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

PHOTOS: View more pictures from the annual Beamish Run

Competitors enjoyed mixed weather conditions, with most managing to complete the 45th 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 158 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: “We had a good turnout.

"There was a bit of rain to start with at Beamish this morning and we were a bit worried, but after half an hour it held off.

“There were 158 vehicles on the road. The London people really loved the roads up here.”

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.

“Unfortunately, Beamish Museum director Richard Evans, who was driving a 1947 Wolseley had a slight prang at Muker, on a very narrow stretch of road.

“The left-hand side of the car hit a wall and right hand side hit an oncoming car. I think they just ran out of room.” The car was only superficially damaged and Mr Evans continued driving.

A mix of entries, from as far afield as the South-West and North-East Scotland, included a large contingent of Lea-Francis’s and four Sydney Allards, now rare post-war classic vehicles.

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.