09/10/2026
Throwback Friday, 3 years ago on Wednesday we posted…
“A different week for us, plenty of business has been done but not in the workshop, for a change.
Ian, our father, was 80 on Monday. I blagged a lift down to Bristol with a family member, to suprise him, very successfully!
After a couple of days with them and my sister’s family, I prepared the ”family” Chummy for a drive back to Glasgow.
Our parents bought the car in 1970, my sister(I think) and I (certainly) returned from the maternity homes in this car, as well as going to school in it most days and touring the U.K. and Europe as a family, for most of our childhood holidays. I learned to drive in this car and also went on our honeymoon in it. Needless to say, it is a very important car to us Dunfords.
Ian has enjoyed driving it near their home less and less. He finds it too busy and not great fun. As a family we agreed that the car would be better placed up in Scotland, so he can enjoy it on quieter roads.
The drive took three days, used 44 litres of petrol and one pint of oil over 440 miles.
The first night was spent with one of our customers, Mark Fetherstone, he and his wife run the most amazing AirBnB near Llangollen.
The route through Gloucester, Ledbury, Ludlow and Oswestry was superb. The views from Mark and Gaynor’s home, the crowning moment from the day. I spent a little time repairing some issues on Mark’s car and his neighbours Ruby before being treated to a wonderful meal and great sleep. Thank you both, very much.
Mark and Gaynor led me, in their van, to Chester, before we said our good byes. I then headed up the Wirral, through the Birkenhead Tunnel, Liverpool, Preston and Lancaster. Hard going through the towns, lots of traffic lights - all red!
Last night was spent at the Longlands Hotel and after a filling breakfast I headed north on the A6, then the old A74, dodging huge floods around Glasgow before arriving home just after 4pm. The car had no mechinical issues whatsoever and the hood remained down throughout.
Photos, below, from the trip plus one taken in 1970 and the re-enacted on Thursday - an emotional departure for me, after so many years at 280 Church Road.
Normal service will resume next week!”
(Photos, father in Bristol, 1970 and 2023 then me in Glasgow after the drive north).
