Bridget the Midget – Final Farewell

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By Roy Locock

THE first two reports have told how Bridget (the Midget) and I travelled throughout the Nordic countries into Russia and then via the Baltic States, Poland and into the Czech Republic, Bridget’s 50th country.

I had been considering dropping down onto the Croatian coast that everyone that has been there tells me is beautiful, but I was drawn as usual by the magic of Italy that always holds a strong attraction. I gave in once again as it was only one country away and I hadn’t spent any real time in Italy since our first run in 2006. Admittedly we crossed Italy on our African Odyssey and of course popped into Marenello, and now I wanted to see what sort of reaction we would get with Bridget’s Rosso Red paintjob.

Before Italy, however, we still had to navigate another new country, Slovenia. As per norm I knew nothing of this country although I had a mental picture of what to expect and as usual it couldn’t have been more wrong. We stopped at Maribor and I found what I consider a typical Alpine town as I would expect in Italy, France or Switzerland, complete with ski runs, cable cars and Alps style chalets. I decided to stay for a couple of days and take in some walking. I loved everything about it, the food, beer and general lifestyle; mind you I am not so sure I would like it in the skiing season!

From there we ventured into Italy around Lake Garda, staying at Sesto al Reghena and then Tremosine. I love this area with the mountains dividing up the various lakes, with fantastic hiking opportunities, good food, wine and a generally laid-back attitude to life.

Idly looking at the map one evening I suddenly decided to go north to Merano from where we could run the Stalvio Pass. Reputedly sporting 48 hairpins bends (I only counted 45 but I may have missed a couple whilst on my mobile) it is rated amongst the top 10 runs in the world. I had never been to Merano before and I have to admit to being very taken with the area. The climate and culture is very pleasant and I strongly recommend it to anyone considering a visit to northern Italy, even without their car.

From Merano to Como is only 180 miles, but if you go via the Stelvio Pass it is a route you will always remember. The uniqueness of the road ensures a steady stream of cyclists, bikers, cars of all types and even camper vans. MGs should be given priority as the road was clearly built for them in the first place. Although I haven’t done any official hill-climbs with Bridget I was left with a distinct impression that she would do very well. I was astonished, and very pleased, when on several occasions other vehicles pulled over to the side of the road to let Bridget pass and on two occasions we were escorted for several hundred yards by some German bikers.

The pass climbs to 9,000 feet and then drops down again either back into Italy which is where we were going, or into Switzerland. I slept a very contented eight hours that night.

From Como I decided to make my way to Lot and Garonne, in the south of France, to visit my favourite cousin! She and her husband have set-up home there. We stopped off near St Etienne and a French/New Zealand family made a great fuss of Bridget. He was from New Zealand and built like a brick …., very strong and as it turned out a former professional rugby player. I told him I didn’t realise that France played rugby, but he just grinned.

For the last few days before reaching Lot and Garonne Bridget had been making the most terrible clatter when starting, particularly at the beginning of the day, but then calmed down and ran perfectly. Each time it happened I vowed to check to see if I could identify the problem later, but she ran so well that I would put it off. On arriving at Blaymont in Lot, my cousin’s husband said he knew a guy who was a good mechanic and had a hydraulic lift so we could inspect the underneath. The following day we visited the chap and he agreed we could use the lift as well as giving Bridget a 4,000 mile service.

After completing the service I started looking for the reason for the clatter when I noticed the mechanic looking up at the front of the engine and looking rather puzzled. As I moved to where he was, he pointed up to the fan belt pulley and there was a gaping hole where the pulley retaining nut should have been. A quick check in my log established that we had been running over 1,000 miles without the retaining nut. By all normal standards the pulley should have come off and the engine seized, but Bridget isn’t normal! The fault for the nut coming off was undoubtedly mine from when I replaced the single timing chain.

Once again Moss Europe worked their wonder and a new nut appeared two days later, the intervening day being a Sunday. Whilst at Blaymont I made the final decision that we would winter on Gran Canaria, the largest of the Canary Islands. From France we made our way along the north-west coast of Spain to Gijon and then turned left dropping down to Porto, in Portugal.

This would be our last new country on this run, number 18, and we had completed over 9,500 miles by the time we arrived at Cadiz, in southern Spain. From here we would catch a ferry taking 40 hours to transport us to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. By the time we return to the UK in March 2014 we will have covered over 12,000 miles and time, I think, for Bridget to retire.

In the seven years that we have been travelling together we have spent three and a half on the road, she has driven through 52 different countries, many of them multiple times, devoured over 70,000 miles and only suffered one puncture! On our return to the UK I am hoping that one of the museums will take her on so that her public can still see and enjoy her. For my part I am looking for a new project.

Read part one of Roy’s adventure here.

Part two can be found here.