Britain’s Best Classic Destination – The Tour
Footman James and Practical Classics cordially invite you to join us on route in search for Britain’s Best Classic Destination.
You have chosen your top ten, but now it’s time to find your winner as we embark on a classic journey across the UK visiting your top ten classic destinations.
We would love it if you could join in on the fun as the run will become a major feature in a future issue of the Practical Classics magazine. Our Footman James team and Practical Classics aim to meet, interview and photograph as many of you and your classics as possible, so, keep an eye out!
Where we are going and how you can join us…
The tour will commence on Sunday 6th May 2018 and will end on Saturday 12th May 2018. Due to the fact we are visiting many restricted sites on the run, it is important that you follow the joining instructions for each destination.
Sunday 6th May 2018: British Motor Museum & Bicester Heritage
British Motor Museum: We will meet on the museum car park at 10am as a group. Parking is reserved on the lawn. Lady Edwards, one of the museum’s costumed explainers, will greet you on arrival and point you in the right direction for those of you that would like to join a FREE guided tour of the museum and their Collections Centre.
The Drive: We will depart from the British Motor Museum at 12pm and head towards Bicester Heritage. We will take the M50 South to the A43 junction 10. Turn left onto the A43 north and enter the first roundabout, then turn right onto the B4100 to Bicester. At the roundabout with A4095, turn left and at the next roundabout, make another left. The entrance to Bicester Heritage will be on the right.
Bicester Heritage: Meet inside the gates at Bicester Heritage at 1pm. We will be welcomed as a group onsite and park together. A historical guided tour of the site will be available, including refreshments and toilet facilities being available. The site will have specialist traders on site, including Ryan Edwards Exhaust Fabricator, Classic Oils, Auto Wax Works coffee shop and more.
Monday 7th May 2018: Brooklands Motor Museum & National Motor Museum
Brooklands Motor Museum: Meet on Brooklands Drive (KT13 0SL) outside the Brooklands Hotel at 9:45am. At 10am we will drive on to the museum’s site and the gates will close behind us. This will be a quick photo opportunity as we will be leaving at 11am sharp.
The Drive: Take the A245 Byfleet Road to the A3 and then take the A3 through Hindhead Tunnel to the junction with the A272. Take the A272 to the A31 and carry on onwards to the M3 which we will take south to the M27 west. At the A326, head south to the junction B3054 which will take you into Beaulieu, turning right onto Hatchet Lane will take you to the museum’s gates.
National Motor Museum: Meet inside the entrance on the entrance road at 1:45pm. At 2pm we will all make our way to the museum’s grounds. Only the classics in the convoy will be allowed in. We will remain onsite at Beaulieu until 3:45pm.
Tuesday 8th May 2018: Haynes Motor Museum & Moretonhampstead Motor Museum
Haynes Motor Museum: Meet at the car park for 9am – to Café 750 for breakfast. We will then visit the museum and leave around 11am.
The Drive: Take the A303 – we will drop into the Railway Carriage Café in Ilminster for a light bite. We will depart from the café at 12pm to drive to Exeter, then M5 and A30 to B3212. This will take you to Moretonhampstead Motor Museum, which we will arrive at for 1:30pm.
Moretonhampstead Motor Museum: Parking is limited. We will meet on foot at the entrance for 1:45pm and will leave the museum at 3:30pm.
Evening Drive: We will head to the Charingworth Manor Hotel for an evening stay and for the Practical Classics Big Night Out. An evening of fun, food, quizzes and classic cars! We will depart from Moretonhampstead Motor Museum along the B3212, A30 and then head to M5 all the way to junction 9 Tewkesbury. Take the A46 and B4077 to Toddington, turn right onto the B4632 to Broadway. We will then take the A44 up Fish Hill to the B4081 and turn left into Chipping Campden. Here is where we will turn right onto the B4035 to Charingworth – arriving at approximately 6:30pm. The PC Big Night Out will commence at 7pm.
Wednesday 9th May 2018: Llanberis Pass
The Drive: We will drive from Charingworth to Elan Valley to Llanberis Pass. Departing from Charingworth at 9am we will start on the B4035 to Evesham, then take the A44 to Rhayader. We will stop off and meet at Elan valley visitors centre at 12pm. After this pit stop we will drive down the B4518 to Llandiloes and on to Llanbrynmair. Head north through Pandy to the A458. Turn left on to the A road to Mallwyd, then a right turn onto the A470 all the way to Bewys-y-Coed. Finally, take the A5 and A4086 to Llanberis Pass.
Llanberis Pass: Meet on the car park for 3:30. We will leave here at 4pm.
Thursday 10th May 2018: Lakeland Motor Museum
Lakeland Motor Museum: Meet at the car park over the road at 10:30am. The museum will be offering a reduced admission rate on the day to Practical Classic readers (£5 instead of £8.75). We will have lunch at the museum and leave at 12:30 to head to the Fat Lamb Inn for 2:30pm where we will relax, admire the cars, have a drink and a good night’s sleep.
Friday 11th May 2018: The Kelpies
The Drive: Departing from the Fat Lamb Inn to the Kelpies (passing Falkirk Wheel) at 9:30. Head to the M6 at Tebay and go north of Carlisle and take the B7076 and B7078 to Leshmahagow, which will re-join the motorway (M74). Take the M73, M80 and M876 leaving at junction 1. Take the A883 towards Falkirk and to right at Wilson Road. At the roundabout go left onto Carmuirs Ave over the canal and turn right onto Glenfuir Road and another right into Tamfourhill Road. Follow signposts to Falkirk Wheel.
Falkirk Wheel & the Kelpies: Arrive and park at 12pm. We will leave the car park at Falkirk Wheel at 1pm to head back towards Falkirk (take the A9 around the town centre and turn left to follow signs to the Kelpies). We will arrive here at 1:30pm and leave at 2:30pm.
Evening Drive: We will take the A9, A905 to the Bo’ness Hill Climb for 3:30pm, up the hill and back to the A904 to the M9. We will drive around Edinburgh and take the A1 to Berwick where we will stay at Marshall Meadows County House.
Saturday 12th May 2018: Bamburgh Castle
The Drive: Leaving Marshall Meadows at 9am we will head round Berwick to the A1 to Lindisfarne Inn, turning then across to Holy Island at 10am. This is safe to cross until 11:35am. We will return at 11am, arriving at Bamburgh Castle for 12pm-1:30pm.
And that’s the end of the route!
Please visit the destinations websites to find postal addresses for those of you travelling via SAT NAV.
We look forward to seeing you!
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