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FIRST OVERLAND NEWSLETTER 37The 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. |
... but not for sale!
The Peterborough Stand
[*England-Singapore-England, Ascension Island-St.Helena-York, York-Peterborough. The Rover Company, Mervyn March, Eric & Gloria Leo, Adam Bennett. The 42-thousand miles are what's shown on the clock — but it's where those miles were that's important.]
Well, first of all may I welcome all the new subscribers to this Newsletter — it was good to meet you face-to-face. I told the story of how SNX981 'Oxford' came to be repatriated from St.Helena and re- vitalised in my recent Newsletter 36, and I said that Adam Bennett would soon be setting out for the Land Rover Owner Show at the East of England Showground, Peterborough. So what happened?
My personal admiration goes to Ben Stowe, and his colleague Martin from Black Paw 4x4, for even considering setting out to drive a 62-year-old car down the Great North Road on a Friday afternoon. But after all, it had just been virtually rebuilt from the bottom up just a few weeks ago, so was probably in better mechanical condition that many of the vehicles that overtook its 55mph on the journey. I'm just pleased that I did it in the comparative quiet comfort of my Freelander2!
Peter Galilee (the LRO journalist who did so much of the research into the condition and ownership of 'Oxford' on St.Helena) says that the best moment for him (unfortunately not captured on camera) was as SNX891 rolled up to our stand — renowned Land-Rover collector and Trustee of The Dunsfold Collection, Phil Bashall, watching open-mouthed as 'Oxford' passed by him. I wish I'd seen that.
 SNX891 in place at Peterborough |
 Always a crowd round 'Oxford' |
Unfortunately the Saturday afternoon was a little moist, but the crowd round 'Oxford' weren't all in the tent to shelter from the rain! Tim Slessor had signed copies of his reprinted 'First Overland' book, which were very popular, and I had my 'FO' (and other Land-Rover) DVDs. I'd made a 10-minute video loop combining BB's original footage of 'Oxford' in action with Bruce Salt's pictures of the car on St.Helena, and footage I took of Tim Slessor seeing the remains for the first time in the container. There was also him driving for the first time in 61 years, and the celebratory run that Adam and friends did over Rudland Rigg on the North York Moors. This was running on an endless loop in the tent, and you can see it now on my YouTube channel. You only need watch it once or twice — we got to hear it in the background every 10 minutes! Oh, that tune... how it haunts me!
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Sunday was a much drier day, although a puddle in a slight hollow in our grass guaranteed that the pitch was authentically muddy. The trouble with any open air event like that is not only the re-packing of the car at the end — just chuck everything in! — but the cleaning off all the mud from the tent, table, chairs and so on when you get home. My personal thanks go to the Receptionist at the Ferry Meadows Premier Inn, who rinsed out the tablecloth on the first evening, and put it in the hotel's tumble drier.
One of the visitors to the stand was Alex Collard, who with his friend Adam Ataar drove a (little-prepared) Ser 2A to Beijing in 2014 to raise money for Mercy Corps. Peter Galilee will be featuring them in the next LRO magazine, but you can visit their Rusty Rhinos website to find out more.
 Always people keen to sit in |
 Oxford's youngest visitor? |
So all in all it was a wonderful experience. We had no idea whether or not many people would remember 'Oxford', and acknowledge the significance of the car... probably one of the top 5 'important' Land-Rovers through history. The stand was always busy, with aficionados keen to see a vehicle that featured large in their Land-Rover enthusiasm, and those who knew much less, but were happy to stop, hear the story, and see the car for themselves. For many, sitting in behind the wheel was a thing to remember. And Adam made a very interesting point — I was almost certainly the only person there who'd seen both cars 'in the metal', albeit 62 years apart.
Finally, some of the comments that came in when I sent my last emailing, with the news that SNX981 was back in the UK, and running well:
Fantastic news, and congratulations to all those concerned who made it happen. Peter Crewe
Wow, what a dramatic development! Ajit Krishnamohan
Wow!!! This is really news worthy! Thank you so much for the update on the SNX overlanders. That just makes me want to get on with my S1 88SW rebuild! Kent Shea
A great story and well told - my congratulations. Great to see pics of Oxford and I was pleased it has not been over restored. Looking forward to seeing Cambridge! John Rahtz
Thanks v much for the newsletter and the great compilation of stories. The original Overland book was a great enjoyment and inspiration for me as a young man and continued my lifelong love of “Landies”. At nearly 70, our 3 cars are a little Freelander, a Disco 2 and an old Rangie, all going well, despite about 650,000 km between the latter two. Chris Roberts
Graeme, that's brilliant ! I knew SNX was rumoured to be on St Helena, but never thought she'd be seen here again, let alone up and running. Fascinating story and I'm tempted to go across country next weekend to Peterborough to see SNX! Rather like you, First Overland was read in school back in the '60s and started me off on a lifelong love affair with Landies and indeed travel to far-flung places like PNG. I recall thinking once, when driving from Penang to Singapore, that I must be on at least some of the roads that the expedition used too. Anthony Richards
I have just read the book and loved every second of it. I am planning a trip in my Land Rover (ex NZ Army series III 109 stage 1 V8), from Nelson College in Nelson, New Zealand to Nelson College in Lancashire England. Departure estimated to be 2019/20. I am still working on the wife to see it as a great idea. The world is a very different place than it was in 1954 sadly, however there are still vast areas of the world to explore between NZ and Lancashire. Kieran Cleary
I really enjoyed reading this. All the best from Georgia, USA. And this brought a smile to my face: "Tim behind the wheel after 61 years" David Giguere
Wow Graeme – this is great news. I always wondered what happened to the two trucks. Thanks. David Ricker
Well that's good news & pleased to hear of its trip on the Rutland Rigg — a route I know well. Chris Best
So, time to relax a little, perhaps? I'm not sure, as Adam Bennett fizzes with ideas about where to take 'Oxford' and what to do next. 62 years ago I saw 'Cambridge' go past in my South East London High Street on its way to Dover. Keep your eyes peeled the next time you're in your High Street — you may see 'Oxford' driving past!
GRAEME ALDOUS.
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