Alfabook Yorkshire Dales Run

There are some great roads in my home county of Yorkshire, something that is getting more exposure due to the success of cycling's Tour de Yorkshire. This spring three of the car groups I've got an association with have decided on a run through the Yorkshire Dales which, with its narrow twisty roads, and steep hills, provides a fun challenge to drive as well as rewarding with glorious scenery.

The first of these runs was supposed to be last weekend but, with the destination of the run being snowed in, it was postponed until last Sunday. The rough plan was to meet south of Harrogate then head towards Skipton, head up to the Tan Hill Inn to meet another group of Alfa owners coming from the North East, then head down to Asygarth before heading home.

An early start on the morning that the clocks went forward an hour didn't seem overly sensible but, once we saw the sun shining all thoughts of that were dissipated and we drove our Alfa Spider 'twinny' to the meeting point.

At this point, having resisted trying to lower the roof with a frozen windscreen (see an earlier post from me about the consequences of doing this), we came across our first problem. The power roof wouldn't lower the whole way. Nevermind, it had happened before, there was a work around and we sat with the roof down waiting for others to join us.

Joined by a Giulietta and a GT we headed off, playing follow my leader, along the A59 heading West. Initially traffic hampered our progress but past Menwith Hill it disappeared and we could roll along the roads as Italian cars should. At Skipton we turned onto Grassington road and had a short break at the Craven Heifer where I attached my cameras.

The first part of the journey was steady, with plenty of other traffic. We then turned off onto a less used road and started the drive up to the Tan Hill Inn proper.

When we stopped it was pointed out that I had some "old lady's hair" hanging out of the exhaust and more had been directed at the Giulietta following during the climb. I pulled the bit that was hanging there out of the exhaust and, after a short break, we carried on. At one point I dropped a gear, pushed the throttle down, and was greeted with a bang and saw a ball of black smoke in the rearview mirror. The exhaust was literally shot.

Pulling over I again pulled out the fibreglass strands from the tailpipe and, given that we were closer to end than the beginning carried on. The first pass of Buttertubs was done with a distinct loss of power at the top end and was a struggle.

Parking up we grabbed a beverage and discussed what could be done whilst waiting for the North East Alfabook contingent to join us.

Alfas at Tan Hill

Alfas at Tan Hill

We heard, rather than, saw the rest arrive, in particular the 156 GTA and 155 Cloverleaf. After a brief break for relief, refreshments, and talking rubbish about cars, everyone was ready to continue the run.

The question for me was whether to continue with everyone else or try and make it home by myself. Given that which ever way we went would involve hills I decided to follow the rest and hope that I could make it. If not then at least I'd have some help nearby.

The climb back up Buttertubs was a struggle. At one point I thought I might be beaten by cyclists and the Spider sounded as though she had a 60-a-day habit when we finally got over the top. The drive down from there was fun though with the steering proving to be as precise and positive as ever. I did lose touch with the group ahead from time to time on uphill slopes but managed to catch them.

There was one more climb, the steep drop down and up around Asygarth Falls, which required careful use of the gears to overcome. It was then a short run to Berry's Farm Shop and Cafe where we stopped for more drinks and chat. We had hoped to sit inside but it was full, unsurprising given it was a lovely day so had to take over the courtyard instead. We then said our goodbyes and limped home.

I'd recommend a drive in the Yorkshire Dales. As you can see from the video the roads are interesting, twist this way and that, and, combined with the undulations, make for an entertaining drive.

Watch out for another Yorkshire Dales drive in a couple of weeks, also in the Spider as long as I've got the exhaust replaced and hood fixed by then.

Technical Details

The filming was done using four cameras. A GoPro Hero Session on the windscreen and 3 cheap (£20-£30) Action Cams bought from a well known Internet sales platform. The external mounts are GoPro as I found that they stick really well and provide a solid base for filming.

Additional sound was record on iPhone 5s and iPhone 8 phones which is used as fill in sound.

Editing is done using Final Cut Pro X on an iMac.