A POPULAR car rally sponsored by The Northern Echo makes its way through County Durham and North Yorkshire this weekend.

Classic cars and motorbikes of all shapes and sizes will be taking part in the 29th Beamish Safety and Reliability run, formerly known as the Beamish Trial.

More than 100 enthusiasts have already entered their machines that range from 4.2 litre monsters to smaller 123cc motorcycles.

With all vehicles being registered before 1951, there's the opportunity to view weird and wonderful machines that went out of production years ago.

The popularity of the annual event has grown over the years, but this time will see the magic of the day recorded for posterity by a TV film crew.

Organiser George Jolley said: "We've got more than a hundred entries this year, which is a good turnout.

"Many of them are old-timers that enter the trials every year, but we've got some newcomers.

"The 200-mile route is over very severe terrain so some of the older machines take their time getting round. In fact, it's a test for all of them apart from the huge 4.2 litre Bentleys from the 1940s."

The trial starts at 8.30am on Sunday from the Eadon Place carpark in front of Beamish Museum and takes in the likes of Hamsterley Forest, Bowes Museum, Langthwaite and Bainbridge.

Entrants to look out for this year include 83-year-old Cyril Purvis riding the 1950 123cc BSA bike and 89-year-old Jack Charlton driving his 1923 Bullnose Morris car.