Northern Run - Damson Dene Hotel, Lake District, Fri & Sat, 11th & 12th August 2023

Laydeez and Gennelmens,

It is with great pleasure, and not a little relief, that I proudly announce this year's Northern Run, which will be based at the Damson Dene Hotel, in the depths of the Lyth Valley and not far from Windermere, on Fri 11th and Sat 12th of August....pleasure cos it's a nice place and we had a good time last time we stayed in 2017, and relief cos we managed to get a good deal!

Cost for both nights an a dinner, bed and brekky basis will be ?380 per room, and ?250 for single occupancy. To book, call Reception on 015395 68676 and say you're with the STRATOS group. They'll take your card details, but won't debit it till the day before the do. I've grabbed 10 rooms for us, and although more are currently available, that can't be guaranteed the later it gets, so if you wanna come, don't leave it too long or you could be kipping in the car park with a takeaway and spreading yer greasy hands and faces on the windows, watching the rest of us having a good time in the bar :)

The hotel has a swimming pool and a spa (that's the water-based thingy, not a supermarket) for those who like to make a splash, so bring yer swimming cozzy. But don't let anyone see you wearing it unless you wanna ruin peeps' weekend.

Anyhow, it's the usual format - book a room, post on here that you're going so I know as well, and then there'll be a drive-out somewhere or other on the Saturday before we check out and head home on the Sunday. And who knows, you might even enjoy it as well.

Be There Or Be Square, or something along those lines ;)

The Norm

Oh, and P.S. - doesn't matter what car you come in, it doesn't have to be a Strat. Or a car, come to think of it, but it'll be a bloody long walk....

Bugger !............ sorry Norm we are on holiday

I will start the ball rolling, reservation made. We are both looking forward to our Norm tour of the Lake District.

David

Good man, David! Not like that turncoat Phil. ;)

Actually, you saying you're first to book has just made me realise that although I sorted out the hotel reservations etc, I forgot to actually book myself a room....durrrr!!

All booked in. We’re looking forward to another great long weekend away - and hopefully the car won’t break down this time !

We shall be with you, Norm, et al

Robin & Carol.

All booked Norm, looking forward to it.

Dave

Deb & I booked on. Looking forward to catching up with everyone and the run out. Thanks for organising.
All the best

For those members that are joining our esteemed Chairman on his visit and tour of the nether regions of Cumbria for this Weekend, i thought i would bring to your attention an event that is taking place close by on 13th August that may be of interest.

This is a gathering called “Classics over Sands” to be held on the playing fields in Grange-over-Sands, a small pleasant Town about 20mins drive from our Hotel, on the edge off and overlooking Morecambe Bay. I have an affinity with this town, having spent time there during the War to escape the bombing in Manchester, and built a number of prominent houses there in a former life, so will be taking a look.

The link to the event for further information is https://classicsoversands.org/

Well that looks like Sunday's activities taken care of....cheers, Robin :)

Grange is a really nice place on the banks of Morecambe Bay, at the estuary of the River Kent, and worth a look. And if you don't fancy the car do but feel like a walk instead, you can cross the channel over to Arnside, although it might be a good idea to do that with the guide so you don't end up becoming a victim of the quicksand and never being seen again....actually, I might suggest that to a few people I know ;)

Here's the directions for the Saturday jaunt....hopefully not made any cock-ups :) - but check back nearer the date just in case I've had to revise them!


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No idea why it's uploaded two copies of the file - maybe it's so both driver and navigator get their own copy.....

Or we could go round twice !!

The danger is that if you print them both off, they'll cancel each other out and you'll end up going nowhere :)

Thanks Norm,

I will try and plot it in Rally Navigator and upload the result

Hi Norm et al,
Our friends from Italy have to return home a week earlier than originally planned due to business commitments so we can now make the Lake's run. Hotel is booked and Annalisa and I are really looking forward to another great weekend with all our SEC friends.
Cheers Steve

That's amazing news, Steve - I didn't know you had any friends!!

Good to hear you'll be along to the Lakes a week on Friday. I'm performing all sorts of arcane rituals to the weather gods....if I've done them right it'll be nice, if not, floods, possibly even as biblical as the 2019 Keilder Run ones...

**** An update on the gig: ****

Visited the hotel today to make sure my list of who's going tallied with theirs. It initially appeared there was no reservation for Robin T-M....until we realised he and Carol are going a day early so didn't appear on the Friday list! (doh!) Only other "gotcha" was that Richard's room was only for one, so maybe a discussion needed in the Craig household? ;) Anyway it's been amended to 2 now :)

Now, stuff everyone needs to be aware of:-

Check-in time on Friday is 3:00pm earliest.
Dinner both nights is at 8:00pm.
Breakfast both mornings is at 8:30am.
Pool opening times are 8:00am to 9:00pm.

And, we've got a dedicated room for dinner, but we're in with the hoi polloi for brekky (so we don't have to walk too far to the buffet) :)

So, all looking good, now just gotta hope my entreaties to the Gods of Weather pay off :)

See y'all there a week on Friday!

- Norm

Report from the advance party, Norm has excelled this time and moved us up market substantially since the Rice Crispy incident at the Shap Wells!!! And they even have Gluten Free Sausage at breakfast!!

Only one thing wrong, it is raining now, but set to improve.

Enjoy the weekend guys. Sorry we won't be there, but it's a family Birthday Weekend - brother and Stepson.

Robin, ta for the update - good to know the hotel's on the ball! Weather though....well, guess it's fingers crossed....

Ade, shame you couldn't come, but maybe you could sneak out for a wizz cross-country this eve...? ;)

See y'all later!

Good luck with the weather. The forecast doesn't look fun at all but fingers crossed it's not too bad.

