Petrol Freebies

Guzzisue started when she decided to post this about Ian's reward for getting a good mark for a history essay. Instead of getting a gold star he received Co-op stamps. This started with people reminiscing about not only Co-op stamps but also Green Shield stamps.

Affer on his On the road to who-knows-where blog takes the subject to the next step with his recollection of saving Green Shield stamps at his company's expense.

Ian is at last clearing some of his belongings out of his father's attic and came across these collections from the early 1970's.

Shell came out with this collection of Historic Cars,

to do battle with Esso, who liked to have football themes.


The England World Cup Team collection may look complete but alas there are two Frances Lee coins. Ian is missing the one of Henry Newton, so if anyone has a spare I would like to obtain this for him.
The above collection was in celebration of 100 years of the FA Cup. The final collection is a set of football club badges.

The coins were given to the motorist, one for every 4 gallons of petrol purchased, while the badges were two in a pack. It was not easy for Ian to collect these as he had to alternate between his sister and himself. To make it more difficult his father only used four gallons of petrol a week, meaning he got one coin or pack of badges a fortnight.

In the late 70's to early 80's, Ian worked in a self service petrol station in Nottingham, Alan Pond's, who came up with a "discount" scheme. Here if the motorist paid the full pump price for fuel they received a "free gift". This was often a glass, but would also include this like cassette tapes, mugs or after shave.

Below is the front cover and an inside story from the Alan Pond Group newspaper given to staff during this period. Ian was made redundant from the group in 1981 and within two years the company was no more.
Ian has still got several boxes to sort through so i'm sure there will be some more gems hidden away.

Don't forget to have a go at my competition here.

Comments Problem

Guzzisue received an email from one of her friends wanting to have a go at my competition but her guess was not being accepted. I have now changed my settings so there should be no more problems.

Thank you Baron, Affer and Lynn for getting the ball rolling.

Have a try, you never know It Could Be You! Just leave your guess on the "Its Competition Time" post.

It's Competition Time

I have been helping Ian take care of Guzzisue for several weeks now. You may be interested to know that she is on the mend following her accident in December, Jayne Torvill she will never be! Because of this my first anniversary of blogging past me by, so now is the time to make amends.

My first post was back on January 12th 2008, and I have been surprised at the number of visits, just under 3,000. I thank you all for stopping by and leaving the occasional comment.

In this time I have done 90 posts and it was my intention to give fellow travellers ideas of places to visit throughout Europe. I am working on the next adventure right now and the first post will follow soon. Stay tuned as they say.

While Ian was at work I raided his magazine stack and have put some of these to one side for a simple competition. Also included is the Dunlop hat, hip flask, bike stand support and badge. The badge is from the Border Patrol Rally, organised by three Cornish bike clubs in aid of the Devon and Cornwall Air Ambulance. A report by Guzzisue can be seen here.

Now what is this competition I here you ask. All I want to know is:

What is the mileage on Ian's Moto Guzzi? The Guzzi is of 1994 origin and has done above average mileage for the year (based on 1,500 miles per year).

So if you are interested in what's in the photo with me just drop your guess in the comments page. Closest will win the goodies. I will post to anywhere out side the UK, so everyone has an equal chance of winning.

The competition will stay open until midnight March 8th 2009, UK time, or if someone gets the correct total the competition will close earlier. The winner will be named in the week following the closing date.

Good luck everyone.

Nottingham Light Night 2009

We missed the opening night of this year's Nottingham Light Night on Thursday 12th February as the weather was not too great. As it happens (going into Jimmy Saville mode), Thursday was only the opening of the Nottingham Eye so I don't think we missed out on anything of great importance.
Friday we headed into town by bus and walked up the Hockley area where there were light patterns being projected onto the buildings.
On the pavement there was a large mat that was sensitive to weight thus changing patterns when children walked across it.
From here we walked to the Lace Market where a group was entertaining a small crowd with their songs. More of the shops and businesses got involved in the evening this time and the following display caught Ian, Guzzisue and my eyes.
Walking down to the Old Market Square we could see the Nottingham Eye, which had been repainted since its last visit, and music coming from the covered stage area. We decided to give this a miss and went round the corner of the Council House onto Long Row where there was a robot chasing after children and shooting them with a water spray.
Near to the robot there were some small lighted pyramids. Scattered around the city centre were other illuminated shapes in keeping with the theme. The photo below shows the pyramids on Long Row with the Eye in the background.
In the newly revamped Trinity Square a 1970's disco had been set up complete with lighted floor, a la Saturday Night Fever. Luckily there was no John Travolta doing his thing. Ian never did understand why that film was so popular.
From here we had a five minute trek across town to the castle where on the castle walls there were images being projected with backing music. In the castle grounds a hot air balloon was being primed and looked very colourful. Unfortunately, as for most of the evening I did not have much joy with my photography. One photo that did work was this tree in the castle grounds, looking quite eerie.
Down the hill from the castle is the world famous Trip To Jerusalem where in the courtyard several Morris groups were going through their routines, including the Dolphin Morris with Ian and Guzzisue's friend Mike trying keep the troop organised. I tried to lead them in a dance but alas they were too far away to see me.
There were so many events taking place all over the city centre that it was impossible to see everything. The Gallories Of Justice were open for the evening competing with ghost walks around the centre, special offers from restaurants, and a plethora of street entertainers.
To conclude I will leave the last word to this gentleman and his stance says it all about the 2nd Nottingham Light Night!

