It definitely was the culture when I started work in central London years back, took me a while to twig when around lunchtime the old timers said they had an appointment at the Irish Embassy and hardly ever came back, Toucan Pub I think it was in Soho

NF marathon on this weekend too, road closures etc, seems more inconvenient to me than any bike rides but it doesn’t seem to attract any moaning by the vocal minority down here for some reason like bike rides do

well you just missed the big bike bash there: http://www.pedalplanner.co.uk/big-bike-bash-august-bank-holiday-2015/
but if you haven’t already booked, Avon Tyrrell is still a good base to camp at and a bit cheaper than the FC main sites. http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk
Plenty of touristy tat places nearby, plus the nearby beaches and erm Forest of course

Thanks for the tips so far. A mate (in his 60’s) swears by his (massive) DC trainers but I don’t like to tell him he looks like some ageing rapper/skater boy with them on.
^ whenever I’m abroad and hear Dutch/northern european families chatting away, I can’t help but think of pingu

Blimey, I was at the Jesus & Mary Chain gig in one of the article pics, don’t re-call it being that bad. Most of the punk and indie gigs I went to from the late 70’s onwards (lots) were just a laugh, you just got a bit pummeled with all the turkey dancing and pogo’ing etc. The only time I remember lots of fighting was at the early 2 Tone tour gigs when the NF lot used to turn up, and another time when they turned up at a Redskins free gig on the South Bank. I never quite got why early skins who loved ska/reggae become what they did

Just don’t try and sit on one of his chairs though

.

Extra lockable door frame or floor bolts add to making it more difficult, door/motion sensor alarm of course, where does it end really? Can only do so much. I put up a Swann Outback Cam discretely too outside, quite interesting to see who mooches about when you are not about – mainly wildlife and the odd delivery driver in our case.

There’s a lot of (obvious) wig wearers in Neath for some reason.

An old one – why did the bald man draw lots of little rabbits on his head?

‘Cos from a distance they look like hares..

Dropped in over the weekend for the beer and bands (fantastic, I never thought I’d like a hair/heavy metal outfit, ever, but Saints of Sin were great), well done to the organisers…

They look great, I’m looking for a cool 125 that I and my 2 older kids can use too, but a bit worried about the reputation of Chinese imports though. But with the warranty it still might be a better bet than modding a 125 Honda which I was going to do, dilemma. I normally only go for Honda as they are so reliable, I just don’t know enough about the recent influx of imports from other places, names I’ve not heard of etc

Having a shed helps

WCA for the big bike bash, 7th year this weekend, but it’s raining…

Got back from a long run last night and had a closer inspection this morning, annoyingly it’s not as I first suspected spilt oil from the filler cap area, just to the right is a black plastic thing and it’s from the base of that it’s weeping. I presume there’s a gasket under it which has gone. Will take off and have a look later, maybe trip to the garage if it looks too complicated to fix…

Thanks, will get some stuff and give it a go later. I don’t think there’s a leak as no dripping on drive or signs of weeping, at least I hop no leak. It looks like someone has been over-eager filling it up and spilled it from the top. I think where it’s gone on some areas it doesn’t get quite hot enough to burn off but warm enough to start smelling. Just really difficult to access it low down,

Quex near Ramsgate, more of a nice house with lots of weird things collected aound the world by the family.
+1 for Horniman in South London too.

Our 17 year old bought a Golf before he’d passed and got short term learner insurance with Adrian Flux for £90 a month. He passed 2 months later and then insured with Tesco, for £1200. They came around to fit a black telematics box but refused to when they spotted it had been lowered by 40mm. Got a full refund (less £30 admin and pro-rata usage), then went to Aviva,cost £1700 fully comp with breakdown/legal cover etc but no black box and okay about the modification thankfully. It can be done but lots of shopping and asking around we found.

^ Looks like tickets are still aavailable: http://www.bigbikebash.co.uk/buy-tickets/
I’m sure ciderinsport will say

Cutting the grass on the top camping field with a view yesterday ready for the Big Bike Bash next weekend. Just getting rid of the rain now..
ps – the cows have made quite an impact on it, nicely flattened/spread out now

Similar to me a while back, migraines and twitchiness from too much tea, simply swapped to decaf tea and fine again, although I did have a bit of a general lifestyle change with leaving old (stressful) job which probably helped too. I got recommended the green teas and that weird red bush South African stuff but thought it tasted horrible, people say you get used to it, I didn’t, decaf normal tea is fine.

