Thread: The Road West.
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Old 13th June 2018, 08:36
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Tom Alexander Canada Tom Alexander is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dartskipper View Post
The first summer that we drove from the Eastern side of London down to South Devon was in 1968. Dad belonged to the AA, and requested an itinerary to help find the best route. For some reason now lost in the mists of history, Dad decided to use the A30 Route. (The A303 was having a lot of improvements then, so I think Dad wanted to avoid the road works.) Anyway, we loaded up the car on the Friday evening, grabbed a couple of hours rest, and then set out shortly after midnight. I don't remember all the details, but it was a long trip. We saw sunrise in Hampshire, stopped a couple of times so that Mum could use the Ladies loo, and eventually arrived in Paignton around 8.00 in the morning, just as the cafes were opening for breakfast. The car was a 1960 Ford Zephyr, with fairly high mileage, but it hauled all of us and a load of luggage without any fuss or murmur. It was on that holiday that Dad met the crew of the Pride of Paignton, and the manager, a Mr Stan Fordham. It was a fateful meeting, because the next year I spent the whole summer holiday on that boat, and later that year Dad was offered the job of taking command of Kiloran II in Torquay.
That was the beginning for me of a varied career that eventually saw me taking the yacht Orcella to the USA in 1974/75. I returned home in 1983.

Looking back now, that was one hell of a holiday!
Oh! Memories --- I had a friend who owned a somewhat older Ford Zephyr which four of us companions used to terrorise the young ladies of Hastings and environs.

Also my wife Mary's grandmother owned a guest house called "Red Lodge" in Torquay.
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