Biker Ted Diaries

Staying Local 2008 - I Smell A Rat

2012-01-10T09:27:00.005Z

We had plans. Never before had we been to the southwest of France. Never ridden through The Pyrenees, criss-crossing the Spanish boarder. This year was going to be no exception. Two weeks before our departure Guzzisue came down with a virus and not wanting to keep it to herself, passed it onto Ian the week before we left. Feeling tired and weak, my fellow travellers decided that staying local would be a better option. Staying local insured that we were never more than 450 miles from home, as the proverbial crow flew, still giving us many new locations to visit.

Disaster was averted on Friday, when loading up the Guzzi. Ian managed to break a strap on the Baglux harness. Panic was setting in when he went to a local cobbler who could send the harness off for repairs. It would be returned within six days! A customer in the shop recommended Timpson’s in Arnold, approximately three miles away. With nothing to lose, Ian headed Timpsonwards.

‘Leave it with me for twenty minutes’, said the very nice man behind the counter, so he did.

Twenty minutes later and one harness had been repaired. The cost? Just some change into the charity tin.

Guzzi packed, Guzzisue managing to leave work early, we were heading for Dover by18:30, arriving at the hotel by 22:00. Our indoor picnic of biscuits, chocolate and service station sandwiches helped us to sleep.

Next morning we were woken by the sounds of other residents departing for the early ferry. We decided to follow their lead and made our way down to the port terminal, only to find a long queue. Ferry times had been altered due to a damaged ship; therefore two into one will go! The saving grace was that it was September and not the height of summer. We joined a group of bikes waiting to board, on their way down to the Alps.

A good advantage for crossing the Channel on a motorcycle is that we are first onto the ferry and first into the restaurant, where a ‘Full English’ was on the menu. Breakfasted, it was time to stretch our legs and have a walk around the ferry. This year saw a new innovation – 7 Minute Massage.

Arriving in Calais we picked up the signs for Dunkerque and headed off through the Low Lands. Belgium came and went without us noticing, Holland would have been the same, except that Ian took a wrong turn, confusing the Dutch word for exit as the next place we were aiming for. A quick about turn and we were back on the correct road and heading for our destination in Germany.

Upon reaching the town we were staying for a couple of nights, signs like this were very helpful.

Hotel found, Guzzi unpacked, into town for a meal and drink. Our first impressions of the town were that for Saturday night, things were very quiet. Perhaps we were in the wrong part of town. The weather forecast for Sunday is promising, but a chance of rain on Monday. We are on a new adventure, so who cares?

Round Britain Rally 2011, What Goes Around, Comes Around

2011-12-13T09:36:00.006Z

Windmills were another collection on the landmark list for this year and Ian and myself visited three different types.

The first one is Stevens Mill in the village of Burwell, Cambridgeshire. At one time, Burwell had four operational windmills, the Stevens’ Windmill being the last on standing. It was operational until the 1950’s but is now in need of repair. As the windmill is a listed building it was saved from demolition and the long task of refurbishing it is in hand. The windmill can be operated with only two sails, these were built in the 1980’s at a cost in the region of £15,000. To put another pair of sails in position today, the price would be doubled!

Situated on the Lincolnshire Fenland, eight miles, as the proverbial crow flies, from the coast, Sibsey is ideally situated for the location of a windmill. Originally built in 1877, Sibsey Trader Windmill is one of a few six sailed windmills remaining in England. Due to a shortage of time, we were unable to have a look around or sample the fayre in their tearoom. This has been added to our ever-expanding ‘To Do’ list.

Many s are only too pleased to have RBRers visiting their location. One landmark was on private property this year, clearly visible from the road. They requested for photographs to be taken from the roadside. This request was observed by all that visited to my knowledge. This leads me on to our third windmill.

In the north of my home county, Nottinghamshire is the village of Tuxford. The windmill, situated near the village was the landmark for this year. The proprietor did not take too kindly to his windmill being used as a landmark and tried to charge entrants for taking a photograph! Needless to say very little money exchanged hands! Many photographs were submitted from the roadside with the windmill in the background. I’m sure his tearoom could have served a few thirsty and/or hungry RBRers, thus helping with the upkeep of the windmill. I can only assume that in this time of wealth and prosperity extra finance was not required. Upon this reasoning, dear reader, you will notice the lack of a link to this enterprise.

There has to be a first for everything. The first man on the moon, first flight, first locomotive, first car and even the first motorcycle. This brings us to a tranquil suburb in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, to locate the first ROUNDABOUT in the UK!

Built circa 1909, we can only imagine the confusion this may have caused. In Portree on the Isle of Skye a few years ago, a mini traffic island was built in the centre of the town. The islanders had not seen anything like it before, thus resulting in a few accidents before it was replaced with a one-way system. I’m not suggesting that this would have been the case in Letchworth, but to come across something so alien…and what sort of traffic flow would there have been in this area in the early part of the last century. Could it have been an experiment to try out before being unleashed in the capital? Whatever the reason it works well as a traffic flow solution, unless you want to get through part of Swindon.

To end, by turning full circle, another roundabout was a featured landmark. This particular example at Thornaby on Tees, Teeside has a Spitfire in the centre. This replica was built in 2007. It seems a little ironic, as the roundabout is located at the junctions of Thornaby Road, Bader Avenue and Trenchard Avenue. Ironic in the sense that Douglas Bader flew in a Hurricane.

The reason for mentioning this unvisited landmark? In all honesty it’s just so that I can finish with this film clip. No matter how many times I watch it I still have a smile on my face.

Round Britain Rally 2011, Planes And Boats And Trains

2011-11-25T10:14:00.008Z

Well the RBR has finished for another year. The usual ‘adjustments’ having to be made during the course of the event. One landmark was sold and moved piece by piece to another location, another, a Roman Milepost was hit by a car and had to be removed for running repairs (groan). Repair work also was required for a statue of John Perry so we took an exciting picture of his plinth.

As has become the custom, the RBR season kicks off with the ARSE, the Annual Rally Starting Event. This year’s gathering took place at the Ellesmere Port Canal Museum where over 50 entrants met for the obligatory group photo. The object to photograph was the anchor sculpture, situated near the café. Yes, one or two people did snap the wrong anchor.

Doctor Beeching’s axe saw the closure of many rail lines in the UK during the 1960’s, however one line that closed before his hand gripped the shaft was the Southwold to Halesworth line. On this local line, at Whenhaston, Suffolk, a plaque depicting the site of the local station has been erected.

To some extent this phoenix looks set to return, as there is a project to reinstate a small section railway, complete with a heritage centre.

There was one type of railway that Beeching could not get onto his report, the cliff railway. This year’s event saw the inclusion of several of these, two of which we visited on the weekend of our motorcycle club’s rally weekend.

On the way down to the rally site we stopped off at the Lynton and Lynmouth Railway. Lynmouth is on the A39, a road to Devon and Cornwall that is often by passed for the dual carriageway of the A30 and M5 motorway. Built in 1890, this water balanced funicular railway works in contrast to other water operated railways. Often water is released from the lower carriage until it is lighter than the top one, whereas on this railway, water is added to the top carriage from the West River Lyn.

Having stopped for some ‘Traditional’ fish & chips, we got into conversation with a local biker, resulting in a rather longer stay than anticipated. We vowed to return here for a longer stay in the future. Little did we realise that it would be sooner rather than later.

‘This one will be easy to find’, said Ian about the Babbacombe Cliff Railway. ‘We just head for the coast and follow it round’. Reaching the coast and following it round took us all the way around the headland and into a housing estate! When in doubt, ask the local postie, who put us on the right track. The plans for the Babbacombe Railway were put forward by Sir John Newnes MP, the man who built the Lynton and Lynmouth Railway. Sadly they were not approved until after his death. The line was completed in 1926.

The railway took us down to a secluded, almost deserted beach. Well it was mid May so that could have been the reason. The beach bar was deserted and the snack bar did a roaring trade in tea and coffee, with ample choice on where to sit.

Grove, Oxfordshire, was the destination for the ‘plane’ part of this post. And that is where we found this De Havilland Venom. Although Grove was reputedly the busiest airfield in 1944, there remain only a few derelict buildings around the area. This particular aircraft once belonged to the Swiss Air force and then Aces High. Not surprising is the fact that part of the airfield has now been turned into a business park.

Round Britain Rally 2010 (Part 3)

2011-10-22T17:11:00.002+01:00

Due to the nature of the Round Britain Rally, landmarks are open to various predicaments. They can be uprooted and moved to another location, removed for repair, damaged by being run in to, or in the next two cases being vandalised!

To the side of the A140 there is a monument dedicated to the pilots who were stationed at RAF Mendlesham as the 34th Heavy Bombardment Group. Although the air force base has long since been returned to farmland and industrial units, with very few of the buildings and runways intact, the memorial reminds us of our history. In its prime the memorial looked like this,

however, by the time we arrived part of it was missing.

The copper plaque had been stolen! Details about the crime can be read here.

This was a memorable landmark for me as I was able to tease Ian about dropping his phone here. The caretaker’s partner found this when she went to inspect the cut grass. How a lime green mobile survived the onslaught of a large mower, I’ll never know, it did return unscathed.

From Suffolk we headed north to the county of Norfolk and the seaside town of Cromer. Here we had to find the bust of Henry Blogg, a man that can be classed as a true hero.

Henry was coxswain to the Cromer lifeboat from 1909 to 1947. During this time the lifeboat was called into service 387 times, saving 873 in the process. For his services, Henry received the George Cross, 3 Gold Medals and a VC and bar of the lifeboat service amongst his honours. How did a person or persons unknown treat this brave man? Like this!

Fortunately Henry was back in situ watching over the sea that he spent many hours of his life fighting.

My final choice is a landmark that took some researching. The clue was listed as “Roman Bridge”, Lyn Ogwen, near Capel Curig. Looking on the usual websites that I use produced no information, however eventually I came across a site that gave the location but no picture. With this information off we went. How many times have we travelled on the A5 in Wales and like thousands of others before us never knew of the bridge’s existence? We cross over the bridge without the motorcycle’s tyres coming into contact with it. How? Take a look.

The bridge is sheltered under a modern structure from the onslaught of today’s traffic. The downside to this is that a strong wind was created passing through and Ian’s rally control card was nearly lost and his helmet almost landed in the water. Does the bridge really date back to the Roman era? The jury is out on that question.

Round Britain Rally 2010 (Part 2)

2011-08-14T08:18:00.002+01:00

There appears to be a WWII theme going on at the moment, so I will continue on with the next landmark. Our clue for this landmark was ‘Guinea Pig Club plaque, South Rauceby’. Nothing too difficult here then, ho hum. Having convinced Ian that this was nothing to do with little furry meals for myself, research started. The Guinea Pig Club is a group of servicemen, predominately from the Allied air forces that were treated for burns during WWII. They were the first group of people to be experimented on for plastic surgery, hence the name Guinea Pig. Early research showed that there was a mental hospital situated nearby that was transformed into a burns unit for the war period, however the building had been left to decay and had been set ablaze by various people. It has now been demolished and in its place is a housing estate.

Our journey to the landmark was entertaining as the Guzzi decided to cut out at a set of traffic lights in Grantham. There were several changes of relays and fuses before she fired up again.

Reaching South Rauceby Ian rode through the village, out the other side, turned round and did the same again. He then stopped, switched off the Guzzi’s engine, checked paperwork and tried starting the motor again. Nothing. Once more fuses and relays were exchanged, but to no avail. A slow push up a slight gradient followed, ending outside The Bustard Inn. Across the road there was a public telephone box, from where Ian phoned Carole Nash Insurance for breakdown assistance. There was nothing else to do except grab a bite to eat and a pint until help arrived.

Food ordered and beer poured, Ian enquired about the Guinea Pig Club plaque. A local customer knew exactly where it was and gave us directions. It was still early on in the year’s event and we were the fifth to ask for advice!

When the recovery van arrived, the driver offered to take the stubborn Guzzi to the landmark but Ian declined it. Ian decided to phone a friend, Italia, who would look at the stricken Guzzi between jobs, so off to Lincoln we travel.

At Italia, Steve and Phil tried several things before changing a crank sensor. This appeared to do the trick and the Guzzi was wheeled out of the workshop and onto the street. Ian got ready for a quick test ride. Nothing. Back into the workshop.

‘How did the road test go, Ian?’ asked Phil.

‘It hasn’t’ was the reply.

Eventually the problem was solved. The previous year the oil pipe taking oil from the crankcase to the tappets burst, pumping the engines blood all over the motorcycle. Although Ian had thoroughly washed the motorcycle a small amount had got into an electrical connector, shorting pot the throttle sensor! Phil got some cleaning spray and we had had no problems since. Having never come across a problem like this before, Phil was pleased to have solved it. The time taken? Two and a half hours. Cost? Nothing! When you have a good relationship with a shop, loyalty is repaid in kind and we have had excellent service over the last 16 years.

Returning to South Rauceby, we found the plaque, in the centre of a developing housing estate on the outside of an NHS building.

An eventful day for us but at least the problem was sorted before we went on our travels abroad last year.

Round Britain Rally 2010 (Part 1)

2011-07-10T21:00:00.007+01:00

For the Chinese it was 3^rd February, the Gregorian / Western / Christian diary it is always 1^st January and for the Round Britain Rallyists (RBR) it was the 27^th March. What am I rabbiting on about? With apologies to the Chinese, the New Year. RBRers congregated at the 5^th Annual Rally Starting Event. As with many peoples’ behinds, the RBR’s ARSE just keeps on getting bigger! It is a social gathering at Landmark 1 on the entry list. Friendships are renewed, photographs taken, certificates and patches that had been pre-ordered are handed out and paid for.

With this year’s event now in full swing, I can belatedly share some of my favourite landmarks visited from last year.

Last year’s ARSE was held in the county of Avon, approximately 5 miles from Bath, at the Claverton Pumping Station.

The station was built in 1813 to pump water from the River Avon up 48 feet into the Kennet and Avon Canal. There was a small admission charge to get into the station’s grounds, which were taken over by many two and three wheeled machines. We were given a guided tour of the stations workings by one of the volunteers, making for an enjoyable event.

After leaving the gathering Ian and myself managed tick off a few more landmarks on the homeward journey, bumping into small groups of rallyists .

Higher Sutton is a small hamlet just off the A54 between Axe Edge and the junction with the A523. The landmark here is the Greenway Cross, also known as a Plague Stone. Originally the stone may have been used as a wayward marker and becoming a Plague Stone in the 17^th Century when England succumbed to the disease. There are many similar stones across the country, their purpose being that supplies could be left here and the townsfolk would come, leave payment in a container of water and thus hoping not to spread the plague further.

I selected this landmark, not for the Plague Stone itself but for the view across to the historic town of Macclesfield.

There is a saying within the RBR group that if you want to find a landmark, don’t ask the locals. This could have been proved correct, only in that the person Ian asked was not a local! We were on our way to find the memorial at Hunsdon Airfield. Having ridden around the area, to no avail, Ian noticed a security man on a small industrial area. He tried to give us directions for Gatwick Airport! Eventually, outside the village shop we struck lucky and a local person pointed us in the right direction.

Hunsdon Airfield is private land and has an active microlight club. We proceed up the loose chipped roadway and found the landmark.

There was a group of men around the memorial and we got into conversation with them. Ian gave them a brief rundown on the RBR and they were pleased that their monument had been chosen. It can be a rare event to meet another entrant at a landmark, but to be in the company of the builders…

We were informed how the monument was built, with extra reinforcing given to the engine. This was due to there being a similar style monument somewhere nearby and the engine was not secured, resulting in the engine deing removed, possibly for its scrap value. Details of the construction can be found here.

An enjoyable afternoon was spent in their company talking bikes and the history of the airfield. Slowly we went our separate ways, them back home whilst Ian and myself headed for a motorcycle rally, only after taking another photograph.

Monuments can commemorate many different past events. The Hunsdon memorial represents the bravery of the pilots stationed there in WWII, however the next one I have selected deals with a tragic disaster.

