A PROCESSION of vintage vehicles motored round a challenging annual test of reliability and endurance on Sunday.

Competitors enjoyed mixed weather conditions, with most managing to complete the 46th Beamish Run, taking in a spectacular route through the upper Wear and Tees valleys, and the dales of North Yorkshire.

The testing 150-mile run saw 145 vintage and classic vehicles setting off from the events field at Beamish Museum, County Durham, in the morning and returning in the late afternoon.

Organiser George Jolley said: “It started off nice and sunny this morning, everybody was cheery because the weather was nice, with everyone getting away reasonably on time.

"But it was bucketing rain toward the finish."

He added: "I have only seen one motorbike break down and he was recovered.

"There was a big eight-litre 1932 Bentley Special, however, that unfortunately suffered a burned out clutch on Silver Hill, heading up toward Tan Hill Inn.

"He couldn’t signal his break down and had to wait nearly two hours for a breakdown truck. These Bentleys weight about two-and-a-half tonnes and are very heavy."

Mr Jolley said the lunch stop at the village green in Bainbridge, North Yorkshire, again proved popular, with onlookers admiring the array of well-preserved cars and commercial vehicles, all dating from pre-1956, plus a selection of pre-1960 motor bikes.

Only several had to drop out due to mechanical problems.

He said: “This isn’t just a run in the country. It is a real trial, testing both cars and drivers, through hilly terrain."

The Beamish Safety and Reliability Trial, to give its original title, was devised as a re-creation of the early road trials staged by the region’s motoring pioneers in the inter-war years.

The revived version has now developed a history of its own since it was first run by North-East auto enthusiasts in 1971.