October 2025

 

September 2025

 Surprisingly Observed Sunday was moved from the first Sunday of the month to the last Sunday of August. There was an observers training course that could not be rescheduled so something had to change. The changed meant I could not attend the shop as I was on a family holiday in Barcelona with the grandchildren. I was busy doing DIY in youngest daughter’s flat in between relaxing and site-seeing. When I got home it was time to write the August posting and articles about the bike ride in Arunachal and my view about electric bicycles and scooters another form of Powered Two Wheelers (PTW). I had the MOT for the Kawasaki and it passed, so good for another year and chased up the progress of the repairs on the Buell. Having changed my PC the program for my Kodak printer was lost. It was too old for Windows 10 and no longer supported. I have a twelve year old notebook that runs on Windows 7 and I loaded the software from, the original disc and it worked. I am no longer using it for printing but it is excellent for scanning far better than my Cannon MP272 that does the printing.

At the beginning of the month I was doing work in the garden getting things tidied up before autumn and winter removing dead plants and digging up an anti-social bamboo that was spreading around my garden and a wisteria that had taken over the front of the house.

The left side screen had dropped at the British Motor Show and had no idea why was it the heat or an attempted break-in? I investigated by removing the under-wing protective shields that I made after some rust removing and painting on the sub-frame. I had not looked at it since then and that was 2016. All was good. The support for the windscreen was in good order so there was no structural reason for the change in position of the side screen. The right side screen is still in the position when it was first fitted and has much more use than the left one. I made them both and I know how strong they are.

I was on a mission to be at Registers Day. I had parts to buy at the event and be part of the show. Registers Day is on the Sunday of the two day event. I drove down to Bristol on the Saturday and stayed with my brother Adrian. We went together to be day visitors on the Sunday at Westbury on Severn. We chose the scenic route which was delightful going over the old Severn bridge passing through Chepstow, Lydney, Blakeney and Newnham. It turned out to be a successful event with more cars putting on a display than I had seen before.

 I managed to talk to Paul who is Mehari Registrar for 2CV GB and I ask him about the article I has written about making the new hood for the El Cid as he had not publish anything in the magazine for months.  The article would be coming soon as life had taken over and left little time for anything else. Coops was also there and I spoke to him a new cover for the Burton. I had a great time talking to Paul’s son about the hood and my adventures in India I did not manage to pick up the spares I needed for the El Cid. There was to prize giving for the best car or variant in their class. I didn’t win anything for the El Cid and we headed off back to Chipping Sodbury around four taking the taking the M5 from Chepstow dipping in and out of the Welsh 20mph speed limits before escaping back to England.

Monday had us visiting Martin of Cotswold Classics to pick up some large diameter suspension cans then on to Simon for a better left front wing in Cam. The old one had too many rust holes and was too bad to repair. Next moth there will be more on the van.

I had my laptop with me and did more on my family history for the grandchildren. T hey had given me a Christmas present a sort of diary to record all I could remember of my family and their activities in a book “Dear Grandad from you to me”. This will more than fill the book. I have 20 years work of regular articles in the LE club magazine, nearly 300 postings on my blog and that is only about bikes and cars. I have written nothing about my working life in NHS Pathology.

On Wednesday Barry, Adrian and me went to Bristol and visited Vee Shed which is situated in Bristol docks with the “Matthew” moored in front of it. A brotherly expedition to the cultural centre of local history. It had become a more people oriented museum and less of local industrial history.

 They still have some displays like the Peckett steam engine, a Douglas Dragon Fly, a Thanet bicycle, the Brabazon made at Filton also where Concorde first flew from. I saw it take off from where I lived on Shortwood Hill. I could see Mangotsfield in the valley and across Filton all the way to the Severn Bridge and the Welsh hills beyond. All of the old stuff was in storage and we talked to one guy who was restoring a goods van that had become weather damaged. He was hoping to have it repaired for the up and coming event on the docks in about a weeks’ time. We paid a visit to the Brompton shop for Adrian to have a look at some new bicycles and then to Weatherspoons for lunch before making our way home on the bus.

An uneventful journey home the next day and the week finished with me refitting the weather shields to the under wings which was more difficult than taking the off. I had to make an extended spanner to reach the nuts hidden by the wing and the length of the plates. My hands are bigger now and not as flexible to get in the space available and hold a spanner.