Lotsa Stone..... Part 1....

We drove to the Cotswolds in the rental, only about 1hr, then drove from village to village stopping and walking about taking in the amazing landscape.

Passed through some picturesque villages Moreton-In-Marsh being very busy and one of many worth a stop and wander when time permits.

Our first visit was to Bibury...

The local pub..

 

 

Arlington Row built 1380 originally a wool store...

 

Nice house.... English country garden...

 

Old....

 

Down the lane to Arlington Row..... Notice check out for rails...

 

A trout farm......

 

Then onto Bourton -on -Water.... Find a car park handy if you can...







Nice arch bridges...

 

 

Pubs and...

 

Cafes....

 

Next stop was Lower Slaughter.... No joke, what has happened there is anybodys guess...


The pub there had in my mind awesome landscaping and having a pint or two in the surroundings  would not be a hardship....

 

 

 

 Rear courtyard....





And entry to bars..

 

There's also a restaurant and accommodation....

 

 

I said to Leonie, If we ever buy an English pub this is it.....

 

Pleached to perfection....

 

 The other outdoor area wasn't to bad either...

 

 Up the road were  some cottages all with a stream running past...

 

 

And the old Mill with a working water wheel...

 

Same...

A cottage with a tidy little wood stack...

Stone walls and more stored wood...

 

 Little village green...

More of the Cotswolds coming up ......

 

 

 

 

Travelling Man.......

Wev'e had a couple of days off the NB. We borrowed a rental car for a couple of days to pick up  our son Tait who  flew into Heathrow at 6.40am Tuesday on a two week visit away from his place of work PNG, Papua  New Guinea. He's staying in London visiting friends and joining the NB Sunday.

The plan was to spend the day in London doing the customery visitors thing then on Wednesday use the car to visit the Cotswald area but that's another story.

Had two trips to Heathrow now and no holdups anywhere. Down the M40 turn to heathrow skid the wheels round a couple of roundabouts, stop with a hand brake slide and chuck the bags in the boot.

Parked up in Twickenham, only 11 quid to park on the street for the day, and caught the train to Waterloo.


Before the train we walked to The famous rugby ground, too  early to go in, looked around the perimeter, used the toilet at the attached  Mariott hotel which was flash as and had the marble finishing touches. I could have called it my room for the weekend.

Outside Twickenham stadium , Leonie & Tait, the English team already practicing lineouts for when the AB,s arrive in October to Spank their Assess....


Exit Waterloo and first stop the London Eye..
Assembled flat beside the Thames then stood upright in 1999. Opened for public in 2000.
Stands 394FT high, has 32 10 tonne people pods which rotate on the main wheel at 10 inches per second and take 30 mins, for 1 revolution of a pod..

Big job being a spoke adjuster...

There's a heap of steel in here. I hope they got it right. ... OH No that's not a flat LF Wheel is it???







You follow us.... No passing...

 

Tait & (mum)  Leonie...


Some of the view from near the top......

 

The Shard at 804ft......


Then over Westminster bridge past Big Ben.....

It was a Tuesday morning, if that makes any difference, and the crowds of visitors was unbelievable,  a lot of AAAAA  SSSHHOOONNNS.......  Theyr'e so well mannered.....

Ray (dad) & Tait.....

Westminster Abbey.... lined up  55 metres here....

Then on the tube to Tower Hill station and a walk down by the Tower of London with a view to.....

Tower Bridge.......

Leonie, Tait & Pam, (nana)....



Caught the tube to check out Paddington Basin for a  future  NB visit.
While there and standing on the bridge over the canal at Little Venice I thought I'd change my prescription sunglasses for my normal glasses. Result was two bounces through the bridge railing and into the Bloody canal went the sunnies. Freakin $750 dollero's  and no insurance cos I'm outer of NZ...

Went to the pub and had some beers, couldn't see them, then had a stroll round Hyde Park way....

The Albert Memorial...... didn't originally see it but notice the Crane Boom in the centre of the shot.....poor photography EEHHH........ OHH that's right I probably had bloody sun strike.....

Tomorrow the Cotswalds.....

 

 

for Petrol Heads only.....

