British-Cars.org

Welcome to the DMR Site for British Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite General - road trip !

right lads

me and my mates are planning a road trip and want to go somewhere north. we live in newcastle so we need somewhere to head for a day or even a couple or days for the banter.

does anyone know of any amazing, scenic, breath taking roads in the upper half of the country ?

any ideas will be appriciated

cheerz lads
jc collins

Head up into the Borders - great run over the hills and usually something happening in Kelso, last year Bridget the Midget stopped there during the UK tour
rachmacb

I ran-in my new Clio in Sept A697 (off A1)near Morpeth over the hills via Coldstream to Edinburgh.Brilliant run but fill up with lots of fuel.Fantastic empty road.Do Milfield airfield on the way. Come back via Jedburgh A68/A696 and Otterburn.Good comeback for the Magpies yesterday at 4-4.Almost as good as Everton at 5-3.Ha!
M Blencowe

Also, I noticed that you're about 17 - if you're on facebook, then search out Triumph Yoof - they have a fantastic weekend away, and are all under a certain age that I'm over now :(!!!!

Plus, if you've got the 1500, then, they are WAY better than the MG lot on what to do with it, how to tune it for the best performance etc etc - sadly, many MG people are downright snobs about it - and don't even think of arguing you lot - go and read your various posts ...!!!! You can have a whole load of fun and boost the power up loads to it - and, when it's well tuned and balanced, it's a great wee engine on a fantastic wee car ;)
rachmacb

great input mate, my mate drives one and he looks down at me. ' your dad works for my dad ' situation. i just tell him where to go, his only friend is his car hahaha

i agree with you, my 1500 has so much power, iv only managed to drive it around the street a few times because its got no tax and mot. im in the process of doing it up and hope to have it on the road in a few weeks :)
jc collins

JC do not play up to your stereotype

I'm sure you've not really driven it round the street a few times without MOT and tax (and insurance(?))

6 points retake test

learn to drive the car as it is before thinking about power increases

the reason the insurance costs are so high for your age group are very simple - statistics - you are highly likely to have a costly crash in your first and second year of driving

don't be one of the statistics, it's costly and can hurt

most of us had accidents in our first few years after passing our tests hopefully minor and slower speeds

enjoy yourself but don't be led into, or start yourself, doing stupid things or showing off iy usually ends in tears for someone even if it's not you
Nigel Atkins

I hope you aren't sexist because THE person to speak to about the 1500 engine is a woman, Deborah Evans, Priestess Race Engines, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, pr.engines@tiscali.co.uk

But Nigel is right. Don't try tuning it up just yet. Your insurance will be horrible enough with the car standard. Get used to it and build up some safe driving record first.

I'm not proud of it, but I had 3 crashes in my first year of driving, and then 30 years later, guess what, my oldest son did exactly the same. Fortunately only metal and pride got bent for both of us, although I did get a conviction for Driving without Due Care & Attention - quite rightly too. My younger son was a more careful soul and got through his first year on the road unscathed.
Mike Howlett

LOL - give the lad a break - he's probably only driven it up a side-road, or a farm track, and we've all done that I'm sure (at the age of 7 in my dad's rather faster car than a 1500 Midget!!!!)

Tune it up - get it running perfect - make sure it is going just perfect - and you'll have loads of fun - without the huge bhp of other, more expensive to insure cars - not to mention it being cheaper for petrol ;)

It's all relative .....! At least he's got taste - and his first car ain't an old A-series mini - like many of the older folks around here - or horse and cart in some cases ;)
rachmacb

Come on guys lighten up a bit, weve all been 17 once and if I then had a driving midget I would have love to driven it arround the block just to sniff the sensation of the driving the car.
Ofcourse now you think about what if you hit somebody while not being insured?

The older you get the more wiser/more carefull youll become.
The things ive doen as a youngster I would defently not do them now anymore.
Now you calculate the risks, then you didnt even know what risks are.
The good old reckles days. :)
Arie de Best

JC,

"does anyone know of any amazing, scenic, breath taking roads in the upper half of the country"


Are you mad???? You live in one of the best driving location in the country!!! Just about every road that leads of the city rocks!!

