New Forest Centre in search of the Holy Grail
Report by David Tofts
Pictures by the Crew
In days gone by, in BC (Before Covid), we would have been able to arrange our future Foray France before we even set out on the current Foray France, but the great plague changed all that. When the world came back to life once more we resurrected a plan, to visit the Holy Grail of the Healey World in the Netherlands.
In 2021 we contacted hotels near to the Healey Museum and after much searching we settled on the Ernst Sillem Hotel near to Hilversum, a town famous to some of us for its radio station (together with Radio Luxemburg) in the 50s!
As the planning progressed, we thought it a good idea to also visit Ypres in Belgium for the WW1 sites. We had stayed in a very good hotel there in the pre-BC years, so the Ariane Hotel was again chosen and booked.
The Foray France IX information went out to the members, and we quickly had the number needed to make it a viable trip. Due to the onset of the plague, we felt that our Healeys had probably not done many miles in recent years, and we advised the Forayers that it would be a good idea to get some miles under the bonnet to throw up any gremlins before we embarked on our Foray. Sure enough the little blighters showed their ugly heads, here and there. We had had problems earlier in the year with our Healey (a leaking disc calliper seal) but that was behind us and all was well. Where is the wood?
We felt the best route for the trip was to take the overnight Stena Line ferry from Harwich to the Hoek van Holland and return by Eurotunnel.
Jo and I decided to set out the day before our ferry crossing, to have a gentle drive to Essex to visit friends and stay overnight near to the port. The gentle drive became a drive from hell! As we approached the Dartford Crossing on the M25, (otherwise known as the London Orbital Carpark) the overhead motorway gantry sign warned of delays at the crossing. This turned out to be a 40-minute crawl between J2 and the crossing, in a temperature of 35° C, which as you are all aware, our Healeys do not like. We turned the engine on and off to keep the temperature down (thank goodness our BN6 has two whopping great batteries) just to move some 10 yards!!!! But we made it through the tunnel without overheating and safely to our hotel for the night. In my younger days (in the 1950s) I use to go to the pub next to the hotel on my motor bike to meet up with the local coffee bar cowboys and to roar down to Southend and back, no speed limits in those days!!!! How did we survive?
A Healey Amber Health Alert, possibly even Red, was sent to the participants warning them to allow plenty of time if they were planning to use the Dartford Crossing
We had decided it would be a good idea to all meet up at the pub close by Harwich Docks on the Saturday evening of our sailing. We had old hands and some new crew members and we could all get to know each other over a meal and this gave us the opportunity to hand out their Rally Books along with the Rally Plates kindly sponsored by Andrew Cluett of Rawles Motorsport. One of our crew said that they would meet us at the dock as they were staying with relatives in Chislehurst. We all queued patiently in a row to wait for loading when our friends from Chislehurst sailed past us, down an empty lane straight onto the ferry. We thought they must have paid a lot extra to load directly without having to queue!
When we finally made it onto the ferry and met those friends we found out that when they stopped at customs control they had a dead battery and could not start up the engine. They received help to start the engine and were told go straight on board. Alas, they still had to wait for quite few minutes and of course they boiled. Things always come in threes according to my navigator. Luckily, we always carry spare water with us (and a few other things just in case) for just this purpose. The ferry company had placed their Healey in the naughty corner so it could be pushed off in the morning should the engine not start. That, though, was just the start of the problems. As we had driven off from the holding area at the dockside to load onto the ferry I mentioned to navigator that now famous quote “Houston we have a problem” the brakes had started to go very spongy.
One of the joys of overnight ferries is having a chat with friends before turning in for the night and having an early start for your onward journey.
Day One – Sunday 17 July Visit to Watersnoodmuseum
We all assembled outside the ferry terminal to consider the battery problem which was quickly sorted by Roger (new crew member) who had a starter battery pack which to my amazement was so small you could hold it in your hand, and it gave 30, yes 30, starts before recharging! Guess who has ordered one!
