2026 Event Reports

Use the dropdown list below to jump to the event review you want to read.

Select an event Breakfast Meeting EATOC Norfolk Run EATOC Lincolnshire Run Hellfire Motor Club Kimbolton Sporting Bears EATOC Yorkshire Trip EATOC Suffolk Run

Breakfast Meeting Brothers in Arms by Giles Cooper

This was for most of us attending a new venue, and a result of that we had to find it.

Dan messaged me and said do you want to meet at the Eye Green Services - to which I did and we set off from there.

The journey took you off the modern A47 and back onto the 'old' A47 which I hadn't ever driven (The new road was opened in 1984 so I wasn't allowed to drive being only 11). I do remember parts of it from many journeys to grandparents in Heacham - my Dad was convinced any road built in the last 5 years was not to be trusted so we kept using the old roads for years after bypasses were built.

Now for some strange reason on this stretch the roads between the villages were all in good condition but the ones in the villages were in need of some care. Normally this is the other way around

We approached the venue and Dan drove straight past - I was following and did the same. It appears the postcode is not quite where they are located. Even though there is a fairly large sign on the road outside.

Still we weren't the only ones to make the same mistake as a few of us did the same.

We had a good turnout, Griff and Rachel, Kev Greeves, Angus Grooby, Simon, Ali and Oliver Noble, Steve and Heather Newman, Stuart Haslam, Allan Griffin's TIger Avon, Dave Tomblin, Richard Gaze, Mike Ramsdale, Nick Smith, Steve and Paula Tuck, Geoff and Jackie Cross, Dan Sneesby-Woodley and myself.

After quite a bit of chatting we went inside for breakfast. From the outside the building is a bit unassuming but inside it is more of a barn, complete with farming implements hanging from the ceiling (including metal tractor wheels) which are fortunately held up with heavy duty chains.

However feelings of impending doom regardless we all sat down for the most important thing - food. We could have come out for another reason but breakfast is a good excuse...

The food was really good, freshly cooked, hot and very tasty (or at least I didn't hear any complaints). After we had finished eating, Oliver (Simon's son) wanted to go out and play in the area outside. This area featured a trampoline set into the ground and we had both a 5 year old and someone more mature bouncing away on it.

After all the food was finished some people went to the attached butchery and stocked up whilst others headed home, I did the same and went via the factory to ensure they knew we would be using them as the start point for the Norfolk run in less that 2 weeks.

Back to Top of Page

EATOC Norfolk Run by Giles Cooper

The day of the Norfolk run was dry bright, sunny and reasonably warm (unlike the day after where it was cold and miserable all day). An easy 40 minute drive got me to the factory.

Now in the instructions for the run it had stated that due to the condition of Boleness Way we would be going out via Algores Way instead - so how many of the arriving cars were facing the correct direction - none of them - so everyone had to turn around so we could set off.Nobody had read the instructions that said we were leaving by Algores Way and all were parked facing the wrong direction.

After some wandering round the factory we all set off - there were 10 cars starting in Wisbech a bit down on previous years but still a reasonable turnout: Myself, Nick Smith, Mike Ramsdale, Dom Eaves (and Dave) Dan Sneesby-Woodley, Griff and Rachel, Angus Grooby, Tony and Liz Haggie, and Steve and Pauls who were in Steve’s Astra Van as their Tiger had destroyed one of the wheel bearings and was out of action.

When we left I was at the back, but when we got to the Algores Way / Weseanham road junction, there was a lot of traffic and after that I didn’t see anyone else until we got to the coffee stop at Brown’s in Mundford.

At the coffee stop we had a break and added Richard and Caitlin Gaze to the convoy, we also met Martin Pidd who had come out to join us just at the stop and wasn’t going to take part in the rest of the run.

After suitable refreshments we were back on the road towards the lunch stop.

The roads on the route started off with nice and smooth tarmac, well I say started off, once we got past Watton we moved onto some of the more rural (Griff special) roads where the bottom of the car was cleaned by the grass in the middle of the road. Now at some point during the run we lost Tony and Liz and didn’t see them again the last we heard was they were somehow back at Kings Lynn and heading home. I have no idea how they did that as we were just outside Norwich.

By this point we were split into little groups and the group I was in (the last on the road) encountered a sign saying road ahead closed - it didn’t look closed so we ignored it and drove on - to find the road wasn’t closed and we arrived first at the lunch stop - so a new tactic ignore road closed signs…

All of us made it to the Lunch stop (apart from Tony and Liz) and we met up with Stan Burton, who drove up to have lunch and then went home again. It was a good lunch but we didn’t want to dawdle too much as we had a cake stop to make.

