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FIRST OVERLAND NEWSLETTER 36The latest news of the 'First Overland' DVD, based on Antony Barrington-Brown's original film footage of the 1955 Oxford & Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition from London to Singapore. |
I never dreamed when I saw 'Cambridge' go past me on the A20 in S.E.London on September 1st 1955 that I would later read about its journey in a book titled 'First Overland'.
I never dreamed when that book was issued as my father's Companion Book Club selection that it would lead to a life-long fascination with Land-Rovers.
I never dreamed when Tim Slessor's book was republished to mark the 50th anniversary of the 'First Overland' Expedition that it would stir a group of 50-plus-year-olds to talk of recreating the journey from London to Singapore in 50-plus-year-old Land-Rovers.
I never dreamed when I offered to make them a promotional video to raise funds that it would lead to a discovery that Antony Barrington-Brown's original colour footage still existed, and that if I asked him nicely he would agree to let me re-master it for a modern DVD audience, with interviews with my heroes... the surviving five of the original Oxford & Cambridge students.
I never dreamed when I produced that DVD that it would introduce me to new friends and contacts within the Company, the Land Rover press, and enthusiasts all around the world... and lead to two more 'Green Oval' DVDs.
I never dreamed when I heard that the remains of the 'Oxford' car had met a corroding end in the salty air of a remote South Atlantic island that it would ever be rescued and brought home to the UK.
I never dreamed when I learned that determined Land-Rover enthusiast, Adam Bennett, had decided to do just that, that it would ever run again.
I never dreamed when, just a few months later the shipping container it arrived in was opened, that I would film Tim Slessor reunited (emotionally, it must be said) with the remains of the vehicle that took him on the longest overland journey that's possible on this planet six decades earlier.
I never dreamed when, in a few short weeks it passed its MOT, that I would be able to film Tim driving it again...
... and I never dreamed that I would get to drive it too!
'Oxford' drives again on UK soil
You can read the full story of how SNX891 came to 'end its days' (or so we thought) on Saint Helena in my Newsletters 20, 21 and 22, which you can get to through the Back Issues Index. But to give a brief summary (which might, in some instances, be more accurate than those Newsletters):
After the two 'First Overland' cars arrived back in the UK from Singapore, the Rover Company (who had only loaned them to the Expedition) used them for publicity purposes for a while. Then (doubtless when the Series 2 was on the horizon, and the Series 1 was looking obsolete) they sold off 'Cambridge' — more of that later — and loaned 'Oxford' to the British This is covered in the book 'Wideawake Island' by Bernard Stonehouse (sadly no longer in print).
 SNX891 on Ascension Island with the BOU Expedition (Picture from 'Wideawake Island') |
 Mervyn March (right) and his family with A268 |
On the island it lost its signwriting and acquired a pale blue top coat, probably at the same time as the Expedition's base huts were painted! When the expedition ended it wasn't really worth the expense of shipping the car back home again, so Rover said that they could leave the car behind. I originally heard that they could sell it for a nominal amount, and post the cheque back to Rover — the story I'm hearing now is that they were to donate the car to someone who had assisted them in an important way during the previous months. Either way, it passed into the hands of Mervyn March, the water bowser driver. He was from Saint Helena — another island even more remote in the South Atlantic where Napoleon had been imprisoned. He used the car for a while (re-registered with the local number A268) until it got unreliable, and then transferred to a later ex-Cable & Wireless 88" vehicle (867). When his tour of duty on Ascension had finished in 1977, he shipped both cars back to his home, intending to use 'Oxford' for spares on an island where everything is precious.
