England.... Green Rolling Hills... Thousand Year Old Castles... Roadsters.... British Bitters.....
and, of course...........
SHEEP!I had to go! (luckily, I had to go for business too!)
I was scheduled for a trip to the UK and planned to spend the weekend. I was hoping that I could get together with some of the people I know from the UK Z3 board. The UK Board did me one better! Tim, the master of the UK board invited me to come and stay with him and his lovely wife, Irene. To say the least, I was quite grateful! That's the type of friendship we find via the 'net and our interest in our sports cars. To say the least, we had a ball!
Tim
lives in the south of England, someplace I've never been. His home is out
in the country where he, his wife and his daughters live as guests of a
pack of wild cats (who are actually very, very friendly and discovered,
much to their delight, the indescribable delicacy of American Beef Cat
Food (in the small Fancy Feast Tins).
The region is noted for the
Norman conquests, a series of invasions from the coast of Normandy in France.
The most notable battle took place in 1066 when William the Conqueror,
upset at the prospect of drinking any more French beer decided to invade
England. The result is a thousand year history of British Bitters and Ales.
Ahhh.. Now That's History!
Tim
had offered to take the weekend and show me the sights and Peter (PeterUK)
had set up a ride for Sunday. Tim and I started with the white cliffs At
Beachy
Head. I know, I know, sounds like the name of someone in the adult
entertainment industry, but the cliffs are more spectacular than those
at Dover. They're formed where the South Downs, a series of
chalk hills, meet the sea. Over the millennia, the ocean has worn the hills
into dazzling white cliffs. Over the year, these cliffs will move back
an average of one foot as the chalk deteriorates. Not unexpectedly, the
coast is known for the unusual number of suicides and accidental deaths.
In fact, even as we strolled along the cliffs we noticed emergency equipment
including a tripod which was designed for lowering rescuers into the abyss.
Luckily, it was just a training
exercise.
We
watched for a while and got back to the car. The drive up the coast
is filled with quaint inns and pubs calling our name, but we have a destination
in mind -- The Seven Sisters, a series of white cliffs hemming the coast.
Although the cliffs marched
up the coast, we had another destination in mind: Medieval Castles! Tim's
2.8 ate up the miles, buzzing down the English coastlines, though a seemingly
unlimited number of roundabouts. Personally, of course, I prefer 80 miles
per hour on the right hand side of the road, but even after offering to
personally demonstrate the virtues of life on our side of the road, Tim
insisted driving on the wrong side of the road the rest of the trip :)
Our
next stop was a combo-castle, two ancient ruins for the price of one --
Pevensey Castle is a Norman Castle built inside a Roman fort. The outer
walls date back to years counted in the single digits AD while the inner
Norman fort is only about a thousand years old. The Z3 on the other
hand, only dates from 1999, but carries curious druidic designation "00".
In addition to the Norman and Roman architecture, the castle also bears the imprint of the US and Canadian armies. Troops from North America were stationed here during the second world war. There are still machine gun nests cemented into Norman keep. Another part of history, immortalized in stone.
Tim
and I wandered around the castles, taking in the history. When we were
done, we decided to take in the bitters at a local pub. For some reason,
the pubs in England seem somehow more friendly and welcoming than those
in the states. They also serve better food than your average corner bar
and grill. And, of course, (in my opinion) much better beer!
Funny
thing about English country lanes, you find the most amazing machinery,
much of it fine roadsters. We found this banana yellow Barchetta,
a Fiat that never made it to our shores. It's a bit smaller than the Z,
but looks more like a Miata on the inside. Note the special illumination.
I think that but is Italian.
The
next machine we found was an old English Roadster - a Bentley. It was parked
outside a church where, I suspect, someone was praying for it. Although
it looked like it might still be roadable, the print on the wings had already
started to bubble where owner had failed to strip down to bare metal. The
cost for re-chroming the brightwork alone will probably run into a thousand
pounds or more. The other parts were in a similar state of disrepair.
Next
on the agenda was a new English Roadster, a new Elise to be exact. We noticed
it buzz into the car-park at Bodiam castle and caught up with the owner.
He had the car less than a month and welcomed our attention to his new
baby. In fact, he even invited me to sit in his new car. What a treat!
Unfortunately, getting in and out of an Elise is much easier said than
done. Because of the high sills, you have to step onto the aluminum strip
and sort of ease yourself in.