Freckleton is a small town in Lancashire, midway between Preston and Lytham St Anne’s. It’s the type of place that has a by-pass, thus there is usually no need to stop and look around. Indeed by-passes tend to make small towns invisible.

At 10:30 on the morning of 23^rd August 1944, two American Liberator heavy bombers took off from nearby Warton. The aircraft were soon in trouble as a vicious storm swept in from the Irish Sea. One of the aircraft was able to head north, however the other flew into the storm.

With the aircraft’s wings almost vertical, its right wing hit the top of a tree and then was ripped off as it impacted against the corner of a building. The remainder of the wing ploughed along the ground and through a hedge. Unfortunately the fuselage continued on its way, partly demolishing three houses and a snack bar used by servicemen. Momentum carried stricken aircraft forward across the road and then it burst into flames. Part of the aircraft hit the infants’ wing of the local school and fuel from the ruptured tanks ignited producing an inferno. The time was 10:17.

In the school, 38 children and 6 adults perished, the snack bar, 14 died and also the crew of 3 on board the stricken aircraft. A horrific day for Freckleton. More information on the disaster can be found here, including an account of the day by one of the surviving children.

For the RBR, we were given three locations and could select any two to find. The two I have chosen, I believe, tell most of the events of the fateful day.

2007 It Had to Happen Sometime-Smoke Gets In My Eyes!

2011-05-31T20:36:00.008+01:00

Up, breakfasted and packed. All we could do now was wait for our taxi to arrive. We spent a little time with the hotel manager, conversing as best we could. Finally it was time for our departure. Farewells exchanged, we loaded up the taxi with panniers, tank and roll bags, motorcycle clothing and leaving just enough room for ourselves.

With no idea where we were headed all we could do was admire the scenery, making a mental note to hopefully return one day. Our chauffeur pointed out several things of interest, including what the French speed cameras look like. They are now on the increase, with as much resentment for them in France as there is in Blighty.

We arrived in Aix-en-Provence, approximately 30kms north of Marseille. The taxi’s sat-nav directed us to a street with no sign of a motorcycle shop. We were all looking a little confused until Guzzisue noticed a small sign pointing down between two works units. With nothing to lose we proceed down the opening. Lo and behold, there was the bike shop, situated in a large open space.

All of our belongings were removed from the taxi and gathered into a pile whilst we found the Guzzi. She was hiding in a throng of motorcycles, along a wall by the side of the workshop entrance. A mechanic approached us and informed us that

“Everything is OK. No parts needed.”

Ian did enquire if electrics are OK, to which we had the same reply.

“Everything is OK. No parts needed.”

We looked around the vast showroom until the paperwork had been completed and the bill settled. All that was left was to bring the Guzzi to the front of the shop

and load up. We are very close to the southern coast of France on a hot Wednesday afternoon with a ferry to catch on Friday morning. All that we can do is start heading north.

We did not want to travel the same route back and so we headed for the A8 to Salon de-Provence, where we continued north on the A7. It was in this area where we had our first flight on the Guzzi. A car cut across three lanes of traffic to exit on a slip road, hitting our left pannier and Guzzisue in the process! The Guzzi was momentarily airborne, landed, shook her handlebars and carried on! We still have the impact mark on the pannier today.

Stopping the night in Valance, we were making good progress, leaving the city of Lyon until the morning when we all would be fresh, having had chance to soak away any aches and pains.

Next morning we awoke with the sun and were on our way. The timing was good and we defeated the traffic in Lyon, hitting the city after the rush hour. Onwards we travelled, stopping at a service station for fuel and food, briefly talking to a girl motorcyclist who was singing the praises of Central France and its scenery. We make a mental note to consider this for the future. It was after leaving the service area that things went rapidly downhill.

We were over 300kms from Calais when the warning light came on again. Ian had no choice but to carry on. I’m sure that “Everything is OK. No parts needed.” Was going through his head at the time. Guzzi electrics have been a standard joke for many years, so why should ours be any different. Ian was just overtaking a couple of lorries when I first smelt something very close burning. Trying to attract Ian’s attention he finally looked down, just after we had passed a slip road for a service area. Quickly pulling onto the hard shoulder he shouted to Guzzisue to get off.

To make things worse a police car pulled up right behind us. They were not helpful as they refused to get their extinguisher out in case it was needed. One of them helpfully poured some water onto the smoke! Ian’s expression says it all!

Here is the damage.

“Everything is OK. No parts needed.” As Jim Royale would say ‘MyArse’

To their credit the police did message for a recovery wagon, however they would not let us push the Guzzi up the slip road so that we could wait in the shade and get something to eat. Away they went leaving us to stew in the sun.

It was over an hour before the recovery wagon appeared, waiting at the top of the slip road from the services! Ian had to then do what the police would not let him do earlier, push the bike back up the slip road!

I was getting a sense of déjà vu here as onto the back of the wagon we go.

Not knowing where we are, we are dropped off at a Moto Guzzi dealer in an industrial area.

The unit is closed for lunch so to pass time we look next door at the Ducatis. Lunch finished and we stroll into the shop. They have very little in the shape of spares, even less for our old Guzzi. Bottom line is that they cannot help us but they do talk to the wonderful Carole Nash help desk. Eventually things are sorted and we are going to be taken, with the Guzzi to another garage.

Guzzisue books the last room available in the local Campanile Hotel, from which a taxi will pick up Ian and Guzzisue in the morning to a car hire company for them to get home.

Me? I decided to stay and keep the Guzzi company.

What did we learn from this?

Ian got so involved in trying to get an injured motorcycle home that forgot how to relax and let things take their path, also to have more faith in the people sorting out repatriation of the ailing motorcycle. Incidentally this was taken to our friends at Italia in Lincoln where a Ducati rectifier was connected and is still in place today.

Having googled Digne looking for links for the last few posts, we could have seen much more of the area just by catching the local train. A fine example of ignoring our own advice!

Guzzisue, due to the nature of her work, finds things difficult when she does not learn about things first hand. She must learn to take the chill pill sometimes.

And me? After my near death experience with the rectifier going up in smoke so close to me, I was humbled after Ian told me when we were reunited, he was asked by the Carole Nash representative:

‘Is there anything of value on the motorcycle?’

‘Yes, a bear, Biker Ted’

‘A toy teddy bear?’

‘No. Biker Ted. He’s our travelling companion!’

‘Are you serious????’

‘Very!’

2007 It Had to Happen Sometime-Marooned

2011-05-02T10:03:00.005+01:00

Whilst travelling back to our base in Dignes, Ian glanced down at the warning lights console and noticed that the charging light was illuminated. Still 35 miles away from our base we decided to press on. The Guzzi managed to return us to the hotel, but the warning light stayed lit. Ian was concerned about this, in fact he was that concerned that he phoned Carole Nash Insurance stating that he was certain that there was something wrong with the charging system. It was agreed that the Guzzi would be picked up the next day, Sunday, and taken to the local Moto Guzzi dealer to be checked out on Monday.

Sunday and we had to stay at the hotel after breakfast to await the recovery vehicle. Eventually the transporter arrived and Ian helped with the loading.

Watching the Guzzi disappear around the corner, realisation hit us. We were marooned in Dignes! Throughout the following days Ian received phone calls on the Guzzi’s progress. Monday, Ian was informed that the motorcycle shop that the Guzzi was being taken to was closed. Tuesday, the shop had not got any time to look at our motorcycle. Ian informed the insurance representative that we had a ferry booked for Friday morning and could they pass this information on to the repair shop. Later in the day Ian received another call informing us that the motorcycle would be ready for collection on Wednesday.

The above events meant that we had a prolonged stay in Dignes. The manageress of the hotel took pity on us and we were transferred to a larger room for the same price for a couple of nights. We were leaving, then not. Ian was becoming like a bear with a sore head! Guzzisue was getting irate because she was slightly out of the proverbial loop, having to rely on second hand information from Ian. I had the job of keeper of the peace during this period. The holiday must continue.

Monday, Guzzisue and myself decided to leave Ian alone for a few hours and went for a walk in the surrounding area. Selecting a road that gave us a view over Digne.

Without realising we had discovered Saint Benoit Park. This can best be described as a discovery park. We had already passed a Japanese styled pagoda and several water features.

Along the way we had seen an information sign giving detail of the region. Although neither of us could translate much, one name that stood out was Andy Goldsworthy. By chance we stumbled across a couple of his five cairns at the centre.

We had an enjoyable time at the park just walking round and looking at the fossil collection in the museum before heading back to find Ian.

After Ian had received the call from Carole Nash that the Guzzi would be ready for collection on Wednesday his mood lightened enormously. Guzzisue had discovered that a famous French traveller/explorer had lived in Digne for a long period of their life and that their adobe was open to the public for guided tours, she just had to go, towing Ian and myself along.

Alexandra David-Néel was a strong willed woman with a desire to travel, especially to India and Tibet. This was more extraordinary as her adventures took place from the late 1800’s to the 1940’s! Her last walking trip was concluded in early winter of her 82nd year.

During her latter years, Alexandra wrote several books on her travels and adventures. Reaching her century she had her passport renewed ready for when the urge to take off again became too strong. However this remarkable woman died just short of her 101st birthday. Her ashes were scattered on the waters of the Ganges.

Inside her house there are many artefacts from her journeys. Guzzisue was not permitted to photograph anything inside the building. If you happen to be in Digne at any time I can recommend that an afternoon be spent with a guided tour here. There are headsets available, handed out by the guide, at various places where necessary.

Please do have a look at the link on Alexandra’s name to find out more about this amazing woman.

Walking around Digne one last time, down this narrow street

upon a wall is this plaque.

Our prolonged stay in Digne was a little longer than Napoleon’s and tomorrow we will be reunited with the Guzzi. For now the future is looking brighter.

1st Monday Music Movie - Todd Miller & The Joe Loss Orchestra

2011-04-04T10:29:00.000+01:00

Is it possible to rebel against rebellion? Since the invention of the gramophone, rebellion in music has been available to the masses. In the fifties, with Elvis rockin’ jailhouses and Bill Haley rocking around a clock with his Comets the scene was set. The mantle was taken up by the Animals, who just had to get outta this place, whilst the Rolling Stones had to get off their clouds before having a 19^th nervous breakdown. Into the seventies and punk rebelled, until to look punk became fashionable, thus going against its aim. And so through musical history there has always been rebellion, be it Woodie Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg or the Sex Pistols.

How does this get us to Nottingham’s Market Square on the final Sunday of May last year? The answer starts over eighty years ago when Joe Loss started his orchestra. He became well respected in his field, with Dame Vera Lynn giving her first broadcast with the band in 1938. In 1990, Joe became too ill to travel with his band and entrusted Todd Miller with the leadership. Todd had joined the orchestra in 1972 as a vocalist and enjoyed an excellent working relationship with Joe. With over twenty years at the helm of the orchestra, Todd is as much of a showman as a leader of the Joe Loss Orchestra.

Back to the question I posed earlier, is it possible to rebel against rebellion? Any form of entertainment has walls. These walls take the form of generations. Parents cannot understand how their little angels can listen to ‘that infernal racket’, as they find their own identity and rebel against the older generations. Todd and the Joe Loss Orchestra had the Market Square singing and dancing, young and old side by side, playing music from Glenn Miller through to soul, the Beatles, Abba and disco, thus breaking down the walls. I could be inclined to say that they made the younger generation rebel against their rebellion, even if it was only for two hours.

The Orchestra’s encore took then past the nine o’clock deadline. Rebels indeed!

Abba Reunited!

2011-03-13T15:24:00.004Z

Abba reunited! Yes that is correct and remember you read about it here first!

People of a certain age can remember back in 1974 when Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog won the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo. Mega stardom was soon at their fingertips.

Often while sleeping I Have A Dream that they would reunite and Knowing Me, Knowing You, I
just have to spill the beans! I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do.

I would not like to speculate as to whether Money, Money, Money is a key factor in this reunion or not but that's The Name Of The Game and the Winner Takes It All.

All this has came to my attention when out for a ride with Ian on the Yorkshire/Lancashire boarder, going to take a photograph for a potential Round Britain Rally landmark, One Of Us, well this Super Trouper happened to spot a tell tale sign.

When All Is Said And Done, all that is left to say is Thank You For The Music and I had better finish this post before I come Under Attack.

1st Monday Music Movie - Nottingham Ukulele Club

2011-03-07T10:00:00.000Z

An easy choice for this month’s music movie. Ukuleles have had an upsurge in popularity in recent times; this may be helped by the ever increasing number of people discovering the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

On the 17^th February, Nottingham had its annual Light Night. I will not go into too much detail as Guzzisue has posted about this and I have done so in the past a couple of times. Last year the Labour council seemed to put much of our Council Tax up in smoke, with firework displays over the castle and more street entertainers. This year seemed to be a much more subdued event, however that could have been down to the cold evening and my friends being a little tired from their respective employment.

In the Exchange Arcade, to the rear of the Council House, sheltered a little from the cold were Nottingham’s own ukulele musicians. This month’s movie is the Nottingham Ukulele Club playing Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Sound of Silence’ and Prince’s ‘Kiss’.

2007 It Had to Happen Sometime-Reaching New Heights

2011-02-11T12:00:00.003Z

Saturday. The centre of Digne is a hive of activity. Saturday is market day.

There are traders from the surrounding districts selling their wares. Everything was available from fruit and veg to wooden kitchen utensils, to clothes. There was an area allocated for the locals selling their bric-a-brac. Guzzisue was stopping at many of the stalls to have a look with Ian and myself getting restless. The weather was good and the mountains were calling.

Today’s challenge is to climb the Col de la Bonette, sometimes mistakenly called the Col de Restefond. The Col de Restefond is a gravel track, located off the D64, close to the summit of the Col de la Bonette.

There are claims of the Col de la Bonette being the highest mountain road in Europe. These claims can be argued with good cause. Although the actual Col de la Bonette rises to 2715 metres, there are three other passes that go higher. These are Col de l’Lseran (2770 metres), Stelvio Pass (2757 metres) and the Col Agnel (2744 metres). There is also a no through road in Spain, reaching 3392 metres to the village of Veleta, Sierra Nevada. Col de la Bonette’s road reaches an altitude of 2802 metres, but cannot be described as a “pass” because it is merely a loop road around the Cime de le Bonette. There is no argument that it is indeed the highest asphalted road in Europe.

I am not too sure of the route we took to arrive at the northern side of the Col de la Bonette, but it was an interesting journey nonetheless. One of the buildings we passed was this.

It looks like it may have either been a prison or military building in an earlier time. I believe it could now be a tourist information centre. If anyone recognises it I would be interested for future reference.

Having passed through a village,

we caught up with a local taking his trials bike for a spin.

Leaving behind a holiday resort that is in the process of being expanded we began to climb into the mountains.

Eventually we saw the ski lift, some distance from the resort.

And still we climb.

Eventually we reach the summit and have to refuse the welcome sight of a café due to the time. Guzzisue continues taking pictures on the decent.

The first pass of the day completed, refreshment is taken in Jausiers, prior to turning onto the D64 and the Col de la Bonette. O n the climb we pass an old military building, Casernes de Restefond.

Close to the summit there are some bunkers by the roadside, dating to the Second World War.

Deciding not to take the circular road to the highest point, Ian pointed the Guzzi to start the descent. Negotiating the mountain’s rush hour,

8kms from the Col de la Bonette, well camouflaged from a distance we came upon this little ‘settlement’.

The settlement is Camp Fork, built between 1896 and 1910 with additions up to the Second World War. There are a total of 26 buildings, built to look like cottages but included stables, kitchen and a bread oven. There was a cable car built in the 1930s, giving contact with the village of Pra, thus a supply route was built. Unfortunately the building was destroyed to widen the road at the forts entrance in 2006.

When at full strength the fort was manned by 150 guards, less in the winter months. Although there was fighting in the area around the fort in 1939 and 1944 there are no records of the fort being damaged in conflict.

Inside the command post there are some murals painted, along with some in the other buildings. These are slowly crumbling away, like the buildings themselves.

