I'm scared. This is not going to end well.

[junkyarddog]

Priors of Yaxham,

 

My Dad is from there,he remembers that yard

[catsinthewelder]

I was up there last week and spotted a cracking JRG Renault 25 somewhere near Grantham.  Great news on the R16 mojo returning Tom.

[Jim Bell]

I went to Lincolinshire for a car once. It was easy getting in on a train but driving out was almost impossible. Every "road" seemed to have a tractor five vehicles ahead. No matter how many tractors you overtook, there was just another onr five vehicles ahead. Everything moved at 41mph, the only music was The Style Council and all the surfaces were uneven. It was green and bright, but overly so. Like a glitch in the Matrix had the resolution settings slightly set to overtly cheery. They wouldnt accept a Scottish £20 note.

I couldnt reccomend it less.

[rantingYoof]

We stayed near Lincoln for a city-break holiday.

 

The Mondeo TDCi blew its turbo hose and wheezed about the countryside everywhere.

 

This appears to be in line with everyone else's experiences.

[59Impala]

You are very correct about the priors yard,lovely interesting people,the yard was full of brambles and the old woman in charge gave us a scythe to cut em down to get to the cars.To be honest i can still account for most of the mk1/2 trim coz the cars it helped restore at the time are still about and still in amazing condition,looking back now it seems hard to beleive yards like those exsisted and im still pissed off about the lack of a camera,the mk2 zodiac i drove at the time was a poor ol thing but much better than something sensible,its reg was 862 DOK and i ended up trading it for a 1960 super 88 olds 393GTV,it wasnt much better than the zodiac but raised a few eyebrows locally.

I may well know the Mk1/2 convertibles as most of them have probably been in my friend's workshop at some time or another as he specialises in them. Knowing him he's owned many of them as well. I remember the old woman at Priors, lovely lady. Somewhere I think I have a few snaps from the yard but no idea where. There were a few yards with old stuff including the infamous one in Barnsley and was it Medlers, also a tad infamous. There was even an empty house in that there London that had a rotting 58 Edsel and 57 Cadillac in the garden. Many useful parts were liberated. That 60 Olds sounds interesting, wonder if it's still around festering somewhere? 

[solid61]

I may well know the Mk1/2 convertibles as most of them have probably been in my friend's workshop at some time or another as he specialises in them. Knowing him he's owned many of them as well. I remember the old woman at Priors, lovely lady. Somewhere I think I have a few snaps from the yard but no idea where. There were a few yards with old stuff including the infamous one in Barnsley and was it Medlers, also a tad infamous. There was even an empty house in that there London that had a rotting 58 Edsel and 57 Cadillac in the garden. Many useful parts were liberated. That 60 Olds sounds interesting, wonder if it's still around festering somewhere?

I would think the oldsmobile is long gone,it was pretty well rusted at the time and had been in england from new,one of the mk2s enjoying trim from kings lynn is 834 DYV,been through a couple of owners since but now living in northamptonshire and is one hell of a nice car,its a lowline zephyr in carrabean turquoise with overdrive and power hood,the mk1 is a 55 zephyr in off white that had a 10k restoration in 1979/80,when finished it was possibly the best in the world,havent seen it for many years but im assured its still a lovely car.

[barrett]

To derail this thread even further, my friend Cally wrote a nice piece on his adventures in the scrapyards of East anglia in the 1980s, which were filled with quite astonishing ex-USA tin left to rot. Nice photos, a tiny selection of the hundreds he took at the time.

Cheap copy here

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Automobile-May-2016-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-III-Brough-Superior-BS4-BSA-Scout/401424455586?hash=item5d76c317a2%3Ag%3ArtwAAOSw9IpXyyGh&_trkparms=pageci%253Add04de26-bdc5-11e7-ac3f-74dbd18005e8%257Cparentrq%253A6f82161715f0aa132beb860dfffb5844%257Ciid%253A1

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

 wright engineering at holbeach st john in lincolnshire,job to get into the yard at first but after being sussed out by the owner on old car knowledge he was glad to let us in.walked through a workshop and parked up was a facel exellence 

 

 

I went there in 2005 before it closed down. I bought nothing - it was all insanely overpriced.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

He certainly knew how to charge for stuff! I went there itching to buy stuff a few times and came away empty handed every time.

[DaveDorson]

He certainly knew how to charge for stuff! I went there itching to buy stuff a few times and came away empty handed every time.

 

Was he the bloke that was building stuff based on lorry chassis over in the fens?

 

I can't image many other air field scrap yards are about that way, but I might be wrong.

[D Spares & Tyres]

Great news on the R16 mojo returning Tom.

Sadly, I have to finish the Wolseley in my garage before I can start work on the 16. I don't even like the Wolseley that much really but I have to get it into some kind of saleable condition as its not worth much in its current condition. The brakes and clutch have failed since it has been parked up, more welding and painting is needed and also the interior is scattered about my house.

 

I do have storage for several cars but unless it is in the garage at my house, undercover then it won't get done.

 

This?

 

Or this?

 

No contest really is there?

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

I remember Priors...... I was stationed at Neatishead/Coltishall and ran a knackered BGT..... Helped out at Mildenhall a few times and some of the civvy staff were into their old yanks as they picked 'em up dirt cheap from US forces leaving to go back home/wherever.

