MG club members set off from South Shields on 378-mile tour for group's Golden Jubilee

Members of The Tyne-Tees Centre of the MG Car Club got a soggy start to the trip, which will take them through the North East, Yorkshire, Cumbria and along the border with Scotland, as they set off from the Little Haven Hotel at South Shields seafront on a rainy Monday morning.

Mayor of South Tyneside Councillor Pat Hay flagged the drivers off on the grey day before they headed down the coast.

The two-day circuit features around 20 MG sports cars and grand tourers dating from the 1940s to the 2000s.

The tour is part of the group’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, as members mark 50 years since the branch was founded.

Noel Lindford, secretary of the Tyne-Tees Centre of the MG Car Club, said: “The MGCC Tyne-Tees Centre came into being on December 1, 1971, so this is our Golden Jubilee Year,” he said.

"We currently have 180 members in the North East, with MG cars spanning nine decades, many regularly out on our events.”

The 378-mile route will take the cars as close as possible around the Tyne-Tees Centre boundary.

Day one sees drivers heading down the Durham and Cleveland coastline, crossing the Tees over the Newport Bridge in Middlesbrough, then turning inland along the North Yorkshire border, on to Alston and and overnight stop at Wetheral in Cumbria.

The second leg will see the group head North East along the Scottish Border to Berwick, then head down the Northumberland coast to Newcastle, with a drive along the Quayside, crossing the Tyne over the Swing Bridge and then back to South Shields.

The trip is dubbed ‘Beating the Bounds’ – a nod to a tradition dating back to Anglo-Saxon times when communities toured their boundaries to emphasise their claim on the land.

The tour is just part of celebrations taking place this year.

In June, Tyne-Tees members will also be part of the MG Car Club’s gathering at Silverstone, where club is hosting the largest MG gathering in the World for MG Live! where MGs of all ages will be out racing on the F1 Grand Prix circuit, and Autotesting (driving tests against the clock) on the infield area.