Yellow Stratos spotted (not by me personally) in Preston / Penwortham area earlier this afternoon - Norm heading north ?

Yep, that was me, avoiding M6 tailbacks by going through Preston and then joining the motorway from the M55 junction....still a pain in the arse but it worked :)

Back home now and it's fair to say we had a great weekend. Weather Friday was fab but Sat dawned very wet! Continued raining all the way up the A6 but started to ease thereafter, with it stopping by the time we hit Wigton. However, we think we've identified a new sport among the denizens of the far N.W. of Cumbria, which is "how far into a field can you get your car by going through a hedge". Must have seen 5 vehicles in ditches, hedges, and generally off the road, but the winner was a blue Mondeo on its roof about 30 feet into a field with no obvious way of how it got there....! There was a bit more rain on and off after the lunch stop in Silloth and then fun was had going down the coast, through Cockermouth and over the Whinlatter Pass before stopping for more drink at the Filling Station Caff in Keswick.
More accidents on the A591 down towards Grasmere meant that road was closed so we diverted to Ullswater and over the Kirkstone Pass and then to Windermere that way. Much attention from peeps encountered en route and no doubt lots of hozzy appointments resulting from cricked necks as we passed :)

Car behaved faultlessly in the crap conditions apart from the screen steaming up early on, sorted once I remembered I had a heated screen....doh!....

Hotel was top notch and the staff couldn't so enough for us, or maybe they just hoped we'd sod off. Dunno why more of you don't give the drive-outs a go cos everyone always seems to have a good time. Or that's what they tell me anyhow!

Pics to follow shortly, along with contributions from other attendees!

4th run for me and Julie in my Allora and we loved every minute. We did get off to a bad start on Saturday with 2 inches of water in the footwells but a sarny box and a bit of baling out and we were fine.
I’m sure we all had a great time driving, chatting, eating and drinking with friends old and new. I for one am already looking forward to next years runs and hope a few more members might join us for a great weekend - even if you don’t have a Stratos. Who knows we might take over a whole hotel.

Thanks again Norm for organising a great weekend, can only reiterate that the hotel and staff were great.
Weather was hot and sunny all the way up on Friday, shame I was stuck in the greenhouse for most of it (7 and a bit hours in all) but once I left the M6 for the short hop across to the hotel I remembered why I was doing it:o
Yes it was wet on the Saturday but it all adds to the experience, I was fortunate to pick up a navigator for the day with much more local knowledge than me (thanks David).
Having learn't my lesson on the Friday I avoided the M6 coming home and had a very enjoyable drive across to the A1M and home in time for dinner.
600 plus miles in total, can't wait for the next one:rolleyes:

Dave

Thanks Norman, for putting together a great weekend, and as you have already mentioned the Hotel and staff were great.

I am absolutely staggered at the contortions some folks do to take a photo as we pass, or as they pass, I wouldn?t dare hang my phone out of the window at 70 mph, and in some cases with half a body as well!!!

As Peter has said, great company, experiences shared, and the opportunity to ask others how they have dealt with various aspects of details of there cars whether it is build details or driving experiences.

The only downside to any of these runs is having to come home, and unpack. As is well known, Carol does not travel light.

Shower cap put to dry, and water wings deflated and put away after the Bathroom Flood Incident, there was more water involved in that than we experienced going over Shap.

Robin.

Back home reflecting on a fantastic weekend, so enjoyable from start to finish. Thank you Norm. With overnight heavy rain on Friday expected it was time to unleash the shower cap which kept the inside of the car and engine compartment bone dry. Every owner should have one!!!.

Despite the wet start on Saturday and with Pat and Leah staying back at base, it was a great chance to ride shotgun with Dave in his LB and feel the power of a supercharged Toyota V6. (Thanks Dave)!

It always such great fun when we all get together and we look forward to planning the next one in June 2024.

Some pix taken by a non-member on the drive - most in Silloth at the lunch stop. Lawrence of Arabia impersonation forced by rain when removing shower cap prior to setting off :)

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I was wondering where the pics were. Sounds like a great hotel and run out despite the rain. I was out galavanting all weekend including the Friday or I would have been there or at least popped across.
I just love the look of that lads face in pic #2. I'm sure we can alI relate to that. I'm also sure it's the look I've had for most of my life whenever I see a Stratos.....
Cheers!
Ade

That looked like a lot of fun, sorry I missed it... maybe next time !!!

Looks like a great weekend!
Me too, "Maybe next time". Still a way to go before it's in a Stratos though.....!
That hotel was on the tele recently. Has it got a model village in the garden, or something like that?
We should give them a model Stratos to put in the village!

Yeah, it has, John - they also had model Lakeland buildings you could buy or commission....couldn't help but wonder why you would, though, cos surely you'd need to hire an equally-small cleaner and gardener :) Think a model Strat would be out of place in their outdoor one as it's all very Wordsworth/Beatrix Potter stuff, a bit "stuck in 1850", but then I suppose a lot of the Lakes is still like that ;)

Ade, that kid was part of a family group who were all over the cars and actually fairly well clued-up. Spent quite a while talking to them, further reinforcing my assertion that a Stratos is slowest form of travel between A & B cos you spend so much time at either end talking to peeps!

Thanks for organising Norm and thanks to everyone else for making a brilliant weekend. Hotel and Staff were great. The Old Piano winning the best dressed award was a particular delight. Looking forward to fly fishing lessons from David J (another story) Hopefully see most if not all at Gordon?s Garage Day if not before.

Thank you Norm for organising a great hotel and route. I echo all the positive comments of all the others that were there. For those members who don't come along to these meetings you're missing such a great weekend, drive through stunning countryside (weather permitting) and great company with really interesting people. Hopefully we will see some new faces at the next do or even the he next garage day in September. Don't be shy.