In more interesting news, I’ve just got back from a lovely weekend camping with Mr and Mrs French at the Waterloo Inn at Biggin. I think my legs have just about recovered from the 13 mile walk we did on Saturday! Of course, we did have a couple of refreshment stops, just to make sure we were properly hydrated…….

Clarence behaved impeccably, and the new seals did a great job keeping out the downpour we had on the Saturday night. It’s a cracking little site in a beautiful part of the Peak District, and we always get a super warm welcome from Bridget and Gary. The food and beer was top notch as always, and of course we managed to squeeze in a visit to the Old Cheese Shop at Hartington. Looking at what I wrote back at the beginning of March, that’s almost a direct quote from our February trip! At least the temperature was a little more civilised on this occasion.

So since our trip to Sandown Park back in March, what’s been going on? Well, Clarence’s windscreen work got completed (eventually), although I’m still not 100% convinced about that. I’m not going to go into detail on that here though. I’ve also ended up fitting a number of the replacement seals myself and, with the exception of the rear light seals which were a royal pain in the ass, that’s gone pretty well. I also got a bit tired of the static seatbelts so have replaced those with some inertia reel belts which are a vast improvement. We’ve also got cupholders now! And a spare ashtray bracket, but that’s another story altogether!

After months of procrastination I think I’ve now reached a decision on the curtains, but they probably won’t get ordered before me and Matt head up to the Lakes in a couple of weeks. He (Clarence, not Matt) is looking a little shinier than he had been thanks to a few evening Autoglym sessions, and is generally looking pretty good all round these days. He does need a new petrol cap though, which should arrive any day now thanks to the chaps at VW Heritage, but he’s eventually got his badge on his rump and I fitted the jailbars the other weekend too so he looks great from the back now.

Having booked our trip back to the Premier Ski Resort in the Alps, me and Oli took Clarence for a run over to Xscape in April for our first ski in a good few years – fortunately no snow was consumed on this occasion! Being back on snow, even if it was man made, was just so good. Felt like home.

Last weekend we were down south for Matt’s 40th birthday party, and because I’d taken a slightly circuitous route to Tunbridge Wells (it was weird being back – seriously not sure how you can still miss someone after all that time, but there you go) via Reading, I got the chance to go for a run out to the Siren Brewery in a freshly MOT’d Carlos before heading across to Kent. Thoroughly enjoyable it was too, unlike Siren’s Berliner Weisse…….

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