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First and most importantly Happy Birthday to Rebecca and thank you for sharing your day with us, it has been wonderful. We parked up at the Ashover Car Show. Paul and Pat in the VX, Andy and Rebecca in their newly painted Porsche Grey Westfield. This car was red last time we saw it, what a transformation, it looks fantastic, so eye catching. Alan came too And so did Simon and Archie After a few hours looking around the cars and the stalls we all met back up at 12.30, ready to leave at 1pm. It takes us half a hour to stop talking and get ready! We posed through Matlock Bath, which was thronging with motorbikes, and up the Via Gellia road to Ilam Hall. The National Trust lady knew immediately who we were and directed us to park in front of the Hall. We were bang on time, so thank you to everyone for being organised. You know that you are in the company of people who love their cars when they dress for the occasion After some photo's with the Chinese tourists it was time for the usual monkeys tea party. In anticipation of cake, Andy had bought a candle, so we borrowed Alan's lighter and all sang Happy Birthday to Rebecca. It was Raspberry Cheesecake Cake, which I for one have never had before. The View from the Manifold Tea Room, which is at the back of the Hall. The Hall is used as a Youth Hostel, it also has a Visitor Centre, a gift shop and is in the grounds of the Ilam Country Park. Now it was the turn of the tourists from The Netherlands to have their photos with the car. They had set off from Holland at 5.30am yesterday and arrived for their first ever Peak District holiday at 5pm last night. While this was happening Simon was refuelling the crossflow, now he has fixed the gear linkage. Andy and Rebecca, and Paul and Pat headed south from here, while Alan, Simon and Archie headed back east with us, but not before calling in at Willersley Castle. Simon and Archie looking good. So is Alan Well it has been yet another successful day. A car show, some nice roads to drive, a photo shoot and cake too. With only one downpour, we stayed largely dry, thank you to everyone who came. Only 5 sleeps to Silverstone, see you all there.

I am better than Chris Evans - and a lot cheaper too!

Weather wasn't great when we headed off, but as we headed north it was better...just before Inverness we stopped and for some reason the battery was dead...guy stopped and asked if he could help and when home and get jump leads and a battery meter...We got it going and headed to Halfords for a new battery...funny the guy at Halfords said, I'll fit the battery and when he seen it, maybe not never seen a kitcar before, so out with the spanners then on the road to Tongue.....

Hi all, the Speed Series Facebook page is just 4 folks away from 400 followers which is brilliant! If your on here and FB and haven't already hit the 'like' button press this link, then like the page https://www.facebook.com/WSCCSpeedSeries/ Rich

I must admit I hate track days, round and around the same corners. Boring. Its just not my thing. I left home this morning just before 6.30 for a 100 mile drive with a few mates before breakfast! Perfect!

We're going to have to head back at some stage to drive Dartmoor when we can see it lol

This would be a great item for the magazine.

Proper Job. An inspiration for all of us.

Hello all. Have just spotted that this is on. Hope you don't mind me jumping in last minute but as I'm not far south of Oban I'm going to head up in the Megabird and try to meet up with you all at the lunch stop point at Connel. This will be the first Club meet I'll have attended. I'll aim for midday-ish. Looks like the weather is going to be fab today! Cheers. Michael

I do this with SKCC every year. Used the car transporter train, sent cars ahead on a lorry and flew down. Mostly we drive there via the Black forest, Vosges mountains. Its a full on driving trip, on the road by 7am , I'm sure I could share the ITN files. Video of a previous trip.

I'm sure some of you have seen one of these before but this looks bonkers The new Donkervoort D8 GTO RS https://youtu.be/knx3hYNwMec

Great idea Graham, so I will kick off by asking, in the event of a tie for the overall champion, how will the winner be decided if both class winners have maximum points over ten rounds? This question is rather more controversial, I know SBD are to bring out there new ecoboost engined car in the near future (next season?) and I look forward to seeing it, I have no doubt this will be a competitive package. My query is, the chassis they are using whilst produced by Westfield, is not available to purchase from Westfield. I know this because I witnessed this question being asked whilst at the factory, and was told that they would not make another. So, what constitutes a Westfield chassis? And is it entirely within the spirit of the speed series for someone to run a chassis of different material spec to that which other competitors can buy? Keep up the good work ssot, it's a cracking championship for competitors and spectators alike......and if anyone wants a sprint car, I know of one for sale...,

