My 2021 Season In Pictures ( A Bit Late!! )

[Jessie The Jeep]

I've been doing a season review for several years now and was about to start selecting pictures for 2022, when I realised I can't find my 2021 review. I must have forgotten to post it last year as we had a lot going on in our lives. So before I do 2022, I'd better get the year I missed out of the way.

2021 began still with Covid restrictions in place and no MV events confirmed, although some were provisionally planned for later in the year. Our year began, not with a show, but with a move to new Head Quarters! After 21 years living in Washington, we were moving house to Durham. Packing my workshop, observatory, house, two trailers and also five vehicles to move kept us rather busy. All of this of course while Covid restrictions were still in place.

February 24th - House Move Part 1

The first trip out in the vehicles for the year was on moving day. We were going to have both houses for a while, so decided to move everything ourselves in my R/C aircraft trailer. So the first MV drive of the year was my M201 with its trailer and Lynne in the normal car towing the B-17 trailer!

The first Jeep made it ok and was tucked away with the B-17 in the new big garage. It was a double garage, but looked to be big enough to get all three MV's inside.

[Jessie The Jeep]

February 25th - House Move Part 2

The following day, we started bringing the workshop contents across in the aircraft trailer and also the GPW made the trip. While the garage floor space was big enough for all three MV's, the Dodge wasn't going to fit the garage until the openings were raised.

My 1/6 scale B-17 Fortress and P-47 Thunderbolt are parked up behind the GPW with the Jeep trailer to the left. The M201 was on the left of the garage with the space in the middle left for my workshop units and contents until that was fitted out.

[Jessie The Jeep]

March 15th - Garden Photoshoot

Three busy weeks later, I took a little time out of my workshop refit to get the Jeeps out in the Spring sunshine for some pictures. They hadn't been out of the garage since moving and we'd had little time to do anything else other than move stuff and gradually unpack. Building the workshop was a priority so that I had somewhere to make a mess for all the other jobs that needed doing around the house. Getting the Jeeps out was a welcome break.

[Jessie The Jeep]

March 22nd - Faith the Dodge joins the Fleet at Durham

On March 21st 2020, Faith the Dodge was placed on axle stands to sit out covid. I suspected the Dodge would be out of use for some time. During 2020, I made two visits to Faith to run the engine and exercise the brakes etc, with fuel that was over a year old. Both times, Faith fired up without problems after a good prime.

Now on March 22nd 2021, it was time to bring Faith to the new house. The 6 volt battery was fitted and the Dodge started up - now on fuel that was around two years old!!! Once running, the Dodge was backed out of the container to allow ten gallons of fresh fuel to be added through the left side fill cap. I made the three mile trip back to Washington to check over the Dodge further and to blow up the tyres before the drive to Durham.

[Jessie The Jeep]

March 30th - Durham Villages Photoshoot

The UK Covid 'Stay at Home' rule ended on March 29th. The following day being nice sunny, my daughter and I took the opportunity to go for a Jeep ride around the local area. It was only around 11 miles, but we stopped at several locations on the route to take some photos. The first four were quite close to home, not far outside the village. For the rest of the route, we looked for country lanes to drive.

We found a few nice locations which would be used several times on future trips out.

[Jessie The Jeep]

April 10th - GPW Test Drive

I suspected the GPW had a weaping cylinder head gasket. The radiator level was down, which had been a common problem for a while, often blowing out of the overflow. I guessed that cylinder pressure was forcing the coolant out.

I went for a short drive around the local lanes and snapped a few pictures in the bright sun. It ran ok during the 5 mile drive. When we got back, the coolant was down a little with more fresh spray over the front axle where the overflow pipe points at.

So I drained the radiator and while it was empty, fitted a new drain cock as the wings on the old one were damaged. I ordered a new head gasket and it was fitted about a week later.

[Jessie The Jeep]

April 16th - Jeep Anniversary Drive

On 16th April 2005, we drove to Scotland to collect "Jessie". On the same date in 2014, the insurance began for "Hope" allowing a first drive of the GPW. Now in 2021, it's sixteen years since we bought "Jessie" and seven years since "Hope" returned to the road.

We decided an anniversary drive was in order for both Jeeps to celebrate their time with us. It also provided the opportunity to give "Hope" a test drive with the new cylinder head gasket. We waited until early evening as the sun was getting lower in the sky. The temperature was dropping, but it would give us better photo opportunities.

