i’d be interested in that mk1 dropout superfastjellyfish if the OP isn’t!

Me and my stepson (7) have just built him up a Tamiya DT-02 Sand Viper. Easy straight forward build, runs on short grass fine but gets bogged down on long or wet/freshly cut grass. Had it jumping over the parking bunds at Hamsterley at the weekend no bother! Going to get him the speed tuned motor for xmas as hes getting used to the speed now but I’d rather take him on a big field/car park whilst he gets the hang of it rather than send it straight into a fence/shed/swing/bbq in the garden…There’s a local RC club near us that run 1/10th indoors on carpet with jumps in winter and outdoors on grass in summer, so that was a factor in what I got him as he really wants to get into racing with me (I’ve just picked up a Schumacher KF2 and K2 set up all second hand to get back into it as I used to race as a kid too) so a truck style was out as they don’t run those. He sits and watches the Euros/US/Worlds 1/10 and 1/8 off road races on Youtube and loves it, he’s desperate to learn how to jump it like on the american tracks :)

I have cushcore in my rallon. If you have rims less than 25mm wide don’t bother, 25-30 maybe and 30mm+ isn’t too bad to fit/get off. It will develop your grip strength for sure! Weight doesn’t concern me but it is noticeable – depends how sensitive to the you are if you will mind it or not. As they take up a lot of volume you can run lower pressures but do not think they are indestructible. I’m a rim/wheel/tyre killer and have dinged two Halo Vortex rear rims on rocks with them in and Magic Mary Super Gravity tyres and pumped up reasonably firm (30psi). First had to be replaced as it was that bad. BUT it didn’t flat/break the seal both times and I continued my ride fine (Ard rock once, a local ride another). In Finale I snapped a spoke on a heavy landing which punctured the rim strip on my old Mavic wheel (25mm ish internal) it was a F@CKING nightmare to get it off on the trail to put  a tube in without metal levers, the guide was not amused… The park ones are the best I found for it without scratching rims and I pack them in my seat pack now so permanently on the bike! I considered Huck Norris which my mates use but have seen those fail too, and they dont seem to last that long. Also other friends have had mixed results with procore. Basically not perfect but I am certainly not taking them out anytime soon I’ve gone from roughly 1 puncture every few months to one puncture caused by a broken spoke in 2 years riding the same stuff. If you are in the Northeast/Newcastle way welcome to have a look.

a tracksuit clad skinhead noshing off his mate with his tracky bottoms round his ankles. they protested that they were looking for his ‘small dog’ when they clocked me

bloke shitting ON THE TRAIL so had to swerve round him and his shit laughing

lots of re-enactment type people dressed like medieval types with beards (including the princesses)

doggers

people shagging in a car with the lights on wanted to be ‘dogged’

a fox cub

lots of weird line choices

architect specs the finishes/doors/windows/cladding etc, engineer makes it work (not usually too fussed about it being pretty as that’s the architects job) so sounds like the architect and engineer need to speak to each other. give them both a nudge to get what you want :)

We have them flying about all the time (Derwent Valley near Gateshead). Kids love spotting them and I like waking up in the morning opening the curtains and watching out for a pair flying about whilst having a brew in bed :) Usually look best when the suns low lighting them up from below in an evening. One landed in the verge opposite my garden a few times probably having a go at a something it thought was edible before being scared off by kids playing nearby then coming back – they are bigger than you expect up close and powerful taking off!

circular saw to just over half the depth on one side, flip over and cut the other?

don’t bother getting everything you will ever need from day one. start off with a cheap little tent, sleeping bag and a roll mat and see if you like it. you’re either a camper or you’re not! also theres a wide range of campsite around. do research and avoid the chavvy/big ones as they can be like a big mobile council estate.

i have the titan one too – can recommend it. picked it up locally off gumtree for £25 from an old bloke who had bought it new to take a few tiles off in his bathroom so it was mint except the chisel tip was a little dusty! absolutely perfect for what i’ve needed it for – knocking off large areas plaster, breaking big bits of concrete out when doing fence holes, drilling ground anchors, drilling through double skinned walls to run cables through etc…

theotherjonv – do you know if that gas conversion kit will fit a Uuni 2s? been thinking of getting one for a while, although saying that we never have any major problems with wood pellets (except i left them on a damp concrete floor and they expanded over winter. tried drying out but turned to dust so just bought another bag off amazon)

we have a good little production line when we use ours, partner sorts the dough, rolls out and adds the tomato base/cheese/herbs, kids add toppings, i look after the uuni and do the cooking/mild incineration. its too much trying to do everything on yourself!