 

Funny how things turn up. Here we are doing the Tardebigge flight of locks in the middle of nowhere and you get talking to a lady on the tow path who lives nearby in an ex lock keepers cottage. The word  speedway gets mentioned in the conversation and before you know it an offer to go to the weekend meeting at, the " Home of  Formula 1 Stock Cars, Coventry is the plan.

We travelled on and with a weekend mooring in Warwick it wasn't to far out of the way to be picked up. Ann and Fred picked me up from a canal overbridge  and we hit the road and arrived with plenty of time to spare to have a good look around the pits etc..

Now young Fred, it was his 69th birthday Saturday, raced stockcars  for 25 yrs and from my observations  and listenings  was a "real" stock car driver. Winning and the cars well fare didn't always rate highly. I don't think the oppositions well fare rated too highly either.
 But after all his racing exploits a walk through the pits with Fred and Ann showed me he is well liked and respected by all, well in racing and competition terms  that's almost all...

I would say that Fred was New Zealands equvilant to Charlie Bernstein, a crowd pleaser.... and a Bloody Hard Case....

From the car park its the first view of the "Hallowed Arena"...


First cars seen were a couple on show...  Veterans but still drivable...

42 is on a Buick chassis & V8 powered..... looked about 1 chain long.....







53 is Ex John Lund car he raced to some of his 8 world titles....3 here at Coventry...












Then into the pits to see the latest race cars...

84 the Tom Harris car.... and eventual winner of the Grand Final on the night..

They use Transit front beams, Morris Commercial diffs.... most all run Big Block Chevy's...

Thee roll cage is the rear body...

Huge wing.. good for advertising sponsors.... and painted on LH side in class colours... Whites, Yellows and  Red is the "Guns"....






Transporter with accommodation...

 

The tyre choice is controlled...  A Huge Goodyear on the RH rear... run a lot of "Stagger"...
Maybe  going back to Hoosier tyres....







The "Chick" in the centre in the all black gear is a TV star engaged to the driver of this car.
She is Chas Dingle of Emmerdale Farm fame......

 

John Lunds latest race car.... He's the fella in the middle with the "Aged" hair piece...



Then Fred introduced me to the "Legend" Frankie Wainman senior...
Multiple champion and the beginning  of the Wainman  dynasty....

 

Frankie, Fred and Ann with the Wainman transporter in the rear...



You can watch the racing from the stand in the bar or restaurant behind glass walls if you want...

The public walk around with Beers in hand.....  And anything with mushy peas and or curry sauce sloshed over the top......weird EEHH........






Looking to the track with the covers in the foreground protecting the Greyhound racing track...















Shale track surface was very smooth...  they also use it for solo bike meets...

 

A bit of a tangle up in this Whites and Yellows heat...



After qualifying heats all the class's race in a final with the top red cars handicapped three quarters of a lap..... and still win...

   John Dowson jnr,      Matt Newson...  Frankie Wainman jnr,  Tom Harris...

Newson...Harris...  Wainman jnr.....  Craig Finnikin...

Michael Scriven.....  Mark Woodhull...   Dowson jnr...


After every race the winner gets a cup, presented in front of the grandstand,  then does a victory lap on the back of a ute...

The cup presentations are made by some Awesome people...

 

 

Fred having done the presentation.. because he has a past history...

And me because..... Im a NZer . The commentator asked me what I was doing in the UK then handed me the microphone. I said living on a narrow boat for 2 years. He  asked was it rough on the way over. I replied only crossing the Indian Ocean... What percentage were believers??..

All motor sport has the Promo Girls on the dias...


After the meeting it's a ritual to drive the 2-3 miles to the chippie who stays open late to feed the speedway faithful...

11pm and 15 back in the que, that's the number outside theshop, lining up for the fish etc covered in the mushy peas or curry sauce........ weird eeehhhh??...



Then because Freds only a young fella  and got a good nights sleep he goes grass track racing on his side car...

 

1000ccc of  wheel spinning grunt... Fred and swinger Stephen...

 

Ann is team manager and helps with the pushing...  no need to pay gym fees to stay in shape......

I had an Awesome night with Awesome people..... That's Speedway....  thanks heaps....