Old Postings

Just posted two Items that I found in my "Drafts" file.  the Beautiful morning and the NEC bike show date back ages but they deserve an airing.  Note to self - wake up and post more often........

Beautiful Morning

The Magnificent seven met up this morning and had a lovely walk over the hills of Grane, culminating in being able to catch a photograph of the newborn Foals, all three of which have been born in the last 7 days. Doesn't it warm the cockles of the old heart to see such sights.

The photograph above shows Stan, Val, Chris, George and Harold. George Likes having his picture taken, but Harold needed to check if there was any food available.

NEC Classic Motor Show

Had a great day out with my friend Jack on Saturday last, we went to the NEC to the Classic Motor show. In previous years it has been cars only with a possible light sprinkling of motorbikes. This year they had two halls devoted to two wheelers. Here are a few Photographs. I apologise for the poor quality, but it is quite hard to adjust for the light level in the halls.

An Egli Vincent Black Shadow

This is a Coventry Eagle, I have a black and white Photgraph somewhere of my Mother sat on one of these. I must try and find it.

Had a great day out with my friend Jack on Saturday last, we went to the NEC to the Classic Motor show. In previous years it has been cars only with a possible light sprinkling of motorbikes. This year they had two halls devoted to two wheelers

Model Boats

As an ex Merchant Navy Radio Officer, I always had a fascination for Model boats / Model ships call them what you will.  From the amazing museum pieces in the National Maritime museum or many other museums around the country and even the world....down to the little scratch built models sailing most sundays on local ponds all over the country.

30 years ago I owned a model sailing boat called a 'Marblehead'  I used to race it under strict rules of the MYA.  About 12 months ago I visited a show in Liverpool and my interest was regenerated

Totall out of the blue a good friend gave me the Tamar class lifeboat shown above, a very large and expensive model albeit unfinished.

The I acquired the little fishing boat.  It is called a 'Fifie'.  The model is based on a Scottish class of boat presumably from the Fifeshire region.  Only a small model but beautifully formed.  So on fine Sunday mornings I take it down to the pond in Bury and enjoy a relaxing hour or so sailing away to foreign climes,  and chatting to other like minded souls and admiring their boats.

Harmless passtime but I enjoy it.

PMR

It is about 12 months now that I have been suffering from a thing called PMR  or poly myalgic rheumatica ....what felt like the start of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ( I knew about that as a good friend of mine had it and was cured by a simple operation)  very quickly spread to both arms and hands and took away all the strength I had.

Within three weeks I went from a fairly sturdy old fellah into a positive weakling.  I couldn't raise my arms to shoulder height, I couldn't put on a shirt without a major struggle,  I couldn't pick up a cup of tea at arms length,  I couldn't pull a Long-Bow,  and I couldn't squeeze the clutch lever on a MotorBike.

Basically all the things I did to keep sane after losing my beloved Lynne two years ago were taken away from me.  The doctors and Nurse practitioners I saw had no clue...I was referred to the Rheumatology dept. at Burnley to find out that their waiting list was 16 weeks!  At this point I was close to ending it all!

With the help of my Elder Daughter I went privately to see a specialist in Cheadle who, thankfully, recognised my symptoms very quickly and prescribed a course of Steroids.  Within days I was improving, however that improvement has take a long time to get anywhere near normal...define Normal?....I can now manage day to day movements,  I have put on a lot of weight thanks to the steroids and I am still nervous about taking out a motorbike, but I am improving slowly.

The reason for all this,  If you are struggling with Hand / arm movements mention PMR to your local quack and maybe you can save yourself from employing a private medical expert at very high cost.

Pendle Woodturners and Carvers

I have been Secretary of Pendle Woodturners and Carvers wood turning group for quite a few years now,  for reasons I won't go into, we lost our original domain name.  Thanks to Andrew King we have reclaimed it.

www.pendlewoodturners.co.uk 

Check it out and let me know what you think.  We have also added a link to a you tube channel, so anyone missing our demonstrations can catch up. There is only one 14 minute clip on at the moment have a look if you are interested.

A rather splendid Lidded Box turned some time ago by Mr Bill Turner.

National Waterways Museum

I had a great day out recently with my friend Jack, we visited the Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port. For reference their Post Code is CH65 4FW and the web site is www.nwm.org.uk

It is at the point where the Shropshire Union canal meets the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal.

A really well laid out museum with lots of interest for all ages really recommend a visit if you are in the area

Just 4 random photographs I took,  we were blessed with a good day weatherwise,  There are several building to visit with standard museum layouts, plus a steam boiler and engine shed and various workshops.  Not to mention a reasonable little cafe and a gift shop.

Highly recommended!