i ordered 2 tyres from them, one turned up quickly and the other never did. i finally got an email saying it was out of stock and on order. found the best way to get a refund was to email them (phone was useless) via replying to the out of stock emails AND the contact me email address/pop up on the website with the order number. took a few days but when they cancelled the order the refund was quite quick, to debit card too

still won’t be buying anything from them ever again!

i’ve made a few from old solid oak kitchen worktops/units and cut offs of timber i’ve pulled out of skips where someones renovating a house (i have no problem with skip ratting mind!) make nice solid workbenches for free. also try gumtree if you don’t want to jump in a skip

I remember a few years ago someone brought out a plastic tube which weighed naff all. in fact here it is. take two!

https://bikerumor.com/2015/10/05/eb15-schwalbe-airs-out-worlds-lightest-inner-tubes/

we did a bike tour around that area about 10 years ago on hardtail mtb’s, mostly road/what you would call gravel riding now based as we were carrying tents/sleeping kit/cooking gear etc. we did ride up and over the mountains on some rocky/gravel type tracks. it would be worth taking a bike for sure but i’m not sure if there’s any official bike trails. most people we met were climbers or doing walking routes – some of them quite technical with fixed ropes (obvs no good for biking!) and we used our bikes to get around then went off doing day walks up the peaks.

points to note from memory:

– there is a cable car up from Fuente De village at the southern side of the picos. great to get up high for minimal effort :) the campsite at the bottom was totally random with some bloke who lived in a hobbit like house

– santillana del mar is worth a visit if you get time. lovely medieval town

– san vincente had a decent beach

– the cider is worth trying, especially in the tavernas where the bar staff serve it the traditional way by pouring it over their head. apparently kickback from the celts being pushed down that way by the romans – theres loads of celtic crosses on churches etc. also if you buy a cheese sandwich expect queso de cabrales in a baguette which will be strong enough to degrease a lifetimes supply of chains and cassettes… stilton tastes like dairylea in comparison!

theres a good map you can buy but not sure if still available on amazon etc, i would have got mine through my local climbing/outdoor shop

i have rugby legs too and </span>was in an ion shop last week, gutted i didn’t try some on as they look nice and all the guides in finale were wearing them. however they did seem quite small in the flesh!

just back from a week there, we went in this bar most nights when we found it the guys who run it are sound. La Vecchia Scala just on the front on the south-west side of the square.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@44.1685795,8.3439187,3a,75y,20.02h,87.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1ij1w-cJ4bYBFE3uuVht-Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

good beer, apertivos, burgers, platters of meat etc. we went in a fair few times and they kept giving us free pitchers every time we went in and even a bottle of grappa (i think, not sure i was pished!) for my mates stag night. they have football on and a quieter bit upstairs too, reckon if you speak to the guys they’d put a match on for you. even if not they’d probably give you their ipad to watch it on!

there is a real ale place called Sir Arthur next to the bike shop here:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Sir+Arthur+Craft+Beer/@44.1702558,8.3481791,21z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x12d2fa2f779a7221:0xf64560ab17a5f16!2s17024+Finale+Ligure,+Province+of+Savona,+Italy!3b1!8m2!3d44.1689028!4d8.3416211!3m4!1s0x12d2f9887572e99f:0x79856a6af3c9ea72!8m2!3d44.1703012!4d8.3482596

but to be honest it didn’t have that much of an atmosphere and it a bit too hoppy ipa for most of us. maybe worth a shot mind if you like craft ale

lots of eating places, not as many in Finalborgo as i had hoped. we went here on a recommendation and it was good: Pomella

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Pomella/@44.1707669,8.3465291,20.71z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x12d2fa2f779a7221:0xf64560ab17a5f16!2s17024+Finale+Ligure,+Province+of+Savona,+Italy!3b1!8m2!3d44.1689028!4d8.3416211!3m4!1s0x12d2fa29f30fda99:0xf0b94266bee9fbc8!8m2!3d44.1708081!4d8.3466348

the bistro as you go into the finalborgo through the main gate is v nice, good selection of beers and wines too

as for icecream plenty of places knocking about, just get one and head to the beach :)

I’ve had a folding spider leg style one before (can’t remember the make but like a Kyham motordome thing) it was good but didn’t have any bedrooms. You can buy pop up inner tents which would have been ideal when I had it but it got sold a long time ago. It was quick to pitch and solid when guyed out mind.

