Thumper Club Forum
Club House => Chatter => Topic started by: xbally on March 02, 2018, 10:32:39 AM
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Well i had to get up at 3.00 am to go and collect (in the car) my son who works for the NHS 111 service and couldn't get an "Uber" to bring him 5 miles home despite booking in advance. The urban roads were quite bad but luckily there was very little traffic so it was a bit like being back in the 70's when traffic was a good deal lighter and the standard of driving was a bit better than it is today (although you had to watch out for the occasional drunk driver!)I had a job interview lined up at lunch time today about 15 miles of rural roads away so i was quite relieved when they cancelled!With not much else to do at the moment i am posting like a mad thing on here....2 cups of highly addicted caffeine tea and i'm out of control..... :o
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I am taking advantage of crap weather to help wallpaper and paint a bedroom, this type of job normally gets in the way of motorcycle activities !! tomorrow i have to take an Owl to otterburn to a wedding, fingers crossed...
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tomorrow i have to take an Owl to otterburn to a wedding, fingers crossed...
You can't just leave it like that.......
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My daughter fly`s a Barn owl as a `ringbearer` at weddings, ... her car may or may not get there and if we do get there we may have to park a good way off and carry a large box with owl in, so I will be driver/carrier.. hoo hoo
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Aye spooky,
Doesn't sound very good in that neck of the woods at the moment. Plenty of drifting snow and more to come. Both the A68 road out over the top from Corbridge and t'other, the A696 from Ponteland will be challenging with the winds whipping that powder sna' ower the top o' the dykes and through the gateways. If you do give it a go, good luck and good health to the bird and the couple.
At present we have a 'soft' border wall, preventing all access from the Sarf by road and the train is limited, if you are lucky.
I can think of worse hotels to get stuck in! ;) The West Woodburn Inn is good if you don't make it! ;)
Back to my excavations up here, with drifts coming in off the fields of about 2' across our drive. Just round the corner, the 'C' road runs through open fields and there the drifts are a good 5' and growing!
My regards, Bill
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Thanks Bill, wedding is at 3.00 so might be ok getting there, now... coming home might be exciting.... i will report back,
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if we do get there we may have to park a good way off and carry a large box with owl in, so I will be driver/carrier.. hoo hoo
Can't it fly there?
Seriously, something I'd never heard of before. I'm probably out of touch.....
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Good luck Rufus. This owl delivery service you run put a smile on my face :)
I suppose, a couple of months ago, you could have taken the sleigh :D
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Ho Ho Ho , there is as much snow here in Durham as there was in lapland.. by the way, The owls belong to my daughters boss, she just flies them..
(https://s19.postimg.org/4g3i0badf/san17.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
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hi rufus
that owl ring bearer sounds amazing never heard of that .
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Aye spooky,
Lovely birds and I believe the whole idea is derived from a scene in one of the "Lord of the Rings" films? Being a luddite on films, I haven't a clue as too which one! :-\
There is also a similar service being run in Europe using the Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo), they have a wingspan of up to 6' and weigh 5.5 lbs. ;D Another lovely bird, but anathema to the pheasant etc brigade. :-X
My regards, Bill
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They have about 10 birds altogether, the biggest is Henry, a female eagle owl, smallest is a little Scops owl,
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I usually see a couple of resident Barn Owls on the way to work each morning - amazing things. Also have a couple of Buzzards that seem to have adopted our farm.
Snow is starting to go in Lincolnshire but it's been pretty bad in places, mostly the drifts that have blocked the roads. Still damn cold!
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I've a feeling the whole Owl thing came from the Harry Potter movies. Loads of idiots bought them as pets for their kids. And then of course, the animal rescue charities had to pick up the pieces. Bit like all the Huskies, Malmutes, Akitas thanks to Game of Thrones :(
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Succesful day, the road there had some nice piles of snow, the a696 was close just before otterburn so we had to go cross country to the 168 and in from the other side, the road across was packed white snow, luckily my old diesel picasso has bridgestone snow tyres on the front, they were handy..
(https://s19.postimg.org/ai2v27feb/drift.jpg) (https://postimg.org/image/4twkbbb1r/)
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Well done, another successful mission :)
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Aye spooky,
Looks right and not surprised at the detour! ;)
Pleased it all worked out and everybody now home and safe.