The museum consists of 4 caissons which were constructed for the D-Day harbour (Mulberry Harbour) at Arromanche in Normandy. Eight caissons were re-floated and towed to the Netherlands to plug the gaps in the dykes. Four of these caissons now house an amazing museum. If ever you are in the Netherlands, the museum is well worth a visit.
The subsequent drive to our hotel was pleasant and uneventful. On arrival at Ernst Sillem Hotel, we contacted the Healey Museum and asked Hans if he would get a battery in for Michael and Christine Hunt’s BN4 so that they could continue on the Foray. Our Healey problem, which almost caused us to abandon the trip when we landed at the Hoek, was a very spongy brake pedal which came on very suddenly as we prepared to board the ferry, no inkling of trouble until then. So, lots of pumping to keep us safe, a bit like days gone by, with drum brakes and cross ply tyres, leaving a big gap between us and the vehicle in front and changing down through the gears (frowned upon now). Hopefully we could sort the brake problem at the Healey Museum too.
We met up in the hotel bar for pre-dinner drinks and the experienced Forayers held their breath in anticipation for what was to come! We then produced the dreaded Feely Bag provided by David Thorn for everyone to work out the contents over the next few days. That will increase the alcohol consumption as they endeavour to sort it out!!! The hotel we had booked turned out to be every bit as good and even better than hoped for, we had the customary quiz evening before dinner.
Day Two – Monday 18 July Visit to Healey Museum
The crew had a more than ample breakfast (fried breakfast if you had not yet gone native) which prepared us for the most important museum visit on our tour, the Healey Museum, which was about half an hour’s drive from the hotel. The Healey with dead battery was started and off the happy team went. Upon arriving at Vreeland we were greeted by Hans who thought that we were coming at 1300 hrs not 1000 hrs (caused by me ordering lunch for 1300 hrs and not mentioning our arrival time! it is great when things go wrong and the crew do even not know).
Hans had the coffee and other refreshments (non-alcoholic of course) served to us on the patio while they opened up the museum. Hans regaled us with the reason for the museum and anecdotes about the Healey world. If you ever have time to visit the museum, try and see the film that Hans has, in his bijou cinema, of Donald Healey. The Healey collection is, without doubt, a very fine collection of the most important Healeys, models and artefacts from the Healey racing world.
The lunch was first class (if that is a light lunch I hate to think how much we would have had for a meal!!!) and as the meal ended, a trolley jack was dragged through the museum. This caused some concern until I explained to everyone about my brake predicament. The brakes were a bit of a puzzle as the previous brake problem had fluid loss and was cured by replacing the callipers’ seals. There must have been an underlying problem that did not show itself until Harwich! This time there was no fluid loss yet after bleeding the rear callipers, there was still air coming through the system!!
This pointed the proverbial finger to either the master cylinder or servo, take your pick. Hans mentioned that he sends his Healeys to a lady who runs a Healey workshop in Utrecht, and which was only some 12 miles from our hotel, and he kindly arranged for us to visit Elisabeth (Robelco Car Service) the next day to help sort the problem.
Now safely back at the Hotel we all met up in the bar and handed out the next quiz sheet and told the assemble company that the quiz contributed to the NFC Competition Trophy, that got them going. As Jo and I sat in a self-satisfying glow that we had everything under control and could relax while the Forayers racked their brains to solve the riddles of the quiz questions, we noticed the bar staff bringing round champagne glasses. Why? We must be in the way of some other group’s celebration. However, all was explained as John who was travelling with his son Mark, had arranged for the bar staff to get out fluted glasses and bottles of bubbly to celebrate Mark’s birthday. This caused us a bit of a panic (nobody realised of course that Jo and I were panicking) and we disappeared to reception to see if we could arrange for cake with a candle for after dinner, Maître d’ set to and job done in fine stile, now very pleased with ourselves, panic over!!
Day Three – Tuesday 19 July Visit to Louwman Museum
Some opted to give the museum a miss due to the forecast of exceptionally high temperatures and they felt it was best to avoid the possibility of car and humans boiling up in the heat. Those who did visit the museum were very impressed indeed. It is on our list for a visit maybe next year!