After lunch we were onto some Griff Specials again was it a single carriageway (yes), single track (in places), could it clean the bottom of the cars (yes with 10-15cm of grass in the middle). Then we reached a road closed sign - going off the tactic from earlier in the day we ignored it and had to turn around in a farmyard as this really was a closed road - this caused some interesting driving as Tigers have a very bad turning circle for small cars. We did have to take the diversion this time.

A few miles further on and I missed an exit onto a byway - not to worry as the sat nav rerouted me and then I missed the alternative exit (this was driver error and nobody else is to blame), so I had to turn round in a narrow road with high banks, the only way to turn round was to use the banks and some interesting noises came from the springs as the suspension was having to move far more than it usually does. As it didn’t cause any problems I am not really that fussed.

I finally caught up with everyone at the afternoon tea stop. This was the first time I had been to Reepham Station Cafe, we use this as a refuelling stop (drivers not cars) and cleared the cafe out of cake completely. There was also a business on site called Cushion cottage which a few of us visited. Paula bought a few items form the shop however If they had been in the Tiger that would have been more limiting of purchases,

Once we had exhausted the cakes, it was time to drive home, at this point the Satnav was turned off and we had an easy drive back Fakenham, Kings Lynn and onto Peterborough. Only one strange thing is that approaching the Hardwick roundabout I had Richard appear in my mirrors which I think meant he had stopped off for fuel as they left before me.

It was a good day, great weather, and nobody broke down which normally seems to happen most years.

Back to Top of Page

EATOC Lincolnshire Run by Giles Cooper

The run started off for most people at Benny’s Diner on the A17, however myself Steve Tuck, and Angus Grooby elected to meet up in Spalding, specifically the Lidl car park, this would allow us to just tack onto the cars as they went past. Seemed like a good idea, however someone decided to have a crash on the A16 which slowed us up a lot - which could have made us miss the rest of them. However we were “saved” by roadworks on the bridge over the river which brought the traffic to a standstill.

So when the rest of them came into view it was at walking pace so it was easy to join up and get into one big group, Once we had cleared Spalding it was then a straight run to Bomber Command, where we stopped for lunch. We had a good turnout for this run. Nick Smith, Dave and Jane Sams, Simon and Ali Noble, Steve and Heather Newman, Griff and Rachel, Richard and Caitlin Gaze, Mike Ramsdale, Angus Grooby, Steve Tuck, Kevin Greeves, and Myself.

Whilst at the Lunch Stop Angus spent some time fiddling with Spark Plug leads as his car had a misfire (I think he has a spare car in the back of the Marlin with the number of spares he carries).

During the Lunch stop I confirmed with the cafe for the afternoon stop that we would be there about 3PM, well as we left Bomber command everyone shot into a petrol station to fill up (I didn’t need fuel myself) and so by the time we had got out of there we didn’t have long to make the stop - I knew it would take just over an hour by the route but didn’t want to cause a problem for the cafe by turning up late.

So after somehow losing Mike Ramsdale on the path we all arrived in Horncastle, having come via Louth and past Cadwell Park (this was the same day as the VSCC meeting so I missed that this year). At this point we were expected in the cafe in about 45 minutes and the route was estimating about 55 minutes. Only one thing for it, instead of following the route I left the rest of the group and went straight to Tattershall.

I made it to Tattershall a couple of minutes after the agreed time but about 10 minutes before the rest of the group arrived.

Once everyone had arrived and the shop staff had taken photos of the cars, we all sat down to have some food, we also cleared out the cake stock in the shop which is good for them, but maybe not for any customers coming in after us. In all the years I have been going to Cadwell and Tattershall castle (40+) I have never thought to stop there and will be correcting that in future…

Finally after having a break we left to go home, I wasn’t paying attention to the route and so turned towards the A153 and headed back via Sleaford and then down the A15 back to Peterborough. The official route went and rejoined the A16 back to Spalding and then home.

So it was a good day but then I only drove about half the proper route due to the need to take shortcuts and heading home on the direct route to my house

Back to Top of Page

Hellfire Motor Club by Jeff Emmett

I took the Tiger out on Saturday 17th July to the Hellfire Motor Club meet in aid of Men’s Mental Health.