Those are my knees stuffed in there!
The
Elise is a gorgeous car. I'm sure handles like a go-cart on the English
country lanes. I'm sure it has much better handling characteristics than
the Z3, but quite frankly, after even this brief visit with one, I don't
think I could live with it as a daily driver. The trip out of the Elise
was and adventure. It required a roadmap. The new owner's wife talked me
out --- "Put your hand here, now move that leg, now put your foot on the
silver bit, pull up about six inches......."
I'm not sure I could even do that more than once or twice per day!
Bodiam Castle was a bit newer
than Pevensey. Built in 1385, it's classic Medieval castle complete with
working plumbing (the toilets empty directly into the moat).
As well as 
hot
and cold running sheep
The
weather was so nice, both Tim and I picked up a bit of color. We hoped
the next day would be as nice because Peter (PeterUK) had arranged for
us to get together with eight other Z3's for lunch at a suitably themed
pub followed by a tour of a local brewery. (The day took on a particularly
sheepish tone from this point forward). While we were there, I took the
opportunity to spread around a little American culture --- through a rather
circuitous route (Thanks Doug!) I had managed to obtain a couple bottles
of Shiner's Bock for the Brits to sample. They said it didn't suck.
We met up with some other Z3ers and, as seems typical with all rides, stopped to compare notes on the cars for about a half hour.
This
is Carolyn's and Ben's Oxford Green 00 with the chrome package and an unusual
black on beige interior. The chrome includes the gill-screens, the tail-pipes,
the door handles, the windshield surround, and a chrome cover on top of
the third brake light. The interior receives the normal chrome bits and
pieces, including an unusual chrome auto-shifter. Very pretty indeed!
//Most
interesting, was an //M which should have carried the badge "Intel Inside".
The owner, Bill (of Sue and Bill) has installed a PC, controlled by the
remote control between the seats. The basic idea was to allow him to store
and play MP3 files easily. The PC itself is housed in the trunk. The box
it came in actually serves as a kind of shock insulation for it. He takes
it out and links it up to his home PC to download the MP3 files. The custom
subwoofer and enclosure which sits between the seats was custom made for
the car (and we're told was "Bloody expensive, even for Britain"). Those
of you with a keen eye will also notice that the //M is extremely unusual
from the UK -- the steering wheel is on the left! When faced with the prospect
of waiting months for a LHD, he chose instead to live the righteous life.
I must say it was something of a thrill buzzing up to the Hogs Back Brewery
in the traditional (for the UK) driver's space.
One
of the advantages of being the passenger is that you get to play with interesting
camera angles. Interestingly enough, however, Tim's "Over the Head" shot
came out better than any of my "Stand up and look backwards while Tim Drives"
shots! Another attraction of being a passenger is that you don't suffer
from those annoying "Oh God! WHICH SIDE OF THE ROAD AM I SUPPOSED TO BE
ON?" flashbacks you get from spending time on the dark side. Of course
the main attraction to being the passenger in the UK is the fact that you
can sample all the beer you like!
We
arrived at the brewery after a brief drive in the country. The Hogs Back,
as it was called, brews what the English refer to as "Real Ale". Unfortunately,
it's a disappearing brand, but the Hogs Back is doing quite well. You won't
find any of this beer imported to the US, unfortunately. The brewery is
quite small. The premier product is called T.E.A. (True English Ale). I
can personally attest, that T.E.A. is a brew you can drink all day long.
And we did :)
As
we went from room to room, the guide kept on telling us to sample all we
liked, they had plenty on hand. In the end, we were all very hoppy. (Yes,
that's Peter sticking his fingers into a massive bag of hops. We continued
the tour, sampling several other brews by Hogs Back and were deposited
in what must have been one of the most complete selections of bottled English
brews for sale in the main office. I struggled to select just six bottles
to bring back with me.
All too soon, it was time
to go. Tim and I headed north to Reading where he was going to pick up
his daughter at the train station and drop me off for my meetings on Monday.
Sunday night was spent wandering the streets of Reading (not something
I would recommend) only to end up at the hotel bar which seemed to cater
more to American tastes in beer :(
Many, Many, Many thanks again to Tim and Peter for a great weekend. Special thanks to Irene (Tim's wife) who was kind enough to OK my stay :) I had a GREAT time! If you've just got a brief time to visit England, this was definitely the way to spend it.
Thanks Again Guys!