Meanwhile, Jo and I set out for Elisabeth’s workshop, arriving at 10, with the Vanderpump’s Healey acting as back-up in case of any emergency on route. Both Elizabeth and I felt the most likely culprit of the problem would be the master cylinder, which was duly changed, and the old master cylinder wrapped and stored in the boot of UXD. When the system was bled it was better but not fully up to standard. We decided to drive back to the hotel and consider the next move. This was the day when temperatures were over 40°C!! On the drive back to our hotel the brakes were still spongy, and the best option seemed to be to return to Elisabeth’s workshop the next morning and take the servo out of the system. If ever you are in the Netherlands and have a problem with your Healey I can recommend Elisabeth, a first-class engineer. robelco@wxs.nl or www.robelcocar.nl
Another Healey decided to copy Michael’s and stopped charging. Here we go again only this time the battery was fine, so a battery charger was purchased from the local Halfords! Yes, they have Halfords in Holland.
We all met up in the bar and we handed out yet another quiz sheet (we reckoned that we could probably get away with one more quiz after tonight’s without a revolt)
Oh goodness, why was the bar staff bring round more fluted glasses, had they become confused after last night? But no, today it was Christine Hunt’s birthday. No need to panic (you want to bet!) as we disappeared once more down to reception to get another cake and candle organised for after dinner phew! we got away with it again!!! The Maître d’ kindly organised a cake and candle for after dinner
Day Four – Wednesday 20 July Visit to Arnhem
For Jo and me, it was off to Elisabeth’s workshop to by-pass the servo, and once again we had with us the kind Healey Forayers John and son Mark together with David Thorn (of Feely Bag fame) to make sure we arrived safely. Having shepherded us to Utrecht they then set of for Arnhem to catch up with the rest of the group. The servo was taken out of the braking system and once the brakes were bled, they came back online, and we had brakes that worked. This meant the master cylinder in the boot was a perfectly good unit – handy should we encounter any more problems!
We set of to meet our Forayers at the Arnhem Airborne Museum. The museum showed the bravery and fortitude of the Airborne Regiment and Paras who made that valiant attempt to take “The Bridge to Far” that later was renamed Frost Bridge, a great honour and is, I believe, the only bridge in the Netherlands named after a foreigner. I had listened in the past to some of the Airborne Regiment who were at Arnhem and they wanted to fly two Horsa gliders, one into each end of the bridge as a coup de main. They reckoned that, as they landed, the supports for the bridge would remove the wings, then grinding to a halt in the centre of the bridge and they would be able to take the bridge. This was not allowed but just shows how tough those guys were.
With no servo there were comments that I should get down the gym and beef up my right leg!! Thanks guys. I had my revenge, another quiz night for them when they got back to the hotel!
The drive back to the hotel on the reverse of the planned route became interesting when we were but a few miles from base. The dreaded Route Barre signs appeared and sent us on a diversion that actually made sense and we arrived back at base after filling up with the E5 needed for the following days drive.
Day Five – Thursday 21 July Drive to Ypres
We said our goodbyes to the staff at the hotel and thanked them for looking after us so well. The 0930 hrs start was slightly delayed – rain was forecast for the day and as we would be on motorways for nearly all the journey, preparations for rain had to be made before setting off. The drive to Ypres was a 165 mile slog on Dutch and Belgium motorways, with stops every 60 odd miles for the necessary needs of our dear old cars!!
The convoy arrived safe and sound at the Ariane Spa Hotel at Ypres (there are at least two different ways to spell the name of this lovely town. I will keep to Ypres). They had made available a large dining room at one end of the restaurant for our use. They might have heard about previous rowdy behaviour of Brits in the past and wanted to keep the other guests safe!!
In the bar that evening we handed out the menu for our “Gala Meal” on Saturday when we would be announcing the winners of the quizzes and Feely Bag. The prize giving was guaranteed to get full attendance for the Gala Meal!!! I also handed out an article, that I had written on the 100th anniversary of the armistice of WWI that brought an end to the war, about the editors of The Wipers Times and featured pages from that publication. If you have never seen any of The Wipers Times, they are well worth a read when you have a minute.