It was posted as Men with Machines on Facebook and took place at the Dashwood Estate in the field next to the walled garden. This is located in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

There was a really good turn out with a whole range of classic and modern machinery. Although there were a few Westfields, mine was the only Tiger there.

This was my first time at this show and the weather was great. The Tiger was well received and all the kids loved it two of whom wanted to sit in,  with helmets and goggles…it made their day!

On the website for the event https://hellfiremotorvehicle.club/the-big-meet

There is a video and my car is featured at the 3:38 mark.

Here are a few photos taken at the meet.

PS - Our picnic lunch was in the orange dry bag

Back to Top of Page

Kimbolton Sporting Beats by Giles Cooper

The Sporting bears event was as everything has been for the last couple of months, hot and very sunny. After arranging the stand and getting the plans we actually got a very good space as just behind us was a large elderly oak tree which provided plenty of shade.

We had 5 cars on the stand belonging to myself, Frank Thurston, Steve and Heather Newman, Steve and Paula Tuck and Angus Grooby. We had Richard Gaze (in a camper van parking elsewhere) and Dan Sneesby-Woodley brought his son and mum along with him (but no Tiger). Susie Grooby also came separately to Angus as she brought the kids as well. It was a very good show with a large turnout and plenty to see and do as well.

We also met a new Tiger owner who took a membership pack but we couldn’t persuade them to sign up on the day so they may join later or not.

Enjoy the pictures.

Back to Top of Page

EATOC Yorkshire Trip by Nick Smith

EATOC annual trip. Yorkshire 2026

Last year, the 2025 EATOC annual trip proved to be a love letter to Yorkshire, tigers, and French mustard.

Was my second trip destined to be as good as the first or would it become that difficult second album? Instead of a love letter, would it result in an irrevocable breakup and the inevitable Dear John letter......?

Just as last year, there will be no road trip itinerary, consisting of who, what, where and when. It's more of a miscellany of....well, wait and see.

If you don't wish to read anymore, then the trip is best described using Michael's wise words, who summed the trip up as: "Drove up, buggered about, drove back." No more really need be said, but for those who do want the itinerary, accommodation and weather, here it is, according to me:

Itinerary

Friday drove up

Saturday drove around

Sunday walked around

Monday drove around

Tuesday drove back

Weather

As the country basked in the hottest heatwave since 1976, and with 30 degree sun shone back home, the weather in Darlington was, they assured us, a true Yorkshire heatwave. Translated, that meant an overcast 19 degrees, and cool enough to occasionally need coats, jumpers and for some softies the heater on.

Accommodation

Unlike last year's Fawlty Towers in Yarm, this year's hotel, Walworth Castle, was a cut above. Boringly there was nothing to complain about. It was too clean, too tidy and too well run. A really good find.

Food

Superb, plenty of it and incomparable to last year. All the right food at the right time. No cold pancakes and no need for French mustard.

So that's it, that's the essentials. And as I don't write a travel journal of who, what, where and when, it got me thinking about the why…… what is the essence of the trip? You know, those ingredients which make a road trip successful. What follows is a deconstructed road trip. The things that make me smile and enjoy my few days away. So, in no particular order, here is my list. Which would you tick? What would you add?

Food throughout the day:

Full English breakfast
Eggs Benedict, crushed avocado or smoked salmon (for a certain few)
Stops for tea and cake
Lunch stops
Afternoon tea stops
3pm beer or cider (apparently in Newcastle cider is made from apples, who knew…?)
Evening meals
Sharing leftovers
Shared platters….or not
And ice creams or a gelato or two