Having spent some times wandering round the camp it was time to head on down the pass and back towards Digne.

It was on the return journey that the mountain pass was not the only thing to be heading in a downwards direction.

1st Monday Music Movie - Imelda May

2011-02-07T13:15:00.002Z

Born in Dublin, the youngest of 5 children, Imelda was influenced by her elders music tastes. At 14 she made her professional debut on a Findus Fish Finger commercial singing 'Betcha never put your finger on a crunchier crumb!'

She began singing in clubs at the age of 16 and was occasionally barred from her own shows at Dublin's Bruxelles clud for being underage!

Forming her own band in2006 her popularity began to grow and in 2009 she became the first femail Irish artist to top her home country's chart for 20 years.

Here we see Imelda performing 'Train kept a rollin'' and 'Go tell the devil' at Nottingham's City Pulse in 2010

2007 It Had to Happen Sometime-Bucket & Spade Required

2011-01-09T17:02:00.007Z

Over the years we have been spoilt. As long as I recall, every breakfast in France has been a feast. The breakfast room has been filled with breads, various meats and cheeses, an assortment of fruit juices along with hot beverages, amongst other delights. It was easy to see the disappointment in Ian’s face when he saw a traditional French breakfast. Jam, croissant and some dry bread. Not being a caffeine drinker, Ian managed to obtain a bottle of cold water to wash everything down with. A large mental note was made by the three of us to grab a large bite to eat later. We were not the only travellers to be disappointed as we saw a couple taking food up to their room!

As Ian had never seen the Mediterranean we all agreed that would be a good ride for today, so departing Digne we soon picked up the N85, Route Napoléon and enjoyed a steady ride south, unlike the Emperor himself who headed north and ultimately to his defeat at Waterloo.

Stopping briefly for our first view of the Mediterranean

We started down the mountain road, reaching Grasse, where the French perfume industry is centred. Grasse is a mere 9 miles northwest of Cannes, our destination, however due to traffic lights stopping us at regular intervals, the final stretch took a long time. The temperature was hovering around 28°C, Ian was getting somewhat overheated in his riding gear, I was wishing I could remove my jacket and cut my fur as my perch on the left hand front indicator was getting rather warm.

Eventually the coast was reached, the Guzzi parked up to admire the Med’s horizon.

It was rather a windswept day but it did not deter guests from various hotels making the most of the midday sun.

In fact the wind must have been around force 9 or 10 due to the amount of boats seeking refuge in the local harbour.

The natives are used to these local weather conditions, undeterred they continued on their promenading along the palm tree lined Promenade de la Croisette.

Mingling with the locals we also sauntered along the Promenade and found this movie camera statue situated near the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, which surprisingly none of us took a photo of!

We had very little time in Cannes, but did manage to break an (almost) unwritten law and went into a nearby McD****d’s. Well nature was calling. I could escape into some shrubbery but not Ian or Guzzisue. A walk round some of the local shops, down some narrow streets, shoppers tottering on high heels whilst balancing designer labelled carrier bags in their hands and too big sunglasses on too small noses.

Ice creams were required and had to be consumed rapidly before they melted. This was successfully accomplished sitting on a bench, looking out to sea.

Two hours in Cannes was certainly not long enough to give an honest opinion of the town. We did not have any idea that we would end up there on this holiday as our original break had been scuppered by some unseasonable weather, therefore we had no idea what to look for. Also due to limited time there may not have been long enough to look round any place of interest. A return visit is necessary in the future.

Riding back the same way gave us the opportunity to notice previously missed stopping off places, for example, there was a small local Citroen Museum and a Resistance Museum, both of which could have been visited if we had the time.

The course had been set and we had 83 miles to cover along interesting roads to return us to Digne for the evening.

1st Monday Music Movie-Seven Little Sisters

2011-01-03T13:01:00.002Z

Named after William Willis' raft, on which he sailed from South America to American Samoa in 1954, the Seven Little Sisiters (SLS) also have their own story.

Ian and Guzzisue first met the band back in 1993 or 1994 on their tour of Scotland. Ian had noticed a poster in the tourist information centre in Portree, Isle of Skye, advertising a concert taking place down at the Sligachan Hotel that night. Upon entering the hotel, as the band were setting up their equipment, they were asked the question "How many are in the group now?" The band members were taken aback as they had not realised that their fame had stretched this far north. And so began a friendship that would last for some time.

In 1995 SLS released their album Cow Trousers, with a small gig in Nottingham's Virgin Megastore. Below is the poster advertising this gig.

Slowly the band were getting a reputation for being a great live act with their celtic, folk rock, bluegrass style. They had even supported the Oyster Band on several occasions. Things were really on a roll until the fateful day when their van, including all their instruments and equipment was stolen.

From that fateful moment the band just fell apart and the boys all drifted apart. Ian and Guzzisue bumped into Jon Harris in early 2010 and there was no mention of the band reforming, so how did this come about?

The tale starts one day when a friend of Jon's mentions a website, the A-Z of Bushcraft. This site has many short videos on Youtube, with SLS's song When The Wind Blows as theme music! There are many comments about the theme music, who is the group? are they playing anywhere? etc, etc, etc. One of the older comments was from a band member saying that they had split up some years ago and that a comeback was unlikely.....

Ian receives an email every week giving information about events, gigs and films for the following week in Nottingham. One that caught his eye was for a gig by SLS at the Salutation on September 25th! Well it would have been rude not to go.

Ian had already mentioned the gig to his friends and Guzzisue had informed her knitting companion. As we approached the pub several Sisters were outside having a cigarette and talk when they saw us. They were surprised and pleased to see faces from 12 years previous.

Understandably the band were nervous about their return, but the packed upstairs audience was with them all the way.

The reformed band have now played three times and have been well received at each venue. Gigs and festival bookings are now building for this year and a follow up album is being recorded.

Although the film clip is of poor picture quality, the sound makes up for this. Recorded at the Robin Hood Hotel, Sherwood, Nottingham. I give you the Seven Little Sisters!

1st Monday Music Movie - Wee Willie Harris

2010-12-06T12:15:00.001Z

The legendary Wee Willie Harris, as mentioned in Ian Dury and The Blockheads song Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 3. He was the second act on the stage in the Old Market Square on Saturday 29th May, still going strong in his seventies.

He came to fame in the 1950's when he became known as Britain's wild man of rock 'n' roll. TV appearences on BBC's Six-Five Special leading to concerns in the national media as the BBC was promoting "teenage decadence". Rock on Charles William Harris!

2007 It Had to Happen Sometime-Drivin' South

2010-11-28T12:42:00.006Z

Breakfasted, Guzzi back out of the garage and loaded, farewells farewelled, we were back on the road. Playtime.

Today’s route included some of the roads that had recently been recommended in Motor Cycle News, a weekly paper in the United Kingdom. The route we took had excellent scenery, married with the local wildlife and paragliders.

We first headed for Briançon and followed the D902, Le Col d’Izoard. This road is often part of the Tour de France. The day could not have been better for motorcycling and the scenery was breathtaking.

As we were in no hurry today Ian let the other road users pass,

thus letting us enjoy the views in peace.

If my memory is correct all of the photos were taken on Le Col d’Izoard, however there are many similarities between that particular pass and the Col de Vars. Like

Le Col d’Izoard, this mountain pass has also been used for the Tour de France, 33 times in total.

Completing our ride over the Col de Vars we headed west on the D900 at St Paul before adding the Col du Labouret to the collection of completed passes. This brought us to our destination, Digne-les-Bains.

With a short visit to the tourist information centre the Hôtel de Provence was selected as our base. The hotel had an area off road at the front for parking, which is in short supply for the town centre hotels.

Relaxed, showered and ready to hit the town, however, something is missing. It was almost like boarding the Mary Celeste. Many of the town’s restaurants were open for business, but the hungry hoard consisted of Ian, Guzzisue and myself. Digne, where the action isn’t!

1st Monday Music Movie -The Grinnigogs

2010-11-01T11:49:00.000Z

Belatedly inspired by Ten-Inch Wheels occasional series entitled Lazy Blogging, I bring my version of this. The one difference is that the musical interludes will be filmed by yours truly.

Bank Holiday in Nottingham, the rain comes down and we are getting ratty with each other. Doing our, what was to be final lap of the stages, we come across the Grinnigogs. Medieval music with attitude! Despite the weather they had a pretty good crowd and a great sound. Medieval electric rock with a hammer dulcimer, hurdy-gurdy, fiddle and drum. The tune being played is the 8 step trance.

The Grinnigogs were one of many bands playing over the holiday weekend as part of the City Pulse event. The Robin Hood Pageant was drawing to a close at the castle and it was fitting that a medieval music event drew peoples' attention to this.

2007 It Had to Happen Sometime-It's Cold Up Top

2010-10-31T15:24:00.006Z

We awoke with clear blue skies and Ian did what he does best, put on the TV. In the early morning there are a few channels that show the mountain passes via a camera located on the top of restaurants or ski lifts. The live pictures are often accompanied by accordion music. This certainly was not music to our ears when the passes that we wanted to ride were closed as they had six inches of snow on them! Travelling east was therefore out of the equation. Up north the weather did not look too promising, travelling west would only take us back the way we had come, therefore south was the only answer, besides Ian had never seen the Med.

With our plans rescheduled it was time to hit the open road. Our route to the south was over Grimsel Pass, a road that we have travelled before and enjoyed. Looking back down the pass did nothing to prepare us for what lay ahead.

As we climbed higher the temperature began to fall. The results from the previous days weather fronts were becoming visible.

With Ian’s sometimes legendary map reading skills not required due to there being no junctions to negotiate, it was just as well if this information post was a sign of things to come.

We passed by a group of bikers that had parked up to take a photo for their holiday album.

Eventually reaching the summit and carefully bringing the Guzzi to a standstill, cups of hot chocolate and a warm snack were certainly welcome. It was so warm in the restaurant that we were almost falling asleep.

Returning outside we took a photo of perhaps the most photographed motorcyclists in Switzerland.

Crossing over the road there is a small enclosure that is home to a family of marmots.

This is reached by going up some steps, not surprisingly covered in ice. Ian managed to scale these without problems, finding himself knee deep in snow!

A group of tourists from one of the parked coaches also tried to walk up the steps have a look, only succeeding in sliding all over. When will people realise when to change into appropriate footwear?

Returning to the Guzzi we had a welcoming committee. Waiting by their coach, camcorders at the ready, we became minor film stars as Ian and Guzzisue mounted the Guzzi, gunned her into life and rode away. Travelling down the pass and out of the snow we had to do a quick country check. Yes we were still in Switzerland.

Warmer climate and our world’s back in balance.

Away from the Grimsel Pass we were able to cover ground at a steady rate, passing near Mont Blanc and surviving the rush hour in Grenoble, we picked out the N91, heading for Le Bourg d’Oisans and a welcome overnight stop.

Some hope! This was like a Goldilocks moment. The first B&B, Guzzisue almost suffocated herself trying the mattress as it wrapped itself around her, the second was very cheap, very tatty with a dubious clientele. The next was full.

With daylight fading we eventually came to Le Freney d’Oisans and the Hotel-Restaurant Le Cassini. Although it seemed to be expensive at €69 each for half board and another €2 for having the Guzzi under cover for the night, we had no option but to accept.

Having unpacked it was time to have our evening meal. Not knowing what to expect the set menu was handed to us.

Roast Chicken Salad

Venison with sauté potatoes and vegetables

Cheese Platter

Chocolate Mousse

Coffee was offered in the lounge to those requiring a caffeine fix.

Good company with a couple of American cyclists made for a pleasant end to the day.

2007 It Had to Happen Sometime-Did I Mention The Rain?

2010-10-10T11:31:00.005+01:00

The day was planned to travel slowly east through Switzerland towards the Austrian Alp region, managing to complete three passes on the way. These were the Col de Corbier, Col de la Croix and finally, Col du Pillion.

Stopping at the summit of the Col du Pillion there is a cable car that can take punters up to the world’s highest Alpine Coaster ride. We were tempted to try this however the price 6 Swiss Francs (CHF) for the coaster but another 33 CHF for the cable car. A trip to the nearby could be taken for a mere 54 CHF. All these went under the banner of Glacier 3000. With the cloud coming down and obscuring the mountain tops this helped our decision to move on.

Travelling along the A8 towards Interlaken there were a few spots of rain in the air so we turned towards the town, booking in at the Hotel Derby. The Guzzi was placed in the garage for the evening.

Then the rain came down. It was time to shelter in our room for a couple of hours. With the need to eat becoming stronger we headed towards the centre of town and

decided on Bebbie’s tacky burger bar. Inside there was a group of Japanese tourists getting the complete Swiss “Experience”. The décor was a mixture of wood panelling, pictures, various flags from around the world, wooden figures holding a glass of beer or an Alpen horn and a ladder suspended from the ceiling festooned with various bells, which the owner shook on occasions to try an liven up the place. A few of the Japanese tourists then became the floorshow as a selection of Alpen horns were brought into the centre of the restaurant, not very tuneful but taken in good spirit. Some of the members of staff then showed us how they should be played. At least this took our minds off the rain.

Back in the warmth of the hotel Guzzisue had a play on the hotel’s internet to check out her blog and the weather forecast. Rain was expected for the next four days across Austria and Germany, heavy rain for Tuesday in Southern Switzerland. We are seriously thinking of changing our plans, but for now we will sleep on this and see what happens in the morning.

Any idea of going further east disappeared, like the sun, from the start. We were woken up by a dawn chorus of the heavy spotted thunderstorm. Having checked out the weather forecast on the morning television, the weathermen had indeed got it correct last night. It did not take much of a decision to stay in Interlaken for another night.

Eventually the rain abated and we went for a walk down to the lakeside. On the way this little mountain goat came up to their enclosure fence

and told us to look at the mountain tops.

There was some fresh snow on the high ground. We had been so engrossed in looking at various items along the way that the snow had not been noticed by any of us. It did not appear to be too much to worry about, so it was soon forgotten about.

As its name may suggest, Interlaken is situated between two lakes, Brienz to the east and Thun to the west. The river Aare connects the lakes. Our walk took us to the local sailing club, situated close to Lake Brienz. Several yachts were moored up in the harbour, sheltering from the incoming weather. The clubhouse was all locked up so there was no chance for a warming drink.

And then the rain came down again. Fortune was on our side as there was a bus shelter nearby with one due in ten minutes.

Back in the town centre we found the local museum, situated behind a fountain in a quiet area.

Eventually there was a small break in the deluge and Guzzisue managed to take a few photos. As we have come to expect, many of the building are brightly painted with the occasional mural thrown in.

Hiding in some local foliage was this woodcarving titled Potscheboum.

With more rain coming down it was back to the hotel and hide for a while. This persisted into the evening when we trudged back into town for a meal. Not wanting the same as last night Hooters gave us lads some beautiful scenery to look at. Guzzisue even thought that the fayre was not too bad either.

No matter where you are rain literally puts the dampers on everything. It would be too judgemental to give Interlaken the thumbs down because of this. In the vicinity

there is the Schilthorn, advertised as the top of Europe and used in the James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. This is a must for us in the future, however because of the cost it may well be way into the future.

Roll on tomorrow and we will be rolling on whatever happens.

2007 It Had to Happen Sometime-So Far, So Good

2010-09-23T20:13:00.005+01:00

We awoke at the crack of mid-morning after the excursions of yesterday, the sun was beaming, sky was blue and the view wonderful.

The remainder of the morning was spent relaxing before heading towards Morzine for lunch. Stopping off at a lake for a Sunday stroll and a few photo sessions for Guzzisue plus a very rare shot of Guzzisue and Ian together!

Mozine is the nearest large town boasting of…not much really. Although it boasts plenty of winter sports and mountain biking for summer, we had gone there during the ‘in between’ season.

Noticing the Luge d’été, a toboggan run designed for plastic sledges with wheels, we left Elaine as the helmet attendant and proceeded to have a go. We got to the top of the run by the same method as the sledges were returned,

giving us a good view of the town and the toboggan run.

