Whitby

Just returned from a short break in Whitby. We had never been there before, quite an interesting little spot but it was very busy, as we are approaching Halloween, they are holding a Goth weekend!

We spent a couple of days driving up and down the immediate coast, visited Scarborough - not too impressed as it was again very busy and nowhere to park, so we had a walk along the beach to the north of the headland, drove through the middle of town and carried on heading back up North.

On the way back we discovered Ravenscar (worth Googling) it has a fascinating history.

This is looking towards Robin Hood's Bay from Ravenscar

Just to the North of Whitby we discovered Sandsend, a small village but very pretty and a pleasant section of beach for Jay the Autistic Spaniel to run around and play.

This is your's truly with Jay the Autistic Spaniel on the Sandsend beach, with Whitby Abbey just visible in the background.

And this is a view from midway between Whitby and Sandsend, looking north toward Sandsend on a lovely mild autumn day.

All in all a nice part of the world, some rather good fish and chip emporia and one or two steep hills to climb in order burn off the extra calories consumed.

Wood Turning

I have been attempting wood turning for quite a few years, attempting being the operative word as for many years all I had was a very primitive 'bolt on the bench' type of lathe made by a company called Wolfcraft. Around a year ago, the Lathe shown below was given to me by my friend Gareth, in memory of his father and my friend Harry Turner with whom I spent some time, especially during his last few weeks. I don't need reminding of Harry, but I think of him often when I am using the Lathe.

I have not had any formal instruction in wood turning, but thanks to the wonders of the inter-web, I have spent a considerable amount of time watching instructional videos on various turning sites, and on the wonderful 'you-tube'

Below are a few samples of the things I have been making.

Light pulls, and an etui - that is a needle case

Three spinning tops made from Oak, Pear wood, and Mahogany

A lidded box from a small piece of Teak, a goblet shaped Tea-light holder made from Stag's Horn Sumach (Rhus Typhinus) and a simple bowl made from (I think) Elm. The Elm came from a snooker table leg which I acquired earlier this year.

I have just started going to a wood turning club, so hopefully I will get some advise, tips, and inspiration from the other members. If you want to see some examples of their work go to www.pendlewoodturners.co.uk

Stafford Show

Along with my good friends Jack N. I visited the Stafford Classic Mechanics Show yesterday, at the Stafford Showground and we were blessed with quite good weather for the time of the year. The only slight down side was that the autumn show is really dedicated to Japanese and other 'foreign' bikes. There were some interesting stalls and a fair few of the british owners clubs present but the ratio was greatly in favour of the Japanese machines.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Japanese motorbikes, in fact I greatly admire the engineering capabilities of the said genre, however I have never owned a eastern machine and have a greater love for British bikes (followed of course by American and European)

Below are just a few of the machines I could lust after:

A Brough Superior SS100 It was a similar model to this that T.E. Lawrence (Laurence of Arabia) rode, and eventually crashed and killed himself.

This is a lovely Ducati 175cc overhead camshaft engine with desmodromic valve gears. That means the inlet and exhaust valves were opened and closed mechanically thus doing away with valve springs and therefore valve bounce. a lovely example of 1960s Italian design.

This is a Douglas, I didn't make note of the model or the year, It is certainly 1920s and an horizontally opposed twin cylinder probably 350cc. Note the external flywheel, exposed primary chain, and almost complete lack of a front brake.

This is a Royal Enfield 250cc Crusader Sports. (approx 1964) I well remember as a young schoolboy waiting for my bus home near the bus station in Ardwick, Manchester, there was a motorbike shop and for quite a while that shop had one of these in the window. Just the same, signal red, clip on Handlebars and that big sporty looking front wheel hub. I thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Secretly I would still love to own one, though I doubt I ever will.

Finally this is a War Department Triumph TRW. A sidevalve 500cc parallel twin, I believe the engine was originally designed to power static generators and later adapted to fit in a motorcycle frame. I don't know why but I have always admired these machines, you don't see many on the road but they have a certain charm. I would rather own one of those than any 200mile per hour Japanese rocket ship. OK I admit it I'm a sad old sod.

Old Friends

Had a visit last week from my very good friends Rex and Marie. See my link to "Travels with a Motorhome" Always a pleasure to see them as they are becoming more and more like new age travellers. Still I know they will always keep in touch if only as I have a lot of their goods and chattels stored in my shed.

Rex has recently treated himself to a new camera, a very posh Nikon SLR type digital camera (I'm quite jealous really) He used said camera to photograph Jay the Autistic Spaniel - see below - a great photo of Jay sitting in front of my overgrown self seeded nasturtium patch. Probably won't see R & M now until next April as they are shortly leaving these shores to spend winter in southern Spain but I'm not jealous about that, I love winters in cold, wet, freezing bloody Rossendale

Big Tom

No 1 Daughter called round a couple of days ago with grandson Thomas in his new "School Uniform" - Can't believe how grown-up he looks at three and a half! He is going to be a big lad.

It also gave me a chance to get a photograph of my favourite Japanese Maple in its Autumn glory. The last few years I have left taking a photograph too late and the next time I took the camera out all the leaves had dropped. I refer to it as a 'bonsai' that is not strictly true as bonsai means 'planted in a tray' and this is actually planted in a plant pot! It is however around 10 or 12 years old so it is stunted in true Japanese fashion.

Nothing stunted about Tom though. With a bit of luck he will be carrying me around in a couple of years

Autumn Visitor

She who must be obeyed spotted the Heron pictured below, landing next to my pond. He is the reason we don't have fish in that pond any more.

This one was taken just before he spotted Jay the Autistic Spaniel leaving the back door at 90 mph!

This is just after he landed, He's checking for fish, and if none available he will settle for a nice juicy frog. Well I'm sorry but the greedy sod isn't having MY pet frogs if I can help it.

The standard of photography is pretty poor, but they were taken through the patio window with a camera that only has a limited zoom capability. However, the relationship to the greenhouse gives a good impression of the size of the thing.