Three-wheeling adventure for Ashington woman

Posted by The Journal on May 14, 09 12:31 PM in News

An Ashington woman is setting off on a 3,000-mile adventure...in a three-wheeled banger.

The clapped-out Reliant Rialto was falling to bits when it was given a new lease of life by Terry Archbold (pictured) and partner Romana Moffatt.

Terry Archbold in his Reliant Rialto

The couple have lovingly restored the three-wheeler, which is the later 1980s model of the iconic 1970s Reliant Robin.

And now they are planning to take it on a 3,000 mile road trip around Britain, to raise money for the children's charity, Cash for Kids.

The hair-brained voyage will take them from Newcastle to all corners of the UK and back to Tyneside again, in just 11 days.

Their journey will take them via Inverness, Ullapool, and Ayr in Scotland, before travelling on down the west coast to visit Blackpool and Cardiff, and then to the south coast to Torquay, in Devon, and Brighton.

They will make a stop in London, before making their way back up the east coast via Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and Scarborough in Yorkshire, before finishing in Newcastle on June 11.

Terry, 31, of Gateshead, and Romana, 21, of Ashington will be sheltering under canvas most of the way round. They have booked hotel rooms in Inverness and Blackpool, but are planning to camp at all the other sites.

Terry, a customer services manager from Sunderland Road in Gateshead, stumbled across the Reliant Rialto on the internet auction site eBay and bought it for ÃÂ£400.

He sent it to a specialist garage in Ashington, where his girlfriend Romana lives, to give it a complete make-over, including new brakes and a new battery.

But disaster struck before the adventure even began, when the windscreen was smashed just minutes after Terry left the garage.

A stone was flicked up by a passing lorry and hit the glass of the transformed Reliant, which had to go straight back to the garage for a new windscreen.

Despite the ominous start, Terry is hopeful his journey will go smoothly, particularly as he has not got breakdown recovery insurance.

"When we rang up, they weren't keen to cover it, and there were so many exclusions, it's not worth paying for," said Terry. "They are quite hard to get parts for, as there aren't many left now, so we've just got to hope we don't break down.

"It's not actually that difficult to drive, but because it's so old, it's very uncomfortable. It's cramped and hot and rattles a lot.

"I had Minis when I was younger but I've never had a car like this before. We looked for one on the internet because we thought it would be the most eye-catching and we want to raise awareness about Cash for Kids."

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