Returning to the apartment Ian let Andrew and Elaine take the Guzzi out for a spin to show her different styles of motorcycle pillion comfort. Andrew certainly enjoyed the experience judging by his Cheshire cat grin.

The evening was spent at the local pizza parlour/bar before retiring early. Andrew and Elaine were travelling on to Paris in the morning and we were going to ride a few mountain passes, crossing into Switzerland before further east.

Next day saw us up bright(?) and early. Elaine did some last minute cleaning

Before joining all of us putting the last touches loading the bikes.

With farewells said we departed St Jean d’Alps and went our separate ways.

So far, so good….

2007 It Had to Happen Sometime-The Beginning

2010-09-03T06:26:00.001+01:00

Always in life there are tasks that are put off for as long as possible. There are different reasons for this, for example, it might be a job that is dirty, or tedious, or no benefit can be appreciated on its completion. The task in question here is our 2007 trip over the water.

We were only a few weeks from setting off and none of us had any idea on where to go. Work matters for Ian and Guzzisue had taken priority over everything. Then at a bike rally down in Essex a chance meeting with a friend, Andrew, accompanied by his fiancée, Elaine, mentioned that they were going to be in a ski apartment during the weekend that we were crossing the Channel. Would we care to join them for the first weekend? Well we didn’t need to be asked again!

With the address details forwarded to us in good time we depart Nottingham on a Friday night for Dover. Arriving at the hotel shortly after 22:00 we had our customary bedroom picnic whilst watching television.

Saturday dawns and Ian and myself take the luggage down to the Guzzi. Keeping our steed company was a smart BMW RT that belonged to the night porter. It turned out that the porter is a member of Dover 69 Motorcycle Club and we have mutual friends from near Gloucester. Small world indeed!

Having proceeded to the ferry terminal without problems, we boarded with three Harleys. Guzzisue took pity on the P&O men that were strapping down the machines as the owners were most concerned about their paintwork. During the crossing we discovered that two of the Harleys were bound for the European Bike Week, a large convention that can have around 50,000 people, as we discovered last year riding back through Austria after visiting the Czech Republic.

With the Guzzi’s wheels once again turning on foreign roads we took our usual route away from Calais, first heading through Reims and then onto Troyes. Having passed Troyes we passed a convoy of ‘movie makers’’ vehicles including dressing rooms, costume wagon and the inevitable portaloo. Many months later we discovered this was part of the ‘on location’ bandwagon for the new Merlin series being produced by the BBC. Riding onwards, we passed Langres, although this time there were no patchwork quilts to be seen. Besancon came and went, followed by the Swiss border. The obligatory stop for the purchase of road tax was made interesting as there was a car being stripped by the border guards.

We were permitted to enter Switzerland without any delay and headed for Lausanne and the motorway around Lake Geneva. Travelling east we stopped at the same service station as our previous visit. Fuel in the Guzzi and a much needed chocolate fix for the three of us, having travelled over 400 miles, disaster strikes. Complete electrical failure. When confronted with a problem the usual British answer is a cup of tea, however, Guzzisue went and got more cups of hot chocolate! Having removed the seat, Ian checked all the fuses and relays before finding the problem – a loose connection on the battery. If only everything was this simple.

It was starting to get dark as we entered Evian, complete with its grand hotels and casino, built on the profits of bottled water (?) It certainly looks like a place to come and have a look around in the future.

Ian is now faced with the daunting task of driving the final 15-20 miles on a road climbing into the mountains with a headlight that could be related to Lucas, Prince of Darkness. On a couple of occasions he nearly went into the mountainside as it was almost the same colour as the road! Ian’s plan was to ride slowly until a car overtook him and then follow the tail lights for as long as possible.

Eventually we reached St Jean d’Alps and remembered Andrew’s instructions, the third block after the ski lift. The sign for the ski lift was seen without a problem, however on leaving the village behind going into total darkness and going into the mountain we thought that we had passed the landmark, so back down we go. On returning to the village a quick phone call to Andre for more directions gets us going back the same way but taking a left turn onto a one way street. This time we end up at the top of the village! Third time lucky, as the saying states, back on the original route we see Andrew standing by the roadside. If only we had travelled an extra half mile the first time…

It was now 22:00 and we had travelled over 500 miles since the morning, food prepared by Elaine and wine were waiting on our arrival and conversation like the wine flowed until the early hours.

Uttoxeter Motorcycle Show

2010-08-10T20:09:00.007+01:00

Although the 4th Uttoxeter Classic Bike Show and Autojumble, organised by the VJMC opened its gates to the public at 09:30, Ian and myself did not arrive in the parking area until 10:00. The reasoning behind this is simple. Let the early queue to get in disperse and to have a look around the bike park to see some fine machinery.
The Triumph, or should that be BSA? Trail Blazer seen below was one of many British motorcycles to be seen in the parking area.

Back in 1975, Ian was just a zit faced sixteen year old lad. On returning home from a family holiday his father stopped off at a motorway service station. In the car park on that rainy day there just happened to be a motorcycle, on its sidestand, away from all other vehicles,

and so thank you Kawasaki for producing the Z900 and setting one young oik* on the winding road of life with a target to aim for. He had no money in the bank and one year to go before he reached the age to ride a motorcycle. The rest as they say is history.

Honda were well represented in the parking area. Two machines that caught my eye were this very tidy CL450

and this CBX1000 that manages to out ‘Sei’ the Benelli 750 Sei. The Sei was the first production six cylinder road motorcycle, based on Honda’s CB500, it was stunning with its 6-6 exhaust system. The production model of the CBX had a 6-2 system, however this particular example was something else!

Rapidly fading into history are the old prejudices and the “Jap crap” remarks, as could be verified by the fact that many British motorcycles were on display inside the show.
This was obvious from first setting paw and foot into the show ground. Immediately on the left, in the Paddock Pavillion building was the Vincent HRD club. They sandwiched the Parade Ring, where during the day several owners were interviewed and their machines run, with the BSA Gold Star Club. It was an oversight on my behalf that I forgot to get any photographs of any of these machines.

Swiftly moving on, Ian and myself entered the Staffordshire Stand building. Just to the right of the doorway was a sad looking machine with its machine details card stating ‘This bike was saved from the skip, people ask why!!’

I recall that previously Affer and myself have had a little discussion on this motorcycle(?). The owner was not to be seen. I wonder if he has heard about the Ariel 3 Museum in Bristol?
Occupying the area next to the Ariel was a small collection of GPO Motorcycles owned by John Lawrence.

These were accompanied by the helmet, gloves and telegram satchel from the correct era.

A brief history of the telegram messenger service can be found here.

Ian and myself spent a while chatting with John about his collection and also discovered he was once a messenger himself.

Ian and myself then continued to look around the other exhibits in the room, taking photos of one of the motorcycles in particular, more of which at the end of this post.

There were several trade stands immediately outside the Staffordshire Stand building that we perused before entering the Exhibition Hall. Once inside we glanced at several of the different owners’ club stands before noticing this pair.

This RE 5 we have met before at the Castle Donnington Show in 2008,

however I was more drawn to the 750 Honda below.

Owned by Fred Brown, the motorcycle was bought new in 1971 when he was working in Saudi Arabia for transport. When his contract was completed, in 1972, he decided to ride the Honda home, a distance of 5000 miles completed in eight and a half days.

Next door in the Exhibition Marquee there was an interesting combination, the MZ Club next to the Kettle Club.

The early 1960’s Suzuki racers were copies of the MZs after their rider, Ernst Degner, defected during the Swedish Grand Prix in 1961. I wonder what Walter Kaaden would have made of this pairing as Suzuki went from strength to strength while on December 12th 2008 the MZ factory in Zschopau closed, bringing a halt to motorcycle production that had lasted for 88 years in the same town. The old 'East German' factory became a night club, called MZWerk.

Crossing over the race course we entered the aptly named Centre Course Marquee. Inside was an assortment of VJMC sections’ stands manned by their members.

This particular machine had Ian reminiscing over the television series C.H.I.Ps that was produced between 1977-83.

Hiding in the far corner of the marquee was this 1948 Corgi. Developed from the Welbike, which was built for parachute drops and around the airfields during WWII, was produced until 1954, during which time it had helped to get Great Britain back on her feet.

No show would be complete without an auto jumble, today was no exception. Ian is still looking for the elusive badges for his Suzuki. There was no fortune for him again, one day…. Slowly as NOS (new old stock) dries up for certain machines undergoing restoration, prices rise. This in turn pushes up the price of restored motorcycles, for example, the RV 125 below.

At £3750 it may be some time before it is sold.

Returning to the perimeter we had a look in the Railway Stand Marquee. Recently several clubs have opted to show a cutaway of an engine. I’m pleased to say that the CBX Riders (UK) Club have joined the ranks. This rotating display took a few attempts to get a reasonable picture.

Although the show was open until 17:00 to the public many were departing by 15:00. By the time that we returned to the Suzuki the bike park was two thirds empty. Will we go again? Yes. The show clashes with a motorcycle rally that we often attend so it will be a couple of years before we attend again.

One final thing that I must do is this:

Two posts ago I set a little task with this picture

The motorcycle is a

and the model is

Congratulations to Affer at getting it correct at the second attempt. All that is required now is to the identity of the owner.

That is revealed HERE.

*An unsophisticated, uncultured and objectionable person.

Chocks Away Part 3, Happy Landings

2010-08-08T19:56:00.002+01:00

I have been searching for Cockersdale singing Keith Marsden’s ‘Left Left Right Steady Man’ since I posted the first part of ‘Chocks Away’ to no avail. I have managed to locate the lyrics and they are printed below.

Left Left Right Steady Man

1.
Rear gunner on a lancaster in spring of 'forty four,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
I'd seen my share of fighting and I'd had my fill of war,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
Over Stettin, over Norway, over Munich and Berlin,
I'd lost count of all the scraps and scrapes, near misses I'd been in,
But I only needed three more trips to get my nineteen in,
Son of mine, don't ever volunteer-o.
I got a left, left, right, steady man, oops!, go round again,
Go round again, lord what a pain,
Blind as a bat he was and where was his brain,
Left, left, right, steady man, oops!, go round again.
2.
I signed on with the new lot to make up a trip or two,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
I should have seen the warning signs, their flying suits were new,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
No-hopers, never-would-be's and all wet behind the ears,
The other fellows told me that by bed time there'd be tears,
But I never dreamt how they'd fulfil the worst of all my fears,
Son of mine, don't ever volunteer-o,
I got a left, left, right, steady men, oops!, go round again,
Go round again, lord what a pain,
On his wedding night, it was such a sight, you could hear his wife complain,
About left, left, right, steady man, oops!, go round again.
3.
It should have been an easy trip, some dams off Falkland way,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
The kind of trip you go to miss, to try another day,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
The flak was light, the fighters few, a piece of bread and jam,
Drop short to get that extra trip, for god's sake miss the dam,
Then flick your wings to spoil the film and back to blighty scram,
Son of mine, don't ever volunteer-o,
I got a left, left, right, steady man, oops!, go round again,
Knock ein again, the german gunners refrain,
And the night fighter pilot, he was laughing like a drain,
At left, left, right, steady man, oops!, go round again.
Left, left, right, steady man (2)
4.
He shot us through the bomb bay and he shot us through the wings,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
He shot away the engines and he shot away the fins,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
We staggered past the beaches and we put down in the drink,
All seven in one dinghy as the light began to sink,
And in the rush the skipper never even stopped to think,
Son of mine, don't ever volunteer-o,
He set the left, left, right, steady man, oops!, go round again,
To steering us back, sure he must have been cracked,
With a chump like him on compass would we see England again,
Left, left, right, steady man, oops!, lost on the maine.
5.
We paddled round in circles two whole days and two whole nights,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
Till gleaming through the mist and rain at last we saw some lights,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
"Ahoy! are we near England" shouted left-left silly bugger,
"Are you the air-sea rescue or perhaps some fishing lugger",
"Ach, nein, ve are an E boat in ze harbour of Zeebrugge"
Son of mine, don't ever volunteer-o,
I got a left, left, right, steady man oops! go round again,
Got us out of the drink, and straight into clink,
The possibility of future fatherhood for him we all made quite plain,
To left, left, right, steady man, oops!, go round again.
6.
Should have been on leave in Blackpool spending all my Nuffield pay,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
With holes burnt in my pockets and a new girl every day,
Son, don't ever volunteer-o,
But I'm sitting in this stalag, going mad on acorn tea,
And wishing I could be there in old A.C.R.C.
For the bleeding left, left, steady man is bunking next to me,
Son of mine, don't ever volunteer-o,
I got a left, left, right, steady man oops! go round again,
The war finished last week, but he's tunnelling again,
He's down there still digging, we're all catching the train,
Without left, left, right, steady man, oops!, go round again.

As this trip comes into land Ian told me about a comedy duo, The Oblivion Boys that Guzzisue and himself had seen in the past. Apart from appearing in several sketches on television programmes in the 1980’s they did a series of advertisements for a brand of larger. The product is not to our liking but their commercials are well remembered, especially this one with the upkeep mines.

Something to look forward to in my next post (which is nearly ready), the answers to my photo quiz. All will be revealed this week.

Chocks Away Part 2

2010-07-22T21:44:00.003+01:00

For the concluding part of this daytrip, I am going to concentrate on two aircraft and a collection of exhibits that should have been in closer proximity to each other.This is the sight that greeted us in the hanger after we had looked at a model display of an operations room plotting the Luftwaffer’s approach over the English Channel.

In the left foreground we can just make out “the UK’s smallest piloted aircraft”, as advertised in the 1960’s. Still uncompleted, it is the design of Mr M Ward from near Newark. However it is the aircraft on the right that grabbed our attention.

This is a replica of Lee Richards Annular Biplane. Its number is BAPC No.20, or in its entirety British Aviation Preservation Council Number 20.

The aircraft is based on an original design, featuring an annular (circular) wing. It was built for the 1965 film Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines, in which it was ‘flown’ by the character Harry Popperwell, played by Tony Hancock.

Newark Air Museum acquired the aircraft in 1967, shortly before it was due to be destroyed. Originally stored in Newark, it moved to the museum in the early 1970’s where it remained in storage awaiting restoration. In February 2000 it was then placed on loan with the Shoreham Airport Historical association, who then proceeded to restore it to its former glory. After a brief period with it being displayed at their West Sussex site the aircraft returned to Newark in August 2006.

The Gnat was adopted by the RAF’s aerobatic team in September 1964, making their first public appearance at the Farnborough Air Show. Originally named the ‘Yellowjacks’ as their aircraft were painted yellow, the name was changed in 1965 when a new paint scheme was adapted, with a name change to The Red Arrows.

The Gnat remained the Red Arrows chosen aircraft until the end of 1979 when it was replaced by the BAe Hawk.

The Gnat on display is painted in red and white, similar to the Red Arrows colour scheme. This design was used by training command at RAF Valley.

Designed by W.E.W. Petter, the Gnat was part of a private venture for the Folland Aircraft Company. XR534 was built at Hamble, Hampshire and entered RAF service in 1963.

XR534 had an extensive flying career before being reconditioned at Dunsford, Surrey in 1969, followed by major servicing at RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire in early 1974. Overhaul complete and the Gnat travelled to No. 4 Flight Training School at RAF Valley, Anglesey in March of the same year. It served with the School until it was replaced with Hawks in 1977.

To the left of the Gnat is a Gnat Procedures Trainer. This was used to train cadets in basic cockpit drills and escape techniques.

Propped against the hanger wall, in the proximity of the Gnat is this well made stained glass picture of a Lancaster bomber.

I can only assume that this is a memorial to Squadron 617, the Dambusters squadron. There was no information about this piece of work, thus leaving me none the wiser.

At the far end of the hanger are two Lancaster bomber turrets. The rear turret below was built by Rose Brothers Ltd of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire and housed twin 0.5 inch Browning guns with a fifing capacity of 335 rounds per gun.

The Mid Upper Turret would have been equipped with two 0.303 inch Browning machine guns.

Hiding in the corner near the turrets is this Upkeep mine. This test bomb was recovered in June 1997, having been dropped at Reculver in 1943.