No sooner are we back from our chippy run to Eyemouth, that we're looking forward to our next run out! Oban run is as taken from a previous year and are as follows:- ROUTE UPDATE (as of 15:45 19th JULY) - An updated route has been suggested by Matt (Matta aka MatNav) which takes in new roads, and the details are as follows:- Meeting #1: Kilmahog for 09:15 to leave at 09:30 Meeting #2: Green Welly for 10:15 to leave at 10:30 Route: Connel Bridge (A85) for lunch at the Blue Oyster Club I mean, the Oyster Hotel - Oban (A816 south) - Lochgilhead - Inveraray (A83) for coffee - Arrochar - A814/A817 for Balloch (A82) for the north/south goodbyes. Southeners then can choose between A811/A81 towards Aberfoyle/Dukes Pass/Kilmahog or round the back of Campsies towards Stirling. NAMES Matt Dave L Dave P Rab Iain Bob/Lorna

Enjoy the drive round Loch Eriboll. Thats my favourite place in the world.

working on this in the background... we will have an outcome and publish with the final say, please bear with us

****bucket.com dumped - images now WSCC hosted

I would still say it's fluid level as mine does exactly the same thing if it's not filled enough. If it was a loose connection or faulty switch I would think it would do it all the time, not just down hills.

Face bucket won't let me in, all I get is adverts - so I gave up!

Just very glad I saved over £130k by getting my Westie instead of a Donkervoort as it means I can live in a house and not the car.

We decided to head back Wednesday as the weather was changing. The rest will have to wait for a while. We left St Austell to Dartmoor on the A390 to Tavistock, Two Bridges and Moretonhamstead as recommended by another member so thanks for that. Unfortunatly the fog was in and visibility was 10m at best sometimes. There was also the added danger of sheep that were lying in the road and even an air horn didn't move them. We then jumped on the M5 by Exeter for the trip back to Brum as we were between 2 weather systems heading north and the speed of the motorway keep us between them and dry ish

Give a shout when you're planning your trip. Let me know where you're starting from, and where you want to end up, sure I can give you some options.

Nice video with beautiful scenery and I like the music, but after the first couple of minutes I turned it off. Seeing cars going round corners like that is not my thing. If I had spent all that money going abroad, I would want to sit, chill, relax and enjoy the scenery. Twenties plenty for me I'm afraid.

PS, that presenter was still better than Chris Evans

On your way, there's some great runs over Exmoor, in addition to the route you took recently. Don't tell everybody though!

It wasn't planned on purpose but I checked the dates on our photos and it been exactly 35 days between being at both. There has been alot of miles in between in a round about sort of way through Scotland, Orkneys, Wales twice and England with many detours, plenty of cider, wine and good food. Around 5000 miles of great roads, beautiful scenery, great company, new friends and seen so much of our beautiful country in a fantastic driving machine. Most importantly a sack load of new memories with Mrs Jones

Thankyou @Julie Hall - AO Representative, Peak District AO When I think about we are knackered when we get back from our trips. See you at Silverstone. Mrs P will appreciate the rest!.

Hi Mark Enjoy your trip and don't forget the Black mountain pass if you make the Breacon Beacons Hereford has cider to lol

Hi, Chris, Welcome to the world of Westfield ownership and to the WSCC - a rather large support group for those with mid life crises! I would count myself in that having had my "Menoporsche" moment three years ago and having since built a Westfield Eleven. I also had to build a garage to effectively undertake the task, and now to house the product. This coming Thursday (27th) sees the North Oxfordshire group of the WSCC taking a run out starting at McDonald's in Botley, Oxford at 7pm to the H Cafe, Berinsfield, where there is a classic car / bike evening. If you would like to come along, you would be welcome to join us at either end of the run. We're the friendly lot with Westfields! Our normal meet is the last Wednesday of the month at the Rock of Gibraltar Pub at Enslow, north of Kidlington. There will be no meeting there this week due to the H Cafe run the following evening but normal service will be resumed in August. Simon (feel free to get in touch)

Wow Kenton, your MegaBlat 2015 vid is utterly fantastic. Has to be the best '7' driving movie I've seen. The driving and roads and the way it's all been edited together is tremendous. I did a driving trip last October in a tintop over several of the same passes, particularly Stelvio with a bunch of Porsches, so can relate. Thoroughly recommend to anyone planning the same.

