The Best Historical drama ever made..

The year was 1995, and a TV dramatization of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice hit the small screen. I didn’t watch the first of six episodes because I truly hate historical dramas, but I happened to be visiting family who insisted that I watched the second episode. Thereafter, I made sure that I was in front of a TV for the final four episodes.

The BBC, best TV company in the world, truly excelled themselves with the best casting, scripts, sets, props, absolutely everything. See for yourself..

This is the episode that I originally shunned. They say that the series was as close to the original book as a production could be, but how was I to know, never having read any fiction, especially historical drama. What I did know is that, during the second episode, I was watching greatness.

I have five of the six episodes, each a little over 50 minutes, but I don’t have episode four. The search continues..

The JCB

The reason for Brits calling these machines ‘JCB’ is simple enough. It was a British invention, and JCB was the name on the side..

All it is is a tractor fitted with a front loader and an hydraulic backhoe, but what a difference it made. I defy anybody to find a construction site where one of these machines hasn’t got a job. These days, the concept is produced by other manufacturers, but it all started during 1953 in Britain.

The above photo shows an early model lacking four wheel drive. Most now are 4 wheel drive and the ‘mega’ models can dig a 7 metre hole in the ground pretty much anywhere. To operate the backhoe, the seat swivels 180° to face its own controls.

The front arm can accommodate a shovel or a pallet loader, and the rear arm can be mounted on a pivot or side-shift, and be fitted with different width buckets, hydraulic jack hammers and other stuff too.

You can see them on construction sites, road works, cemeteries, waste management depots, farms, snow clearance, all over the place, but the one place you don’t want to see them is on the road in front of you. They are slow, they pitch back and forth something wicked, and are invariably driven by operators who just like to chill.

JCBs can have fun too.. see here..

Stretching exercises JCB style..

Cutty Sark..

Built on the Clyde in 1869, Cutty Sark was one of the finest and last China Clippers ever to sail the high seas.

For a ten year period in its history, it held the speed record from Sydney Australia to Britain. It wasn’t carrying tea though. It had been demoted to the wool trade.

At the same time as Cutty Sark was built, so was the Suez Canal. A Tea Clipper could beat a steamship ‘round the Horn’, and could even beat a steamship which took the Suez shortcut, but large commercial sailing ships were useless in the Suez Canal.

Cutty Sark was at the top of a sailing ship’s game at 16 knots in a good wind, but steamships were improving and were more reliable.

The last part of her working life was served as a training ship

Since 1954, she has been a London landmark in Greenwich Dock, but on 21st May, 2007, Cutty Sark was a blazing mess. Parts had already been taken away for renovation but, on this day, it looked like there would be no home for the restored parts.

It has cost £25m and five years of painstaking work to put her right, and she still could never sail again. You can read up on why she can never sail again here..

http://web.ncf.ca/bf250/cuttysark.html

It is sad that such a great ship could be treated so badly..

London Underground

The most famous, the first and still the largest underground rail network anywhere.

A London icon and one of the best known logos in the world, it hasn’t changed much at all in over 100 years.

No trip to London England is complete with a ride on the Tube.

At first, a road would be dug up and a section of tunnel would be made by digging out and then covering back over, a very tedious process which only worked for the sub-surface parts.

Also, the first trains were pulled by steam locos. They used smokeless coal and the steam was re-circulated but traction was a problem, especially on the gradients in and out of the sub-surface and deeper lines.

So electric traction was borrowed from the USA, after which the Tube just kept growing.

Apart from moving thousands of Londoners and tourists around, it has also doubled as air raid shelters during WWII. Some stations were only ever air raid shelters, some were built in the wrong place, and others were used as underground bunkers for government.

Want to know more than you would otherwise see if you travelled the Tube?