We have a just kampers 8 berth one now for when we are somewhere for 3+ days. Its a massive, 5 pole tunnel style with 4 bedrooms (so kids have their own and a store room) takes about 20 mins to pitch, and is solid when guyed out and left on its own. I got it on gumtree, it was used once so in mint nick for £100

When we are just travelling about we stick the kids in a little 3 man tent I’ve had for about 15 years so owes me nothing. I pitch so the door is under the Fiamma awning which works really well for us as its so easy/quick to put up and put down and by parking in the right direction of the wind keeps the rain out of the tent. Good but you don’t get the privacy/storage/bedrooms of the big one.

if there’s a lot (ie: a trees worth) save the hassle and pick up a log splitter second hand. sell on after. the screwfix maul/axe/grenade set works absolutely fine, mine is redundant in the shed after getting my splitter. it cost me 1.5x of those pricey fiskars axes it was a returned stock one. its a doddle to use and saves me aggravating the ganglions in my finger joints, but obviously you lose the lumbersexual points… only use the grenade/maul for the really big stuff that’s a bit too heavy to handle on my own onto the splitter

1. No and never will be.
2. Not one iota.
3. I have a niggling feeling probably not, if any of them ever go further north than Watford that is.
4. Depends on the menu/staff/place. If it was right next to a pub knocking out pub grub or a chip shop then no chance. But if it looked inviting and their response to me asking ‘do you do bacon sandwiches’ wasn’t as mental as the last vegan place I tried to eat in (vegan cafe morning after night out with epic hangover – didn’t know it was vegan) then maybe. As long as there’s free Wifi and decent flapjack.

our kids all have second hand frog bikes off gumtree and they’re faultless so i can recommend them but the isla bikes look good too. taking the pedals off for the first few rides just to get him used to the bigger bike before pedalling is well worth doing, really helped our youngest daughter make the transition from balance bike to pedals in no time.

Don’t need a full on DH bike, although when I go I prefer to take my old 26-inch wheeled Scalp than my 27.5 enduro-xc-trail-do it all-160mm bike. Feels a lot more stable and fun for me at full chatter. Def’s need a full face and whatever your preference is for pads/protection.

Think you have to pay a day rate to be a member on top of the uplift charge if you are not – be worth checking before you go.

cheers for the pointers chaps some good ideas there. como was an option too,
but maybe we will go back and do that and verona/venice by train

mikewsmith – don’t worry we’re well familiar with that district :wink: :D

did think of Venice but we might just do that on another trip. more than likely we will get trashed on the first night, end up trying to get into a few clubs and then spend the next day feeling sorry for ourselves trying to do the tourist stuff. but good places to get trashed are a must!

Did a bit of the blue at Whinlatter on the way back from some off piste shenanigans Sunday. Lots loose gravel but generally smooth and the guy I was with said takes his 3year old round on a balance bike so imagine it will be fine. There’s some little rock garden sections off to the side to entertain yourself on too which were wet and slippy Sunday, imagine fun challenges on a drier day.

Baaaaarrrrrnsley (can’t get away from that) with a bit of Geordie chucked in. Go proper broad when I go back ‘ome. Like being on Kes.

if you’re happy to lug around a trangia any small spatula/spoon from ikea/tesco/wilko/poundland cut down as the others have said will do as you’re hardly weight saving. i’ve always used tesco rip off sporks for £1 but then again i don’t cook pancakes… one snapped once so i gaffer taped the ends to sticks and for the rest of the trip had the luxury of a separate fork and spoon :-)

I was down that way for a week in July. Lanhydrock was ok – nothing amazing but good fun with the kids and the missus and they enjoyed the cafe/play area too. Some flowy fast hard pack trails with a fun dual track.

I headed up to Grogley Woods which was definitely more my thing – much more varied, rooty and some really steep and tech stuff too. It was easy to find the tracks from the car parking area at the bottom – just follow the fire road zig zagging up till you get to the entrance to the trails near the top – they all seemed to split off from here.

I use a Carradice SQR and have similar commute distance. So far perfect for me over the last 4 years and my girlfriend even used it on a bike packing trip so kills two birds with one stone. Fits shoes, lunch, change of clothes, tube and tools and a lightweight rain jacket in no worries. Usually put my stuff in a thick carrier bag in case of a heavy downpour but its never leaked. Have also strapped one of those fold up rucksacks to the top of it with a bungee to get some shopping home. Think someone in the classifieds is selling one. Probably a few other options nowadays to choose from too.

Second the geotechnical engineering route. Many moons ago I worked in geotechnical engineering for a few companies doing piling/ground improvement design. My first degree is in physical geography but I did some geology and geomorphology modules. I really liked it and I really got to use my geology/soils knowledge, however as I didn’t have a formal qualification in geotechnical engineering i was quite cornered job wise… (also the work was not in a region of the country I enjoyed living…) when I left my boss was designing the piles for the shard! My work buddy now is a civil engineer and his experience is mainly in drainage. Oh and for the record I’m a landscape architect now! Might have some contacts somewhere if you want to send some CV’s about as getting some experience is vital.

excellent links and tips there chaps, much appreciated! i’d probably give the free pump track a go, don’t really want to pay out for me and the lad to hold up the traffic :-)

Cardinham and Lanhydrock look ideal for the partners to go for a walk if we have to drive there too. cheers!

