Austin 10 Rescue
AYD56 was moved from its open and decaying shed under the trees to my drive in November 2003
As it was already on the Swansea computer, the transfer (with original number) has posed no problems
Because the bridlepath and access path had been washed away, the Lichfield had been isolated for 25 years with no chance of escape
To get to the road 200 yards away, the Austin had first to negotiate a bank and drop down onto the sunken remains of the bridlepath which had been washed away over the last 25 years.
Then, assisted by gravity, 100 yards down the rutted and overgrown footpath which had thick bushes on one side and a ditch on the other. The Lichfield then had to be pushed around a sharp left turn into a private garden (the orginal "exit" having been washed away). A push along the river bank and onto the neighbours garden. Then it was easy to tow it the last 100 yards across a narrow bridge and uphill to the waiting transporter.
As found - the Austin had spent the last 25 years in an open-sided shed on the edge of a wood in a remote valley and 200 metres from any road or track after the bridlepath had been washed away.
Problem no 1 - you'll never get a car down that footpath! (centre line of path dashed in red)
Not only was it overgrown, but it had been washed away and was much lower than when it had last been used by the Austin.
The right-hand side of the path was an open ditch hidden by undergrowth!
. . . . . but Bruce Baker - a very nice man - came along with his bulldozer . . . . .
. . . . . and cleared and approximately levelled the washed-away and overgrown bridle path . . . . .
. . . . . the bank left by the drop in the footpath level also had to be levelled before the Lichfield (behind the gate on the right!) could get onto the newly cleared path . . . . .
reckon we can get a car down here? best remove this rock . . . . .
meanwhile the Lichfield had been pushed back out of the shed and into the daylight.
this Picture appeared in Classic & Sports Car Magazine May 2004: the side panels look clean but everything else was dirty or rusty!
100 yards down the newly cleared track (thank goodness the Austin has mechanical brakes so they still worked - sort of!) and a very sharp left turn through the private garden gates . . . . .
along the track by the river and into a neighbour's garden . . . . . what's THAT doing in my garden?
now on level ground and almost a real car again - only 100 yards to the road!
a tow across the bridge and up the hill . . . . .
and onto the waiting transporter . . . . .
. . . . . which took it to the Austin's new home
and left the lean-to shed for the last 25 years empty apart from the leaves and bricks