Once again, National Drive it Day was upon us, we 'the MESS' had pre-arranged to meet up at the Beekeeper Pub in Beeston, Nottingham, this is the local where employees of Middlebridge would regularly go to and meet up. On arrival, we were given a great reception by the Staff and were also allocated coned off parking on arrival.

As you will see from the pictures we had George there in his van once again advertising the Middlebridge marque, we were delighted to have a super coupe join us and boy did it sound good! It is owned by long time Scimitar owner and nutter, Nigel Duffield. Nigel and Alan Cavendish Tribe ran up to Beeston in convoy from the West Midlands, Bruce made the short journey from Derby along with Princess Anne, (See pic's), Alan made his way from Lincoln via god knows where ;o).

I drove north to Crick truck weighbridge to rendezvous with George at our usual meeting point prior to heading north up the M1 in convoy. I have to say we had a wonderful run up the motorway, the weather was beautiful and the road empty, it actually brought back memories of times gone by, being so quiet !!

We had a lovely relaxed morning at the Beekeeper Pub and chatted with many people while receiving FOC refreshments. At lunch-time we headed in for a break from the sun and for a meal, a good chin-wag and of course plenty of good hearted banter. Unfortunately, and in spite of much effort from Bruce Crouches who now own the Lilac Grove site where the Middlebridge's were built had not completed the renovation works on the building and we were unsure whether we would be able to gain access or get any photos. With this in mind and me being the furthest travelled I made the completely wrong decision (as usual) and headed south while the others took the gamble and needless to say it paid off as you will see in the pictures.

Conclusion: It would have been good to have a few more cars but we had Middlebridge cars travelling to and from Nottingham and from all different directions. I can confirm that I did 159 miles on the day so hopefully a good 'Drive it Day' run out. Another bonus, we were advertised in both Practical Classics and Classic Car Weekly.