A BOURNEMOUTH back garden provided the setting for a reunion of boys and their toys when Ford Escort owners joined to show off their most prized possessions.

Memories flooded back when commercial welder Rich Cabell, 41, hosted the nostalgic get-together before the Escorts made their way to Bournemouth’s Classic Cars on the Prom event.

The proud owners of 24 cars converged at the father-of-two’s Charminster home with an RS 1800 BDA worth around £45,000 stealing the show.

There were also RS 200s, RS 2000s and Mexicos made between 1972 and 1980, ranging in value from £10,000.

Rich said: “It was a case of getting a lot of mates together from the same era; they came from all over including Essex and Cardiff.”

The owner of a Mark 1 RS 2000, Rich said: “I only take the car out in summer now, to events such as car shows. Driving my Escort gives me a real buzz. It feels a bit like driving a go-kart on the road. I’ve had mine 22 years; it’s worth about £12,000 but it’s definitely not for sale.”

He added: “My two daughters love going out in it but my wife Sue doesn’t share my love affair with the Escort. In fact she hates it and complains that it’s too bumpy and noisy.”

• Classic Cars on the Prom features an ever-changing weekly line-up of vehicles, dating from 1915 to the early 1980s, on the West Overcliff Promenade behind the BIC, each Sunday, 4pm-6.30pm, until September 18 (excluding August 21).