The Upkeep mine was one of three bombs designed by Barnes Wallis that were being tested for attacks against Germany. The Royal Navy had shown interest in a bouncing bomb with the idea of using this method for attacking the Tirptiz, codenamed Highball. There was also a smaller version, Baseball. This was to be a bomb that could fire at warships from motor torpedo boats. The whole family of bombs were given the codename “Golfmine”.

With time going against us, we found refuge inside the café for a well deserved cheese and ham toastie before heading back into the shop. Along the back wall was any boys dream with a plethora of model aircraft.

The item that caught my eye was this

now all I have to do is grow so that I’m the size of a six year old. Now that could take some time!

What Is It?

2010-07-04T20:08:00.003+01:00

Yesterday Ian and myself travelled along a road so straight and tedious, even the Romans would query as to where they were. The road in question was the A50. Fortunatly we only had to traverse half way along, to Uttoxeter Racecourse.

The VJMC were in attendance with their 4th motorcycle show at this particular venue, report to follow at a later date.

Many different clubs attended and also some weird and wonderful machines from the past. The question I'm putting to you, my reader, what does this engine power and who do you think might own it?

Meanwhile I must finish part two of Chocks Away

Chocks Away Part 1

2010-06-20T21:39:00.005+01:00

Hands (or paws) up all those who are guilty of ignoring what is on their doorstep. My paw is half raised, as are Ian and Guzzisue’s hands.

Over the years when Ian’s nephew and niece were up from Southampton we would take them to a local place of interest or an event. Recently they are content with going around the shops or the cinema.

A few years ago we had a Canal Museum in Nottingham, which we visited on several occasions. However, this was closed down due to lack of visitors. Upon hearing of the loss, a listener to our local radio station rang in to complain about this. They were asked one question by the presenter

“Have you ever been to the museum?”

Not surprisingly the answer was an emphatic “No”, and still they argued the toss about the closure.

The museum is now a canalside bar, as if we needed any more!

I have previously posted about Nottingham’s Big Night Out, an idea of BBC Radio Nottingham’s Breakfast Show presenter Andy Whittaker. Following on from this, we now have the Big Day Out. This is an event in which many of the museums within Nottinghamshire open their doors for free. This was the incentive we needed to visit one of the museums that we have passed by countless time throughout time.

Newark Aircraft Museum is partly hidden from the roadside but well signposted. It is situated between the A46 and A17, with access down a short track.

Having peered through the fence for a few minutes we ventured into the shop/museum entrance, a printout showing the Radio Nottingham Big Day Out list of places to visit was all we needed to gain entrance. We were handed a ‘Suggested walking tour’ sheet, which was promptly ignored as we headed for the largest exhibit on show, the Avro Vulcan B.2 XM594.

XM594 was first flown in 1963 and soon was deployed to the Blue Steel armed independent British Nuclear Deterrents Force with 27 squadron at RAF Scampton. It was later transferred to Waddington before once again returning to Scampton.

Refurbished in 1972, XM594 spent the next few years being transferred to different squadrons until February 7th 1983 when it was flown from RAF Waddington to Winthorpe.

Leaving XM594 behind we wandered around the perimeter stopping briefly at G-BFTZ. This aircraft is a Socata MS.880B Rallye Club. Designed by Morane Saulnier, the Rallye originated when the French Government held a competition for a light aircraft in the 1950’s. The aircraft is still in production in Poland as the “Koliber”.

Originally registered in France as G-BFTZ, it flew with the registration F-BPAX. The record books show that this aircraft was first registered in the United Kingdom in 1978 and passed through several owners before being removed from the serviceable aircraft list in 1994. It arrived at the museum in 1996.

Trying to hide in the corner of the museum’s grounds was this Handley Page, Hastings T.5 TG517.

This aircraft was designed to be a multi-purpose transport aeroplane and in later years was used for training.

TG517 was the19th to be produced and came into service in 1948, during this period the aircraft took part in “Operation Plainfare”, The Berlin Airlift.

In 1950, TG517 was fitted with special weather reconnaissance equipment and served in Northern Ireland until 1958, after which it was one of five aircraft to be fitted out with radar bomb-sight equipment before being allocated to the RAF Bombing School at RAF Lindholme, where it remained until 1968.

TG517’s last operations were from RAF Scampton, where the aircraft saw active service in the Icelandic “Cod War” flying four fishery protection sorties. She was finally flown into the museum in 1977.

For a small charge of 50 pence, several of the aircraft had their cockpits open for view. These also had an accompanied guide giving details about the aircraft. There had been a steady queue to look inside the Vulcan, so we took the opportunity to have an inspection of the Hastings.

Having climbed the steps into the fuselage and paid our entry, the guide gave us a brief history of the aircraft before letting us inspect the rest of the aircraft.

The seats shown in the above photo can be removed and be replaced with stretchers, if the need should arise. There are also hooks in the floor so that large cargo can be transported, making it a very versatile aircraft. In the background we can see part of the radar bomb-sight equipment from a Vulcan. This was used for the training of Vulcan, Phantom and Buccaneer crews. With no one looking I had the opportunity to have a go myself. Left, left, right, steady, whoops. Go round again. (With all apologies to Cockersdale)

Realising that I would never make a Biggles Ted I clambered down and went to have a look at the cockpit.

I assume the buckets are to catch either condensation from behind the console or water that may gain entry either through weakened nose panels or the cockpit . Please correct me if I’m wrong on this assumption.

Continuing around the perimeter we stopped briefly at this Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG-23M “Flogger”.

Designed between 1964-66, the MIG-23 was a successor to the MIG-21. Besides having a more powerful engine it also had a variable sweep wing with three settings, 16, 45 and 72 degrees. With the wings swept right back, the aircraft has a greater speed, while fully spread it was able to carry a heavier weapons load.

The prototype first flew in public during the aviation Day Flypast at Domodedove Airport, Moscow on 9th July 1967and entered service in 1970, becoming fully operational in 1973.

In contrast to the MIG-23, this English Electric Lightning T.5 XS417 has had a chequered career.

XS417 was the first production T.5 and flew 47 development flights before joining 226 OCU at RAF Coltishall, Norfolk in 1965. At the end of this year it transferred to 23 squadron RAF Leuchars, Fife, where in 1965 it suffered a Cat.3 ground explosion in July 1966.

Between 1974 and 1987, XS417 passed through several squadrons and had periods when it was placed into storage. On 6th April 1987, XS417 flew in the LTF’s formation flypast at RAF Binbrook. One month later the aircraft was once again placed into store, this time being stripped for spares. The museum bought the aircraft in 1988 and cut the wings off before transporting it back to Newark Air Museum in September 1988.

Around the museums grounds are an engine display hall, an exhibition hall and two display hangers that contain more aircraft. I will discuss this on my next post.

Whoops

2010-04-03T10:34:00.004+01:00

This is an event that happened to Ian many years ago and I hope will act as a reminder to anyone getting their motorcycle out of hibernation right now.

Upon returning from our first Cornish rally, Ian parked the Guzzi on the drive for half an hour to unpack and get a drink before returning it to his shed at his father's. The drive is so steep that he is thinking of building a small funicular railway to aid assent.

Refreshed he swung a leg over the Guzzi, started the engine, went a few inches....and stalled. Thinking he needed more revs, the Guzzi was restarted, more revs added, forward motion, followed by an almighty thud. This was the result.

It is a good idea to remove the disc lock before trying to set off!

When the weekend was over the follow conversation ensued:

Ian: Have you got a disc for a Calli in stock?

Storeman: Trying to set off with a disc lock on have we sir?

Ian: Yeah. How did you guess?

Storeman: We used to keep only one in stock, we now have to keep five.

Cost of this lapse in concentration? A mere £130 + VAT and postage.

For some reason, Ian now uses a long chain that threads through the rear wheel and the lock sits on the pillion seat.

All this has got me thinking as to what I can do with the above disc. Can it be used like an old horseshoe on the front door at Ted Towers? Your ideas are very much welcomed.

Nottingham Light Night 2010

2010-03-15T08:09:00.012Z

For some time now, Nottingham has had a reputation for violence, especially at the weekends. Being a city with two universities and a cosmopolitan population, combined with the influx of stag and hen parties, the melting pot can occasionally bubble over.

Last year I posted on Nottingham's Light Night, details of which can be found here. Like many councils, knowing when they are onto a good thing, decided to make this year's event a two night affair. The overall objective of the Light Night is to try and get all age groups into the city centre at night.

Many of the city's restaurants had special offers on to entice people through their door, along with various guided walks around the town, ranging from an historical tour to Ezekial Bone's Guts and Gore Tour. St Mary's Church, in the Lace Market area of the city, had a choral evening. We listened to a part of this but were sat too close to the tea and biscuit area so the enjoyment was lost in someone's digestive.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Walking down Long Row towards the Old Market Square, the scene is set with the return of the pyramids and Nottingham Wheel. This has had a new name as the word "Eye" is reserved for the London Eye. London does not appear in Nottingham Eye, so being as I'm only a simple bear, cannot understand why certain organisations get so worked up over a little word.

Once again the Council Office was open for all to have a look around. We ventured in last year during Nottingham's Big Night Out, another event, started by BBC Radio Nottingham's breakfast show host, Andy Whittaker.

We proceeded down to the Congregational Hall, on Castle Gate, where I met this friendly dragon.

To prove that he was friendly I did my variation of a lion tamer in a circus.

Outside the hall was the starting point for the Goddess Parade and we watched people in their final minutes of preparation for a while. One of these was a young lady with her Fire And Ice puppet. Her mother, who can be seen in the foreground in the picture below, proudly told us that her daughter had made the puppet herself. Thanks to the power of email and Internet, kelliiexuk passed on the following information:

A group of people (7 ) at my school -Big Wood- Made it along with assistance from city arts. They ran a workshop first to give people a taster of what this prodject would be like. From that, a few people stepped in to take on the challange. The puppets 'skeletal' frame was built by willow, with a covering of glue and tissue paper, along with the decorations. It was lit by L.E.D pop-in lights which were added last thing. The legs were tied around my ankles and the arms were supported by polls.

I filmed kelliiexuk setting off on her parade walk before watching a student troupe doing some street entertainment before running up to Low Pavement to capture other parade entrants.

Meandering our way over to the Trip To Jerusalem we stopped off to watch some slides being projected onto the castle wall, complete with a quadraphonic soundtrack. I would like to say that this was produced for the Nottingham Light Night, however it had already been used in York. Down at The Trip the Morris dancing was in full flow and we had a quick chat with Mike from the Dolphin Morris .

Walking back up Castle Road and into Nottingham Castle grounds we were just in time to watch our council tax go up in colourful smoke.

This was done on the hour throughout the evening to the enjoyment of many.

The evening was really beginning to chill down, so, across town we traped to previously mentioned St Mary's, situated in the Lace Market area of Nottingham, after which it was back to the Market Square to catch a few tunes from local band, Wholesome Fish.

Leaving The Square behind us to head for Exchange Arcade, situated at the back of the Council House, we almost literally bumped into an old friend from last year, so we stayed and watched him make acquaintances with a group of people.

Upon entering the Arcade, the Sinfonia Chorale were in full voice with their voices dancing around due to the superb acoustics inside the small setting.

Heading up Long Row and back towards our parked car we were pleased to see the Dukesbox back in town.

As you can see, the Dukes had quite a large audience and were keeping them entertained with Zeppelin, Madonna, Elvis Costello and Vanilla Ice (remember him?) covers.

Our last stop was after we caught up with the Motoring Nun.

She? was riding round on an electric piano and stopped briefly to have a jamming session with a late night busker. I managed to capture part of this on my video below.

And so endith our Light Night, thank you Sister for the send off.

The images below show all the events that were happening over the event. Other towns and cities throughout the United Kingdom are now hosting similar events. Click here to find out if there is one near you.

Here's looking forward to 2011.

Finally, once again, I must thank Guzzisue for the use of her photographs as Ian and myself were far too busy trying to use the video and keep our hands/paws warm.

1930's Hints And Tips Part 2

2010-02-21T15:30:00.005Z

With the snow falling outside could there be anything better to do but keep a promise? So here is part 2 of Hints and Tips, 1930’s style, interspersed with advertisements from the sponsors. Where would we be without then and where are they now?

CARBURETTERS AND FUEL SYSTEM

FLOODING

58. If the flooding persists, try the effect of lowering the float a short distance, say 1/16in. down the needle; this is accomplished by filing a small nick in the needle the required distance under the existing nick and anchoring the float at this point. Finally, see that the carburettor is fitted absolutely vertical.

BRAKES

Care of Linings

38.- Washing off Grease

Attention to a few small details will often turn poor brakes into quite efficient ones. Grease on the linings, due to over-lubrication of the hubs, is a frequent cause of inefficiency. Examine the linings, therefore, and if there is plenty of wear left, wash them thoroughly with petrol, using a small stiff brush, such as a nail brush, and allow them to dry. Do not burn off the petrol by setting the linings alight; this may fuse the wire bonding.

ELECTRICAL ACCESSORIES

Voltage Control

23. Present-day motor cycles are almost invariably fitted with voltage control of the dynamo, i.e., the lighting system incorporates a device that regulates the output of the dynamo according to the state of charge of the battery. Owners of older systems can usually obtain conversion parts from the makers of their particular set.

BOWDEN CABLES

Soldering

Soldering a Nipple

34. Soldering a Bowden nipple is an easy job, but requires care if it is to be done efficiently. First, the soldering iron must be properly “tinned”, or, in other words, covered with a bright, silvery coating of solder. The bit should be heated, its point filed clean, and then, before it has time to cool, dipped in the flux and rubbed on a stick of solder.

Before a Bowden cable is severed, the wire must be bound by an impregnation of solder, or it will immediately unravel when cut unless it happens to be of the special “non-unravel” type. Apply a little flux to a section of the wire about half an inch long at the spot where it is to be cut. Then dip the hot iron into the flux, and, pressing it on to a stick of solder, pick up a blob. Run the solder into the cable vary carefully, making sure that all the interstices are filled. When the solder has set, the wire can be safely cut with a sharp pair of pliers.

If an old nipple is to be used again, all the old solder must be run out by pressing the hot iron against it and then tapping it to dislodge the molten solder. A gas flame will do the job even more easily than the iron. The nipple must, of course, be absolutely clean. Then, having dipped the end of the cable into the flux, thread the nipple on to the wire, leaving about 1/16^th in. (or rather less, depending upon the type of nipple) protruding, and apply some more flux to the cup of nipple itself.

Pick up some solder with the iron, and apply it to the nipple, allowing the solder to run down inside the nipple. Then, with an old clean penknife or a clean screwdriver, turn back the separate strands of the protruding cable, and splay them out radially in the cup of the nipple. Finally, fill the cup with solder, and the job will be complete. If this method is adopted a perfectly neat job will result, and, due to the splaying out of strands, there will be no chance of the nipple pulling off.

The book is full of advice for the home mechanic with helpful tips from an era when a motorcycle was a cheap form of transport for families. How times change. When consumables become more expensive and motorcycles are seldom seen in bad weather. Cheap winter hacks seem few and far between today and appear to be more costly than buying an old car.

In the days of central heating, working from home, better public transport (?), the question and answer can be the same two words. Why bother.

1930's Hints And Tips

2010-01-23T16:08:00.007Z

Recently while having nothing better to do, I was browsing through some books on the shelf. Ian has several motorcycle related volumes and a small publication that was almost hidden attracted my attention.

Published in the late 1930’s by Iliffe & Sons Ltd of London and issued by The MotorCycle magazine was the 13th edition of Hints and Tips for MotorCyclists. Inside there are 721 hint and tips of historical interest, a few of which Ian put to the test in his budding motorcycling youth. There is also a small advertisers section at the back. To prove that using well known faces is nothing new, we see Stanley Woods claiming that motorcycles run better on Mobiliol ‘D’.

Below, I have reproduced a few to serve as a reminder as to how things were for the motorcyclists of yesteryear.

