Gaydon 2

A 1931 BMW Dixi - a mirror image left hand drive Austin Seven.














Austin Swallow.














1972 Leyland Crompton electric car, based on standard Mini parts.
This was not viable on cost, weight or performance.














Vauxhall Wyvern as SWMBO's father used to drive.

Gaydon Motor Museum

Still playing 'catch up' a bit with all the news!
I recently went to the Gaydon Motor Museum which was very interesting.














This is one of the stunt cars used in the latest James Bond film.














The 'car' on the left was used in a Judge Dredd film and the pink car on the right was Lady Penelope's car in the Thunderbirds film.














This is the inside of a very early caravan.

English Miscellany in Flamstead

As promised, here's the video of English Miscellany performing outside Flamstead Village Hall. This was one of the many events happening during the Scarecrow Festival.

Flamstead scarecrow winners

The winning 10 entries can be seen here - with much better photos than mine!

www.flamstead-herts.co.uk/gallery/scarecrow2009winners.html

Well done to all 120 entrants.

Flamstead scarecrows 1

Here's the first few photos of the scarecrows.
There were over 120 - I'll just show you a few!
All 120 can be seen here.

Flamstead scarecows - and a winner!

Just back from the Flamstead Scarecrow Festival which gets bigger and better every year. Super weather meant the village was absolutely packed.
Plus...we've just had a phone call to say that I (SWMBO bought the ticket) have won third prize in the 'Grand Draw' which is tickets for two to the Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne.
Spookily enough, The Spotted Dog had a mini beer festival which we were strangely drawn to.















This radio-controlled jeep with animated teddy was brilliant - the children were mesmerised.















Steam engine at The Three Blackbirds.

Scarecrow photos and English Miscellany video to follow...

How do I work the cooker?

Been out for a few meals recently...
Wednesday evening - The Fox in Harpenden
Thursday evening - The White Horse in Bourne End
Saturday lunchtime - The Kings Head in Ivinghoe
Phew! we're all 'restauranted out'.
Now, where's that cooker?

Worthwhile mistake!

SWMBO and I set out to go to Luton Museum the other day to see the exhibit about the Bedfordshire and Hetfordshire regiment as I'm doing some research into the people listed on the war memorial here in Redbourn.
Unfortunately...we went to Stockwood Park instead of Wardown Park so couldn't find the museum. However...at Stockwood Park they have an excellent Discovery Centre which we spent a good couple of hours looking round.
I had to take this photo of a Vauxhall Wyvern as SWMBO's father once owned one.















At present they have got a temporary exhibition (until 13th September) called 'Moving The Mail' with old post bikes, vans and buses































I especially liked this sign on a carriage and really need a tee shirt with this slogan.
A good tee shirt seen recently said, "I am retired - do not ask me to do anything".

Poor old fish

We lost one of our oldest - and certainly the largest - of our Koi Carp yesterday. As you can see, he/she was a pretty odd shape (like me) but had been like that for quite a few years. Even the day before he/she went to 'fishy heaven' he/she was always first up for food but always appeared that he/she was standing on his/her tail rather than feeding more horizontally, like the others. He/she was about 15 years old and was bought at about three inches long. As you see from the linked article, it wasn't a great age - but not bad considering the herons we have round here sometimes!















This was a fish I caught this year on the Kennet & Avon canal.
Maybe I should have kept him/her for our pond at home?

Viking Festival in Lerwick

Last Shetland photos - I promised I wouldn't publish all 400!
This is Johnsmas Foy - Shetland's summer festival.
Centuries ago 'Johnsmas' marked the annual arrival of the Dutch herring fishing fleet in Shetland and it also has strong links with the Haaf fishing, both of which are central to our heritage. The word ‘haaf’ is derived from the Norse word ‘hav’, meaning open sea.
The foy is a celebration of Shetland's culture, heritage and natural history.

Evening in Scalloway

Taken about 10:30-11:00pm.

Scalloway castle and harbour

This is Scalloway castle - you get the keys from our hotel (convenient) and just let yourselves in, no admission charge or anything. Not that there's a great deal to see!















Fishing boats with castle in the background.































What a great name for a fishing boat?

Jarlshof

Oh dear, this is a bit out of sequence. That's the trouble with having two cameras on the go, the photos aren't always in the right order.
This is Jarlshof which is an old Viking settlement - with Sumburgh hotel in the background where we spent our first three nights whilst on the wildlife part of the holiday.
This reminds us that the weather wasn't great to start with!

Scalloway

This was where we stayed for the second part of our holiday.














View from our room.














What if you're at work, then?














This is the Shetland Bus memorial. The Shetland Bus was the nickname of a special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland and the occupied Norway from 1941 until the German occupation ended May 8th 1945. The official name of the group was "Norwegian Naval Independent Unit" (NNIU)