Then there is the driving
Normal driving
Spirited driving
Fast driving
Wiggly windy roads
Wind in the hair open-top motoring
The Smells you can only get from open-top motoring: onions, fresh hay, cow and sheep manure, bonfire smoke, BBQs, creosote, Marlin brake dust & tyre rubber and that certain sweet-smelling vape from the orange tiger up front.
Smiles per mile
Spots of rain
More wiggly moors roads
The “I could do that road again” feeling
Regular Detours from the advertised routes, or as Griff puts it "the satnav went haywire at that junction.".......again
Running up all those extra miles just to keep Kevin on his toes, would he last to the next petrol station?
Near misses
Angry drivers
More spirited driving
Close overtaking
Indicators left on
Fast tigers disappearing into the distance in a heartbeat
Slowly reeling them back in and catching them back up
Occasionally overtaking at opportune times and leaving the tigers behind
The 5 blissful minutes of being out front cut short by the inevitable return of a tiger, MK or Marlin in your mirror
The massive acceleration of the bike-engined MK
Missed junctions
Sheep in the road
Road kill or near misses: sheep, partridges, pigeons
Indicators still on....
Sudden emergency stops
Bends (in particular left-hand ones)
Offs (and here I must insist it wasn't my driving - which was fine - but the road suddenly bent the wrong way. You know the rule - no photographic evidence - it didn’t happen!)
Accidents (it doesn't count if you didn’t hit anything, see above)
Off-road excursions (occasionally linked to the inability to turn left, also see above)
Running repairs
Breakdowns
Regular petrol stops to fill the tanks
Regular wee stops to empty the tanks (as most of us are of a certain age)
Open air toilet stops behind a bush or in a field
More wiggly roads over the moors
Another missed turn
Beautiful views
Nick, your indicator is still on.....!
Kind Drivers who let the convoy of kits out, only to see Michael in his VW and not let him out
Stupid dicks who pull in and break up the line of kit cars
Admiring looks and waves from locals
People with the satnav or app
People without the satnav app
People getting lost on route
Members looking for the lost ones
Trying to keep everyone together is (quote) "like herding cats"
Often followed by the phrase "I need a sedative."
Hats blown off
Hat nearly caught by car behind
Hats recovered on way back
Hat finally lost on drive home
Narrow lanes
“There’s 6 of us mate - you better back up!”
Lanes with sump cleaning grass down the middle (sadly none this year)
Blind ridges
Blind corners
Steep hills up
Steep hills down
Rattly cattle grids
Pot holes (to be fair Yorkshire roads were good)
Oncoming Lorries in single-track lanes
Tin-Top cars deliberately not letting us past
Photo stops
Closed roads
Another missed junction
Diversions
Nick, turn your x#!@x indicator off!
Diversion Deja vu (seeing the same road twice, three times, four……)
Oh shit! Where did that noise come from? As the RAF thundered low overhead.
Tiger yoga, the subtle art of squeezing into a car. It keeps us subtle and fit.
Time travel (or the Hare and Tortoise phenomenon), where Michael is the last one to leave but occasionally the first one to get to the lunch stop. This year this may have actually been down to Dave as copilot.
Time travel paradox restored, where once again we wonder where Michael has got to……

Then there is the social side
Camaraderie
Evening chats
Afternoon beer
Evening beer
Banter
Partner bickering (sorry, partners keeping each other on track)
Recounting events from the day or, as Harold McMillan said, "Events dear boy, events." For a second year provided by Nick and again on the third driving day. This year not a clogged carb but this time a missed left-hand turn and a gentle detour into a sheep field followed by at least one other car perfectly driven to a perfect stop. Nothing to really mention and certainly no photographic evidence.
Chats over the evening meal
Gentle teasing
Never sitting in the same seats
Putting the world to rights
Someone to organise the evening meal orders because who can be expected to remember what they ordered?
Someone to keep everyone in line, organised and sociable.
A non-driving day with a visit to a local attraction. This year we visited two of Newcastle's top cultural attractions which can't be up to much if the football ground is the third. An enjoyable day but not a patch on Durham.
Learning that LNER ticket machines prefer a gentle caress rather than a stabbing poke.
People kindly paying for the group, be it.....afternoon tea, taxi, train journey, ice creams, beers...
Michael's stories
Rachel's interrogation of Uber drivers
David’s fixation with S&M dungeons
Dave's witty one liners
The odd crystal or two
People with exclusive rooms, lost in the extra space and even a roll-top bath. Compared to the ordinary plebs in standard rooms.
And at last, an improved dress code for evening meals; this year's unexpected/planned theme was floral shirts or dresses. Next year will be either black tie or Hawaiian shirts.

Then there are the thank-yous
Firstly for all those who were there to make it enjoyable
Steve and Paula
Griff and Rachel
David and Jane
Jenifer and Mike
Dave
Kevin
Michael
Angus
Nick
And Dom, whose jovial presence was greatly missed.
For Griff and Rachel being the social and organising glue.
For Griff, taking the time to plan the routes and then leading from the front: it's not an easy task keeping an eye on the twisty roads while watching if everyone is still behind.
For any copilots or passengers who put up with the driver.
For any driver who had to put up with their passenger.
The staff at Walworth Castle
The castle's robotic floor hoover

And finally…..

