Wooden Car Festival 2015

Sometimes we should express our gratitude for the small and simple things like the scent of the rain, the taste of great food and the sound of a loved ones voice.

After 2 weeks of wonderful blue skies and a balmy 20C waking to find some of the heaviest torrential rain id seen in months was somewhat depressing. I didn't need a Morgan I needed an arc. However this was the weekend for the wooden car festival so in true British spirit it was out to the garage. My wife helped clean the car and while I was under it greasing the old ladies nipples my wife was polishing the gear nob. After suitable innuendos had been expressed by both parties and the 30 minute battle to put the roof on had resulted in scraped fingers and a good deal of grunting and swearing I was ready
to start the 400km trip to Nythun mountain hotel. Pulling out of the driveway and seeing my wife waving to me left me feeling somewhat guilty, but someone had to look after the kids, 'apparently'. Food, love, career and mothers, the four major guilt groups. However 10 minutes of driving later i felt like stripping naked painting myself blue and running around like a crazed Scotsman screaming FREEDOM.

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status is that deep down inside we all believe that we are above average drivers. Driving a Morgan though strips away any pretencions, when conditions are bad it can be somewhat scary. Poor visibility, mirrors that just don't seem to be able to reflect whats going on behind you and incredibly poor road conditions all lead to a heightened state of nerves. The road ran south through oppdal and then up to the mountain pass Dovre. Dovre is a natural divider and as i drove onto the mountain pass the weather abruptly changed, the rain stopped, the clouds cleared and blue sky was seen again. A quick coffee break and the road continued south to Sel where i took off

and took another mountain pass Valdresflya. I had never driven this way before but the scenic nature, and the raw wilderness have a tendency to make you feel small and sort out whats important in life. The road continued toward Fagernes and then up into the mountains to the hotel. The entire trip had taken in the order of 8 hours, arriving tired and cold i was warmed by the sight of 30 Morgans in the parking lot. A couple of beers, an excellent buffet  and i was ready for bed it had been a long day.

Saturday dawned and what a start, beautiful scenery and the perfect blue sky. Unusual for the wooden car festival there was absolutely no driving involved today. Instead after a fantastic breakfast and several cups of coffee we were picked up by a buss and driven to a local slate quarry
















Here they had produced roofing tiles for many years but world economy had made this an infeasible business and it was now closed down. However they where building a museum to show how the tiles had been fabricated but that was still somewhere in the future. It was an interesting trip and with the added bonus of a 2km walk around the site we where suitably exercised to hop on the buss and travel to a local brewery.


The brewery was situated at a small local farm. Typically making 5 different types of beer (2
seasonal). We had lunch at the farm and the opportunity of sampling the 3 all year beers. By the third beer i was in fine form, each was exceedingly tasty and tasted better than the previous, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder and after 3 beers i was seeing a great deal of beauty in the surrounding nature and at the bottom of the glass.

Time came and we had to stagger back onto the buss for the trip back to the hotel. A brief siesta with a couple of glasses of wine led into the formal dinner. 5 courses each with a wine. Each course was superb, especially the cheeses and desert. By the end of the experience we had just enough energy to walk up the small hill to the barn which hosted a small bar and coffee.

Next day also dawned with fantastic weather. 30 Morgans drove out of the hotel at around 10am and down a long windy road with some of the biggest pot holes, bumps, sheep and hugh pile of manure the local farmer had so kindly spilt all over the road. We drove down to Fagernes and then NW along a picturesque lake to a cheese manufacturer. We donned the most sexy of entire, before being shown around the plant and being able to sample 4 or 5 of the cheeses. As a gift we received one of the cheeses which had a passing resemblance to a light Parmesan.

Back into the cars and then a drive round the other side of the lake coming to a farm that made its own rakfish. As far as i can understand this is some type of rotten fish, a speciality that is often eaten at Christmas. Unfortunately time was ticking by and i had to leave by 2pm to make the journey back to Trondheim and be back at a reasonable hour. The drive back took the same route as was equally awe inspiring.








Many people think Norway is a bad country for a Morgan with the long winters and snow. For a good 4 to 5 months the cars are packed away for the winter. However Norway also has some of the most spectacular scenery in the world with mountain roads designed for Morgans. This was another fantastic trip with the Norwegian Morgan club and considering the amount of food and drink consumed on this gourmet tour i think it will be a week or so before i dare place foot on the scales.