Stourhead - Part 1

Always good to look up when your taking pictures. Spied this opening in a cave whilst in the stourhead gardens.

National Trust volunteers

We visited stourhead estate last weekend. It's as National Trust trust property and is fantastic for a number of reasons. The trust took it over from the Hoare family (yep those private banker folks).

Any how. Picture the scene. We are inside the main house having a look at the grand public rooms. In each room there are fact sheets and national trust volunteers to guide and keep an eye on the light fingered! Most volunteers are retired folks.

We enter one room, i head for the fact sheet whilst J likes to talk with the volunteer (in her late 80's - prim and proper) . J notices in this room there is as small TV, copy of the radio times and a small tray with bottles of booze on it. Mmmhh not very 18th-century. What's up here ? J starts the following conversation:

J: "So does someone live in these rooms today?"
Vol: "Yes outside of visiting hours"
J: "are they descendants of the original owners?"
Vol: " Yes they are Hoares (pronounced "whores")"

(at this point i have to leave the room through bouts of school boy sniggering)

Volunteer realises what she said and adds after a short pause in a dry and serious voice "in name only".

All you can hear at this point is one seriously creased up 40yr old laughing his head off somewhere at the far end of a long corridor.

Perfect script + comedy timing made it even funnier

£2000 in old money

Having got back from holiday i've downloaded over 1000 photo's taken over the two weeks.

If i had used 35mm that would have cost me £2000 in film + D&P.

Amazing to think how technology lowers the cost in some areas.

Now i just have to sort through them (which is a time cost) and then print some out (some cost in ink and paper). Though i think i win out here as i have 1,000+ memories of our holidays.

and you think your commute's bad!

We just got back from 2 weeks in North Devon. We stayed on a farm, 1 mile down a country lane from the nearest "main road".

On the way home we found a £250,000 combine trying to get down the lane. Funniest bit of driving i have seen for a long time. Brings a new perspective on the commute to work.

No way to spend 2hrs

Thursday evening i just got home after a 11hr day at workand i hear "oh, i don't think i should have opened that!"

Yup - Virus uploaded on our XP machine at home. It downloaded what looked like its own Virus checker to the machine by backdoor as well. Managed to shutdown malicious processes fairly quickly.

I spent 2hrs with regedit, deleted programes and DLL's and generally being grumpy! I think i might look at a Mac for home!

Final 40th celebration!

The 40th birthday celebrations have been a long road (pun intended). From shooting in Gleneagles, shoot/support with Alan, , family weekend at centreparcs, the BMW offroad skills course and now last weekend I got to spend the 40th birthday vouchers from my mates - a morning at castle combe racing school! After some instruction in a ford focus we got let loose in a single seater formula ford. Castle combe is 1.85 miles long and bumpy. Overall a good circuit. Comments from the instructor assessment were - "a great drive, very good lines. remember - slow in and fast out. brake early @ quarry. Very good in all other braking zones". Seems being a biker helps hook up turn-in, apex and exit of corners. Obviously has never seen me on public roads! Seems i was trying to be fast in and fast out! Might try this single seater lark again. Top day out.

Motorsport weekend!

Forgot to post some photo's from a country show we went too in June. Not your typical event as they had a round of the UK lawnmower championship! No kidding. The picture is from the warm-up practice. As you can see there is allot happening. I like the fact that if you take out part of the track it's your responsibility to put it back!

Anyhow, off tonight to Fully's for a couple of beers in prep for final 40th celebration - a morning doing Formula Ford at Castle Combe.

As i had the afternoon off and the weekend to myself a last minute long distance run on the beemer to Cornwall/Devon with tent! Should be either great or wet. Pictures to follow Sunday!

Naturale Bike Wash!

30 foot drop into fast flowing river. 30 foot out with a 90 degree left handed through trees. Easy

I got very wet.

The trick is to come down hill, wheelie so the front wheel does not hit the water with the rear driving you through. That will be for the next course then!

You want us to go where?

First off - spot the instructor. Yep that little figure top of the hill on the left of the track. Aim for there! Now spot the bike just over half way up. Now try and figure the gradient out. Lets put it this way, with the loose gravel you would have difficulty to walk up it as it was so steep!

Now how do i get from where i am sitting taking the picture to where the instructor is? Err, first avoid the deep water filled ruts, go downhill a bit, cross a deep rutted fire road that goes left to right, staggered junction, get the bike into second, floor it and aim for the top, whilst trying to stay on! Easy when you know how. Oh, and just where the bike is, remember there is a 10 foot flat bit, so roll off the throttle a bit, then back on to ensure you get to the top.

Great instruction, the right machinery and a bit of bravery gets you to the top. What did we all do when we got to the top - laughed so much it hurt and asked to do it again! Were all just a bunch of big kids with big toys.

Sorry officer the accidents always seem to be behind me!

Sorry for the delay in posting. Been traveling around like crazy with work (Paris, Zurich etc), but Friday and Saturday i got sometime to myself. Got off flight Thursday evening from Zurich and 3hrs later i find myself in mid-wales.

It's time for the advanced off road bike course. Luckily there were only 3 others on my course and we zipped through the theory and got out on the trails. This is the aftermath of riding too close together - i lost a bit of traction on a steep climb at the top, dean launches 240kg of BMW into the trees and Jeremy panics and drops it mid-way up! I did the decent thing and took a photo then went to help pick the bikes up! You will notice the the bike at the back of the photo 2 blokes are picking it up! More photos soon!