 All that was left of 'Oxford' |
 'Oxford's Hard Top on 867 (St.Helena pictures by Bruce Salt - ZD7VC) |
On Saint Helena, A268 was left pretty much where it came to rest — the hardtop with its distinctive hatch and rear tent runners had already been transferred to 867. 'Oxford's remains were slowly decomposing in a patch of scrub, with the body tub covered with a tarpaulin and the engine, gearbox, and axles inside. To make matters worse they were in the way of a new road. What could be moved was moved, and much of the chassis bulldozed into the hillside. From time to time people would speculate about the chance of bringing this iconic Land-Rover home — in fact, Tim Slessor once told me that he was sitting at a dinner with an executive from Ford (who at the time owned Land Rover), and mentioned the fate of the car. Ford, to their credit, were very keen on the heritage of the company that they now owned, and the executive immediately wanted to know more, and proposed sending a container to bring the car back. Tim had to tell him that a tea-chest and dustpan & brush would be more appropriate!
Earlier this year there was news that a multi-million-pound airport was nearing completion on Saint Helena, which would open up the island to an air connection, and lessen the tyranny of having to rely on the slow mail boat. Now that it would be possible to get there and back, and explore the remains, in a long week, I toyed with the idea of mounting a 2-man filming expedition to the island to see what could be captured on video. The second man was to be Peter Galilee, an experienced journalist and contributor to 'Land Rover Owner International' magazine, who had done a great deal of research and knew more than anybody of the condition, history and ownership of 'Oxford'. Unfortunately it would seem that the airport planners had failed to take sufficient notice of the high winds experienced on Helena, and at the time of writing this there are still problems with getting the necessary clearance to fly big jets into the runway. My enthusiasm faded as other matters took over my personal life. And by now, even 867 had been put out to grass.
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| 867 in a sorry state |
Then certain rumours started to filter through the Yorkshire Land-Rover scene. Adam Bennett — to call him a Land-Rover enthusiast is putting it mildly, with a track record of saving and restoring 'important' vehicles — had joined forces with Peter, and managed to use Peter's contact list to get in touch with the present vehicle's owners, Mervyn March's distant relatives Eric & Gloria Leo. In this he was greatly helped by St.Helenian Land Rover enthusiast Bruce Salt (ZD7VC), who liaised closely through email, sending pictures of what was salvageable (and what wasn't, although that didn't put Adam off!)
As it was difficult to separate which bit was which on the two Series 1s, Adam really needed both to pull apart and put them together again in the right order. Now 867 would be cannibalised to reconstruct A268. Eric would let both cars go... but he still needed transport. A deal was struck involving the sourcing and shipping to St.Helena of a well-preserved Tdi 90 — the advanced electronics of later Defenders are a liability in a hostile landscape where basic tools and fencing wire are all that's needed to keep a vehicle running.
 Loading the container for shipping on St.Helena |
 The container arrives in Yorkshire |
There's not room here to tell the whole saga of getting the remains containered, and back to Yorkshire... it includes breakdowns involving both ships and cranes, and Adam will keep you enthralled for hours. As he says, the amazing part was not just that everything went so smoothly — it didn't, but somehow each setback was swiftly overcome. On Tuesday May 9th 2017, I collected Tim Slessor from York Station, the container was opened, and for the first time in 61 years he was re-connected with the car that took him 36-thousand miles to Singapore and back. Grown men don't cry — but Tim would admit a certain itching around the eyes when he walked into the container. I felt something similar when I touched the additional side light, raised to the wing top to clear the jerry cans on the front bumper... this was definitely 'Oxford'. And when the car was pulled partly out of the container, and we could get round the back, the rear tent runners above the hardtop rear door were the clincher. "There's only two cars in the world like that", said Tim, "and the other one's 'Cambridge'!"
 Tim reunited with 'Oxford' |
 It's the roof that clinches it |
That apart, let's not pretend that the other contents of the container were a pretty sight. I don't think anyone else can have paid to ship that much corrosion so many thousand miles. But Adam was ecstatic. Even Michael Geary, constructor of the original 'Oxford' and 'Cambridge' replicas, and now a leading restorer of Land-Rover engines, was optimistic that the engine block could be restored after decades of life sitting under a tarpaulin. But for those of us involved on the edge of the project, we came away thinking "Best of luck, Adam"!
