Dad’s Army

Operation Market Garden. A warm sunny day and a lot of people dressed up in forties costume. All rather nice and jolly English. These WW2 re-enactments are growing in popularity. Presumably because it’s the last thing this country of ours did well, with the exception of the 1966 World Cup, of course. Diplo is correct in that there were many Jeeps to keep me amused and a few Tanks, two of which were offering rides for a very reasonable £7 and Jo was kind enough to treat both of us, giving us the opportunity to do something we had never done before. Ride in a Tank. Great fun and clearly designed before the days of Health and Safety. More like Danger & Excitement.

The actual battle was great fun and reinforced the fact that your average WW2 soldier was 19 ish, not mid fifties and carrying a healthy girth! Luckily there were no heart attacks on the Sunday. Sadly we could not drive there in the Jeep. Still not registered, but we did take the 1948 Land Rover. Open air motoring at its best.

Three little letters.

M, O and T. we tend to forget it stands for Ministry of Transport and the final word ‘test’ is missing from the abbreviation. It just gets shortened to ‘M.O.T.’d, or not M.O.T.’d.
Delighted to say that the Jeep, as of yesterday, is M.O.T.’d!! Matt drove it over the hills and down the valley’s to the local testing station, screen off. (That negates the need for wipers and washers at a stroke). With the whole process now being linked by computer to Gordon Browns spies, there is a set time allowed for the test, be your car a complex supercar , or this, the humblest of vehicles. The tester has a real job stringing out the job to fill the time. Fortunately these tests are still carried out my humans and Derbyshire blokes have a sense of humour and a realistic approach to the situation.
With the Jeep now finished, the next job is for me to register it for use on the road. A process I am a little daunted by, as it will involve dealing with beaurocracy. Something the middle aged, self employed are not too good at in general. I’ll keep you posted as despair and frustration take on disproportionate aggression.
As you will have noticed the Jeep is a replica of those used my the Long Range Desert Group and the S.A.S. in North Africa during the War. This is significant. More later!

Twin Heaps.

Like something from a David Lynch film, I stumbled upon this long gone car dealership in the South Derbyshire town of Church Gresley this week. A mixed array of 10 grotty seventies cars lined up in a welded steel cage and covered in a thin film of dust caught my eye as I drove past. Closer inspection and a look through the window revealed a 2002 calendar on the wall and a pile of paperwork. The signs of desperation on top of the cars further fuelled the mystery and I regret to say, I have no answers. Maybe the owner went bust in huge and dramatic circumstances and the legal battles persist to this day, or maybe he died a bitter and twisted man. Only car worth a cent was a 1971 Beetle, but never worth £2500 ‘bought with all faults’, even in 2002.

One in the oven.

After nearly a year in the building, the end is in sight. Young Teddy and I did the final (easy) bit of sanding of various bits as the masked figure of Matt’s number one helper appeared with a spray gun full of primer. Half an hour later the whole thing was dull grey and we sat out in warm sunshine, gazing at the Ryber Valley waiting for it to dry. It’s a lovely view from the doors of the workshop. Most conducive to sitting in with a cup of tea and a biscuit. Next, on went several layers of top coat and as Capt. Sprayer coughed up a lungful of paint and thinners we wheeled the Jeep out into the Matt Savage Spray Booth Oven (sunshine) to dry off properly. All that remains is to fasten all the bits back on and it should be ready for an MOT.

One small step.

With great excitement I took my first faltering drive in the Jeep on Friday. I spent the day up at Matt’s place near Matlock - mainly getting in the way, but I did manage to sort out the hand brake and rear lights, then made a battery securing clamp. That done we connected a few wires together and hit the starter button. Matt had already driven the Jeep last week, so we knew it was okay, but for me it was a very nervous first drive. The throttle pedal was a bit jerky, but I think we can adjust that a bit. The four tyres John Carroll has lent me feel a tad too big at 235-16. I think 215-16 would be plenty big enough. Maybe even 205-16. They do seem to raise the gearing too much. Anyway it was a great way to end the day and next time there will be less bare wires and tools lying about and I am sure I shall feel more relaxed.

One Wheel Drive.

Before an interest in 4x4’s took a grip, my sole passion was 3x1’s. I had a few, Messerschmitt, Isetta and finally this Hienkel built under license in the U.K. and badged as a Trojan. Myself and the Mk 1 wife, on a budget of nothing, went camping in Wales. Our tent was the simple affair amongst the big frame tents that dominated the camp site. I had a lot of use out of the Trojan, commuting up and down to Salisbury, where I was at Art College, from Leicestershire and averaging 80 mpg! This particular jaunt to Wales went pretty smoothly until 5 miles from home on the return journey. I was thrashing it at a heady 50 mph and the exhaust valve burnt out. With only one cylinder, that was that and Dad came to tow us in.

Carefree biking days.

Bikes seem to be pretty prominent amongst the collective, so I thought I’d pitch these in. I was looking up some old photos from my own Pentax era to illustrate an article on the resurgence of camping and found these gems. This is my brother, the renowned yachtsman, Captain Haddock, fiddling with two bikes he abused in the early seventies. First was the Matchless 500 single. No doubt worth a fortune now, but picked up for less than a fiver then. The front mudguard soon went, to be followed by the fitting of a ‘peanut’ fuel tank from an NSU Quickly and some Ape Hangers. Essential kit back then. It looks SO dangerous. Marvellous! The workshop picture is the one we had at Appletreewick Farm and I was astonished to find that I have that workbench her e, now, in my garage complete with the very same vice and buffer (on the extreme right). The bike was a Bultaco Sherpa trials bike. 250, two stroke, bags of torque. he competed at club level with mixed success. I’m confident Fred Fibonacci will take up the story.