Painting is a doddle. I used a £20 tin of ronseal kitchen cupboard paint on my doors. Took them all off, removed handles, cleaned, sanded, cleaned again, painted, put them back on. Painted all the trim bits with same paint whilst doors off. Just enough for small kitchen in the tin. Everyone has commented how good they look now. No chipping/scratches so far (6months later). So £20 well spent as far as I’m concerned. My friend used Valspar spray paint which was £11 a can and she used loads of them.

And whilst I was on with that I made new worktops out of reclaimed scaffold boards…

dlr’s right on joining BRCA. always use a failsafe too as a minimum.

I’ve seen a lipo go up at Wombwell when they had only just come out. It was in a 1/10th touring car going full pelt down the straight then it just became a flaming fireball and shot straight on at the end of the straight into a tyre wall! The guy was gutted and fortunate it didn’t explode badly or hit someone.

I used to race both eletric 1/10th road and off road buggies and 1/8th nitro then brushless buggies many moons ago. Nitro was always more fun for racing, whereas electric was way more fun for just messing about in the park/street/woods/bmx track without worrying about annoying anyone. Never had anyone complain about noise even tuning engines in the garden, people just thought i had the lawnmower on. cant do it at 11 o’clock at night before a race day though…

I would say give racing a go if there’s a club near you. you will obviously need a kit which matches what they race. I raced from 10 years old to 17ish with my grandad supporting me then dabbled in and out of it over the years. I really got the bug and it helped that I was always mid-pack in the higher up finals so you always had some good dog fights.

Agree for lipos use turnigy from hobbyking they worked fine for me as i didnt want to shell out on expensive ones when i wasn’t racing that regularly.

Here’s what I’ve found out in the last year and a half in a nutshell in one handy flowchart format:

Q1) Got patience?

Yes > carry on as you are and someone will bump into you on a train one day
No > go to next question

Q2) Want fun and an ego boost?

Yes > Tinder or Plenty of Fish
No > go to next question

Q3) Want serious relationship?

Yes > Match.com or similar
No > Go to Q2

And just so you know I ended up with someone I met on Tinder. She’s perfect.

if you have one of these or similar (ok an expense up front but hey how much did you spend on your oven in the house?) you can knock out awesome pizzas for about 10p each. i’m up in the hundreds now. love it. even conventional oven pizzas are awesome and never fail

Pizza oven

cheers chaps i suppose I could give the camping under the lift a go first and if moved on will try out a few of those campsites.

I have the Titan one I got for £100 in a sale from screwfix, does the job perfectly fine for me (on about 30m of hedge and grass strimming). no problems starting up after a few pulls but you do need to hold it at 95% throttle as stated above otherwise it bogs itself down.

I’m doing exactly same thing at the moment for my new house. Just repainted the doors/trim in my preferred colour (£20 for a tin of Ronseal kitchen unit paint) cleaned the handles and got some old ikea wood worktops of gumtree for £20 – luckily my kitchen is small so can reclaim from the longer lengths. Total budget £40! I need to fit the worktops still so I’ll just borrow a jig off a builder I know, but can pick them up cheap. Still need to do the floor thinking of painting over the existing tiles but it’s a ball ache to get right.

great stuff chaps, definitely enough for us to consider there! :)

My favorite – Ouseburn pub crawl. Tanners, The Ship, Cluny, Cumberland Arms, Tyne Bar, Free trade. All good. Stagger back along quayside.

If you want trendy bars the latest places are Pleased to Meet You and the Botanist.

Bar 28 above the Grainger Market, Alvinos and Datbar if you want something a bit more alternative to the diamond strip fake tanned selfie brigade.

Better pubs (for beer/music/atmosphere/lack of orange people) – The Forth, Town Wall, Tilleys, Head of Steam, Brewdog, Bridge Tavern.

Old man pubs – Crown Posada, The Bridge (next to High Level bridge behind castle), Centurion in station are worth a shot.

If it’s sunny try to get on the roof terrace at the Botanist or head across the high level bridge and go to the Central for a canny wee suntrap roof terrace watching the trains go by or a game of table tennis… One thing Newcastle lacks is beer gardens. Maybe worth jumping on the metro to Tynemouth if its nice and if you’re early enough go down to Riley’s Fish shack on king edward bay. Great food and beers just sit on the sand. Gets rammed mind.

As mentioned previously Hancock and Laing worth going to. Discovery museum and Centre for Life better for kids IMO. Go in the Sage and go up the stairs to the top to look back across Newcastle from across the river. Baltic is hit and miss. The Castle keep is worth the entry fee to go up and look off the top.