Spent 3yrs around Norfolk (UEA - lovely girls) and Lincolnshite..... some fantastic old chod always in the village garages... The fubar'd TR7 for £150, the 3car into one SD1 for £200, rotten Consul for free, uber low mileage Fezzy Mk1 for £50, perfect old granny Mk1 escort for £800 and a few others were all treat with the typical youthful mindless idiocy that a fair amount of us went through.

Top of the list though was the Alfasud - god I loved that car.

 

As I also picked up the Wuvvum Celsior near Norwich, I don't have anything but positive memories of the place. The cars and the girls, both cheap and easy to live with

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Was he the bloke that was building stuff based on lorry chassis over in the fens?

 

I can't image many other air field scrap yards are about that way, but I might be wrong.

 

 

Yes. Very friendly bloke but had no grip on reality with prices. He was asking 2017 prices for stuff in 2005. He had a left hand drive 1964 BMW 1800Ti with the wrong engine and terrible paint (but very sound body) but wanted £1500. Then it just wasn't worth it. Now of course, it is. Complete cars were just rusting into the ground because they were too dear. Sad really. I hope some of it got saved.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

It was here. That's matey's house on the left and the two big buildings were rammed with cars and stuff. All around the front and back were hundreds of old cars.

 

https://www.instantstreetview.com/@52.742975,-0.02722,171.06h,-12.08p,1z

[barrett]

There was a big fire sale at that yard when he decided to give it all up, I think most things were cheap (or cheaper) - remember reading about it in the press at the time (15 years ago?)

 

There was also a big feature in Practical Classics about him, with some great photos of the yard including the various rotten Facels etc. Be great if somebody could find and scan that...

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

There was a big fire sale at that yard when he decided to give it all up, I think most things were cheap (or cheaper) - remember reading about it in the press at the time (15 years ago?)

 

There was also a big feature in Practical Classics about him, with some great photos of the yard including the various rotten Facels etc. Be great if somebody could find and scan that...

 

 

That's when I went. Maaartin Buckleh wrote a bit about it and so I went over. Still couldn't buy anything.Engine and box out of a 635CSi that had near enough rusted into the ground, £500. At the time you could buy a complete running car for that.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

The countryside: putting livestock into a trailer in the middle of the damn high Street.

 

 

So glad to be back in town, where people only block the street for sensible reasons. Like trying to load a skip diagonally while its contents blow about the place and unrelated observers offer helpful tips to the driver.

 

[59Impala]

I would think the oldsmobile is long gone,it was pretty well rusted at the time and had been in england from new,one of the mk2s enjoying trim from kings lynn is 834 DYV,been through a couple of owners since but now living in northamptonshire and is one hell of a nice car,its a lowline zephyr in carrabean turquoise with overdrive and power hood,the mk1 is a 55 zephyr in off white that had a 10k restoration in 1979/80,when finished it was possibly the best in the world,havent seen it for many years but im assured its still a lovely car.

834DYV used to live at the end of my road back in the 60's/70's. The owner was a doctor, the house was in Eltham SE London by a big roundabout. Then a guy in our custom car club bought it and it got a custom paint job and slot mags as was the norm back then. He and his brother were into Mk1&2's and had a fair few of them. Then they and the Zephyr just sort of disappeared from the scene. By strange coincidence their nephew ended up working at Zodiac Motor Services working on said cars, bloody talented chap he is too. I have seen DYV since it was returned to its original colour, think a guy name of Jason has owned for quite some while. Very nice car. I would love another Mk2 but a nice one is just too expensive these days.

[59Impala]

Sadly, I have to finish the Wolseley in my garage before I can start work on the 16. I don't even like the Wolseley that much really but I have to get it into some kind of saleable condition as its not worth much in its current condition. The brakes and clutch have failed since it has been parked up, more welding and painting is needed and also the interior is scattered about my house.

 

I do have storage for several cars but unless it is in the garage at my house, undercover then it won't get done.

 

This?IMG_20170612_094135_hdr.jpg

 

Or this?IMG_20171029_144448.jpg

 

No contest really is there?

I have a soft spot for those Wolseley 1500s, a late and much missed friend had a very nice one which his elder son still has. I'm guessing that your 16 is in Spalding at the chap who seems to be the specialist for them? If you're coming here again let me know as the kettle works perfectly well. Oh and I'm not originally from here so i won't put a curse on you.

[solid61]

834DYV used to live at the end of my road back in the 60's/70's. The owner was a doctor, the house was in Eltham SE London by a big roundabout. Then a guy in our custom car club bought it and it got a custom paint job and slot mags as was the norm back then. He and his brother were into Mk1&2's and had a fair few of them. Then they and the Zephyr just sort of disappeared from the scene. By strange coincidence their nephew ended up working at Zodiac Motor Services working on said cars, bloody talented chap he is too. I have seen DYV since it was returned to its original colour, think a guy name of Jason has owned for quite some while. Very nice car. I would love another Mk2 but a nice one is just too expensive these days.

Interesting stuff,a very good friend of mine who is a mk2 nut bought dyv up north somewhere in 1980,from memory i think it was out of the exchange and mart,it was Turquoise at the time and was just saved in time from being customised,i drove it on the day he bought it and the diff was howling,he restored it at home over the next year or so,it was converted to wire wheels at the time and was absolutely rust free,it cost £1000 and that was dear but it proved over time to be a bargain,even though i never owned it i have treasured memories of driving it and being a passenger many times in the early 80s,real great times to have a car like this.