House
Move Part 1
February 24thSo
the first MV trip out in 2021 was a Jeep trip with "Jessie"
( my M201 ), the Jeep trailer
full of bedding and the R/C B-17 in its 12 ft trailer, all going over to Durham on moving day.
Upon arrival, the B-17 was parked up at the back right of the large garage, so that
its large trailer could be used for moving our belongings. Since
we owned both the old and new house at the same time, we were able to
slowly move our belongings ourselves with the trailer and cars. It
worked out far easier doing it this way than to have everything dumped
at the house in one go. |
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House
Move Part 2
February 25th
"Hope" the Ford GPW was moved to Durham the following day. I'd taken
both Jeeps via the back roads, around a 12 mile drive and mostly 30mph
limits. I wouldn't take them on the motorway and the back roads were a
far more enjoyable drive. With the canvas roof up, both Jeeps only
just cleared the garage doors. I planned to increase the height and
width of the doors, which would eventually allow the Dodge to also fit
in the garage. |
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Garden
Photoshoot
March 15th
Through March, we were very busy moving our belongings from one house to the
other. Due to covid restrictions and being early in the year, there
were no events to attend. March 15th was a bright day and it gave me the excuse to get both Jeeps out for a photoshoot at their new home.
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House
Move Part 3
March 22nd
A week
after the garden photoshoot, on March the 22nd, The Dodge was on the
move. 18 months after being shut away in its shipping container, after the 2019 Tanfield Railway 1940s weekend, the Dodge was brought out of its long winter and then Covid hibernation.
The Dodge had been run a couple of times during the lockdowns on fuel which by this point was about two years old. 10 gallons of fresh fuel was added for a short trip to Washington first to pump up the tyres and check things over, followed by the 12 mile trip to Durham, all without problems. For the first time, all three vehicles would be kept together. |
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Durham
Villages Photoshoot
March 30th
On March 30th, with no sign of any events starting up and covid restrictions still in place,
my daughter and I took "Jessie" out to explore the local area and a bit of a photoshoot. It was sunny, but we went out prepared for a chill. It didn't take long to realise it was actually turning out to be a really nice day. We found a few nice photo spots which would be used over the next few months. |
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GPW
Test Drive
April 10th
I wasn't entirely happy with the GPW on the drive over to Durham and on April 10th, went out for a local drive to assess the situation
again, catching a few photos while I was out. I suspected a leaking cylinder head gasket and a compression test seemed to confirm a slight leak, though I wasn't loosing a massive amount of coolant.
A new gasket was fitted soon after.
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Jeep
Anniversary Drive
April 16th
April 16th was the 16th anniversary of buying and bringing home "Jessie" from WHB Jeeps in Scotland. It was also the 7th anniversary of getting the "Hope" on the road after the 18 month restoration. By this time, "Hope" had a new head gasket fitted and both Jeeps were taken for an evening drive and sun set photoshoot.
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Trip
to Broomhouse Farm
April 25th
Taking a break from the house move, on April 25th, we took "Jessie" to Broomhouse farm,
just for a ride out - though coffee and cake there was an incentive! If you're going for coffee and cake, you may as well do it in style. |
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Ushaw
Historic House D-Day Event
June 6th
D-Day, June 6th. A big day in 1944 and also a big day for us, as it was the first real military vehicle event to be held since September 2019. Covid restrictions had eased enough to allow the event to go ahead at Ushaw Historic House and a beautiful sunny day was the icing on the cake. Around two dozen vehicles turned out along with several dioramas. Everyone was still a bit cautious and keeping a bit of distance, but it was the first time we'd seen everyone in a long time.
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Springwell
Village & Bowes Railway
June 26th
Sadly, the sun didn't make an appearance a couple of weeks later on the 26th, for the Springwell Village/Bowes Railway 1940s weekend. It was cold with almost constant drizzle and as a result, vehicles and public were much reduced. Despite the weather, there were still around half a dozen vehicles and several dioramas on show. |
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American
Independance Day
July 4th
July 4th, American Independance Day, was a good excuse to go out for a drive.
My daughter and I took a wartime 48 star flag and the GPW out for a local drive, also looking for poppy fields
for a nice background.
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Aln
Valley Railway 1940s Weekend
July 10th/11th
A few days later on the 10th & 11th, we took "Hope" to the Aln Valley Railway 1940s weekend. "Jessie" was there in 2019 but decided to give "Hope" a turn! There wasn't a huge turnout of vehicles, but it was a nice friendly little event. It was our first full canvas camping trip since Beamish in 2019.
