The Grand National..

This is the greatest ‘steeplechase’ event anywhere, and animal lovers love to hate it. Notwithstanding, almost all Brits place a bet on it. We even had a sweepstake at boarding school for the 1967 race.

This is what happened..

.. and this is why the Grand is so popular. You never know what will happen next, and anybody with a bet on Foinavon, running at 67:1 on the day, did ok thanks..

In the winners enclosure, there was just the horse and rider. The owners and trainer were not present, doing something more productive elsewhere as Foinavon usually ran like he had knee surgery on all fours the day before any race. What a shame that they missed the greatest achievement of their ‘ride’. It just isn’t the same watching a re-run on the telly..

In the 1956 race, the Queen Mother had a horse in the race which was leading right up to the end.. almost.. until Devon Loch adopted a stance not dissimilar to a rocking horse..

.. and then there was the 1975 race where, guess what, Red Rum was beaten to the post by a snail. The snail’s real name was L’Escargot, and was a multiple winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup..

I am no follower of horse racing, even though I lived within five hundred yards of Warwick Races, but horses are agile animals which like to run like the wind and jump stuff. It is part of what they are, part of the ‘escape plan’ in the event of danger.

Of course it’s sad when a horse has to be put down, but trust me, if a horse doesn’t want to jump, it won’t and has no problem depositing the rider over whatever is to be jumped.

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

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II..

Born to the Duke and Duchess of York in 1926, she acceded the throne on the death of her father in 1952.

You may not be a royalist and I am not an avid follower, but make no mistake, this grand old lady has worked and worked for this nation harder than most would have ever think, and she still does.

During World War II, she made stirring, morale boosting radio speeches, and after the war got dumped with the ultimate in responsibilities.

She has tried to uphold Royal tradition as she was taught it, but has had to adapt her own thoughts and ways to accommodate modern day life and values.

Her four children have introduced her to the harsh realities and stresses of modern life, and still she appears in public with that big smile of hers.

Among other things, she has met, sat with, had to listen to more people than any of us would have to do in a lifetime, and she knew them all by name, from whence they hailed, and why they were in her presence. I don’t suppose that too many were really interesting, but she was always attentive.

She has ‘red boxes’ delivered daily, all containing information relating to being Queen and having to know what is happening at home and abroad. There is nobody more knowledgeable than she is.

I think that she has done a fantastic job and against huge odds at times.  During the large procession of watercraft on the Thames last year, she stood in horrid weather for every single boat that rowed, paddled, or sailed or chugged by her. If that had been me, I would have sat down, and anybody who didn’t like it would have been in the Tower before 5pm.

Despite the wealth around her, she has paid a high price, as did her sister and her children. Serving the nation is no easy task, and I wish her all the best and a huge thanks for being the epitome of serenity and class.

Long live Lilibet.. hip hip, hooray..

A note for those who do not fully understand the Royals or their place in British society, please take the time to read ‘The Queen’s Role’ in this website..

http://www.royal.gov.uk/

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