There was snow , and I couldn't resist.

I'm sure an eskimo wouldn't be impressed but I thought it was cool.

I've recently bought another scooter - a Vespa ET4 125.



It's not exactly speedy with all that metalwork and me to drag round with about 11bhp , but it is good fun , especially when riding as part of a crowd. Today I tagged along with about 100 scooters , mostly classic Vespas and Lambrettas on a run from Birmingham to Bridgnorth.

The photos are HERE!

They had a charity event on for classic cars and there were some excellent vehicles doing non-timed runs up the hill.
Some were just there for a gentle drive and others, including a fine selection of Triumph Stags, were trying very hard.

I think this was my favourite car of the day though.



They will be doing another one next may, plus they have various competitive events throughout the year.

The rest of the photos can be found at this link.

I'm supporting the car industry by buying a new car.



OK , so I'm supporting the Italian car industry, but the thought was there!

I got this last week and so far I'm very pleased with it. It's not as quick or quite as large as my old Skoda Octavia PD140 Elegance but it looks far better , is very quiet and smooth to drive and should be a fair bit cheaper to run (and buy!).



Fiat claims that it will do 62.7MPG combined and though it's not run in yet I'm already getting mid 50s combined with over 63mpg on some journeys1 so I'm expecting to beat this figure after a few thousand miles.

Reputation would have you believe it will fall to bits but it all feels nice and solidly assembled and nothing has dropped off in the first five hundred miles.

The stereo has some very nice features with a system the call Blue & Me. It has a bluetooth handsfree kit built in , can play music direct from a USB memory stick so no need for dozens of CDs in the car and will also log all your driving so you can see how economical (or not) you have been. Oh , and the sunroof is just huge!



I'll try and remember to document how it goes over the next few years. Will it last, or will I be on first name terms with the AA man?

Having totally failed to update this in ages I'm back for now.

I've recently bought a Sony Alpha 350 D-SLR to replace my Panasonic FZ7 so hopefully the quality of photographs I'm producing should go up.

Last week I popped over to the excellent free Cold War museum at RAF Cosford for a bit of a play.


It's a big step up having to figure out what all the settings do, but even with the kit lens plus a tripod and remote shutter release it's possible to get some very nice images that I'm pleased with.

The rest of the photos are here

I'd not been here for several years but the gardens have now been greatly restored by English Heritage and more importantly the impressive fountain now works again.

We managed to get a few hours wandering round taking pictures before the rain came.

The rest of my photos can be found here.

Wroxeter in modern day Shropshire was at one point the fourth largest Roman city in the UK having started as a military garrison. Unusually for large Roman settlements it was later abandoned and never flourished as most of their sites did. The village of Wroxeter is just down the road and little more than a collection of cottages.

It was based on a grid layout and the ruins that have been excavated are just one square - probably about one thirtieth of the total site. The rest lays buried under the fields and nearby modern roads.

Click here for more pictures

For me , it was finding that these still exist.

I absolutely loved these as a kid so when I saw them on sale today I had to buy three. One for my Girlfriend's son to play with and two for me to keep.

They are almost as I remember them except a bit more colourful than the RAF and Luftwaffe would have liked.

Only 50p each as well which seems cheap as I remember them being about 20p 25 years ago.

So , what's made you smile today?

We stopped here on the way home.

On a clear day the view from the top all the way to Wales is stunning and well worth the 4 quid entry.

Oh , and there's an ROC post in the field nearby , though it's not a good example.

Final day out of the week was a trip to Bourton on the Water in the Cotswolds on my bike.



I'm sure it was the hottest day of the year so far which wasn't a problem on the move but a nightmare in leathers when you come to a halt or try and walk anywhere.

It's well worth a visit with plenty of pubs , cafes and other food shops to tempt you and it's *very* pretty.

There's also a good motor museum in the town with some very nice classic cars.


It's deceptively large inside and pretty good value for money if you like that sort of thing.

Best bit?

Rum and Raisin ice cream by the river.

Next day out was to the London Motorshow at Excelin the Docklands area.
A decent enough day out but there were a few no-shows from the big manufacturers which was a shame , and the days of getting decent freebies have long gone. There was a big emphasis on fuel economy and emissions as you might expect , and some very desperate manufacturers unveiling new 4x4s. The projects had obviously been started a couple of years back and now they find themselves with cars they can barely shift so any time you went near them they were so eager to talk to you that it was a bit sad really.





Show highlight?

The Top Gear police cars.

I've had a week off work so got in a few day trips , the first of which was to Lake Bala in Wales.

It's a lovely spot for sailing , canoeing or just lounging around in the sun followed by fish and chips sat by the lake.

Just to the north of Wolverhampton is the site of the former Featherstone Royal Ordnance factory that produced munitions for the UK's armed forces from 1940 until the late 80s.

It has been thoroughly stripped when it was sold off , but there were still plenty of interesting features left. It is in the process of being cleared to make way for redevelopment so my visit was a last chance to see what's left.

Sadly , the shower and decontamination blocks had been demolished before I got there , and as this was a couple of weeks ago there will be even less left.

This link has the full set of photos

And this link has details of what's to be built on the site.

Yesterday I went to the air show at RAF Cosford - something I've never done before.
Last time I went to the (excellent and free) Cold War museum at Cosford I picked up a leaflet for the air show and decided to give it a go , and I'm glad I did.

It was £20 a ticket which at first glance might sound pricey , but for what you get it's good value for money. The show proper started at 12 noon with displays pretty much continuously until 5.30. The highlights were the Red Arrows doing a full display , a very nice selection of WWII aircraft including a Mark 1 Spitfire and Mark 1 Hurricane in the air at the same time , the Battle of Britain memorial flight , and a demonstration by the RAF - essentially a half hour action show demonstrating a combined operation with ground and air forces.


Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so photography was difficult and many of the displays stayed flat to keep below the cloud cover , but it didn't rain and was warm enough.

While I'm writing this , here's a couple of bits of advice for anyone considering going in future.

Traffic! Access for cars on and off the site was excellently marshalled and managed but due to the sheer volume of cars there were some horrific queues. The tailback on the M54 heading in at 11am was 6 miles long which was going to be well over an hour to get through. Fortunately I'd gone on my bike so I just nipped down the middle and probably annoyed thousands of people. I'd strongly recommend going by train or setting off early.
Secondly, if you do go by car , take the opportunity to stock up and bring everything you need. Food and drink were very expensive - nearly a fiver for a jacket potato , and almost six quid for a roast beef sandwich!

It does you know.....

On the way home from the BTCC I stopped Here

Just as the sun was setting.....

And very nice it was too :0)

This was my second BTCC event of the year having done Donington Park a fortnight ago and given Rockingham a miss because of rain.



I like Thruxton as a circuit as it produces good racing , but I have to say that the view is a little limited because of the slope of the land and because you can only spectate from about half the outfield. That gives you a choice of the grandstand seats by the chicane with a view of the back half of the circuit but at an extra cost , or on the banking by the complex which is where I was. Between there you can get very close to the circuit but see nothing other than cars driving straight past. Still , it's a decent venue for photography so it's possible to get some good pictures. There were guys there with very expensive looking gear that looked to be worth thousands that put my small Panasonic camera to shame.



The weather was very good with plenty of sunshine , and the action on track was excellent. Punctures for cars at the front seemed to be the order of the day with Tom Onslow-Cole getting the first two wins and Jason Plato taking the third. For most of the race he was being pushed very close by Andrew Jordan who was getting a huge amount of support from the crowd. Sadly his car suffered some sort of mechanical failure and he dropped out but it was a superb drive from an 18 year old, and I'm sure it won't be long before he gets his first race win.


The rest of the photos are HERE

I went out for my first long ride of the year yesterday - a trip from my home in the Midlands out to the Elan Valley in wales.



It's a very nice route to ride with all sorts of roads from tight and twisty bits to fast flowing corners.

Through Kidderminster and Bewdley onto the A4117 towards Cleobury Mortimer , then over Clee Hill stopping for a drink at the cafe to admire the scenery. Carry on towards Ludlow and turn onto the A49 before you reach the town , then after a short while follow the A4113 signposted towards Knighton. Watch out for suicidal sheep as you approach Penybont , then follow the signs for Rhayader on the A44 where it's time to buy some food for a picnic once you reach the Elan Valley and the lakes.

There's any number of spots to park up and admire the scenery in the valley , so take your pick and relax before riding to the far end. You can then stick to an unnumbered road and loop back to Rhyader or simply U-turn and do the waterside section in reverse.

By the time I'd got back to Bewdley I was decidedly uncomfortable so I stopped by the river for a stretch and drink , and to admire the considerably cleaner bikes than mine.



The only downside to the day was that it was very hazy with quite poor light for photography so the pictures didn't come out anywhere near as nice as I'd have liked.

Still , it's an excuse for another ride out.

The photo across the top of the page is taken on the banks of Lake Tekapo in New Zealand , which is where I was this time last year. I had a three week holiday stopping in New York for a few nights before heading on to New Zealand for a fortnight , and then a few nights in San Francisco on the way back. NZ is a stunningly beautiful place with very friendly and welcoming locals , and my long term plan is to emigrate there when funds and job allow. Unlike the UK , they still have common sense and a way of life that encourages respect and decency and it was such a refreshing change to go there , and a shock to the system to return.

Highlights of the trip included a day out in Akaroa - a small town about an hour's drive from Christchurch on the South island. It reminds me a lot of the south of France, having been founded by French colonists, but also has boat trips out to the sea with seals and dolphins for company.



...and another trip from Queenstown with a helicopter flight to the fjords at Milford Sound , stopping for photos on top of a glacier , then a boat trip and a small plane back to Queenstown. Helicopters I can get on with , but a tiny plane being chucked round in turbulence isn't much fun.



The full set of my pictures is HERE if anyone is interested

Excluding the scooters (Two Peugeot Speedfight 50s and a Gilera Runner 125) which I don't seem to have any decent pictures of , I've had three motorbikes so far.

I'm currently riding a very yellow Honda Hornet 600. A very nice bike for weekend rides in the country but it's poor tank range lets it down on longer journeys. I had planned to replace it with a bigger bike with a decent tank capacity and luggage so I could do a trip to Normandy this year but the unexpected demise of my central heating boiler meant the money was spent elsewhere.



Before that I had a Q-Plated Yamaha Thundercat. A nice bike , but too much of a pain to strip the fairing off to service it. Each time it went back on I seemed to end up with at least one left over fastener. I ended up selling it though as the insurance companies decided they would no longer cover it TPFT as they had done for a couple of years and only offered Third Party cover , so it headed off to eBay for virtually the same as I had paid for it.



This is a bike I really miss. It was a Japanese import Yamaha Thundercat which was (in theory) bang on the 33bhp limit for newly qualified non-DAS riders. Mine was one of the better looking mono-shock bikes and was in excellent condition considering it was on a K-plate. The one I had was fitted with a decidedly non-standard Yoshimura exhaust which had the most glorious sound and added a few BHP so it would happily redline in 5th gear at about 105mph. I've never seen one with the same exhaust which is just as well really as I'd be tempted to spend money I can't really afford.