Some more for you..

http://www.webring.org/hub?ring=londontransport;id=2;ac=D%0B%0Dq%7EzlnR%5E%5EJ%04%16%F0%FE%E0%AC%B3%8D%DF%D9%C3%94%A1%A4%AD%BC%BC%B1%8A%8F%94%85%88b%7DfzuR%09BA%5E%110+;go

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/k/kingsway/

When the trains stop running for the night, an army of workers go through the system removing litter, human hair and anything else which gets sucked into the tunnels as your train rockets out of the station and back into the burrows that make up the London Underground.

The Morris Minor..

.. aka the Jelly Mould was a small eminently British car which appeared in 1948. It had a 918 cc which allowed for over 40 mpg and a 0 to 60 time of over 50 seconds. Despite less than fiery performance, there was a lot of room inside and the car handled surprisingly well. It also had rack and pinion steering which gave it good directional control. All controls were light and easy to use, even for novice drivers.

The photo on the right shows a nice, sedate example of the marque, the only real difference being the bright paintwork, lowered suspension oversize rims and tires, and huge V-8 plus blower.

Yes, this one would definitely blow off a Zodiac or Cresta of the period at the traffic light Grand Prix’s held around the country on a daily basis.

The ladies loved these cars. They were light and airy, good all round vision, bright cheerful colours (well some of them), light controls, ideal for transporting the kids and the shopping, and  they rarely broke down.

The photo on the left shows a nice lilac Minor, a colour that would have gone down well had it not been for a surplus of camouflage paint from WWII.

The Minor was made in a variety of styles which included 2 door saloon, Tourer (convertible), Traveller (estate), panel van, and pick-up. There was also a 4 door saloon. Needless to say, no factory made cars sported the parts as seen in the above photo.

In early life, it lost its split windscreen and grille mounted headlamps, the lamps making it to better defined front wings, and in later life, it was fitted with an 1100 cc power plant.

OK, so now to a photo of a typical Morris Minor.

These cars were tough, and not too protective in an accident. The later models had front panels made of thinner steel in a bid to take some of the shock that was previously transmitted directly to the passengers, a crumple zone of sorts.

You should be impressed by now, having seen that the Morris Minor is not just one more boring British car. There is still an ardent following and cars are restored to original condition as well as being made into hotrods and such like.

The last photo shows how it looked in standard 2 door trim, a classic design which brought cheap affordable motoring to many, including a wind in your hair convertible.

It was replaced by the criminally poor Morris Marina, already blogged by me as a British Worst. Long live the Morris Minor.

For more.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Minor

The Meriden Bonnie..

Named after the famous salt flats in the USA, not the birthplace of William The Conqueror in Normandy France, the Triumph Bonneville, a 650cc twin motorcycle, captured the hearts of many a British motorcyclist.

It wasn’t the electrics which didn’t always work when you needed them most,  or the capacity of the machine to retain oil in its vertically split crankcase, or the vibrations in the frame which made the view in the rear view mirrors somewhat blurry. 

For a stock machine, it was nicely balanced, and power delivery was even and strong. Mostly, it was fast and it looked right.

This is a stock T120, pre-unit construction. Note the separate gearbox. Improvements were made over time, the gearbox was integrated into the main engine housing,  and general frame improvements were made to make it all more rigid, and it also gained twin leading shoe front brakes, and eventually a disc brake.

As nice as the bike above is, there was a version, never made in the Meriden factory, which was a real stunner.

What you do is take the engine out of the Triumph frame, bolt it into a Norton Featherbed frame, add a nice pair of Ceriani front forks for better front wheel control, bolt on a few goodies, and you get one of these..

The tank sports the Norton name still, but this is not a Norton. It is a Triton, and an very smartly finished Triton at that. A bike like this one has seen many hours of hard work and meticulous finishing skills.