Where abouts are you? I'm from Lemington on the west end. I used to head up toward Simonside and Rothbury loads. Try the B6342 off the A68. Head North for an awesome blast. There is a little back road that turns off the B6342 a few miles before Rothbury. It's single track, but well surfaced and goes right over the Simonside hills. Sign posted Great Tosson (I know, what a name!) It's probably one of the best roads I've ever driven! There are often Rally cars on there doing a forest stage from the access car park you"ll drive right by. Stop in Rothbury at the milk bar for a cup of tea and a chat with all the bikers it's always full of. If you arrive in a modern, they won't even see you. Arrive in something cool and you are one of them! Then any of the roads leaving Rothbury are cool. The best is probably the road past Cragside house (B6341). It passed the stately home then goes up onto the moors before joining the A697 for a cool but fast drive back to the city.
Then there is the coast route to Bamburgh, the route south of Hexham over the moors, the list is endless.
Private message me if you want more! I know of a road not far from Derwent Reservoir that while only a few miles long has about six hairpins and drops that would rival any alpine pass!!


Paul
Paul Barnes

Like I say I'm sure JC didn't mean a street that required MOt and tax

Not trying to be heavy with JC but best to get into good habits as soon as possible

Best tuning you can do for the car is full and proper servicing that makes a big difference to a car and must be done before you can move on to other forms of tuning or the other forms will be compromised
Nigel Atkins

Paul,
I know those roads very well from previous days. I totally agree with your recommendations!

Do I detect a note of nostalgia? Its the thing you cannot escape from for Northumberland once you've lived there!

Joe, I lived for a while at Kenton Bankfoot, just around the corner from you I think. Though that was, ahm, a few years before you were even thought of!
Guy

JC, I am from the borders and agree with all the others about the roads in the area being perfect for a run but I would avoid getting near Edinburgh as the bypass can be a nightmare.It is always busy and hectic and not a pleasant place to be other than early in the morning.
You are obviously not going in your own car (the Midget), as you are not insured, it is not MOTd or taxed and is probably in pieces by now.In another thread you said it ticks over at 1500revs, so apart from anything else you need to get the carbs sorted out!(and or ignition. and or an air leak)
As others have said please take care especially if you are out with mates in a modern car going for a run.As my old Pappy used to say, look out for the idiots out there.Modern cars are so fast, and can be safe, but in inexperienced hands are lethal on country roads where you don't know what is round the next bend.
Sorry if I sound patronising but I don't mean to, I just want you to be safe.
JB Anderson

Shhhhh..... ! Don't tell the world about Northumberland or it'll become just another tourist filled traffic jam... :-(

Some more superb roads can be found on the Durham Dales... Try heading west and cross ALL the road bridges over the Tyne and see where you end up... :-)

I've had Spridgets since I was 17 and still LOVE driving them. In the meantime, I had and driven many other exciting and exotic cars but still love to Midget or Sprite. Even in std form, well driven on twisty roads, there's little that can stay with you.... :-)

JC... ENJOY..!

Mark.
M T Boldry

Guy, you are right there is more than a little nostalgia! I'm born and bred in Newcastle and like all Geordies I absolutely love the place. I've traveled a significant portion of the globe and no city can even come close. The wife and I can't wait to move back there, but it's going to be probably ten years before we can. Then I'll be driving some sort of British sports car back and forward over the Tyne Bridge every day stopping for a pint on the Quayside.

Paul
Paul Barnes


one word

Hartside

That's close enough to you and has to be one of the best roads in the country.

Although I also know the one round the back of simonside well, It's fantastic, as is much of the things up there, round the back of Rothbury and surroundings.