ELECTRICAL ACCESSORIES

Speedometer Lamp

21. A speedometer lamp is a useful accessory, especially if much night-riding is done in built-up areas. All new machines have their speedometers floodlit internally. In the case of an old mount, it is possible to obtain a clip-on or bolted-on speedometer lamp at a cost of two or three shillings.

CARBURETTERS AND FUEL SYSTEM

Removing Dents from a Tank

75. When a tank or similar sheet-metal container has been damaged it is usually impossible to remove the dent by pressing it back from the inside, owing to the difficulty of inserting a suitable tool. If, however, the tank is of comparatively light sheet metal the dent can sometimes be pulled back by soldering a bolt head in it and pulling on the bolt.

RIDING METHODS

Hills

134. When a steep and slippery hill has to be ascended, as in a trial, especially with a sidecar outfit, to lower the pressure in the rear tyre. If there is time before the next hill, pump it up again.

RIDING KIT

Rubber Ponchos

450. In the days of long-distance trials ponchos were the experienced competition rider’s choice. They are made of black rubber with a cloth backing and are slipped over the head. Two types of neck opening are obtainable: (1) flexible rubber, and (2) a gusseted affair with a hook and press-studs, or with a Zipp fastener. The latter is the more convenient so far as putting on and taking off the poncho is concerned, and lasts better, but the former, due to the soft rubber clinging to the neck, naturally makes a more watertight “joint”.
Protecting the Legs

461. Many riders attach the straps on waders to their trouser buttons. A better scheme, however, is either to fix them to a small strap encircling one’s waist, or to attach a tape to the straps and loop this tape over one’s shoulders. As a result the early loss of trouser buttons will be prevented if nothing else! Straps round the ankles, or even rubber bands cut from an old car-size inner tube, will facilitate walking around in the waders, but if the waders are made too tight round the ankles the circulation will, of course, be affected.

(Ted’s tip is to invest in a pair of Wadagard ™ Motor Cyclists’ Boots. See advertisement below).
Cloth Caps

467. Ordinary cloth caps, so long as they fit well and have a large, waterproof peak are good, but they seldom stay on quite so well at speed as does a good ski-cap.

(Ted’s tip is to use in conjunction with the Jefco ™ Face Screen. See advertisement below).
Scarves

485. If funds will run to it, there is nothing to beat an angora-wool scarf for softness, warmth and general comfort. However, any good wool scarf will serve, but it should be long enough to encircle the neck twice and still reach the waist. Many riders arrange their scarves so that one end runs right down the front and passes between their legs; in this way it prevents wind and cold finding their way past the openings in the coat and trousers.

TOURING AND CAMPING

Finding Accommodation

536. If when on tour you do not happen to have a list of places at which suitable accommodation is obtainable, and no arrangements have been made beforehand, plan to end your day’s run not later than, say, six o’clock. Having arrived at the village or town at which you intend spending the night, seek out a local policeman or call in to see one of the innkeepers. These worthies as a rule can suggest houses where inexpensive, good accommodation is obtainable, assuming that is what you desire. If on the other hand you want an hotel the local policeman is generally the best man from whom to seek advice.

WORKSHOP AND USE OF TOOLS

Coin Measurements

721. Although a set of rules should always find a place in the amateur mechanic’s equipment, it sometimes happens that measurements are required without the necessary items being available. In such instances it is worth knowing that the following coins represent certain definite measurements:

One penny : 1/10th of a foot in diameter.

A sixpence : ¾ in. diameter.

Half-crown : 1¼ in. diameter.

Five halfpennies or three pennies weigh one ounce.

Now where did I put those old coins?

Here are the advertisements that are useful in conjunction with tips 461 and 467 respectively.

Even today, a long distance motorcyclist may find one of these useful. I'll have to get one of these for Ian's next birthday.

If anyone would like to read some more of these just leave a comment and 2 numbers between 1 and 720, omitting the ones already previewed.

Banbury Run 2009

2010-01-09T18:55:00.010Z

Sunday 21st of June 2009 saw Ian, Guzzisue and myself heading down the Fosse Way to Gaydon for the 61st Banbury Run. Car parking was closer to the venue this year, being in a field across the road from the Heritage Motor Centre.

As with any motorcycle event a walk round the motorcycle enclosure is always necessary. This always springs up a surprise or two. This year just happened to be this SS50 Honda moped, a model often overlooked by the more glamorous Fizzie.

Closer inspection reveals an interesting modification to the engine.

Inside the museum grounds there was one change from the previous year. The pit area was on the right hand side as opposed to the left. If this was more sheltered than last year’s it was not put to the test, as there was hardly any breeze.

Every event has three different classes.

Class A: Mainly veterans prior to 1915. These have a gentle ride of approximately 30 miles.
Class B: Early vintage machines 1915-1924. Their ride is in the 50-60 mile range.
Class C: Late vintage 1925-1930. These modern machines have a run of over 60 miles.

Both classes B and C have to negotiate Sunrising Hill, on the A422. This is a popular spectator viewpoint as riders and some of the machines limp their way to the summit, some being walked up by the rider.
Here is the route map for Class C.

Walking around the pit area I noticed that this entrant was well prepared for a final drive problem, a spare being carried.

Many entrants got into the spirit of the event by dressing in period dress. Here we see No 379, Andy Batchelor with his 1930 Raleigh MO 30

and No 365, Raymond Hudson aside his 1913, 499cc Premier 2 Speed.

Settling ourselves on the outside of the first bend, followed by relocating further up the road we proceeded to take some photos and video footage. Unfortunately many of my photos from this area were not of very good quality. More practise required. Here are just a few.

James Bridge-Butler was hoping third time lucky as he failed to finish the previous outings on his 1910 Triumph.

David Cooper on his powerful 1½hp, 1902 Quadrant,

and finally, a local connection for us as Alan Booth passed by on his friend’s 1930 Sunbeam Lion. The local connection is that the Nottinghamshire Police used this motorcycle during WWII.

Last year we cast our eyes over a Henderson. Not expecting to see another, we were surprised to see this for sale (?) in the autojumble arena.

Ian got talking to someone who mentioned that a friend of his managed to buy a smoke damaged Henderson, put it straight into an auction and doubled his money by doing nothing to it! A shrewd move indeed.

We had intended to give the 2010 Run a miss, however, having read on the Banbury Run web page that entry to the Banbury Run will also include free entry to the Heritage Museum we will try our best to attend on 20th June. See you there?

Footnote (for Affer)

As Affer spotted in the film clip there is a gentleman struggling to start his 1919, 600cc George Reed Scott. By more luck than judgement, one of the few photos I managed to take in the paddock area was this one.

Tis The Season

2009-12-25T11:25:00.002Z

Well I was going out to visit Ian's relations with him and Guzzisue, however when I opened the back door to find over a foot of snow on the ground.....

All I can do is to say Seasons Greetings to one and all and a prosperous new year.

Papplewick Pumping Station - 1940's Weekend

2009-12-19T11:58:00.006Z

I was a little concerned on our last trip to Papplewick Pumping Station. Soldiers were guarding the main gate and checking the papers of every occupant in every vehicle. We had been issued with identity cards and ration books upon entry ourselves.

Walking up the main cobbled road there was a line of important looking motor cars.

I'm not sure if the ARP warden has been dabbling in the black market to purchase and run his Austin.
By the green 'Monty' was giving a speech to motivate the troops and local people.
Looking around I was relieved to see that the Registration of Boys and Girls Order had no mention of bears.
There was also plenty of warnings around to make us wary of what we were fighting against.
The Home Guard kept a watchful eye on the day's proceedings,
especially as there was such an important visitor in the grounds!
There was enthusiasm by the locals wanting to enlist, having checked out the weaponry.
There was a fine arsenal on display, enough to scare off any invaders?
While a sharp eye was kept on the skies
the same could not be said about on the ground.
Spotting a German motorcycle, I was about to sabotage it when
two Germans came a little too close.
Not to worry. As we were departing, I noticed that the Yanks were on the way.

But it was all just a dream. Wasn't it?

Papplewick Pumping Station - A Hidden Gem

2009-11-22T15:46:00.014Z

It’s strange how events sometimes happen. There is a peaceful, secluded spot not too far from where we live that Ian and Guzzisue have been intending to visit since before I was born. The opportunity arose when Ian’s nephew Shaun was up in the area for a few days. When this occurs, Ian and Guzzisue always try and take Shaun and/or Tanya, Ian’s niece, out for a day. On this occasion it was a trip to Papplewick Pumping Station, between the A60 and A614.

Before I go into detail of our visit I will give a brief insight as to why the Pumping station was built.

As the Framework Knitting and Lace Industries expanded, so did Nottingham’s population. Between the years 1720 and 1830, the population rose from 10,000 to 50,000. The River Leen , Nottingham’s water supply, quickly became contaminated with sewage and industrial waste, resulting in cholera and typhoid epidemics.

In 1845the Nottingham Enclosure Act was passed which enabled the town to expand on the surrounding land. Prior to this all building had to be done within the medieval town boundaries. During the same year, the Nottingham Water Act amalgamated all of the existing small water companies into the Nottingham Waterworks Company.

As the local water supplies were becoming increasingly polluted Thomas Hawksley, engineer to the new Waterworks Company, looked underground for a fresh supply of water. Much of the surrounding area of Nottingham is situated on Bunter Sandstone, with some 20% of its volume made up of interconnecting spaces, thus enabling it to act as both a filter and sponge, storing vast quantities of pure water.

Three Pumping Stations were built between 1850 and 1871, with the water being stored in four reservoirs built by the Company, alongside one reservoir already in use. Papplewick reservoir was built in 1880, but more about this will follow later.

Also in 1880, the responsibility for the water supply passed over to the Nottingham Corporation Water Department whose Engineer, Marriott Ogle Tarbotton. Tarbotton realised the need for increased production and storage capacity for water and was quick to submit a report drawing attention to this. The result of this was for another reservoir to be built near Nottingham and the construction of Papplewick Pumping Station, complete with two 140 HP James Watt rotative beam engines. These engines continued to be used for the next 85 years until June 1969 when an electric pumping station was built.

Surprisingly when we arrived for the start of our day out we managed to walk straight into the grounds without paying. This was due to the fact that we were an hour too early and the staff were still setting up for the day. All was not lost as we were able to sit down, have a drink and talk to the preservation society treasurer. This gave us the opportunity of purchasing a family season ticket for about the same cost as getting all of us in for the single visit.

At this moment in time, little did we know how much use this ticket would get!

As the day slowly awoke, there was a morning chorus of a local group of Austin owners coming to display their fine motors for the day.
There was so much to wander round, look at and watch it was difficult to know where to start, so I stood watching two gentlemen fettling their mini traction engines.

For our first view of the beam engines we started by going in via the tradesman’s entrance and warmed ourselves by the Lancashire boilers. There are six in total, three of which were in use at any one time when the station was in operation, but as the pumps now provide enjoyment and education as opposed to water only one is required. About 2,000 tons of coal was required every year when fully operational.

Walking along the length of the two central boilers we enter the Victorian splendour of the pump house. In front of us stand the two beam engines. Due to the size of these gentle metal leviathans it was impossible to photograph them in one shot, so I will explain each section individually.

When looking over the safety rail into the basement area there are some heavy timbers that cover the 200ft well that had been cut through the sandstone into the water bearing area. The well is connected by a horizontal tunnel to the original pilot well near to the main gate, which in turn now has some submersible pumps supplying water to the Nottingham area.

On the left of the photo we can see the 21 inch pipe that the pump rod is protected by. The rod and pipe go down 200ft to the bottom of the well lifting the vast quantities of water to the reservoir. Also visible is the connecting rod that is connected to the flywheel by a crank. The flywheel rotates at a steady 11 ½ rpm, thus keeping the pump at an even movement. In front of the flywheel is the Watt’s Patent Governor. This can be found on many steam powered engines. As the flywheel gains momentum the heavy steel balls on the governor rise, thus helping to keep a regular momentum.

The un-victorian screen in the background is one of several scattered around giving an audio and visual explanation of the pump’s operation.

Passing by the manual valve gear with its starting handles, complete with a brass nameplate dated 1884, we head upstairs to the middle floor, known as the “Packing Flat”. Here we are level with the tops of the steam cylinders. These provide the power to operate the pump rods to obtain the water. For the steam cylinder and pump rods to be connected we have to go up another flight of stairs and view the beams.

The beams are a mere 25ft in length and weigh 13 tons. The rocking motion, combined with the lazy sound of the engines make this floor a delight to spend some time in. Around the walls are various displays with information of the site and surrounding area.

There was no shortage of decoration on the ground floor pillars either. On the top of these there are ornate birds, just visible in the steam cylinder photo. They are looking down at the fish in the cooling pond, an easy meal for them. The fish grow to a good size due to the water temperature.

We spent several hours watching the steam pumps in action, along with other exhibits scattered around the grounds. It is certainly a hidden gem of British heritage that needs investigating if you ever get the chance. We never thought that we would use the family ticket for more than one occasion, however as the year unfolded…….

Finally, here is a short film of the day’s events put into some form perspective.

The Bells! It Must Be The Gate To Southwell.

2009-11-01T15:00:00.003Z

The original event of the Gate to Southwell dates back to 1109, and was revived back in 1981, becoming an annual event for many local Morris dance teams.
In the year of Our Lord 1109, someone decided to build a “Mother Church” at Southwell, Nottinghamshire. Obviously money was required for such a grand plan, so people were invited from all over the Diocese to walk to Southwell and donate money. These monies became known as the Southwell Pence.

The amounts varied as to the wealth and generosity of the people from the various parishes, for example, Nottingham gave 13 Shillings and 4 Pence, and poor Stanton could only muster 5 pence in total!

Since Great Britain went decimal in 1971 there will be many people that cannot remember the old currency, so let me explain.

4 Farthings = 1 Penny (d)
12 Pennies = 1 Shilling (s)
20 Shillings = 1 Pound (£)
21 shillings = 1 guinea.

Therefore something bought for 50 guineas means that it costs £50 and 50 shillings, or £52 10s 0d.

So far, so good.

There were several different coins used in the old monetary system:

Farthing = ¼ of a penny
Half Penny = ½ of a penny
Penny = 1/12 of a shilling
Three Penny Piece ( pronounced “threp-ni” with “bit”) = ¼ of a Shilling
Sixpence (known as a tanner) = ½ of a shilling
Shilling (also known as “a Bob) = 1 shilling
Florin (known as “2 Bob”) = 2 shillings
Half a Crown = 2s 6d
Crown = 5 shillings

Incidentally the film Half A Sixpence, with Tommy Steele might not have been so popular if it was simply named Threepence!

This system was known as £sd and youngsters look at Ian with far out expressions when he explains this to them!

In today’s money the sum passed over equates to £15.94 approximately.

As part of the revived Gate to Southwell, each Morris group takes a purse of pre decimal coins representing the various parishes. At the conclusion of the procession the monies are handed over and speeches exchanged, along with a cheque for the equivalent in new currency.

The Gate starts in Nottingham’s Old Market Square with informal dancing from participating Morris groups. The Lord Mayor makes a speech and the Southwell Pence are handed over to begin their journey.

The troupe then proceed out of the city centre, through the Lace Market area and down into Sneinton. Here a warm welcome awaits and more speeches are made, after which members of the Sneinton Environmental Society escort the procession to the parish boundary.

From here there follows dances at various taverns along the route. These include stop offs at Burton Joyce, Lowdham, Thurgarten, where we meet up with the pilgrims.
In the first film we can see amongst others the Dolphin Morris, who are responsible for the organisation of the event and Yellow Belly from Lincolnshire.

The dancers then head off towards Bleasby for a well earned cup of tea and scone before they travel on down to the Bromley Arms at Fiskerton, by the River Trent. Here I captured Greenwood Clog and the Maids Of Clifton in action.

This was the final stopping off place for these particular troupes before reaching Southwell and proceeding up the main road to the Minster.

Here at the Minster the Southwell Pence are handed over to a grateful minister. Speeches are made, from the Morris Representative and the minister before we gather inside the Minster for more dancing and a small service.

