Hopefully the December weather will be kind and we can get a final run out in 2021 Meet 8:15 - Bolney Cross Service Station for a drive west along the A272 to Cowdray Park for around 9:15am Cowdray Farm Shop & Café Cowdray Park Midhurst West Sussex GU29 0AJ

A few of us in the South East are planning another drive down to Rye on Sunday morning 3rd October Current meeting points: 07:30 - North Chailey - Shell petrol station on junction of A275 / A272 08:15 - Robertsbridge - Route 1066 Cafe A21 Arrive Rye around 9am All marques welcome Brian

All my road trips were cancelled in 2020 and unsure if I would get to Europe in 2021 I decided to head for Scotland with a friend in a TVR Tamora. 1850 miles in a week from Sussex to Shropshire then onto Hamilton for an overnight stop before the fun really began. Headed into the Cairngorms National Park and up the Old Military Road from Blairgowrie to Grantwon-on-Spey and then on to Nairn and Inverness. I have wanted to drive this road since seeing a Henry Catchpole video when he took an Vantage N430 along the same route. It is a truly glorious road that did not disappoint. We then headed for Lairg and across Scotland from east to Laxford Bridge on the west coast. This a an extremely scenic route along a single track road with loads of passing points. From there we headed down the coast to Ullapool. Oh my, this is a truly wonderful drive with plenty of opportunities to stretch the Astons legs. The sound bouncing off the mountains here provides a superb soundtrack also. After an overnight stay in Poolewe we headed to Applecross via Fearnmore before tacking the Applecross pass. The views from the top at the Bealach na Ba Viewpoint were magnificent. We then set off to the Isle of Skye and an overnight in Portree. The sun was shining on Skye which provided the perfect conditions for enjoying this picturesque island heading up the east cost and down the west. A visit to Dunvegan castle preceded the wonderful drive across Skye back to the mainland and on to Onich, 10 miles south of Fort William. The following day we headed for Glenco, Glen Etive then onto Balloch along the waters edge of Loch Lomond. A superb seafood lunch preceded the drive south back into England and on to the Yorkshire dales and a stop at the Tan Hill Inn, Englands highest pub. The views accross the dales early evening as the sun cam down were fantastic. To this point my roof had been down for the entire trip but an early morning drive over Buttertubs Pass was marred by heavy rain. This continued for most of the seven hour drive home until I stopped at Oxford services on the M40. Double espresso for me and another tank of fuel for the Vantage and I enjoyed the final hour back to Sussex roof down in the Sunshine. All in all a brilliant road trip made better as we were so lucky with the fine weather. I certainly did not expect to be thinking about burning in the sunshine while touring Scotland!

Covid put a stop to CarPlay installation last year but I am now booked in at Aston Installations for fitting in a couple of weeks. Good news is the delay has given AI time to get the new HD screen ready so having that done as part of the install also. No more Tom Tom stuck on the screen for me (which I cannot reach from the drivers seat 😀) Anyone else have the AI CarPlay - any tips on getting the best out of it? Which navigation app to you find is the best? Brian

The garage store cupboard is low on stock and I want to treat my car to a good polish. What products are you all using are you all using, recommending, advising to steer clear of? I keep hearing about clay bars but never used one. Are they worth the additional effort? All thoughts appreciated TIA Brian