Seeing an FW in the wild was what caused me to look into building a Westfield in the first place! I like the difference from the classic seven look.

Erm, @Ali and Gail did you say that our pictures were making you tired? really? have you looked back at your pictures, I am exhausted It's a bit of a rubbish word this 'thank you' but on behalf of the club can I thank you for taking the time to put all these wonderful pictures on, it is very selfless of you both.

I think the Rear end looks great ,flowing lines round modern lights ,a step n the right direction . The old rear end ,in my opinion ,was a bit boxy and the lights plain and basic ,when viewed from the back it could be a MK ,low cost, Caterahm ,Robin Hood,or any number of other makes . My rear end is curvy and distinctive and as such clearly a Westfield ..

Thanks Dave, unusual colour,think that's what caught my eye first , plus the sound.

What a great shot, fantastic colour, too, Mark.

Been following your journey, what a time you two have had, some great scenery,and the few ciders on the way, hope you both have many more trips, of on my journey to Hereford the longest journey I've would of done lol, then hoping to drive through the Brecon beacons, not sure how the fuel consumption will be, got a heavy right foot, seight V8 , but can't wait.

You see, this is why although it might not be necessary, legally, on some Westfields to retain the fog light, I always have. Just like you, out and about on your travels, if you like enjoying your Westfield, and boy you two do, then fog and bad weather happens! Had one of those disappearing into the fog moments myself a couple of years back, always interesting! At least up in Buxton there's only stray sheep to worry about. Your in hound of the Baskervilles territory down there arent you?

I too have this on my bucket list. My starting point for research was the many high priced packaged tours available. One itinery i found was 1500 miles , 5 days and covered the folliwing passes: San bernadino pass Julier pass St moritz Umbrail pass Stelvio pass Bormio pass Lake como Col de turini Route Napolean Closer to home there is plenty of choice in france La col de la bonnette Col de vence Route de thorene Route napolean Col de turini La route des grande alpes And then there's austria ......

I like how in the third photo a small dog in a Land Rover is monitoring Gail from above while its owner looks fixedly straight ahead.

What car? I can't see anything.

