A photo of the new Erith Yacht club building, which is currently undergoing construction, to replace the WW2 era Fogelfohn car ferry that has been their headquarters for many years. A large chunk of Government money has been ploughed into the building, and it will be interesting to see the result. The Fogelfohn was originally a Norwegian car ferry that was used to traverse the Fjords, until it was captured by the Germans during the war; its' sister ship was sunk by Allied special forces in order to destroy a shipment of heavy water to stop the Nazi atomic bomb programme - a fictionalised account of this appeared in the film "Heroes of Telemark". Click on the photo above for a larger version.
WNKR have been broadcasting on 1512 kHz medium wave over the Christmas break - you can listen to their programmes online by clicking here.
I have been contacted by Paul, who is both a user of Flickr, and a member of the Bristol Car owners club; he has generously allowed me to reproduce the photos below of his 1977 vintage Bristol 412 coupe, that he has recently had a nut and bolt restoration performed on it, back at the Bristol factory. You can see more of his photos by clicking here. He tells me that it is now better than when it was delivered new. Looking at the sumptuous interior, I am inclined to agree. He wrote to me with the following: I had a factory package restoration, they charge you a delivered price for the car which includes the donor car. On my car they took it back to bare metal body and frame and replaced most of the superstructure. It has a completely new interior and almost all the mechanical components apart from the engine and gearbox (which were rebuilt) are new. It was the first of these packages they did and I was significantly undercharged. The service at Bristol is quite astounding, it is absolutely no quibble. Toby Silverton (Bristol's owner and chief executive) took my car out for a spin after I got it, and decided the handling could be improved by changing the shocks to a sports specification. Two hours later I got it back all changed and a refusal to accept any payment from me. They just want to get it absolutely right. Great company.
WNKR have been broadcasting on 1512 kHz medium wave over the Christmas break - you can listen to their programmes online by clicking here.
I have been contacted by Paul, who is both a user of Flickr, and a member of the Bristol Car owners club; he has generously allowed me to reproduce the photos below of his 1977 vintage Bristol 412 coupe, that he has recently had a nut and bolt restoration performed on it, back at the Bristol factory. You can see more of his photos by clicking here. He tells me that it is now better than when it was delivered new. Looking at the sumptuous interior, I am inclined to agree. He wrote to me with the following: I had a factory package restoration, they charge you a delivered price for the car which includes the donor car. On my car they took it back to bare metal body and frame and replaced most of the superstructure. It has a completely new interior and almost all the mechanical components apart from the engine and gearbox (which were rebuilt) are new. It was the first of these packages they did and I was significantly undercharged. The service at Bristol is quite astounding, it is absolutely no quibble. Toby Silverton (Bristol's owner and chief executive) took my car out for a spin after I got it, and decided the handling could be improved by changing the shocks to a sports specification. Two hours later I got it back all changed and a refusal to accept any payment from me. They just want to get it absolutely right. Great company.
The News Shopper reports that the perpetrators of the Crayford electrical cable fire, and subsequent power cut to to much of the local area may now never be caught. You can read the shocking story here.
We are now being told that feeling grumpy may actually be good for you; well, if this is actually true, I should be the healthiest bloke in the area. Personally I am not holding my breath over the whole thing. You can read more on the BBC News website here.
I was unaware until this week that in the late 1960's there was a bus service to transport cyclists through the Dartford Tunnel for free; it was only when I found the following photo of the modified double decker bus that ferried the cyclists across the River Thames at Dartford that the penny dropped. I don't think may people are aware of this part of our local history. Drop me a line using the link below and let me know what you think - as previously mentioned, it may take a day or so for me to moderate your input - I have got Chinese spammers leaving junk comments on a regular basis, hence my need to police what people leave in the way of feedback.
Talking of buses, I encountered the most astonishing example of selfish rudeness I have seen in many months today; I was about to board the 99 bus towards Woolwich this morning; as I moved to step onto the bus, a Chav of no more that 15 years old came from apparently nowhere to barge in front of me to get on first. Under normal conditions I would have physically hauled him out of the way and made my displeasure with his behaviour abundantly known. On this occasion I was so taken aback by the bare faced effrontery of the hoody wearing scumbag that I temporarily lost my normal resolve. I now deeply regret letting him get away with it - if I see him trying it again he will not get away so lightly.
The BBC are showing a high budget new version of John Wyndham's classic story "The Day of the Triffids" starting tomorrow evening - you can see a trailer below, courtesy of Messrs. YouTube and co.
Thanks for the info on the "Day of the Triffids" Will give that one a look. I remember the 1980's BBC production and the 60's film starring Howard Keel!
ReplyDeleteThat Bristol Car looks superb by the way.