Glad Tidings

 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

                  and a

PEACEFUL AND      HEALTHY NEW YEAR

 to all my readers worldwide

A feat of 'Endeavour'....

 ....not really,  although with Italian instructions and a rather short on detail English translation it was a bit tricky at times.  Anyway,  it's finished and is now part of my growing collection.

Endeavour is a J-Class yacht built for the 1934 America's Cup by Camper and Nicholson in Gosport.  She was built for Tommy Sopwith who used his aviation design experience to ensure that the yacht was the most advanced of its day with a steel hull and mast.

She is 130 feet long and is still sailing today,  in fact just recently she was on the market for sale at around £2.5 million I seem to recall.

Sadly she failed in her attempt as there was an industrial dispute among Mr Sopwith's professional crew and they had to crew her with amateurs who lacked the necessary experience.  It was a close call though but she was narrowly beaten by the American yacht 'Rainbow'..

I always remember my father telling me that he watched the J-Class yachts at the regatta in Brixham, Devon.

                                                           Second planking progressing.

                                                        Second planking almost complete

                                               Painting and varnishing being completed

                                                 Mast stepped and some deck detail added
                                                 

                                                                          Finished!!     

                                                           The cockpit and bow detail

                                                             The stern looking forward

                                                       Pride of place in the front window!

I've just got to choose my next model although I think that a wormery for my fishing is perhaps first on the agenda!!!!

Dusting the dustsheet!....

 ....prior to a short drive to maintain the circular dimensions of the tyres.

                                                Hoovering the dustsheet prior to departure.

What I don't want while the car is wintering are flat spots developing because it has been standing unused for long periods.  Hence the short but sweet drives to get the engine temperature up to normal and keep it in good shape.

                                                     Safely tucked up after my drive.

It was around 5 degrees,  balmy to eskimos I suppose but not to me !!

Painted Ladies, Boating and Fishing.

I spotted this lovely 'painted lady' butterfly sunning itself on our garden path...pretty as a picture.

 Had a great drive in the Morgan a few days ago on a lovely Autumn day and now it is safely ensconced in it's garage,  with winter weather no doubt just around the corner.

At the end of September we spent 10 days or so in my beloved Norfolk,  5 nights in a cottage at Ludham and then 4 nights aboard a motor cruiser from Brundall.

Norfolk is renowned for being England's driest county and all the locals said that they were needing rain.  Understandable I suppose,  but the weather did not need to be quite as violent and unpleasant during our holiday, but it was!!

                             Passing Reedham on the River Yare during a rare fine morning!

On our first day of our stay in the cottage there was a horrendous storm which brought down trees and caused flooding everywhere.....apart from a couple of half days it never stopped raining.  Quite incredible and annoying because it was only affecting the extreme eastern edge of Norfolk where we were,  the rest of the country was to a large extent fine.  Ah well!

A rainbow on our last night,  spent sadly at the yard a day early,  due to an appalling storm forecast for the following day.

We have just arrived back home after 4 days in a fishing lodge just half an hour away from us where I enjoyed some fantastic fishing, apart from an hour spent fishing in Norfolk this was the first coarse fishing that I have done for around 60 years!!! prompted by the restoration of two vintage 'Avon' rods

                                               Not a bad way to spend a few quiet hours.

Wonderful time and we shall do the same thing next year...in fact I have added my name to their list of people interested in joining the temporarily closed membership of their club,  as it is so close to us.

          A nice little carp, just one of a catch that included some excellent roach and perch.So we are managing to keep very busy during this ghastly virus saga and I am now looking forward to getting to grips again with the building of  a model of 'Endeavour',  Tommy Sopwith's 'Americas Cup' challenger in the thirties.

                                                           Sunset on our final evening.

Biggles flies again!

Well it's finished!

After some weeks and extremely close attention to the instructions, Biggles can take to the skies again,  although I suspect he won't because  his operator no longer has the legs to chase after it!

                                                          Biggles awaiting take off

However,  it has brought back many memories of long ago when I sat in my bedroom,  building aircraft just like this.

For those who may be interested, the firm that produced the kit offers most of the old 'Keil Kraft' and 'Frog' models that many of you will be acquainted with  but now are all laser cut which dispenses with the need for much accurate cutting of balsa.  Their name is the 'Vintage Model Company' in Derbyshire and I would urge you, for nostalgia's sake to look at their website.

              Getting close, with jigs in place to get the correct geometry for the two wings.