Tel’s Tales Blyton July weekend 2017 Well as I look back at the Friday trackday (on two track layouts) plus Saturday and Sunday sprints, it seems that absolutely everyone had a fantastic weekend of motorsport, sun, bbq, gluten free meal deal, beer, buying and selling T Shirts for charity as well as support from families and club members. There was so much happening that I apologise in advance for missing or not mentioning stuff, events, praise, insults, leg pulling, car repairs, car damage and the sprint achievements as I could only be in one place at once. It was good to see so many friends and competitors all gathered together at our own weekend organised by John Williams (and Louise) and much better due to my paddock planning with Nigel Curry (who acted all weekend as paddock marshal) enabling us all to be in the same area. I am already looking forward to the same event next year. I arrived at around 1030hrs on the Friday and things were in full swing with mainly Westfields filling the trackday which was also car testing for a few drivers. Paul Aspden was out in his nice orange car which he has up for sale and Stephen Herbert’s recently finished Westfield 1X was on display for all to drool over. Dave Cleaver was ominously running in some new slick tyres, I was bedding my new front mintex 1144 pads in by running up and down the paddock as I could not pay for the trackday (typical Yorkshireman!). John Phelps was helping daughter Charlotte diagnose their Busa’s battery charging issue which seemed to be the alternator rectifier/regulator but it seemed to sort itself out in the end. During the weekend I did have to keep asking Charlotte what else she had broken , much to her indignation. It was nice to see newcomer Simon Waterfall out in his red Westfield which he had being desperately getting ready in the last few weeks in order to take part in his first Sprint competion. He appeared to be having misfiring and starting issues in the afternoon and for some of us this turned out to be a long project of trying to trace the problem. I reckon that around twelve of us were actively swarming round the car looking at the fuel and electric system on his old crossflow engine which unusually was not covered in or leaking oil. We appeared to have fuel but the plugs were not wet. We did suspect the coil and or the main coil to distributer lead but it also had a Lumenition module fitted so there was lots that could be wrong. At around 2100hrs we had to pack in as we had to use torches to see what we were doing and as the engine started once we got a telling off as there is a noise recorder on site which is monitored. In the morning Ian Morrison (aka Gadget) rang his wife Rosie at 0800hrs Saturday and asked her to come to site and take Simon into Gainsborough to buy a new Coil and leads (it required 2 visits). Then Paul Morcom amazingly produced a matching side entry distributor cap, which are as rare as rocking horse poo, and this was fitted due to the existing one being defective. We put the newly purchased bits in during early Saturday practice but it still would not start. When we were almost at the stage of giving up, Graham Millar (aka Windy) noticed a thin black earth wire on the bulkhead held in place by a chrome self tapping screw so he prodded it and guess what …..it moved. We therefore took it off, cleaned the terminal/wire and fixed it to a bolted earth stud. We turned the key and it fired up first time. Simon’s face lit up as we got his car scrutineered and out for practice just in time. On the Friday Howard Gaskin lost his alternator belt and had to go buy another one to keep going but on the Friday night track walk eagle-eyed Steve Everall spotted an undamaged belt at the side of the track so Howard ended up with a spare. Actually the track walk was just an excuse to enjoy the evening sun and down a few beers whilst discussing approach speeds, apexes, braking points and generally talking about theoretical issues when in the end how quick you go is often down to how brave you can be and also what grip is under the car. Signing on and scrutineering was possible for many on Friday night and this was easy and appreciated by all who did that. The paddock layout meant the Westfields were all together and people seemed to like this but some single seaters had to use tarmac a bit further from the start than they would have liked. Saturday. The bright sunshine and warm weather meant that it was time to slap on the sun cream and delay getting into our fireproof babygrows! A fantastic turnout of 39 drivers in the Speed Series were entered and chasing points driving the normal circuit and on Sunday the Eastern circuit. It was interesting to note that the noise meter calibration had malfunctioned and readings were ridiculously high and even the noise scrutineer agreed something was wrong so he adjusted the readings. Dave Birch appeared to be having some problems getting his engine started but succeeded in the end. The first practice showed that the track was a bit green and lacking grip despite the previous day’s track action. Simon Waterfall was up and running in his first ever sprint and he was not put off even though he spun on his first run. Graham Frankland tried a bit too hard and put all four wheels off at Bishops and Maurici Revilla spun off after the finish line and he entertained us for most of the weekend with similar driving. He admitted later that he was trying out a new rallycross circuit using plenty of gravel and off track routes in his long suffering Westfield. Dave Cleaver emphasised how quick he was by breaking the record/target time on his first run and it was clear that close competition also existed through all the classes and in my own class G that was certainly in evidence. Timed run 1 went smoothly for most but our