There's some pretty awesome routes to various eateries also - this is one of my favourites , the Tankerville Arms in Eglingham

seems there's a lot of us know that area of the world. But Mark's right, don't tell anyone or they'll all want some. :)

when I'm planning trips out I use google maps hunting for interesting looking roads. Seems to work quite well.
Rob Armstrong

"I'm born and bred in Newcastle and like all Geordies I absolutely love the place. I've traveled a significant portion of the globe and no city can even come close."

I have to agree with you Paul, I am not a Geordie but my wife and I love Newcastle! (and the surrounding area)
JB Anderson

im also born and bred a geordie !

where i live in kingston park is ideal for just going around the estate for practice, even out onto the country roads near woolsington
jc collins

Try some of the roads out of Ponteland. There are some good single track roads going back towards Throckley.


Paul
Paul Barnes

From Kingston Park, go out past the airport to Ponteland and on to Belsay. Turn off past Bolam Lake and go via Scots Gap to Rothbury. Good place to stop for a while. Return by going west up the Coquet valley road which is a nice twisty road through to Elsdon. Or go back up the hill and take the "Simonside white" through Great Tosson to Hepple and Elsdon. Watch out for speed cameras on the road back to Ponteland.
One of the characteristics of rural Northumberland roads is the very long straights followed by a sudden 90 degree bend - often with adverse camber and just over a blind brow! Makes for some exciting moments!
Guy

In yet another effort to push Midget50 on the world, I spoke with Mike Howlett yesterday, and he has given me the list of where the Caledonian Centre are going on their spring trip - why don't you try and hook up with them on the day they are down your way?

I'm not saying that Road Runs are the fastest, most adrenalin driven things going - but, it will get you out and about - and meeting some other MG folks who will be full of ideas and just a generally good bunch of people to be with - plus, you'll get to see a huge range of other MG cars from all eras.
rachmacb

My impression Rach was that this run was a young lads affair and not to do with MGs specifically.

I agree completely with Guy's route - the bit between Rothbury and Elsdon is excellent (also the stretch betwee the A697 and Rothbury), but most corners are unsighted so be careful. You don't want to meet a tractor, horse, or cyclist at speed around a blind bend.
Jordan Gibson

Unsighted, lumpy, off camber and slippery as anything in this weather. I'd describe that road as *challenging* but fantastic fun. See if you can get back over the Winters Gibbet road, straight as an arrow but fantastic views. And a creepy gallows with a head on it...

It's funny watching all of the northumbrians/proper northerners come out of the woodwork :)
Rob Armstrong

Lol I meant as well as - after all, the more driving the better!
rachmacb

LOL

this has to be the daftest thing anyone has posted here

Joe

go out of Toon and head to the "wall" Might have been Corbridge, head north and enjoy some of the greatest driving there is on the palnet

I visited the "wall" en route to Embleton one year and after driving along it we went north (I'm sure it was Corbridge) and found myself in heaven

Roads where the only traffic was me

And runs and surfaces to try anyone's abilities (Praise the Lord for my old Sayab, built for these places)

just go north young man

heaven awaits

by the way

Embleton

Drive off the main road uphill towards the "beach" and as you crest the hill

the vista will take your breath away

which you can get back by popping into the Sportsman's Arms

long slope down to the sea across their dinky little golf course

good snack menu too in the Golf Club house
Bill 1

Well young JC I think they boys have probably gave you the information you were looking for! You live, in my opinion, the best city from which to go for a good drive in any car, let alone a classic sports car. Living in Kingston Park you are at the easiest end of the city to access the country roads. Two of us recommended Simonside, That should tell you something! All the "B" roads in the area are hugely good fun.


One thing I should of mentioned, is have you found Sports Car Supplies on Whickham bank yet? The Chap who owns the place is an enthusiast and a wealth of information. his name is Andy Haw. Sports Car supples specialises in MGs and Triumphs. He's often way cheaper for parts than many of the big boys and he's about ten minutes down the A1 from you.

Paul
Paul Barnes

This thread was discussed between 05/02/2011 and 12/02/2011

MG Midget and Sprite General index

This thread is from the archives. Join this live forum now