The problem is,  where to display the six models I have completed during this ghastly period and I am afraid that this will probably be my last aircraft build because of limited shelf space to accommodate wingspans and my wife does not favour the idea of planes swooping down over the dining table or indeed in other locations in the house.

There again,  perhaps the loo might be an appropriate place where I and others might ponder the magnificence of my labours!!

Fishing, a Camel and a Mask!!

The other day I pootled down the road to a nearby village to fish at a local fishery and to test and hopefully 'blood' one of my recently restored vintage rods.

                                                                Hambleton Fishery

Well, I did catch some fish,  roach, perch and two unidentified specimens,  all were embarrassingly small, hence no photographs!  Incidentally it is probably 50 years since I last coarse fished and bought some maggots for bait, it was therefore with some surprise that I had to part with £3 for a pint of grubs!!!!

The Sopwith Camel is taking shape and is proving more difficult and demanding than the previous kit I built for the boys down south. At least the pilot is prepared for take off....let us hope that it will not be a futile gesture on his part!

In a conversation that I had with a lovely lady in Yorkshire when I was ordering another bespoke rod bag from her for my second renovated fishing rod,  I happened to mention that I had tried unsuccessfully to buy a mask with the 'Morgan' logo on it from either the Morgan Club or from the factory shop.

                                                   Not a perfect match but pretty good!

As we are going to be encumbered with these wretched masks for some time I thought that it would be a useful commercial opportunity.   I did receive a reply from the Sales/Marketing guy at the Company,  only after vigorous complaining about the lack of good business practice nowadays etc.,etc. but he admitted that they were too busy meeting the huge demand for the latest models which are in the £60-80000 price range....and people talk of austerity!!

But I digress as usual. Anyway I joked with the lady that if she had a bit of dark green material lying around she could knock one up for me!  What a surprise when the immaculate rod bag arrived complete with 'free of charge' mask!

Naturally I phoned her immediately to thank her and sought an embroidered logo to put on it.

To cut a long story short,  the small one I ordered from the Club was too large and would have looked ludicrous and then I spotted an old Morgan baseball cap in the garage with a super logo on it and as all 'one size fits all' caps look like peas on a drum on my huge cranium I decided to carefully detach the logo and dispense of the remains of the cap. 

                                                                   Not a pretty sight!

The result of these efforts can be appreciated in the photographs and I can now hold my head high with all the F1 drivers and pit crews who sport their company's logo on their masks.

Oh Happy Days!!

There is nothing like messing about in boats and the same applies to a Morgan,  it's guaranteed to lift your spirits......  not that mine need lifting at present but you know what I mean.

                                                              Preparing to leave.

In fact,  a bit like Bertie Wooster I am feeling absolutely top ho!  What with restoring ancient fishing tackle and building model aircraft,  I am well and truly back in the 1950/60's and what is more I am driving a 1930's style roadster.

                    Singleton Fire Station,  'Fire Engine' is written on a plaque above the door.

But before I start getting melancholy and ruminating about past times,  what about this afternoon in 2020 during a pandemic.

Wrea Green with 'The Grapes' public house and the church in view. Bill Beaumont the former England  Rugby captain used to frequent the pub....perhaps still does! 

The weather today was not expected and only yesterday I was thinking about getting the screens on 'Nellie' in preparation for Autumn,  but the sun was shining and the Morgan and the open road beckoned , so off I went for an hour.

                                                           The pond at Wrea Green

Brilliant,  just brilliant.  Don't let anyone tell you that Morgans with all their little foibles are not fun...they are and full of it!

The pictures I hope will go some way to describe the enjoyment of not only the car but also of our lovely country.

Two more projects!

The weather dictates that the Morgan stays in the garage underneath its dustsheet. 

When it comes to the weather I am the supreme English pessimist,  so although it is there with the side screens off and raring to go in the sunshine I am rather inclined to put them back on, put the roof up and prepare for Autumn!!

Anyway, as you all know I need projects to keep me sane during this ghastly period we are all living through....at least I am still living!

 The other day we visited my old chum for a 'chinwag', a meeting which now always take place relaxing with coffee on his lawn.  Anyway during the conversation he produced two vintage split cane fishing rods, both of which were in a poor state and he suggested that I might like them because he would never use them and anything bordering on DIY, restoration of any sort, decorating or gardening is not his cup of tea.

                        Terrible way to treat the original the original Picasso we have on the wall!!                                                                                                                                                                                            I did not refuse and my thoughts were already honed in on trying to restore them to near original 50's/60's condition.