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Dodge
Test Drive
July 24th
I wanted to take "Faith" the Dodge to at least one event in 2021, with the Fishburn Airfield Fly-In being most likely. So on July 24th, I gave it a service and check over, followed by a local test drive. It was the first drive since the move to Durham.
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Durham
Railways Tour
July 25th
I think wifey and child were away somewhere the following day, so I went for a walk and Jeep ride in the GPW, exploring some of the
abandoned and railway lines in the area, four of which ran through our
village. I traced the lines, getting photos at each point where they
crossed current roads.
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Fishburn
Airfield Fly/Drive-In
August 14th/15th
On August 14th/15th, it was the Fishburn airfield Fly-In. Lynne was only available on the 14th, so we took both "Jessie" and "Faith", both in Flying control colours. It was a bright but breezy day, but nice to have the Dodge on show again.
The following
day was was just "Jessie", but it was cold and drizzly all day. On the way home, "Jessie" blew out a load of coolant through the overflow. I couldn't see any obvious reason and there was enough left to get home ok.
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M201
Test Drive
August 27th
After some checking at home over the next week, I couldn't find any problems with the cooling system of "Jessie".
I did several engine runs, monitoring the temperature at various parts
of the system to confirm the thermostat was working correctly. It lost
no more coolant during static and driving tests and compression tests
gave no indication of head gasket problems.
I could only assume the thermostat got stuck and as the temperature climbed, it suddenly freed itself with the over pressurised coolant blowing out of the cap and overflow. The Beamish event wasn't far away, so I took the Jeep and trailer for a local drive on August 27th to check for any problems under the additional load of the trailer. Everything was still normal
and has been since.
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Beamish
"Dig for Victory" Day 1
September 2nd
At the start of September was the long awaited, four day Beamish 1940s "Dig for Victory" show. It was a huge loss when it was cancelled in 2020, as it had quickly become our favourite show. We took both Jeeps and had a great time, with moderately good weather across the four days. |
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Beamish
"Dig for Victory" Day 2
September 3rd
At the start of September was the long awaited, four day Beamish 1940s "Dig for Victory" show. It was a huge loss when it was cancelled in 2020, as it had quickly become our favourite show. We took both Jeeps and had a great time, with moderately good weather across the four days. |
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Beamish
"Dig for Victory" Day 3
September 4th
At the start of September was the long awaited, four day Beamish 1940s "Dig for Victory" show. It was a huge loss when it was cancelled in 2020, as it had quickly become our favourite show. We took both Jeeps and had a great time, with moderately good weather across the four days. |
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Beamish
"Dig for Victory" Day 4
September 5th
At the start of September was the long awaited, four day Beamish 1940s "Dig for Victory" show. It was a huge loss when it was cancelled in 2020, as it had quickly become our favourite show. We took both Jeeps and had a great time, with moderately good weather across the four days. |
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Dodge
Tear Down and Repaint
September 16th ~ October 17th
With the season pretty much over, the winter coming and still no sign of the
builders who I'd booked to modify the garge doors, I decided I couldn't wait any longer for the garage doors to be altered.
Rather than change the garage to fit the Dodge, I'd change the Dodge to fit the garage. So starting on September 16th, I began to strip the Flying Control Dodge down and began to turn it back into a standard olive drab Weapon Carrier. |
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Dodge
Drive in New Scheme
October 17th
Checkers were chiseled away, rust cut out and new material welded in,
lower layers of olive drab sanded to key the surface, areas primed and
then four layers of olive drab applied.
By October 17th, the Dodge repaint was done and we all went out for a short drive to get some photos of it in the new scheme.
Soon after, I made a slight change in the markings following some
further information about the 1776th Ordnance Company being a separate
unit, rather thn part of the 100th Bomb Group. |
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Remembrance
Day Events
November 11th & 14th
The new look Dodge was out twice in November at two Remembrance day
events in Seaham. The first was a small service on the 11th. On the
way there and on the trip back, I visited seven other war memorials.
The
second trip was the main Sunday Remembrance Service on the 14th. These
two trips were the first public outings in the new olive drab scheme.
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Dodge
A-Frame Crane
December 4th ~ 25th
The repaint was only part one of the conversion and at the start of December, part two was started - the crane build. Work continued at a fast pace between working on house projects and the last two parts were attached to the Dodge on Christmas morning.
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Dodge,
Crane & Jeep Photoshoot
December 30th
After several days of rain, we took the Dodge and M201 out for a local
drive to get some pictures of the completed crane. It ended up quite a
mild sunny day, great for pictures, though quite wet under foot!
It was a nice
way to end the season.
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