Spanish “rally driver” came in with no offside rear wing and wires dangling behind the car due to hitting a cone (same one I hit last year). He stopped to park up but then reversed over all the lights and puled the wires off. His wing came back in 4 parts and Adam Read helped to fix it back together with tie wraps and duct tape. John Hoyle had engine problems and he stopped on track but managed to start again and drove back to the paddock forgetting to put his helmet back on so he got a yellow card from the clerk of the course (bad lad!) He traced the problem to a loose lead on the battery and was back in action again. Mark Anson was taking part in his first competition with his latest single seater Jedi which developed a slipping clutch in his early runs. It turned out to be an easy fix when diagnosed as a rubber seal in the clutch master cylinder was inserted the wrong way round. Nick Algar in the DJ Firehawk had gearbox failure again and despite Luke bringing spare parts it could not be fixed. He gladly accepted a double drive in Pete Goldings Ecoboost. T2 took place after lunch and saw John Loudon with 4 wheels off, I got a rerun by catching a car with a loose bonnet but I had to queue for the rerun so in my opinion my tyres were cold. However, it was my fastest run! Mike West appeared to have a broken engine mount but found a welder and fixed it on site. Matt Turner was having gear change issues and Del and Gary had a misfire that was a suspect TPS or the traction control setting/sensors. T3 saw Jason Brown going well but he had a gear shift problem that he was trying to cure, Paul Dew (aka Tigger) had a hairy moment at The Wriggler chicane and went straight on rather than revisit the field he ploughed last year. Interestingly Matt Hillam made the top 12 British Sprint run off even though he was double driving Keith Adam’s car. So, in summary, Dave Cleaver wiped the floor with everyone and set a new class record with 62.21 secs with other class winners as follows: A1 Adam Read 69.23 B2 Maurici Revilla 68.68 C Craig Spooner 71.20 D Martin Harvey 68.57 F John Hoyle 65.08 G Terry Everall 64.89 H Dave Cleaver 62.21 Novices A1 Dave Richings 73.94 B1 Steve Carpenter 70.04 C Jason Brown 71.55 F David Birch 71.51 Sunday Most drivers seemed to have recovered from the previous night’s BBQ, beer and wine ( the Marlbec and Merlot red wine provided by Paul Morcom and Martin Harvey at Del’s camper was delightful and not much was left at the end of the night) Today’s track was going to be a different challenge with only a few drivers ever having driven it and the trackwalk had highlighted some tricky areas, particularly for braking as well as the very twisty first sections. It was hoped that today the people having issues with loose alternators would have trouble free runs. P1 saw Matt Turner going very quickly as he had driven this layout before but once again Dave Cleaver banged in a time of 66.58 secs that was not much slower than the Gould single seater car. Keith Adams also had a DNF along with Adam Read. P2 Maurici threw it into the gravel again and DNF but maybe he was trying out a new line? John Loudon spun after the finish, Mick Skidmore had all 4 wheels off at Bishops and. Andy Hargreaves who has ventured into class G was going great on 3 year old slick and was well as being on the pace in his Yamaha R1 car. John Loudon and Matt Turner were both having gearshift problems to deal with. Due to the 120 cars it was taking quite a time to complete runs and this was not helped by the number of offs which deposited gravel on the track, so it was looking like we would only get 2 runs and therefore they had to count. T1 John Hoyle posted a good time but his offside rear wing took a battering but luckily he had not repaired it since his last altercation with a track cone. John Loudon was trying too hard at Bishops and had a spin whilst Paul Dew seemed to be having a problem with braking. It turned out that “somebody” must have forgotten to insert the little R clip retainers for the 2 pins that hold the pads in place. Luckily he still had 2 so just use one on each wheel which seemed to work fine. Steve Carpenter was judged to have had wheels off the track and got a DNF which was made much worse as the same happened on his last run. T2 Dave Cleaver found an oil leak on his dry sump tank so decided not to take his last run. Maurici also decide that his car and tyres could not take any more abuse so he also DNS. Matt Turner spun at the chicane suffering from “tryingtooharditis”and this contagious illness had spread to his mate Andy Hargreaves as he threw it off at the finish and also had a DNF. Despite his gearbox Jason Brown was flying and recorded a great time which would have won our class C outright. Fastest times A2 Adam Read 75.37 B2 Maurici Revilla 89.55 C Simon Broadbridge 77.74 D Martin Harvey 73.11 F John Hoyle 69.43 G Matt Turner 69.61 H Dave Cleaver 66.02 Novice B1 Roz Kennett 84.39 C Jason Brown 76.44 F David Birch 78.66 My highlights were Dave Cleaver’s awesome times on both days, my battle with the guys in class G who are all quick, Jason Brown’s Sunday result, Steve Carpenter and Roz Kennett’s £175 engine that goes great and has now done several events, Simon Waterfall’s efforts/enthusiasm and members support to get him running on Saturday, warm dry weather, the Westfield crowd craic and the BBQ Thanks to all for the organisation and friendly atmosphere and I am looking forward to next year already. Terry Everall Class G Competitor

or do the autoslappen car train like we did last year - Dusseldorf to Verona , Italy overnight

He he. Back to play and dish out jelly

Glad to be back. Had a lot on with getting married, moving house and starting a business. Also have a new arrival on the way too. Will need a baby seat in the Westfield