Ards Peninsula run gets season off to a flying start

The clocks went forward an hour at the weekend and this heralded the start of British Summer Time so it was apt that this coincided with our first club run of the season.

The weather forecast wasn’t great but that did not deter club members from getting their cars out to embark on a route which would take in some of the sights of the Ards Peninsula, including a short section of the famous Ards TT circuit.

Members assembled at McDonald’s at Knocknagoney and we had our obligatory coffee before departing. This was a good opportunity for us to admire the cars that had assembled, to say hello to new members and also to welcome some friends from the TVR club who had been invited to join us – the TVRs provided another welcome dimension to the soundtrack with their deep throated burble. They blended in well with the familiar sound of Alfa Romeo twin spark and busso engines, Abarth and Giulia Quadrifoglio, not to forget the 4.7 litre V8 crescendo provided by Roy’s Maserati Gran Turismo.

Tom had selected the route we would follow and following a quick briefing we set off in convoy.  We went via Church Road, Holywood, onto the Ballymiscaw Road at Craigantlet and headed down to the old Belfast Road, taking in Bradshaw’s Brae and part of the Ards TT race circuit. We headed through Newtownards, out past Ballycopeland windmill for our first stop to stretch the legs at Millisle Beach car park.

We then headed via Portaferry to Kearney Village to our next scheduled stop at the National Trust facility before continuing to our lunch stop at the New Quays, Portavogie.  Our thanks to Davy, Brenda and the staff at the restaurant who were very hospitable and served everyone with a wonderful lunch from their extensive menu. We were all well fed and watered and proceeded on the final leg of our journey back up the Peninsula, through Kircubbin, Greyabbey and back to Newtownards for our last stop at Scrabo Tower.

Some members had to depart following lunch but we still had sufficient numbers to justify a group photo on the steps of Scrabo Tower.

It was pleasing to see such a strong turnout of 15 cars for our first run of the season and we were delighted that there was a real family feel about the day with wives, partners, children and even the family pet (Milo the dog) coming along for the trip. We even managed to escape any rain – although it was relatively cool it remained bright and sunny throughout.

All in all it was a great start to our club runs for the season and hopefully we can achieve a healthy turnout for future trips and events in the months ahead. Thanks again to Tom for all his planning and organisation – he kept us on time and everything went according to plan.

 

Tim Logan

Club Chairman

27 March 2023