It was quite ironic really,  in the sense that having given a small lightweight rod to one of my grandsons and shown him the rudiments of coarse fishing I find myself without a suitable rod having recently concentrated on fly fishing.

The sad fact being that in the 80's I sold for a pittance all my tackle including two fabulous split cane rods that command big prices now, manufactured by Hardy and  Allcocks. Ah well we all do silly things at times!

Anyway these two will be very suitable for the job and I love traditional objects...hence the Morgan I suppose.

Restoration has almost been completed on one of the rods while the other remains to be completed, when I have received the bits from a traditional rod manufacturer.

My other project which is on hold at present will be the building of balsa flying model of a Sopwith Camel....more news of that when building commences.

A fool at one end....

 ....and a worm at the other!!

Well in my case it was a fly at one end and me at the other,  although you can't call someone a fool for enjoying scenery like this,  which I have done for the last 5 hours.

                   Barnsfold reservoir in the Bleasdale Fells with Beacon Fell on the left.

Problem was that it was too hot both for the fish and me....30+ degrees and as fly fishing involves quite a lot of walking the heat was troublesome for an old beggar like me.

                                                              Parlick Fell in the distance.

Ah well, it was lovely but I do wish that the trout had been a bit more cooperative!

Very, very hot !!

The prospect of an ice cream on Fleetwood's lovely promenade was too good to miss.

It is lovely living by the sea,  although a house in Norfolk by the river,  with a motor cruiser tied up at the bottom of the lawn might be of interest!....and I suppose it would be lovely to be closer to our family.

Anyway, off we went,  negotiating a new roundabout that the County Council in its wisdom have constructed at a cost of millions no doubt and something that in my opinion was not needed, but their efforts have resulted in an absolute confusing horror with inadequate signage etc. There is definitely going to be an horrific accident there soon.

Anyway,  we got through it again after much mental contortion as to which lane was the appropriate one to take and made our way to Fleetwood.

                          Training for Mariners studying at the Nautical College, on the boating lake.....

This is a former thriving fishing port and ferry terminal and a place that, before the axe man Beeching imposed his devastating changes to the rail system had a wonderful Victorian Railway Station which was demolished years ago.  The name of the nearby hotel, 'The North Euston. gives the game away as being the departure point for rail passengers travelling on the ferries to the Isle of Man and Ireland.

                                                       ....and the inevitable 'crabbers'!

However, Fleetwood, although a little tired now and requiring a major benefactor to inject a large amount of money into it,  it is a place with outstanding Georgian buildings and much history...and with the best view of the Lakeland mountains across Morecambe Bay.

Great ice cream too,  an absolute must on a day like this!

60 Years on!!.....

 ......and here I am building a simple balsa rubber powered model from the Vintage Model Company in Buxton.  They do a huge range of their own designs and also the kits that old fossils like me used to build by such manufacturers as 'Frog' and 'Keil Kraft'.

Anyway, the deviation from model boat building during the present crisis was brought about by the fact that my two grandsons in Surrey have a wonderful area of open grassland that I thought would be ideal for flying a model plane.

So the idea was born and the prospect of trying my hand at building one gathered momentum.....the prospect of retrieving the aircraft,  if it does fly, does not fill me with much confidence however!  but theirs are young strong legs and they can do the 'donkey work'!

The pictures show the end result,  a beginners model and I can't wait to give it a try. 

I shall certainly be building another just for me...probably a First World War biplane.

Along with our Morgan which offers great fun and plenty of picnic opportunities,  these additional hobbies do offer some respite in these crazy times!

My other lovely grandson has just taken ownership of a fishing rod to compensate for not being particularly interested at this time in a model aircraft.

Llaut

Well,  that's another 'Lockdown' project finished.

First planking

On this occasion, out of the boatyard has emerged a Llaut boat,  a fishing and pleasure vessel of a type found predominantly in the harbours and marinas of the Balearic Islands.

Further progress

From an Italian manufacturer it has taxed my patience at times but the result is not too bad but would not compete well against real professional competition.

Sailmaking!!

However,  that is not the point. It has allowed me to avoid the deepest depths of depression in the present dismal circumstances and will be an ever present reminder of happy days looking at boats in Majorca and Minorca.

Finished!

I  will give boat building a miss for a little while and perhaps concentrate on the Morgan, the Volvo and gardening....plus increasing the amount of walking I do.

Pride of place in the front window.