The evening was very relaxed as we had decided the crew had had enough taxing of their brains so no new quizzes only the Feely Bag which was still going the rounds and which we recovered each evening to ensure there was no cheating overnight. There would be no stitch ups with this test!!!
We all ventured out to explore the bars and restaurants of Ypres and believe me there are plenty to take in. One bar had 25 different beers on tap as well as bottled .The Belgians drink more beer per head of population than any other nation and it is easy to see why!!
There was live music just off of the square which made a lovely carnival feeling to the end of the day after our meal.
Day Six – Friday 22 July Visit to Yorkshire Trench and Dug Out and The Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing
After a really good breakfast we set off in convoy after a navigators’ meeting, as the planed route (with Tulips) was not correct, in that I had forgotten there was a separate entrance and exit from the hotel car park. Not a big deal just a minor adjustment. Later I tried to convince my navigator that the Hotel had altered the parking arrangements after our last visit in 2015, to no avail.
The first visit was to the Yorkshire Trench and Dugout only 2.5 miles from the hotel and set in an industrial estate with a vile smelling green environmental garden recycling refuse plant across the road. However it must have smelt much worse than that in 1914/18 !!! We then drove on to the Tyne Cot Memorial and spent an hour or two in reflection of the cost of our freedom that we owe to the fallen. Wherever you go in the local countryside you see cemeteries and monuments to the fallen such as the Memorial 1st Bn Hertfordshire Regiment at crossroads on route to the Tyne Cot Memorial.
Lunch was at the Passchendaele Museum which is set in very pleasant park area and was well set out.
Once more the dreaded gremlins came to plague one of our Healeys, this time Michael’s, he whose Healey had had battery problems cured at the Healey Museum but which now developed clutch failure due to the master cylinder giving up the ghost on the drive down from Holland. Help was on hand as Brian L removed the recalcitrant master cylinder and replaced it with the one recently removed from my Healey in Holland!!!!! I just knew that someone had arranged for this to all happen, fate?
Day Seven – Saturday 23 July The Hooge Crater Museum and Sanctuary Woods Hill 62
The Hotel really tried hard to make us feel at home, fried eggs and bacon with HP Sauce available!! What more could you want in the morning!
Same navigators meeting as before as we set off for the Hooge Museum and going round the Hellfire Corner roundabout en route. You can guess how it received that nickname! The privately owned Hooge Crater Museum which has been set out in a very professional manor is well worth a visit and with a café alongside where we had refreshments before going across the road to visit the Hooge Cemetery. The drive to Hill 62 Museum was only 1.5 milesaway, and after visiting the small museum you went out behind the building to a very authentic and original large trench system in the woods. It was very impressive with long, and I mean long, tunnels such that you needed your mobile’s torchwith you to be able to see the way in the total darkness, not for the faint hearted! I could not imagine our health and safety departments allowing anything like this over here – more’s the pity! When we were young and allowed to graze our elbows and maybe even break a bone, our parents did not run to a solicitor to claim damages, we learnt how to judge risk and stay alive!!
Healey owners are always ready to help a maiden in distress. When the bridal car (big American) waiting for the bride to leave the Ariane Hotel to go to the church, had battery failure, a knight in shining armour, Roger Le-Vallee, stepped forward with his battery pack to get the bride to the church on time.
We returned to the Ariane Hotel in great expectation of the Gala Meal with the awaited prize giving, actually we were all very pleased to get back for a shower and then met up for glass of wine in the bar
At the Gala Diner that evening it fell to David Thorn to announce the winner of the Feely Bag competition and award the prize – well done Roger and Sue Le-Vallee. The prize was something that every Healey owner needs for his engine bay, a dipstick wiper no less, and which was installed the very next day in his engine bay! Photos of the feely bag contents were handed round and provoked gasps of surprise at one of items that everyone had suggested but not included on their lists!
We announced the winner of the massive 3 quizzes which was won by Shirley Hawkes and Brian Loades. They received a prize that was not a patch on anything they had received in the past – an embroidered club emblem!