For some history on the infamous Featherbed frame, see here..

http://thevintagent.blogspot.ca/2008/12/rex-mccandless-and-featherbed-frame.html

The Bonnie went on to become a 750 in the guise of the T140, and then it all went wrong for Meriden along with the rest of the motorcycle industry. The Japanese invasion, notably the original Honda CB750 spoiled the party, introducing disc brakes, electric starters, smooth riding and vibration free mirrors, they showed the Triumphs, BSAs and Norton's for what they were.

Among others, the Bonnie was not stylish like the Italian bikes, not super smooth like the BMWs, not clumsy and ungainly like the American Harleys, not technical masterpieces like the Japanese Hondas and Suzuki's. The Bonnie was a renegade, and it delivered what it looked like it could deliver, no frills, little comfort, but as much fun as could be had on two wheels.

For more on the Triumph Bonneville, and links to al associated with this most famous of motorcycles, see here..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Bonneville_T120

Porlock – The Hill

Porlock village, population of around 1,400, is situated on the A39 between Minehead and Lynton/Lynmouth. The area is Exmoor, Lorna Doone country, wild and bleak especially in winter, and Porlock sits at the back of a cove, sheltered to some degree by a steep hill to the west It is one of the best places I have ever stayed, and I have find memories of Porlock, in particular the SparkHayes campsite which I visited many times.

Porlock is a truly great place, but the most famous feature of all is ‘The Hill’. It is the UK’s steepest ‘A’ road.

This photo shows Porlock, well, part of it, pointing in the direction of the ‘Hill’.

Driving west out of the village, you see a ‘Y’ junction and a large sign. This is your chance to ‘chicken’ out. If you go to the right, the amble is a relaxing 1 in 14 climb. Nah, go for the big one!!

As you bear left, the street narrows out, and you will get a strong whiff of burning brakes and clutches from the vehicles which have made the descent. You can still chicken out if you make a left into the area by the large house and turn around. Just beyond the house, you will already have seen a very tight and steep turn to the right. Still game for the challenge?

For many vehicles, especially the smaller ones, this is first gear stuff. The steep climb continues and there are more tight turns. After a while, it seems like the ‘hill’ is going to flatten out, and it does but ever so slightly. Porlock Hill is not just the steep beginning. There is around three miles of unrelenting climb, and as long as you can see trees and hedgerows at the side, you are not out of it.

It is only at the very top, on a clear patch of Exmoor that you can say ‘we made it’. Some might want to park up on the rough car park at the top to reflect on the journey so far, and take in the fantastic views of Exmoor coastline.

If you are intending to continue to Lynmouth and Lynton, both well worth a visit, the rollercoaster ride is only just beginning because as you know, what goes up must at some point go ‘down’

‘Down’ is Countisbury Hill, not quite as steep as Porlock Hill, but it goes on forever, and again affords fantastic views for the vehicle’s passengers. No No, you look where your are going. You can see the photos we take when we get to the bottom..

You can spend a a very pleasant day in Lynton/Lynmouth, There is a quaint harbour, a waterfall, some nice shops, and great photo opportunities. If you have a boat in tow and it is your first time here, talk to the Harbour Master about the tides. In this part of the world, when the tide goes out, it goes out out out out.

You do not want to be caught out by the tide, because when it goes out, you can see some of the large boulders that came down the gorge during the great ‘Lynmouth Floode’ in 1952. The boulders make it very difficult to get back to the completely water free harbour, and it can be a lonely wait on the water outside of the harbour as you wait for the tide to rise.

After your visit, rescue your driver from the seat where he/she has sat, white knuckled, holding on for dear life. Assure the driver that he/she has your full support for the drive back to Porlock, and that you will give notice, albeit not much maybe, before you jump from the vehicle.

And remember that life could be worse. You could be rolling out of control on Ffordd Penllech in Harlech, West Wales, or hoping to get off Hardknott Pass in Cumbria without leaving the safety of your vehicle and before winters sets in.

At this point, I would post a link to the subject. I am not going to do that. Instead, I will post a link for Exmoor. When you see how beautiful this part of the world is, you won’t worry about the hills at all..

http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/