3 minute read
Hod Rods and Hills
Words and pics: Odgie Danaan
‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ It’s a maxim us car freaks know well enough. The rod’s running fine, no problems at all, but hey, if I just… Cue snapped bolt or stripped thread and a bunch of heartache, maybe even a missed rod run. If you could have just stayed those itchy fingers, you’d be cruising in the sunshine rather than crawling under the motor in the dirt…
Hotrods and Hills ain’t broke, and it don’t need fixing. Organised by the venue, Park Foot Campsite in Pooley Bridge, at the northern end of Ullswater, the event has stuck to pretty much its original format all these years because quite frankly it’s a format that works, and works well.
Get there on the Thursday (or even earlier) if you want to make the most of the long weekend and the fabulous scenery. Cruise out to the picturesque Lowther Castle Friday afternoon for coffee and cake, cruise out again on the big Saturday run, taking in fabulous views alongside Ullswater and the spectacular Kirkstone Pass, dance your little cotton socks off to the band of a Saturday evening and at some point take a stroll along the lakeside path into Pooley Bridge for beer or an ice cream. Or both, but maybe not at the same time.
But most of all, very much most of all, just enjoy being among true petrolhead mates for several wonderful days and revel in the all-pervading laid-back atmosphere.
True enough, the cruise has changed venues occasionally and some of the longer, steeper and more arduous routes have been deleted, partly due to the cost of fuel and partly due to the difficulties of piloting any giant Yank barge with an auto box and drum brakes up and down tight hairpins and single-track roads. Plus the last couple of years Covid did its thing to mess up the normality. Even this year, we weren’t quite back up to speed as like many businesses post-Covid and post-Brexit, the campsite is short of staff so they couldn’t cope with a band on the Saturday night.
But to be honest, just wandering about the campsite, checking out the cars and sitting around chatting with old mates is what Hotrods and Hills is all about. It’s like dropping into your favourite pub, with all its comfy familiarity.
Not that that means it ever in any way it gets boring. It really is just such a wonderful place to be – and then there’s always new cars being debuted, new stories of builds underway or new events taken part in or looking forward to. Hell, you know us, we can talk cars till the cows come home and then go back into the fields in the morning…
Next year will be the 15th anniversary of Hotrods and Hills. So stick these dates in your diary now – June 8-11 2023 – and get your camping pitch booked early. It promises to be something really rather special… CC