This road became known to us as sun set lane following this outing.

[Jessie The Jeep]

April 25th - Coffee & Cake Trip

After the recent fit of new ignition parts to "Jessie", I swapped back to the old coil to check it out against the new leads and dizzy cap. All was well on the 22 mile round trip to Broomhouse Farm. It was good to know the coil was ok so the unused one could go back in the locker as a spare.

[Jessie The Jeep]

May 6th - GPW D.O.D. Anniversary

May 6th 2021 was the 78th anniversary for the date of delivery of my Ford GPW. It also happened to be the 21st anniversary of my wife and I getting married. A few weeks ago, we booked a table at the hotel where we had our wedding reception.

The weather for the evening wasn't looking great and due to covid restrictions, all meals were served outside! The day had started with bright sun, then by late afternoon, we had hailstones the size of peas. By around 5pm, the hail had passed and the sun was back out. Out came the Jeep and off we went.

We recreated one of our wedding pictures with the Jeep, 21 years on in near enough the same spot. Obviously my phone couldn't compare to the wedding photographer's camera and my daughter wasn't quite as tall as the professional, but considering the weather we'd had earlier in the day, we were just pleased we managed to get out at all.

[Jessie The Jeep]

June 6th - Ushaw Historic House D-Day Event

After 20 months without a public event due to covid, D-Day 2021 saw an olive drab invasion force descend on Ushaw Historic House in County Durham. It was their one day "Way Back When" 1940's event to mark the 77th anniversary of D-Day. It was the first chance in a long time to catch up with old ( and some now very old ) friends!! It wasn't too far from home, so we took both Jeeps to the event.

As a result from the long enforced break from shows, unsurprisingly, the show was well attended. It was a little strange at first, being out and mixing again, although people were still being a bit cautious.

[Jessie The Jeep]

June 18th - Dodge Noctilucent Cloud Photoshoot

Operating military vehicles is just one of my hobbies. Since childhood, I've also been interested in astronomy, getting my first decent telescope in 2012. I'm often on the lookout for astro related happenings and in the Summer months, that is often Noctilucent Clouds. The Dodge had been living outdoors since the house move, so made an unusual foreground to the electric blue clouds.

Noctilucent comes from German words, which translate to night shining clouds. These electric blue clouds form right at the edge of space, when ice crystals form on tiny particles of meteor smoke,  floating at 250,000 to 280,000 feet altitude.

[Jessie The Jeep]

June 26th - Bowes Railway/Springwell 1940s Weekend

I was planning to go to the Bowes Railway event with the roof down and the Jeep in RAF markings. On the day, I woke up to find I was inside a rain cloud, with heavy fret blowing sideways across the window. So the green roof came off and my checkered Follow Me roof was fitted, along with the wooden sides and doors! Several HBT layers and my flying jacket were necessary! Due to covid, the event had been scaled back from previous years.

[Jessie The Jeep]

July 4th - Independence Day Drive

It was a bright and sunny start to July 4th, but with thunder storms forecast from noon, so we made a quick outing to mark Independence day ( or ungrateful colonials day here in the UK ). It was almost a month since the GPW had been to Ushaw Historic House, while "Jessie" was out last weekend, so "Hope" was brought out for the trip. We stayed close to home and toured the lanes around the local villages.

[Jessie The Jeep]

July 10/11th - Aln Valley Railway 1940s Weekend

The original Aln Valley railway was closed in the late 1960's and the track was removed. Thoughts of re-opening the branch line started in 1995, but due to the A1 road cutting across the old trackbed, a new site was chosen for a new station on the South East side of the road. Construction began in 2012 and now is over half way to Alnmouth. The railway is based around the 1950s but has recently started holding a 1940s weekend.

[Jessie The Jeep]

July 24th - Dodge Tinkering and Test Drive

"Faith" the Dodge hadn't been anywhere since arriving at the new house in late March. It was run once, but I had trouble starting up, so I gave it a look over on the 24th. The plugs and points were cleaned and set. Various terminals were cleaned and a new condensor fitted and eventually, I got the engine running. All seemed well, so I fitted the "Dodgecam" and went for a local drive. I planned to take the Dodge to the Fishburn airfield show the following month and wanted to make sure all was well before then.

