white dust.

We arrived at our Hotel at about 8.30 p.m. with just enough time for a shower and a shave (for one of us) before sitting down to a superb evening meal with the wonderful company we've enjoyed so far throughout this event.

Our next blog will be tomorrow night, hopefully with some pictures.

Groovy Tuesday

Woken up by the sound of thunder and the sight of very grey skies. Assembled outside the hotel in the rain but the temperature was still high so once we were in the car all was dry.
We were given the dubious honour of leading the convoy out of SCZECHIN and headed for the next stop for lunch at BDYWYSCH (or something like that).
Due to the deteriorating condition of the roads and close proximity to the ground of our exhaust the AA crew decided to give it a lift. With the aid of their towing hoist they were able to get underneath and re-align the pipe. This proved to be a very good move as the roads soon became so rutted it resembled tram-lines. There were even signs posted to warn us!

The temperature soon reached the 30's and it was back to keeping our fluid intake up. It's surprising how refreshing warm water is when there is nothing else!

A mention must be made about how comfortable the COBRA seats are. I don't envy the lads in the AA Mini van as that is all original, seats included.

Our overnight stop is at a very charming hotel on the bank of a lakeat OLSZTYN. As soon as we arrived it was dump our luggage and down to the pool. Then AA Dave said 'lets swim in the lake'. This was well worth the short walk and the water was superb. We had hoped to post a photo but a computor glitch has prevented this. Anyway, it would only make you jealous! It was so good in the lake I went back for another go this morning (7.30!)

Next blog due this evening from LATVIA.

Monday - Monday

Well I guess the Mamas and Papas got it right, you can't trust that day. Spent most of the day driving in 42 degrees ambient temperature and about 90 degrees inside the car. Roy and I have probably never consumed as much water in all our lives. Boy, was it hot!

Had a lovely lunch at Porta Helena and even managed to take a swim in the lake (see the BEN blog). Decided to try to reduce the engine temperature by removing part of the thermostat. This did help to some degree(s) ha ha ha!

We left Porta Helena at 4 p.m. and then spent almost two hours driving around the outskirts of Berlin trying to find the motorway north to Poland! Eventually we gave up following the AA van with their T**T** system and relied on our trusty co-pilot to find the route.

We travelled north to the Polish border and onward to Szczecin where we will be spending the night at the Hotel. Tomorrow we have an early start as we all want to get to the next overnight Hotel in plenty of time to take a dip in the pool.

Hung over at Hannover!!

Well, we've made it to the 1st. overnight stop on our epic European adventure! Not without some anxious moments though.

The journey out of London was a bit slow due to traffic but we still made it to Harwich before many others who followed the 'recommended' route. We enjoyed a good meal before embarkation and all was going well until we reached the loading ramp. It was a bit steeper than expected and as it was getting dark I misjudged the clearance and effectivly removed the centre section of exhaust pipe! Can you imagine how much noise an unsileced engine makes? It's almost unbearable! However, after a very good nights sleep on-board a solution was found. Lets call the AA (who happen to be travelling with us) Next morning we reversed the car on to a kerb and 'a very nice man' crawled underneath with a couple of spanners and re-fitted it in 10 minutes!

Morning break was taken in GOUDA in Holland where we had time to enjoy the town with lots of canals etc. We then decided to take a short detour to take in thr Airborne Museum at Oosterbeck near Arnhem. Well worth the effort. This did make us a bit late for lunch at RHEINE in Germany but our collegues were very kind and saved some food for us which was much appreciated. Then it was a straightforward bash to HANNOVER for the ist overnight where we have just enjoyed an excellent meal and a small amount of alchohol. (wel I havn't cos' its my 1st stint at the wheel in the morning).

John declared to stop smoking an hour before we left SMMT H/Q in London and so far-so good.

This may change so watch this space!

The car is OK except that as the temperature outside is now around 32deg.its raising the engine temperature to an uncomforable level. The solution is to put the heater on! What a way to loose weight!

Got to go now, its beddy-byes time!

New Ben Blog address is http://www.trafalgar2redsquarerally.blogspot.com/

All systems go - hopefully...

Can anyone think of a suitable (clean) caption ???

In just a little over 41 hours we will be assembled at the SMMT headquarters in Halkin Street London ready for the start of the first leg of our epic journey across Europe to Moscow.

Last night we fitted a new alternator, kindly donated by our good friend John Harcourt, and, just for good measure, we re-hung the driver's door, re-aligned the exhaust system, re-set the wheel tracking and fitted a fire extiguisher.

If we've forgotten anything its too late now as tomorrow morning the car is going to be photographed at Ford Motor Company Limited's Heritage Museum in Dagenham before getting a final engine tune up at Track n Road in Rainham.

Tomorrow evening (Friday) will be spent packing our travel bags and generally making sure we have everything we need for our journey and, maybe, just maybe, one of us will find time for a quick pint (or two) at "The County".

All being well, our next post will be Sunday evening, unless something really interesting happens on our journey up the A12 way to the ferry port at Harwich.

As this will probably be the last "post" until we reach Hannover we would like to take this opportunity to sincerly thank everyone who has contibuted to our endevour. Needless to say we coudn't have got even this far without your very generous support.

In particular, our thanks go to Steve Burton and all the staff at www.burtonpower.com/ and to Brian Bennett at Ford Motor Company Limited for the tremendous support they have given us and the valuable contributions they have made to this very worthy charity.

Finally, the blog address for BEN (listed elsewhere in our blog) has been changed. We don't have their new blog address yet but we will post it here as soon as we have it.