It seemed only a few weeks later (because it was) that an email arrived from Adam to say that an MOT slot had come up at short notice, and SNX891 had passed first time! Not that it was SNX891 at this stage, because there were hoops to go through with DVLA to prove the identity of the car and get its original number back. It went for test on the strength of its chassis number from Black Paw 4x4 near York, where Ben Stowe and his team were undertaking the restoration. But miraculously 'Oxford' was driveable again. On August 29th Tim again came up to York, but this time he was able to drive 'Oxford' around the farm tracks that lie behind Black Paw. Another very emotional experience for him... and for me too, as Adam let me take my turn behind the wheel of this iconic vehicle.
 Tim behind the wheel after 61 years |
 ... and my turn! |
And less than a week later came an invitation from Adam — the DVLA had come up trumps, and the paperwork had arrived... SNX891 could now legally go out on the road with its original identity. This needed a celebration, and so a group of local enthusiasts and their Series 1s (my wife's own SXF870 included) were invited for a run over the North York Moors, inevitably including the famous Rudland Rigg road that crosses the moors from south to north, and includes a notorious set of downward 'steps' at the northern end. 'Oxford' never missed a beat, and it was somehow so very fitting that this car, that had once made the longest overland journey that's possible on this planet from England to Singapore, should celebrate with a journey up one of the longest continuous unsurfaced roads in the UK. And all this only just over 6 months from Adam's initial email contact with Bruce Salt — amazing!
 'Oxford' descends the Rudland Rigg steps |
 'Oxford' survives the steps |
So what next? It's fair to say that there's some discussion about the 'look' of SNX891. Adam has (quite rightly in my view) treated 'Oxford' in the way one treats the renovation of a historic building, by making it totally clear which bits are original and which are new. The hardtop, rear tub, wings and bonnet are all pretty much as they were on Saint Helena, but the restored chassis, bulkhead and wheels are in the dark blue that we associate with Oxford. Frankly it looks a bit of a mess... but perhaps that's necessary in this current context to show that this is 'Oxford' back from the dead. To restore it all to pristine glossy dark blue would be to make it no different to Michael Geary's excellent replica. No, this is the real deal. Whether or not, in some year's from now when people have had to chance to see the car as it 'came back from the dead', it could be restored to original condition, complete with a recreation of Antony Barrington-Brown's signwriting, is something to be considered.
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It's been difficult keeping this all a secret, and I've been itching to prepare this Newsletter. But the story is very much Peter Gailee's — he did the lion's share of the research, and paved the way for Adam to acquire 'Oxford'... it was only right that I should wait until he'd had the chance to tell the story in the October issue of Land Rover Owner International. It's a great tale, filled with more facts and photos than I've been able to include here — get down to your local magazine shop before it sells out! |
On September 16th and 17th the Land Rover Owner Show will be held at the East of England Showground just off the A1 near Peterborough. 'Oxford' will be there, and I'll be taking a special video compilation to tell the story. There'll be clips from BB's original mid-50s footage, with Bruce Salt's pictures from Saint Helena and mine from the container opening, Tim driving, and the Rudland Rigg trip. Adam will be there, Peter Galilee and Ben Stowe. Tim Slessor has signed a number of copies of his 'First Overland' book to sell, and I'll have the DVDs. Look out for us on the display area with the Black Paw 4x4 banner — come and see (and touch?) the car that, with its sister SNX761 'Cambridge', opened up the world to Land-Rover.
 Adam watches Tim sign copies of his book in the Black Paw office |
 A very happy Tim Slessor |
And what of 'Cambridge'? Again due to Peter's research, it is known that SNX761 ended its days in a pretty spectacular fashion six decades ago by running off the road somewhere in the Middle East on another expedition, and crashing into the bottom of a ravine. It would take a very remarkable man who would undertake an expedition to find and retrieve that impossible mission. But then, 6 months ago you'd have said the same about 'Oxford'.
Anyone we know?
I'm aware that there are various expedition stories of yours still waiting to be told, but this news has been so important, it merited a Newsletter all to itself.]
GRAEME ALDOUS.
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