We were presented with a lovely card and gift for all the effort that we had put in, trumpet blowing here I think but it was very gratifying to know that everyone has enjoyed themselves, even with the Healeys demanding more attention than normal. Two of our group purchased extra fine bottles of wine (red naturally) for Jo and I. At this rate I will soon be turned into a Sacavin!!! This is an old French word for a drunkard that came from Foray France VIII in Montreul-Bellay where they had Chateau Wine appreciation society in the 1800s and they were called Sacavins which later became a word for a drunkard.
And thanks must go to Brian L for all the hard effort and time he spent sorting out Michael’s wayward Healey, well done.
We spent a most enjoyable evening with our Foray friends and we all felt a little sadness as we knew the Foray was coming to an end.
Day Eight – Sunday 24 July A day visiting Ypres
We had not planned any trips for this day other than meeting up at the Menin Gate for the evening ceremony of The Last Post by the Ypres Fire Service trumpeters that was started in 1928 and which is always a very moving event. The day was spent walking the ramparts in temperatures more in line with the sunny Med than an inland country like Belgium! Must not grumble because we will soon have a Minister for Drought at home and that will be the cue for the heavens to open! Two of our intrepid Forayers – Michael and Christine Hunt, had spent the time climbing to the upper levels of the Cloth Hall to take some beautiful pictures of the cathedral and you could almost imagine Quasimodo appearing from behind one of the buttresses of this fine gothic building.
Back to the Ariane for a rest from the heat for us and we set out to be at the Menin Gate for eight pm. After the silence of the service to the fallen, and to commemorate the Australian soldiers who served and fell at the Ypres Salient, there was a presentation of an aboriginal didgeridoo to The Last Post Association who have organised the evening event every day since 1928.
We all went our ways to find a restaurant to have our last evening meal in Ypres and we had a most enjoyable meal with our friends.
Day Nine – Monday 25 July The drive to Eurotunnel and Blighty
With great sadness we gathered for our final breakfast and as it was likely to be a long day for us all we tucked into a hearty meal.
We said our goodbyes to everyone before we set off for the Eurotunnel in case we became separated on the drive to the tunnel. In the car park the now mandatory navigators meeting was held and then we set off. As the drive was only some 60.5 miles and we were booked on the 1520 hrs shuttle there was time to take the scenic route and avoid motorways and the problems with illegal immigrants trying to get on trucks. We had seen them in the past desperately trying to board slow moving trucks and we wished to avoid it this time.
As we ambled along country roads towards Calais, we had to stop for a misfiring in David T’s Healey which was a continuation of a previous problem on the trip. Switched to the backup coil on his car and away we all went once more. The best laid plans of mice and men are often put asunder! We were almost within sight of the Eurotunnel when the dreaded Route Barre signs appeared, and we were sent on a long deviation that took us almost back to Belgium before returning us on the very motorway we had tried to avoid!!! Thankfully all the illegal immigrants were on the plage pumping up their dinghies getting ready for the sea trip to Blighty. They would probably get to England before us they did not have to go through ticket and passport control!!!
We arrived at the terminal in some disorder with our convoy of Healeys going through the various initial ticket checking booths quickly or not as in our case, due to cars ahead of us in the queue having problems with the system. We were eventually booked on a 1420 hrs shuttle, an hour earlier than the booked time of 1520 hrs. So far so good. We parked up and as we waited our turn, the times on the electric loading board started to slip back and back and we felt delay was in the offing, so off to the duty free to stock up. Our loading code eventually came up and we joined a long and slow winding queue (stop/start to keep the water temperature down in the heat) to get through the two customs controls. This took so long that we ended up travelling back on a shuttle that was later than the original booked time of 1520 hrs on our ticket!!!
Postscript: Jo felt that with all the problems we had encountered with our cars that it must have been Foray France XIII. However, 10 Healeys, along with the support vehicle, set out and we all returned safely to Blighty. I think that a large proportion of our travails were caused by inactivity of our Healeys as a result of the long layup due to Covid! They are always at their best when used.
