VINTAGE and classic vehicles– and their owners– were put to the test on the open road.

A field of 148 ‘veterans of the road’ tackled the 150-mile Beamish Run which was first staged in the North Pennines a century ago to test vehicles’ reliability and endurance.

Starting and finishing at Beamish Museum, near Stanley, the cavalcade of cars and motorbikes, none dating post 1960, travelled via Bowes Museum, up the infamous Stang Hill towards a lunch stop in Bainbridge, through Brough then back into County Durham towards the end.

Along the way, entrants had to reach nine checkpoints within the allocated time to be quizzed on the rules of the road.

The Northern Echo:

Chief marshal George Jolley, stepping in for his dad who had to stay home with a knee problem, said: “The weather was favourable for the vehicles so thankfully we’ve few incidents to report.

"Bainbridge was baked in sunshine so the riders spent a bit longer there for lunch so it was running a little bit late.

"The route is tough, we cannot thank competitors enough for the sacrifice they make to take part.”

The scores have to be counted but one early ‘winner’ was David Airey whose 1930 Indian Scout motorbike only got him to Beamish’s gates before he had to call it a day, earning him The Jolley Hard Luck Trophy.