Jacksdad619

Just found the forum and wanted to say hi. Hailing originally from Chester, I've been in San Diego, California for almost 22 years. Married with a 12 year old son and loving the sunshine

bakedbean

Hi there and welcome to the forum

We have a very lively USA section on here, so do please check it out. You'll find plenty of folks to,chat with in there.

Jacksdad619

Thanks for the welcome

Alfresco

Welcome to BE. Vitamin D is very good.

Jerseygirl

Welcome to BE. I lived in Chester (Mickle Trafford)...then we moved to Rossett for many years before we moved stateside,

Jacksdad619

Thank you everyone.
Jerseygirl - I know Mickle Trafford well, and my Dad and I used to regularly bike through Rossett on our way into Wales (back when I was a lot fitter and a ride like that wouldn't kill me).

Jerseygirl

Did you manage to pedal up Marford Hill...or did you get off and push?

Rosemary

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

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Rosemary

Jacksdad619

Thanks Rosemary
Jerseygirl - I'd forgotten all about Marford Hill. And yes - I always pedaled although more often than not I headed back to Chester that way after looping out through Farndon/Holt, or after riding to Llangollen or Worlds End. Back then, there weren't many hills I knew of that I couldn't tackle - we had a few 1:4 hills that my Dad and I used to regularly climb on our many outings, and a few 1:3 monsters that would threaten to break your chain and snap your spokes. I lost Dad back in 2004, but some of my best memories are of day long trips with him all over Cheshire, Wales, and Shropshire on our bikes. Wish I could relive some of those days (and I wish I was that fit now)

Jerseygirl

If you were on your way to Chester...you were cycling down Marford Hill.

My husband grew up in Runcorn and often used to cycle to Llangollen and various other places in N Wales when he was a lad. Not something you would allow a child to do now.

Jacksdad619

Yep - for some reason I usually headed back to Chester on the Wrexham Road and not out. Once in a great while I'd ride the other way and up Marford Hill, but compared to some (like the Warren near Broughton, the Sunspot that climbed up from Pontblyddyn, or the granddaddy of them all, the Horseshoe Pass) it wasn't too hard of a climb. It was nice to coast down though, after a jaunt through Wales
It is a shame that we can't allow our kids to do the things we used to do. Being forced to be as overprotective as we are these days denies them some wonderful memories. I'd come home from school and jump on my bike, tell my Dad I'd be back in a few hours and take off across country. I think I'd secretly follow my kid if he did something like that now.
On a side note, my Dad was good friends with the owner of Rossett Mill, and I just did a search and found he was evicted a couple of years ago after failing to sell it on eBay. It sold for about 650,000 pounds earlier this year after being empty for a while. A working corn mill built in 1588, two modern coach house and 10 acres - what a bargain. Wish the SuperLotto had been a bit kinder to me in recent years

Jerseygirl

Small world....the house we lived in adjoined the land behind Rossett Mill...the River Alyn separated our properties. We followed the sale of the mill...even thought about buying it but decided the up keep would be too much of a burden.

Edit: Hubby has this pic in his study. http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...9&postcount=24

Jacksdad619

Wow, it is a small world.
Many years ago when I was a kid, my Dad came home from seeing Mike Kilgannon at Rossett Mill and told me that hidden away in one of the buildings was the only surviving prototype E-Type Jag. Mike had bought it years before and got tired of the police pulling him over thinking he'd stolen it, so he parked it up at the mill and pretty much forgot about it. One of three handmade of aluminium by the factory in 1961, it was the car presented to the world's press at the E-Type's launch in Geneva and the first to average 150 mph. Needless to say, Mike knew that if word had got out that it still existed he could count on being besieged by enthusiasts from all over the world, so my Dad made me swear not to tell anyone, and I had to keep my trap shut until it was finally unveiled a few years ago.
Long story short - Jag tried to strong arm him into giving it up under the pretense of claiming it had left the factory illegally back in the sixties (it was supposed to be crushed with the other two), but Mike stuck to his guns and had Jag restore it at their own cost on condition it remained his, but they could display it in their museum part of the year.
Here's a picture Mike took of my Dad sitting in it outside Rossett Mill with Norman Dewis, the Jag factory test driver looking on

Jerseygirl

Yup know about his E Type...I think many of the locals knew about it. In the late 80's he built brick garages behind the mill to house that and the rest of his car collection.

Jacksdad619

I'm sure you're right - he did drive the car for many years, after all. As a kid (and a gearhead even back then) it drove me nuts knowing it's true significance and not being able to spill the beans to anyone though. I found out when my Dad came back from an evening with Mike, and as they'd gone through one of the buildings he saw the E-Type and commented on him still having it. Like most people, he knew about the Jag from back when he still drove it, but didn't know about it's pedigree. It had some dents in it and when he asked what had happened, Mike told him a guy (a plumber IIRC) had stood on the car to reach something. My Dad knew that it shouldn't have done that much damage, and that's when Mike told him it was because it was aluminium. Knowing that E-Types were steel, my Dad pressed him and Mike told him the full story of the car and asked him not to tell anyone as he didn't need every collector from the UK to Japan beating his door down. That would have been back around 1980 and the classic car market was on one of it's highs, but I guess Mike was pretty comfortably off back and then didn't need the money it would have fetched.
My Dad was active in the Chester Vintage Enthusiasts Club in the sixties and seventies (still have a couple of his 1st place trophies from the 1969 Ruthin Rally), and he'd tell me how Mike was by far one of the most sensible of the group. Whereas many of them would buy old cars like Austin Sevens for a couple of quid, drive them until they stopped and either use them to keep the next one going or just park them and walk away, Mike would keep the better ones and stash them away. Smart man.
I haven't read anything in recent years about the car being sold (all the online articles I've read still name him as the owner) so I assume he chose to let the mill go and kept the Jag as that would have easily paid off his debts and let him stay. It's easily one of the most sought after E-Types in the world and worth a not-so-small fortune. And to think he bought it off a used car lot...