Bentley country: Crewe, Cheshire and the art of the grand tour

The passengers and their luggage deserve a say in a motoring weekend. A Bentley from the 1950s offers a useful starting point.

Four people and their luggage. Keep that in mind when you look at the Bentley R-Type Continental. Underneath the long bonnet and the sweep of its roof is a fairly practical question: how do you carry everyone a considerable distance without making them wish they'd stayed at home?

Bentley's answer arrived in 1952. The R-Type Continental combined a streamlined body with space for four and their bags; just 208 were made. Its speed attracted attention, but for a weekend away the seating arrangement is the more useful detail. Someone had remembered the people who weren't holding the steering wheel. Bentley's account of the R-Type Continental

A Cheshire address

Bentley wasn't born in Crewe. The company's early cars came from Cricklewood in London, followed by a period in Derby after Rolls-Royce acquired it. The Cheshire chapter began after the Second World War: the first car to emerge from the Crewe factory in 1946 was a Bentley Mark VI.

The factory itself had been built for aero-engine production. Crewe Heritage Centre's history of Pyms Lane describes workers being retrained to make cars after the war. It is worth remembering those people when the conversation turns to leather and polished wood. Someone had to learn how to put the things together. The story of Pyms Lane

Crewe gives the Bentley story a place on the map. It also makes a useful starting point for a Cheshire break, particularly if one member of the party would enjoy an hour with cars and another would prefer a long lunch.

Borrow the idea

You can borrow the grand-touring approach in whatever car you have. Give each day's driving a purpose, leave room for a stop that wasn't in the original plan, and choose somewhere to stay that you actually want to return to before dinner.

For a Cheshire weekend, we'd keep the plan compact: a visit in Crewe if the dates work, a leisurely meal, then time outside the car. Our Cheshire day out offers one combination of food, a circuit visit and a castle walk. It depends on a suitable spectator event at Oulton Park, so use it as a separate day rather than trying to bolt the whole thing onto a factory visit.

There is a temptation, with an interesting car, to make every mile justify its existence. Resist it. A passenger who has spotted somewhere for lunch has made a perfectly respectable contribution to route planning.

The same goes for luggage. Pack walking shoes where you can reach them. Leave a little room for something bought on the way. The most successful weekend bag is the one you don't have to empty beside the car to find a coat.

Put Crewe in the diary first

Bentley currently welcomes the public to the front-of-house area at CW1 House, next to the factory. It also offers a separately bookable Historic Lineage Tour. The published arrangements are for weekdays; CW1 House is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. A Friday visit could therefore begin a weekend, provided you check availability and arrive within that day's shorter opening hours.

Check Bentley's visitor information before making plans. A visit to CW1 House or the Lineage Exhibition doesn't automatically include access to the production line, and the display can change.

Afterwards, leave yourself time to go somewhere slowly. The car outside may be rather less expensive than the ones you've been looking at. It can still carry a decent overnight bag.