[Jessie The Jeep]

July 25th - Abandoned Railways Tour

Covid was still causing a lack of events, so I found other ways to enjoy the MV's. I've had a long interest in railways and discovered many old lines ran through and around the village in Durham. I was on my own for the weekend, so decided to go and explore a few. I started on foot for those immediately around the village, then took the GPW out to track them down further afield.

[Jessie The Jeep]

August 14/15th - Fishburn Airfield Fly/Drive-In

The weather looked good for the first day of the Fishburn event. It was "Faith's" long awaited return to public life, having last been on show at Tanfield Railway in 2019. It was around a twenty minute drive to the airfield and not being far, we decided to take the Dodge and one Jeep.

[Jessie The Jeep]

August 27th - M201 Test Drive

Coming home from the Fishburn show, I'd only been driving a little over a mile when I got a brief cloud of steam around my feet. I pulled over and found coolant splashed all over the inside of the hood, sprayed around by the fan. There hadn't been enough lost to empty the radiator, so after a check the engine would turn over OK using the starting handle, I started up and drove home carefully. I couldn't find anything wrong at home and did a number of tests using a thermometer to check heat flow around the cooling system.

With another couple of events still to go, I wanted another test pulling the loaded trailer. This was done on August 27th with the action camera mounted on the back of the trailer to give a video with a different perspective. As before, no sign of leaks, no cracks in the engine block, no rough running or coolant level dropping. I think on the Fishburn trip, being a cold and damp day, that perhaps the thermostat stuck closed until the heat and pressure built up, then it popped free and the excess pressure blew through the radiator cap valve. Basically, a Jeep Sneeze! It hasn't done it since.

 

[Jessie The Jeep]

September 2nd ~ 5th - Beamish "Dig for Victory"

A four day show with the freedom to drive around the museum and display amongst the many period buildings. It has become our favourite show of the year. We were so pleased it was brought back for 2021, as covid had put this in doubt. One picture from each day.

[Jessie The Jeep]

October 17th - Dodge Test Drive in New Colour Scheme

The builders who were meant to be modifying the garage, never turned up in May or the rearranged date in August. I didn't want the Dodge outdoors over the winter, but with the wooden body, it wasn't going to fit through the door. If I couldn't modify the garage to fit the Dodge, what about modifying the Dodge to fit the garage?

With the wooden body removed, the Dodge could just squeeze through the door, allowing the repaint. It had been in flying control colours since 2008, so it was time for a change. By mid October, the stripdown and repaint was complete and we went for a first drive in the new markings.

[Jessie The Jeep]

November 10th - Remembrance Day Preparations

The Dodge still wouldn't fit in the garage with the canvas on, so I got it out the day before Remembrance Day to fit the canvas so it was ready first thing in the morning. At this point, I didn't have any straps fitted to hold the canvas rolled up, so worked out a temporary fix to allow me to see right while most of the roof could stay strapped down. All was set for the following day.

[Jessie The Jeep]

November 11th - Remembrance Service and Memorials Tour

I took the Dodge to the Seaham memorial for the 11th, meeting a few other military vehicles nearby, then driving in convoy to the memorial for the Remembrance service. Being fairly new to the Durham area, I decided to see what other memorials I could visit on my trip and searched the web and Google Earth before hand to plan a route. Including Seaham, I found eight memorials in villages around the area that wouldn't be too far out of my way to visit. A couple were visited on the way to Seaham with the rest on the return trip.

[Jessie The Jeep]

November 14th - Remembrance Sunday Service

The 14th was the second outing to Seaham for the Dodge and was a much cooler day. Mist hung over the memorial site but much larger crowds had gathered by the time we got there. Due to the larger crowds and parades, the vehicles were parked in the parking bays beside the memorial, rather than around it. The service was also much longer than on Thursday, with participation from veterans and several uniformed organisations.

[Jessie The Jeep]

December 30th - M201 and Dodge Crane Photoshoot

Throughout December, I built the "Field-mod" crane for the back of the Dodge and on the second last day of the year, we took the Dodge and M201 for a photoshoot with the newly finished crane.

2021 began with covid restrictions still in place and we were unsure whether there'd be any events. By the end of the year, things had turned around and we'd attended several great events, had all the vehicles garaged at home for the first time and had a new look Dodge that felt like having a new vehicle in the fleet.