After the formalities are over the dancers are given free beer vouchers to be redeemed in the Bramley Apple Public House. in this film we see the Sallyport Sword Dancers and at the end Mike, from the Dolphin Morris with his pick up sticks routine.

FREE BEER! Must find some bells and practise for next year.

I Binns Out For The Day

2009-10-05T14:31:00.007+01:00

Although not officially part of the City Pulse event this year another summer music event kicked off on the same weekend.

The Albert Hall has had a troubled existence and if there are building councillors then this could well have been a case for one.

In the early 1870's the Good Templar's amongst other groups were looking for a site in Nottingham to build a Temperance Hall. The local architect, Mr Watson Fothergill won the commission and the foundation stone was laid in 1873, however funds soon ran out.

A rescue bid was put into place by the formation of a limited liability company and work began on what is now the Albert Hall, with the costing being £14,000.

At that time, the Albert Hall was Nottingham's largest concert hall and a major venue for political rallies. By the turn of the century it was realised that the Hall would never be able to generate enough cash to avoid frequent financial crises.

It was time for the Wesleyans to take over the mantle. When the venue came on the market in 1901 it was purchased by a syndicate of local businessmen for £8,450 and opened as a mission in 1902.

The outstanding debt on the building was a burden, however work on the mission was progressing well until the 22nd of April 1906 when fire swept through the building. The fire hit the Methodists hard as it was under insured, therefore they needed to raise a substantial sum of money to rebuild. The sturdy community managed to raise the sum required and brought in another local architect, Mr A E Lambert. His new Albert Hall Methodist Mission was built in the style of an Edwardian Theatre or Music Hall and, in the practise of temperance halls, concerts and other events were staged in the hall.

The new hall was dedicated in March 1909 and officially opened on the 15th September 1910 by Lady Boot, wife of Sir Jesse Boot.

The centrepiece of the hall is the magnificent Binns Organ, built in 1909 by J.J. Binns, gifted to the City of Nottingham by Sir Jesse. The walnut casework was made by Boots' shopfitters.

Back in the 1980's, Ian had the pleasure of being at a recital of Gillian Weir's, when she performed Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition". There was an audience of less than one hundred in the vast hall and the windows could be heard rattling when the bass notes were played.

The hall continued to function as a Methodist mission until 1984 and the City Council purchased the building in 1987, conducting a major refurbishment in order to link the venue with the Nottingham Playhouse. The work was completed in 1988 and HRH the Princess of Wales unveiled a plaque in 1989 to commemorate the refurbishment.

The Nottingham Playhouse managed the Albert Hall until July 1990 when the City Council leased the building to the Albert Hall Nottingham Ltd for use as a Conference and Entertainment Venue.

After the final service in the hall the organ lay silent for three years, being exposed to damp, dirt and the disturbance of the refurbishment.

When the hall was purchased by the council the Binns Organ Restoration Appeal Fund was launched. The group, representing local businesses, organists, art bodies and civic charities, needed to raise £200,000. Donations poured in and restoration began in September 1992 under the guidance of local organist and custodian of the organ, David Butterworth. Restoration was undertaken by Harrison and Harrison, of Durham, and in October 1993 was ready to sound forth again, which brings us full circle on this post.

On Sunday May 24th, John Keys, a former pupil of Gillian Weir gave the "Centenary Celebration Recital". This was the first of six free recitals for 2009. In it he performed music from Purcell, Mendelssohn, Wagner including Ride of the Walkyre (or should that be Valkyre?)

Unfortunately we only stayed for the first half of the performance as there were so many bands playing around the city centre. Ian did sneak in the video recorder and I managed to record the first movement from Handel's "Suite for the Royal Fireworks"

Enjoy.

Nottingham City Pulse 2009

2009-09-27T08:55:00.016+01:00

As a one time Glam Rocker from the 1970's sang before he fell into shame, dishonour and tabloid public enemy #1. Hello, hello, it's good to be back!

Ian, Guzzisue and myself have just returned from our latest travels. Naturally I will be posting details on these, but I have so much to catch up on from this year for the time being. It will be difficult to follow The Long Not Winding Road series as this included new horizons, cities and emotional experiences.

When Ian found himself joining the masses of workers losing their jobs, things were not looking too hopeful for this summer, however it gave us chance to find cheaper options to be entertained. I will start with the Nottingham City Pulse 2009.

The event was held over the Whit Bank Holiday period at the end of May around the city centre. In all there were six stages around the centre with the usual buskers plying their talents as well.

With the sun shinning and Nottingham alive with saturday shoppers we sat ourselves down in St Mark's Square to listen to songs from the 1920's and 30's performed by the Hot Potato Syncopators, looking quite dashing in their dickies and evening suits. Music to give images of punting down a river, complete with picnic hamper and wind up gramophone abound. The group were so impressed with the recording of their performance that it now appears on their web site, so for your enjoyment, I give you the Hot Potato Syncopators.

Moving along to Nottingham Castle wall, by the statue of Robin Hood, a new stage and marque complete with a dance floor had been erected for this year. Previously there had been only a small stage. Admittedly I was convinced that this would not work, however, like most humans, this bear can make mistakes and the idea was a complete success with people dancing to big band music and local ceilidh bands amongst other types of music.

Five Go Off are a local folk/ceilidh band consisting of four talented musicians. Inside the marquee they managed to get people of all ages up and dancing by slowly talking the steps through slowly so the dancers could get an idea of what they were meant to be doing. Denny Plowman, one of the musicians also took on the mantle of caller for the dances.

The Henly Farrell Big Band, another locally based band. The band features a traditional line up of 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 5 saxes, piano, bass, guitar, drums and 2 singers. I was only able to be at the start of the band's set and the video below is rather mellow. Later on when I returned the marquee was in full swing with several dancers on their feet.

Leaving the marquee behind, it is time to head towards Chapel Bar, Nottingham's continental area. Here there are several restaurants with seating available on the pedestrianised area. At the top of Chapel Bar there is another small stage, occupied by yet another local group, The Hot Club Trio. They consist of two guitars and a double bass. Arriving here a little late Ian and myself only caught the last number, I Surrender The Win, a breathtaking performance. The Hot Club Trio certainly suited the ambiance and I would have liked to hear more from them.

From here it is only a short walk to the centre of Nottingham and the Market Square. A few years ago the square looked like the picture below.

However the city council decided that the area needed a revamp. In the foreground below the two grassed areas were public conveniences that had well passed their use by date. The central area was well used by skateboarders and people that liked a drink or five, whilst at the top near to the council house, there were two fountains. On many occasions these had to be switched off and drained due to detergent being thrown in.
The New Old Market Square now looks like this.

A vast open space that just shouts out "Use Me!" And so it gets used. Now we have craft fairs, continental markets, a large Ferris wheel and Nottingham Riviera. The Market Square's website for future events can be found here.

But I digress a little. The event is the City Pulse and taking the main stage is James Hunter. James is a talented bluesman from the Deep South of England, living in a caravan in Colchester, when he was nine. His ability to work the crowd is second to none. He was the ideal person to headline on the Monday and bring the Pulse to a close.

Walking along the left hand side of the Council House is Long Row. Here is the final band I shall showcase. The Big Beat are a collective that not only specialise in educating, but also pass on their eco message at festivals as well as planning corporate events. Their act is certainly lively and I struggled to keep the camera steady filming them.

In the local elections this year the council that has put the funding for the two City Pulses has lost power. I look forward to 2010 to see what happens next.

New Awards For Biker Ted

2009-09-03T21:44:00.002+01:00

This is a very belated thank you to a couple of my blog friends who have bestowed awards on me.
First to Sally over at Crafty Salutations who has the added bonus (?) of knowing both Ian and Guzzisue for many years, poor thing, and secondly to Baron, with his blog, Baron's Life.
Every time a comment is placed on any post it can help to kick start memories that may otherwise be lost in the depths of the mind. I will take this opportunity to thank everyone who has posted their comments and ideas in the past and hopefully in the future.
Before this turns into an Oscar speech, whereupon I start to thank my parents, photographers and film crew (Ian and Guzzisue), I will proudly exit stage left.

As they say....to be continued.

One Place I've Not Been To........Yet

2009-08-16T21:27:00.010+01:00

For as long as I can recall, Ian has been going on about what was still in his father's attic. Having moved out over 20 years ago, his father announced that he was having his lagging replaced and everything had to be removed from its storage space. Various boxes found their way into his old bedroom for a while, then Ian's sister's family were coming up to Nottingham for a few days, so boxes were ousted to Ian's shed and eventually arrived at Ted Towers a few weeks ago.

Several things of interest saw the light of day for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, including this publication. There has been the usual "what were you doing on the day when...." on local radio and I assume in the press as well.

Forty years ago, a young pre acned Ian was spending the school summer holiday period with his sister in Melton Mowbray with relations. From this period he gained a loathing of luncheon meat and sandwich spread.
During the summer of '69, Bryan Adams seems to have been too involved in starting a band that he overlooked a small piece of history, the moon landing, 20th July 1969. Back then the local press were always a little slow to cash in on such an event, the Nottingham Evening Post being no exception.

In early August for the extortionate price of 6d (two and a half new pence!), a 20 page souvenir paper could be purchased. The photos have been seen many times since the landing and is a good thing they have as now the paper is getting somewhat fragile.
Inside there are articles on the moon landing,

the Lunar Logbook, not quite up to Captain's Log, Star date ... standard but interesting nonetheless.
There is also a small piece on the Lunar module

and the three astronauts.
A smiling President gets in on the act before a watery gate took away some of his glory.

Some of the advertisements had a space theme about them.

The advertisement for Two Three Four Motors shows they certainly did not put all their eggs in one basket, dealing with British, Japanese and Italian transport!
I somehow doubt that the Fresh Fish 'N' Seafood from Mason & Clarke Ltd of Reading would have been caught in the Sea of Tranquility.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - Paws For Thought

2009-08-14T17:16:00.002+01:00

While I have been reminiscing on our trip, my friend Affer has been busy on his blog On The Road To Who-Knows-Where... on his travels around the Somme Battlefield area. I recommend that you pop over and have a read. Also there is BBE's Video Snapshot, where the Belgium Based Englishman has been concentrating on various small film clips of war memorials.

Last but not least, one blog that has become a living history is WWI:Experiences Of An English Soldier. This blog is compiled by Bill Lamin and the posts are copies of his grandfather's letters that were written 90 years ago to the day they were written. Willimam Henry Bonser Lamin was born in Awsworth, Nottinghamshire, about 15 miles from where we live, so there is some local interest for us.

It feels quite poignant that as I was putting the finishing touches to the Verdun Battlefield Tour that the news of Harry Patch's death was announced. Harry was the last surviving veteran from the trenches of WWI, having fought during the Battle of Passchendaele.
He returned to Passchendaele in 2007 for the 90th anniversary of the battle, laying a wreath, not only on a memorial for the British dead, but also at a cemetery for the German victims of the offensive.
In 2007 he became the UK's oldest author when he collaborated with Richard van Emden to write The Last Fighting Tommy, a detailed account of his life.

Mr Patch's friend Lesley Ross said she felt great affection towards him.

"Extremely modest, dignified gentleman, with a slightly wicked sense of humour and considerate to everybody he met. Very polite and I would sum him up as a true gentleman," she said.

Finally it is all quiet on the Western Front. Sleep well Harry. You have earned it.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - No Words Necessary

2009-08-09T12:07:00.003+01:00

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - History Lesson (Part 4)

2009-08-01T17:19:00.012+01:00

By now we were beginning to feel like sheep as our tour guide was behaving like shepherd and dog combined. After disembarking from the coach at the next stop, Douaumont Ossuary,

the three of us left the flock to take a few photos and film in peace, only for the shep, er, tour guide to come running after us crying 'Mes anglais. J'ai perdu mes Anglais!'
Harmony was restored as we rejoined the flock and headed into the cinema to watch a 20 minute film, complete with headphones, entitled 'The life of Poilu'.

The Douaumont Ossuary was inaugurated on August 7th 1932 by the French President, Albert Lebrun, having been suggested by the Bishop of Verdun, His Grace Ginisty.
During the 300 days of battle for Verdun, over 300,000 French and German soldiers lost their lives. The Ossuary lives to join the unidentified remains, some 130,000 French and German fighters in one final resting place.

The building's tower overlooks the entire battlefield. We were unable to climb to the top due to lack of time on our mini tour, maybe another visit will be required in future. The Ossuary's facade is 137m in length and displays the shield of every town or city that helped to fund the building. The cloister consists of 22 cavities each containing 46 granite graves. Each grave represents a sector of the battlefield and contains the remains of soldiers found in the relevant area. At the ends of the cloister there are 350 cubic metre vaults to contain the excess remains found from sectors that had received heavy losses. In front of the Ossuary there is the Douaumont military cemetery containing the graves of 15,000 identified French soldiers.

There are many war cemeteries throughout France, for both wars and it is not until one of these is visited that one can comprehend the human loss endured in such battles. With no time to ponder or pay our respects to the fallen, we were back on the coach for our last stop.

The Verdun Memorial is located in the heart of the battlefields and is amongst the principal European Great War museums.

Built in 1967, it houses planes, vehicles, heavy arms and weapons alongside uniforms, personal belongings and handicrafts from the trenches.
Due to the time limit of the tour, we were allocated only half an hour inside this museum. So little that Guzzisue only managed to take a few photos of the weapons outside and I managed a little filming (to be posted soon). Guzzisue was not able to take photos inside the museum, as was also the case inside the Ossuary.

The photo below shows a 170mm minewerfer that was buried in the clay during the fierce battle for Hill 304 in 1916. It was saved with the help of "L'Office National Des Forets" and technical assistance of the army in June 1976.

Next is a French cannon that was used as fortification artillery during the battle for Verdun. Its total weight was 6 tonnes and had the ability to fire shells between 40 - 43kgs up to a distance of 12kms.

Finally, two views of a 1913 Schneider cannon. This had a range of 12.7kms and could fire shells at a rate of 6 - 8 per minute. The tyred wheels were not added until after 1918.

We arrived back in Verdun just after 17:00 and headed off to the centre for some refreshment before returning to the hotel to prepare for the journey home over the next couple of days. The tour, although short, was good value for the money. Trying to fit four visits in and traipsing around on a warm day with motorcycle gear is not always easy, Let the coach take the strain I say.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - History Lesson (Part 3)

2009-07-11T21:59:00.012+01:00

Fort Douaumont was mainly constructed between 1885 and 1891, with it being completed by 1913. It was built after the Franco-Prussian war with the intention of defending the area from future attacks.
The location of the fort meant that it had a commanding view of the surrounding area. The barracks were built to house a garrison of 635 soldiers, who could be self sufficient, having their own water tank, kitchens and bakery.

In 1914 only a single infantry company plus artillery and engineers, just under 500 men in total, occupied the fort.

The views on the usefulness of fortresses like Fort Douaumont changed after similar Belgian forts could not stop the German advance, thus the garrison was further reduced. When the German offensive began in 1916, the fort had been disarmed of nearly all its large guns and only a garrison of 57 French soldiers was in residence. The Germans were able to capture the fort without too many problems on 25th February 1916.

Upon entering the fort, we were handed a guide written in English. As our party gathered we had time to look around the reception area and to study a painting hanging on the wall.

Inside the fort itself it is damp and chilly with our footsteps echoing in the corridors. We hung back from our tour party occasionally in order for Guzzisue to take a few photos of the passageways.

And also having been shown various rooms we were the last to leave, just for one last photo, showing the dankness of the interior. Notice the stalactites forming on the ceiling of this room.

We were brought back to reality when our guide displayed how things echoed in the fort by allowing a metal sheet to drop onto the floor.

At the entrance to the first corridor there is an information board proclaiming that there are several kilometers of passageways, of which only a few are open to the public. I'm unsure as to if this is because they might be unsafe or they don't want to lock anyone in at closing time! The ceiling is 6 metres thick, and it is estimated that during the German attack of 1916 the fort was hit by between 800 and 1400 shells each day!

