Leeming Bar breakdowns - spooky!

[malcolm]

Does anyone else have a problem with Leeming Bar on the A1 in North Yorkshire? I've had some strange breakdown co-incidences there.

It all started with a VW van in 1990. we stopped at Leeming Bar Services for a coffee and the starter motor failed. It's a real hassle to bump start those things.

All was fine until I bought a VW Beetle in 1992. It threw a con rod just as I passed Leeming Bar Services. Luckily they serve beer in the hotel so I was able to pass the time waiting for the recovery truck to take me to my grandmother's house in Leeds.

With a new engine the Beetle was perfectly reliable up until the next time I passed Leeming Bar Services. Then it suddenly started whining badly. I made it to Leeds but had to continue by train. The bearing had seized to the stub axle and I didn't have the appropriate tools to remove it.

Next was a VW Karmann Ghia convertible. I made the mistake of stopping at Leeming Bar. Again a starter motor fauilure. If everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen I would seriously consider the alternative.

By this time I was runing Renault 4s. So far they appear to be completely Leeming Bar proof. Maybe it's just the Volkswagens that have the problem. I thought I'd risk another type of car.

Driving to Scotland with a Friend in my MGA I noticed the signposts to Leeming Bar and started obsessively checking my instruments. That turned out to be a good precaution as I noticed the fan belt failure before the car seriously overheated. Luckily I know where the motor factor is in that area and was able to make it with some stop start motoring interspersed by radiator filling.

I wouldn't be so concerned, but that's 5 times I've broken down within 1 mile of Leeming Bar Services, and I've only ever broken down twice in the rest of the world. All my breakdowns occurred while I was living at least 100 miles from Leeming Bar. I think this is statistically significant.

Has anyone else had a problem getting past Leeming Bar? Better still, does anyone have any ideas that might explain the Leeming Bar phenomenum?

:clementi:

 

[Steve Hennessey]

Malcolm, have you considered that Leeming Bar may be built on the intersection of two ley lines? :wink:

You may be able to get a map showing all ley lines in the UK and you will be able to check it's position. You can then use an alternative route to bypass this service station.

Steve

 

[La Poste]

I've never had any problems with Leeming Bar (not sure I've ever been there...), but I did once drive to Norway in a prehistoric 2CV van which broke down every time it had to cross water. It broke down (twice) in Cherbourg, just before crossing the Channel, again in Newcastle, just before crossing the North Sea, and again before crossing a fjord. For the rest of the journey it ran fine (albeit very slowly - 425cc engine and a quarter of a ton of gearboxes in the back :shock: ). I was, and still am, baffled.

 

[malcolm]

I did some minimal research into Ley Lines. It looks like you can draw them anywhere as long as you are connecting historic monuments together, but there does seem to be general agreement about one running up the A1. Haven't found any evidence of others crossing at Leeming Bar.

Could be Ley Lines you know - old VWs are hippy cars so you would expect them to be succeptable to that sort of thing. If we could explain the VW breakdowns with Ley Lines then I'd be willing to put the MGA breakdown down to co-incidence.

In much mythology the souls of the dead cannot cross water. I found an interesting comment about vampires: "The purpose of his wanderings is the attainment of that which will maintain his "living-death" state". Living dead could accurately describe an elderly 2CV, and a supply of replacement gearboxes might just preserve that state for a little longer. How was your 2CV in sunlight? :twisted:

 

[La Poste]

How old does a monument need to be before it's historic? Would something built 1000 years ago qualify, but something built 999 years and 364 days ago be inelligible? Or could you apply the DVLA's theory that historic things were built until 31st December 1972? If you used the latter as a guide you could probably draw several thousand ley lines between pre-1973 monuments such as your local Tesco, your neighbour's greenhouse, motorway flyovers, etc, and have them all converging on your favourite armchair, thus explaining why it was your favourite..... :lol:

The 2CV van was best viewed at night (harder to spot the rust and filler), which was convenient as Norway was in the depths of winter when I took it there, and thus very dark (I don't really recommend that 24 hour Arctic darkness business). It seems unlikely that it was of vampire persuasion though, as it had spent 40-odd years in France prior to being sent to Norway, and everyone knows how much the French like their garlic....