I saw that animal above ^ , prize for who knows what it is
Going up to cut the grass in the field with a view on Saturday

I managed several Grade 1, 2* and 2 listed buildings for a number of years. I always found the local conservation officers & English Heritage regional bods really helpful, they were good for advice and sources of grant funding for work. Maybe we were lucky in our area, and I guess it wasn’t my money/property so didn’t feel the pressure etc
I think the thing to do is find the listing details to get a real understanding why it was listed, what the important features are and so on – might help appreciate the building more if you are the custodian & why decisions are made when it comes to alterations – often trying to stop a slippery slope where change upon change eventually loses all that’s important.
The only time I thought decisons were a bit silly was when I applied for consent to change some horrible 1950’s Crittal windows back to original leaded lights and wasn’t allowed to as the Crittal windows were now seen as part of the ‘history and evolution’ of the building.
Having a listed building can affect planning applications for things like outbuildings/extensions attached to it or in the vicinity, worth bearing in mind.

Interesting frame but actually I can’t be bothered to build it up, will stick on classifieds cheap in a bit

+1 for Vibe speakers, made a big difference in my van front (to replace existing 4″) & Rear (extra, 6″ x 9″) without spending a fortune

Go east a bit to the New Forest and camp at the Big Bike Bash http://www.bigbikebash.co.uk that weekend, perfect combination of bikes, beer and bands etc

If petrol, get a Honda for reliability

Scam, ignore/delete it

Liskeard

Useful info, thanks all

6 music been playing it too

If any good, a good friend (and bike enthusiast) in Bristol fits wood burners and does chimneys etc. He’s qualified, been doing it for years. Let me know if you want his number/email for advice, cheers

After taking the original pic when wondering around a French city, I found this bubblegum for sale in one of the shops:

pretty obvious to get quotes first…but 17 year old who doesn’t listen and thinks a Golf is cool compared to a 1.0 Nissan etc etc. I guess we were all young and stupid once
He earns his own money so up to him, just getting quotes now, £1750 pa best so far, urghh

Try ‘Lloyds Cream’ the only one I find that actually works for that sort of thing, rub on area 2 or 3 times a day

Just learning in one of these , awesome to me…though I suspect not to most

^ well more of a field really, weeds are only common successful plants and good for wildlife of course…..

Hora, me too, if Honda made auto vans this size as well I’d get one. If you can get one of the last 2010-2012 UK Hiaces in 120 engine they are better specced with aircon, electric windows, decent stereo and nicer updated interior front area. I thought about a Proace but no auto and I think they are rebadged PSA things really.
If you need it to be a crew van, budget a grand for a decent conversion or do it yourself if you have the skills. Will still be 30-40% cheaper than a similar aged t5 which will probably have much higher mileage and plenty of things that have gone wrong with it or will soon.
That said, just back from touring France in our t5 and it was fine, there must have been 20+ of them on the ferry back, baaa
It cost more, I needed an auto, but I guess when I flog it it will be worth proportionally more still

Thanks for tips CG and others, will check out the other ones you’ve mentionned

Yep I thought it might be, particularly at this grockle time of year. Done stuff like the South Downs Way with overnighters which we loved but I’m a bit wary of anything too hilly/jiggly and taking a step back with injury recovery right now.
Edit, Just seen other posts now^..

I’ve had 4 Hiaces since the 90’s, much better value than VW’s of similar age and always reliable. The old 2.4’s are slow, the latter post 2002 2.5 D4D engine is much better performance wise particularly the 102 or 120 versions. MPG around 25-35 depending how you drive, but runs much better amd smoother on posh diesel. 110 mph dubious, more like sitting at 80 fine and a tad more down hill with wind behind you, not that you ever really need to or can do that in this country. I used to buy Reed or Versa converted disabled minibus ones with removable seats so good for both family, bikes and work use and they tended to be low mileage with service records. I’d have another no problem but a knackered left foot meant auto so finally gave in and became a sheep going down the T5 DSG route…
My family think the T5 is cooler but I still secretly prefer the Hiace. I did think about a later new shape auto imported 3.0 diesel Granvia (Grand Hiace) which look fine, but pretty rare and quite dear via dealers and got pressurised to go T5.
I really like the look of the newer oz spec Hiaces too – wonder what it would cost to import one.