The French recaptured the fort on 24th October 1916, and the ground floor corridor was named the Galerie Mangin, after their commander in charge of the operation.

There are many rooms off the corridors, each with their own purpose within the fort. The one below is a dormitory for the soldiers, equipped with iron beds.

On May 8th 1916 at 06:00 an explosion occurred inside the fort. This happened when a store of grenades exploded, which in turn ignited some nearby flamethrowers. With nowhere to run or hide some 800 - 900 Germans lost their lives. Some of these men were taken and buried outside the fort while the remaining were placed together and sealed behind a wall. There is a simple cross to mark the mass grave.

I'm unsure as to when the next photo was taken, but I think it shows some German soldiers paying their respects to lost comrades from the explosion.

The tour concluded with a visit to the machine gun turret. This was built between 1907 and 1909. The operators were able to change the aim of the gun by turning large wheels by hand, the turret was retractable, enabling it to be raised for firing and then lowered afterwards. It took another three men to turn the wheels which were needed to perform this operation.
The mechanism relied on heavy counterweights, thus enabling the gun to lower by it's own weight. For the gun to be raised the necessary 60cms for firing it took the three men two minutes. The shells weighed in at 43kgs and had a range of over 7kms (approx 4 miles). In theory the gun could be fired quite rapidly, however human constraints slowed the process down. The noise in such an enclosed area would be deafening, combined with the carbon dioxide emitted from the gun's backfire hindered the operation.

Once outside again we had just a few minutes to look around before heading back to the coach and onto the next destination.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - History Lesson (Part 2)

2009-07-01T19:09:00.012+01:00

The coach tour that we booked ourselves onto commenced at 14:00 and collected us from outside the Tourist Information Centre. The cost of the tour was 25.50 euros and we were informed that it would be all in French. We tried to keep up with our limited understanding of the commentary, but failed so we followed where the rest of the party were looking.
On our journey the coach stopped at several roadside locations between the major stops. One of these was an area showing some of the trenches from the period.

Our first stop was at the Tranchee des Baionnettes, Bayonet Trench, erected to the glory of the 137th Infantry Regiment.

The event itself is mingled with truth and legend. On June 12th 1916, this area was forming a salient west of Fort Douaumont, which the Germans wanted to capture before launching their main offensive on the 23rd.
Two battalions of the 137th Infantry Regiment, deployed at the front since June 10th, were the object of appalling shelling and very soon found themselves cut off. The regiment's third company had lost 94 of its 164 men by the night of the 11th. The remainder had been placed in a row of exposed trenches directly visible to the German artillery spotters. The artillery fire on the position increased in the early morning hours and the remainder of the 137th Regiment was annihilated almost to a man.

In Tony Langley's book The Price Of Glory, author Alistair Horne wrote:

It was not until after the war that French teams exploring the battlefield provided a clue as to the fate of 3 Company. The trench it had occupied was discovered completely filled in, but from a part of it at regular intervals protruded rifles, with bayonets still fixed to their twisted and rusty muzzles. On excavation, a corpse was found beneath each rifle, From that plus the testimony of survivors from nearby units, it was deduced that 3 Company had placed its rifles on the parapet ready to repel any attack and rather than abandon their trench had been buried alive to a man there by the German bombardment. When the story the Trench des Baionnettes was told it caught the world's imagination.

The monument was opened by Alexandre Millerand, President of the Republic, in the presence of the ambassador of the United States, on the 8th of December 1920. Other theories have evolved over the years about the fate of the last men of the 3rd Company. Gas or concussion from exploding shells are alternative explanations of the mass deaths of the men. This may have been followed by the Germans overrunning the position and hurriedly filling in the mass grave which would explain their unique internment. But the exact details are beside the point. As Mr Horne points out, the legend persists because whatever happened was an epic display of gallantry and sacrifice by the Poilus and the vivid documentation of the intensity of the fighting at Verdun. The Bayonet Trench Symbolizes what makes Verdun a singular event in military history.

Whatever the truth may in reality be, 3 Company. I salute you.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - History Lesson (Part 1)

2009-06-14T21:20:00.020+01:00

Leaving Germany behind Ian is taking things easy as we enjoy the countryside, crops being harvested and large birds of prey by the side of the motorway and armed police at the French border. The usual everyday occurrences really.
At one time we got involved with a group of eight German registered Porches driving in convoy. I got the feeling that they did not like an old Italian motorcycle breaking up their group and if one overtook then they all had to. This started to get dangerous as the drivers were determined to stay in formation, even if it meant that Ian had to brake suddenly to avoid going into the back of the car that had just overtaken him! These were certainly the worse cases of driving we had seen on the continent in all of our travels.
Arriving at our destination, Verdun, at 14:00, we head straight for our usual hotel, Prunellia. After getting ourselves sorted it was time for a stroll into the town centre. The road towards our destination was typically French with window shutters giving the air of abandonment.

The sign for the local Post Office gave the feeling that maybe there could be life in the area.

The River Meuse runs through the centre of Verdun with the area quayside area known as Quai de Londres in recognition of the funding given by the people of London to help in the rebuilding process after WWI.

As the Meuse flows through, it creates several canals, giving the feeling that we could almost be back in Venice, All the was missing were the gondoliers.

In times past, Verdun was a walled town, much of which is no longer visible, although the Chaussee Tower, built about 1380 still survives. It is the town's main gateway overlooking the largest bridge. It is the lynch pin of Verdun's defensive wall. The gateway with wooden portcullis consists of a classical arcade with pediment which were added in 1690.
From 1754 the gate was used as the royal military prison with access via a drawbridge.

As part of Verdun's defence system, the Litigation Tower was equipped with bombards. These were the forerunner to the cannon. It was also defended with archers. Also in its past the Litigation Tower has been used as a law court, hence its name.
Originally built in about 1380 in the shape of a horseshoe, it was open at the back and could been seen from the far bank of the River Meuse. The meant that any attacking enemy could not entrench itself there. It was not until the 17th century that the tower was completed with the addition of a small door, the Postern of the Puty that opened out onto the Moson canal.

Verdun is synonymous with WWI and the epic battle that took place from February 16th to December 15th 1916, resulting in 250,000 dead and 500,000 wounded, during which time it is estimated that 40 million shells were fired. More information on the battle can be found here.

The Avenue de la Victoire starts at the quayside and goes right up the hill through town with a statue overlooking the area below, aided by two Russian field guns that had been captured by the Germans and then taken from them by the French army, although I'm sure they could be from WWII.

Walking through the town and up the hill, heading towards the cathedral, we stopped so Guzzisue could take this photo. It shouts "Italy" to me and I can imagine being in an Italian village or town descending towards the Mediterranean. Maybe it's the romantic Ted peeping through?

Like all of Verdun the cathedral and the adjoining Bishop's Palace were not spared from the bombardment delivered by the Germans during the siege. The results are plain to see on the following print.

There is still visible damage to the outside wall although this could also have been due to a battle from WWII.
The building is still in the process of being renovated from all damages incurred throughout the troubled times. The pillars inside the crypt give a small indication as to life and events inside the trenches. First we have a field gun ready to fire on the enemy.

The usual tactic was after bombarding the enemies trenches for a period of time, the foot soldiers would then cross through No Man's Land, to be greeted by gun shots.

There is also the comradeship

but some did understandably loose their nerve and this could happen.

Many millions paid with their lives.

Note once again the use of the skull and cross bones on the left hand side, a theme that has been handed down through the centuries as we have already seen in All Saints Church, Kostnice, with the skull sculptures.

More information on the cathedral is located here.

Walking away from the town centre we came across The Guardians Of Verdun.

Across the road from this monument is the local Tourist Information Centre, so in we ventured and booked ourselves onto a coach tour.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - Westward Ho!

2009-06-05T08:09:00.014+01:00

It is time to bid a sad farewell to Vienna. We could have easily stayed another day but there are more places to visit before the end of our fortnight break. Breakfasted, packed and loaded, the Guzzi taken off her centre stand, sounding like a family of mice had stowed away. The rear suspension is certainly on its way out. Looks like the motorways then. Bummer.
Travelling across Austria we started to meet up with groups of motorcycles. We had caught up with people returning home from the European Bike Week at Faak am See, organised by Harley Davidson and attended by 50,000 people.
There were many motorcyclists stopping at the various service stations along the way. At one we caught up with this Valkyre that appeared to have a personality disorder!

And here is a rose amongst the thorns.

Getting bored of our own company we rode along with a group of BMWs for a while. On the motorway there appeared to be as many trailered Harleys as those being ridden. Making good progress we had an overnight stop at Jettingen - Scheppach. The hotel was situated about half a mile from the village, but there was not much to see. Next morning at breakfast we got talking to a family that had been over to the Bike Week and they were surprised that we had not been there. We tried to explain that we do rallies back home in Britain and that when travelling abroad we enjoy visiting places and seeing different things. Our motorcycle is an enjoyable way of doing these things.
Back on the road and we have less than 200 miles to reach our next destination. Ian remarked that he was going to take it easy. Well he did for a while, tucking in behind a British plated Norton, travelling along at a steady 75-80 mph. Then in his own words "My head went". Due to us being on the autobahn we were able to cruise at 85-95mph on a quarter throttle and average 48mpg! Unheard of before and since. We did have a close call with a bird that must have been slip streaming and every time we changed lanes it did the same.
At 13:00 we reached our destination, Europa Park. A post on our previous visit can be seen here.
We were informed that the park hotels were all fully booked, but they did have one room for that evening. Guzzisue then went to work as we put on our best sad expressions, explaining that we had visited before and that we had returned because we had enjoyed ourselves previously. The receptionist then rechecked her computer screen, disappeared into the back office, came back and having checked that we had indeed visited previously, informed us that we could have a room in the hotel for two nights and then proceeded to apologise that the room was next to the swimming pool. As if we cared, we were in!
As we could not gain admittance to our room for a couple of hours what could we do but head straight to the bar with our books and settle down.
At 15:00, key in hand we relocate all our gear into our room and then discover that the German children were still on their summer holidays and the park is open until 19:00. This gives us plenty of time to look around the park again and go on some of the rides.
Back in our room Guzzisue decided to slip over whilst having a shower, resulting in a bruised elbow and an impression of Australia on her backside! More trouble was to come with Guzzisue's arm as she got bit during the night and despite using antiseptic cream it had swollen a fair amount. This resulted in a couple of trips to the first aid centre. Ian and myself are concerned as we have more riding to do in 24 hours.
In Europa Park some of the rides are designed to run alongside each over, with a walkway made to look like a cavern with miners digging for gems.

These miners have to be wary of the mechanical dragon,

the runaway train

and a log flume.
Whenever Euro Mouse was not on stage helping out jugglers and acrobats

he could be seen meeting up with visitors.

Throughout our visit, we were once again able to go on many of the rides. Guzzisue plucked up the courage to ride the Silver Star roller coaster

and we all managed to get a couple of goes on the new Atlantica water ride in between its teething problems.

Once again we were treated to an entertaining gladiator show in the main arena with a good mixture of comedy,

trick horse riding

and action.

Question. What do you do when there is a man with a pole on one side and the Karate Kid on the other?

Answer. You push the Kid out of the way and stick the boot in on the other.

Here is a film with some highlights of the 30 minute show.

One day we might see some of the theme parks back home giving more choice for visitors instead of the signs displaying "120 minutes to the ride from here".

All too soon we were back on the road again heading for our final destination. Ian is having to redress Guzzisue's arm, although it is still swollen she can just get her leather jacket on with a squeeze.

A final Bon Voyage from Europa Park from these people.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - The Forgotten Vienna

2009-05-25T21:44:00.009+01:00

Before we leave Vienna behind here are a few photos of sights that I have not previously posted.
It would seem a good idea to make the first stop at the Opera House.
The building itself was erected between 1863 and 1869 as one of the great monuments of the new Ring Boulevard. The Royal - Imperial Court Opera Theater. as it was first called, was designed by the architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Null.

In the city centre there are many people dressed in costumes from Mozart's period trying to sell tickets for the night's concert. For some reason we were never approached. Could this be because we did not look like tourists or were we the wrong type of clientele?

Walking from the Opera House to St Stephen's there are over one hundred stars laid in the paved pedestrian thoroughfare of artists that have performed in the city.

Reaching St Stephen's Square and Cathedral, the former I have mentioned previously as this is where many of the street entertainers perform and is an area to relax and let the world go by.
Below are a few images of St Stephens Cathedral and more information can be found here.

Finally it would be a crime not to mention the Danube before we leave Vienna behind.

All three of us enjoyed our visit to Vienna and would certainly like to come back some time, especially as it is possible to get a hydrofoil down to Budapest. Now there's an idea.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - The Butterfly Effect

2009-05-19T20:46:00.005+01:00

Arriving back in the city centre we trouped off to the tourist information centre, close to the opera house. Inside there were several people waiting to be served so we decided to see what we could find.
Not too far away, 300metres from the opera, we came across the Burggarten (court garden). In the south western part of the garden there is a statue of Mozart and in the north eastern area there is a Jugendstil, glasshouse. Inside the glasshouse there is a Schmetterlinghaus, Butterfly Park. The park state that all their butterflies come from farms in various tropical countries and none are taken from the wild, nor are there any endangered species within the building.
As all three of us were getting cultured out the peace inside the building gave us a period of relaxation away from the city centre. It was amusing to watch people charging round trying to take photographs of the occupants. We just either sat or stood in one place and waited for them to come to us.
Once again thank you Guzzisue for the wonderful photos. The cheque's in the post!

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - Off To The Palace

2009-05-15T08:04:00.007+01:00

Buying a 24 hour Rover Ticket in Europe is not like in the UK. The 24 hours start from when the ticket is first used and continues to the same time the next day, whereas in the UK a similar ticket can only be used on the same date. We purchased these due to the amount of walking we had done on the previous day and for 5 euros we had unlimited travel on the trams and underground.
So what did we do first? We walked away from the city centre and headed towards Belvedere Palace. At the junction of Prinz Eugen Str and Schwarzenbergpl at the bottom of the castle grounds, there is a fountain and monument dedicated to the Russian soldiers.

We entered eventually found a way in and entered the palace grounds at the foot of the formal gardens.

In 1803 these gardens became the first alpine style garden with over 4,000 plants representing the diverse flora of the alpine ecosystem. The gardens are best viewed in the Spring and Summer seasons. The young lady in the photo below kindly pointed the way forward to us.

During our visit the gardens were undergoing a large restoration project along with the palace itself.

Belverdere has two palaces in its grounds designed by J.L. von Hildebrandt for Prince Eugene of Savoy and now contain museums concentrating on artwork from the Baroque period. Because the weather was being kind to us we decided to leave looking at the paintings for another time and just wandered round the gardens and the outside of the building.
On walking round to the front, there is a large fish pond, complete with a heron that flew three times round the pond before heading off towards the centre of Vienna.
From the main gate this is the view that the people from off the tourist coaches first see.

Definitely a biscuit tin picture!
From outside the main entrance we caught the tram to the centre of town.

2006 The Long NOT Winding Road - More From Prater Park

2009-05-11T07:56:00.007+01:00

Here are a few photos to finish our visits to Prater Park.
The first set are of the oldest ride in the park. Sadly it is in need of some repair.

This group of characters look like they have had a mixture of too many rides and too much falling down water.

I'm not sure if this gentleman is being sucked into an abyss or escaping from it. I'll let you decide.

Punch and Judy manage to climb to new heights.

There are different types of horse carousels within the park. The first is a classic design dating from 1895.

The other uses horses to pull carriages. Guzzisue was not too sure of the ethics of this particular ride, however the horses are taken away from the ride at quiet intervals for a little exercise.

This little scene was something we stumbled across. Beauty and the Beast or both talking about their Bad Hair Day. Just out of shot was a film crew, so this could have been a college class at work.
These chair-o-planes are not for this Ted! The thought of loosing my grip and being slung off at a tangent does not "bear" thinking about. Terra firma for me.

Finally two more pictures of the Riesenrad, followed by another short film of Prater Park.