The 9th International Classic Japanese Bike Show

Well if Ian And Guzzisue had followed my link before we set out for this event they would have seen that it had been cancelled and is now taking place on the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd. Please don't follow their lead, I tried to tell them but they just would not listen. Hee hee!

Diary Dates

With Xmas now a distant memory it is time to start planning this years activities, so here are a few ideas for 2009.

The 9th Japanese Bike Show at Castle Donnington is on next weekend, 7th & 8th February. Details here. I really enjoyed myself at last years event and Ian was pleased to pick up a gasket set for the Suzuki at a knock down price. A link to the 2008 event is here. We are hoping to be there sometime on Saturday so look out for us.

The sandracing continues over at Mablethorpe with four meetings remaining for this season. We hope to get over again sometime but a lot is dependant on Guzzisue's broken arm. She is off to the hospital this week for a check up, but has at least another four weeks with the metal support. Here is a link to the remaining meetings. Remember to wrap up warm if you venture out here and something to sit on is a good idea as well.

April sees the start of the Round Britain Rally an event that Ian and myself have done for the last three years. In this the entrant is given a list of landmarks, with at least one in every county on mainland UK. The entrant then has to take a photo of their motorcycle at the landmark to gain points. It is not necessary to do all of the landmarks, just as many as you are able. The points value for each landmark varies, so for example one in the Highlands will be worth more than one in Nottinghamshire. Here are a few examples from previous years.
The Tibetan Centre at Eskdalemuir.

Footplate sculpture at Flint railway station.

Welsh harp sculpture at Llangollen and

Victorian drinking fountain and trough, Norton. This landmark was a little elusive for a few entrants in 2008.

Easter's highlight is the Red Marley Hill Climb. We have attended the hill climb twice, see last years report here, so this time we are going on Easter Sunday to see the trials meeting.

One event that neither Ian, Guzzisue or myself have been to yet is the Thundersprint, held at Northwich. This year the event takes place over the weekend of May 9th and 10th. Here's hoping we can get there this year, if so I will give a bear's eye report.

The East Coast Challenge carries on, with the 2009 event starting on March 1st. Ian and myself managed to combine this with the Round Britain Rally landmarks for Norfolk and Suffolk last year. A rather sedate challenge by itself with a 200 mile trip to visit 5 given towns, ending back at your start point no less than 7 hours later but within 24 hours.

Nottingham often gets into the news for all the wrong reasons, one of the problems for a vibrant multi cultural city, but two events that we will be supporting are the Nottingham Light Night on February 12th and 13th. Last year for this event there was music in several places around town, the Nottingham Eye in the Market Square and several buildings lit up for the evening.
Here are some of my photos taken last year.
The Nottingham Eye with in Council House in the background.

The Nottingham Lion overseeing the activities in the Market Square.

A lady making her way down to the centre from the Angel Row area.

These pyramids are on Long Row.

Fire jugglers entertained on the Council House steps

while a samba band played on a stage in the Market Square.

The Dukes Box were playing requests in St Peter's Square.

Walking up Bridlesmith Walk towards the Galleries Of Justice, an old court building and now an award winning museum.

Finally over the Spring Bank Holiday in May there is the Nottingham City Pulse, a three day music extravaganza. Last year there was music from The Blockheads and The Beat as two groups from Ian's golden era, among with many others. Below are some clips I managed to record over the weekend. Listen and hopefully enjoy. The recording quality varies a little as it was a very windy weekend.

Kick 'N' Rush, a local skiffle band


Bombay Bajas an internationally known group of musicians.


Railroad Bill, who are undergoing a name change. Their website does not have much information at present.


The Real Macaws. A talented group from Yorkshire.


The Bikini Beach Band play well known tunes in a surf style. Great fun and look out for the dancers in grass skirts.


The Blockheads. I don't think any introduction is necessary here!


So these are a few of our plans for 2009. I hope some of these are useful to you. If there is any activity in your city go out and support it. these events are put on for your enjoyment.