So have I ended up with a second love letter? Well, it's a yes to Yorkshire, yes to road trips and yes to EATOC. Would I go again? well they foolishly had me back for a second time; now they may be stuck with me! Hawaiian shirts here we come...you have been warned!

Back to Top of Page

EATOC Suffolk Run by Giles Cooper

For this years Suffolk run I wanted to do something different. For the last few years we have gone down to Dunwich, and although the Flora Tea Rooms are quite nice it was getting a bit predictable. So this year I decided to change tack.

We would keep the meeting points (March, Ely, Long Melford) as this allows us to collect members from across the region but then from Long Melford it will all be new roads. I made use of a colleague who comes from that way in Suffolk to get some ideas and he should know the good local pubs for lunch.

So an idle 30 minutes and we had planned most of the route all I now needed to do was book somewhere for lunch, A couple of days and having tried 11 venues I finally found a pub that would take a group booking and didn’t need food orders or deposits just numbers. This is what takes the time - we can do a route in an hour or so but to get somewhere for Lunch that is a whole other matter.

This then allowed me to alter the route accordingly and get the information out to the members.

So the day comes and we set off - the forecast is showing good weather and although a little cool in the morning it was forecast to be warmer in the afternoon (only about 25C not the 35C we had during the week before). I drove over to March to meet up with the first group.

At March I met with Griff, Kev Greeves and Steve and Heather Newman. After a good chat and making use of the facilities we headed out towards Ely. The journey to Ely was uneventful and we arrived almost at the scheduled time - only a couple of minutes late.

At Ely we were joined by Nick Smith, Richard Gaze, Steve Tuck and Dom and Dave. We now had 8 cars and 10 people. After more chatting we proceeded to the next Stop at Long Melford.

As we came out of Newmarket there were a set of roadworks announcing the road was closed - this we are sure is the same road that was closed when we did the previous run last year (is it the same roadworks or do they just try to dig up that road when we plan the route).

As before you follow the diversion sign and then nothing - no signs telling you where to go - so after about 5 miles of looking for a sign I just took the next left which fortunately brought us out just beyond the road closure and we could continue through Clare and onto Long Melford.

We arrived at Long Melford to find the usual green that we park on more of a dustbowl thanks to the drought and hot weather but more surprisingly nobody else had made the journey and was waiting for us. So we went into the pub for a refreshment stop, and stayed for the next 30 minutes or so.

Form this point on it was all a new route, as we passed through Sudbury and then onto Stoke by Nayland before getting to the A12 and then the A14, if you are planning a route that goes near Ipswich then it is unavoidable - sorry about that.

Before getting to Ipswich there was the matter of a quick fuel stop (I wasn’t out) but by topping up would have enough to get home without stopping again. I will alter the maps as the fuel stop marked isn’t a good one and the better can be found a couple of miles up.

Around the A14 section everyone got split up, as I was in the lead but nobody else stopped for fuel, so we continued on our separate ways until we got to the lunch stop. For those interested we went round the A14 and then picked the A12 back by Martlesham before turning off towards the Sutton Hoo site (well worth a visit)

After Sutton Hoo there is a sign for the Ramsholt arms and you follow this road which is mostly covered in sand and zigzags into the middle of nowhere. Until you finally come across a carpark and the pub a hundred yards further on.

This was a very good venue, it sits on a marina which is part of the river Deben, and was surprisingly busy.

The table was waiting for us, and the food was good quality with excellent service what more can we ask for.

The parking arrangements were a little odd and Nick was in an interesting place (see the photos), why someone thought he needed to be parked there we don’t really know.

After lunch we headed back home, having no choice but to follow the road we came in on. The route then took us by the back roads through a lot of small villages until we came out at Diss. There was one small problem in that one road did have speed humps for a short distance but otherwise the roads were fairly good.

However I got to Diss and found there was nobody behind me - I assumed they were just held up so pulled into Tesco for a quick comfort break. I waited for a few minutes and nobody seemed to come past so guessed they were all ahead of me. As I came out of Diss they had stopped at a Petrol Station to fill up so I rejoined them then, the last section of the journey was a simple drive to Thetford, Downham Market, Wisbech and home. It was a good day nobody got lost (that is a miracle by itself), or had any mechanical issues that I recall. The weather was warm but not excessively hot and the food at the pub was good.

What more do we need for a club run?

Back to Top of Page

.



(c) 2003-2026 East Anglian Tiger Owners Club
Usage of this website is subject to the terms and conditions which can be found here