Good health, Bill
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we got home last night from a fabulous week in the borders. we were snowed in from Wednesday and only got out yesterday by getting the local farmer to pull out the van with his tractor after i failed to get it through the 2 foot drifts on the drive, i couldnt dig it out, the old internet trick of ratchet strapping blocks of wood to the wheels doesnt work, an the farmers land rover with snow tyres and huge wheels couldnt get through the snow on the hill to the cottage, fortunately the tractor made light work of it all and we got home ok, 3 hours to do 100 yards, 2 and a quarter more to do the next 130 miles. im aching now though, walking through snow up to your thighs is a great workout. but we are home and warm now and have some fab photos of the place. the borders is a bloody lovely place that to my shame, ive always driven past on my way to farther flung places, its well worth a visit, imagine the scenery of the yorkshire dales and cumbria, but with none of the twee touristy tack. and accomodation is cheap too. we got a detatched cottage that was isolated completely from civilization, no neighbours, 360 degree views of the hills around us, and that could sleep 8 people in 4 bedrooms for the same price as a pokey 1 bed flat in the lakes or the dales. great value and in the summer, the roads will be brill on a bike. we will be going back for sure.
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sounds good, what was your nearest village ?
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we were about 3 miles from newcastleton, which is on the road between carlisle and hawick. but its like stepping back in time a bit, the villags are just lovely small communities, first few days were bright sunshine and clear blue skies, but after the snow, we couldnt get down the drive.
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I've always liked the Borders. My sister and her (BMW riding) husband live in Melrose and there are some super roads there. Even the main road )A7) up through Hawick is beautiful.
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One of the least explored parts of the UK with some great empty biking roads. Great bike museum in Hawick dedicated to localm TT legend, Jimmy Guthrie.
Dumfries and Galloway are great too. Many happy spins across the Galloway hills on our way from Ireland to rallies in England. Always worth the detour to avoid the main A75 😀
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i didnt know there was a museum to guthrie in hawick, i was only there last monday, could have gone to have a see. ah well, next time eh!
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We were hoping to keep that lot a secret! ;)
I am not sure if they still are, but at one time some of Steve Hislop's machines and leathers were also on exhibition in Hawick.
As for the roads, they are grand! ;) Just be aware that the Northumbrian and Cumbrian loons come across the border in good weather and on all 7 days of the week, 6-legger timber lorries, pulling 6-legger trailers, or artics run at speed with full loads down single and one and a half track B, C, and un-classified roads. Keep your heads well onto your side of the road when going round corners and be prepared for gutters on the road.
Any of the Border towns are good for staying in and then going out and about from for a week or two and if you are into mountain bikes, the whole place goes bananas most weekends and holidays.
Good health, Bill
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Morning chaps.... yes can't wax lyrical enough about the great roads and scenery up around the borders...oh and the folk, they're ok too😁. Just about to book our annual long weekender to Moffat. Bring on the warmer weather, can't wait👍👍🏍🏍🏍🏍
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All the snow is now melting fast as it has started to rain, everywhere is muddy and soggy, but at least it is warmer, puddle dodging will be the next game....
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Yes I love the Scottish/ English borders and more locally, the English / Welsh borders are pretty damn fine too!
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To be honest Pete, never had the pleasure of doing the English/Welsh borders... defo on my bucket/to-do list tho
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look me up on fb and have a gander at the snowy pics i took last week, look for john regan, profile pic is me sprinting a kat.
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To be honest Pete, never had the pleasure of doing the English/Welsh borders... defo on my bucket/to-do list tho
I can recommend the Welsh borders Michael. Lot's of lovely little villages, quaint old market towns, great scenery and fantastic biking roads. Roll on spring!
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Morning Pete, yes I've been promising myself a trip down there ever since I watched a "metal malarkey" video about 5/6 years ago of a couple of bikes they'd built in and around the Welsh countryside. Looked brilliant. Bikes were absolutely brilliant too... well worth search the vid out. A bsa and a triumph..can't just remember the models in question but defo worth a look... cheers, Michael
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I've visited Metal Melarkey. They build some lovely bikes, at their workshop at Bishops Castle. There's also a great place nearby that renovates classic american cars :)
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I found the video on line... go to "metalmalarkey- engineering" click on the video section then look for the one titled "British Bike action" .... bit of a shame that they've now put a sound track to it, when I watched it you just got the sound of the bikes, the triumph and BSA were down at Stafford in 2013 which is when I had a look at them... lovely things, both of them. Anyway check out the video it's worth a goosey.
Cheers, Michael
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Also click on the "21st C Classics" tag and there's some stills of the bikes
Cheers, Michael