Died?

[Pierre ZFP]

That looks like a Luxembourg style numberplate !!  Is it?

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]That looks like a Luxembourg style numberplate !!  Is it?[/quote]Yup.   Happily, I was able to give the guy a print of this before he went home again.

(Actually, I think it's too light now Clair  - and in no way reflects the horrible weather last July at LM![:-))])

[Cendrillon]

[quote user="now just john "]What's going on in my neck of the woods beggars belief, having bought outside the village for that rural idyll we now find a long strip of land alongside the road divided up into 5 plots and foundations.
A new disney take on a charentaise single storey with every bolt-on imaginable showhouse emerging where previously there was only hay . . . Is this a good thing I ask myself?[/quote]

 

On the plus side if you have a village shop and school the new housing will hopefully provide customers and pupils to keep the village and facilities alive. [:)]

 

On the minus side it is a shame that these little boxes have to be tacked on to olde worlde style typical French villages.[:(]

 

[just john]

Since the pics are about Le mans I can oblige a few myself, looking forward to being there again this year http://www.healeysport.org/

[IMG]http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll113/fuckyoustupidfuck/DSC00210.jpg[/IMG]

 

[IMG]http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll113/fuckyoustupidfuck/DSC00202.jpg[/IMG]

 

 

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Cendrillon"]

 

On the minus side it is a shame that these little boxes have to be tacked on to olde worlde style typical French villages.[:(]

 

[/quote]Unless of course your dream home is a modern box in a traditional little village...

As long as people keep having children, more and more people want homes.  Not to mention all these bloomin' early-retired Brits who keep moving over here...[6]

[cooperlola]

[quote user="now just john "]

Since the pics are about Le mans I can oblige a few myself, looking forward to being there again this year http://www.healeysport.org/

 

[/quote]See you there then! (Or rather, here.)

[Russethouse]

  Not to mention all these bloomin' early-retired Brits who keep moving over here...

I don't think that many people will be able to afford to take early retirement soon.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Russethouse"]

  Not to mention all these bloomin' early-retired Brits who keep moving over here...

I don't think that many people will be able to afford to take early retirement soon.

[/quote]There's that.

[just john]

We are all entitled to our little bit of gods earth for a while, but why would you want to live in one of 5 in a row?
(unless you're quintuplets of course) reminds me of  little boxes. [8-|]

[mint]

Blimey, John, you've a long memory!  I'd forgotten that song [:D]

Except the little boxes I see around me all seem to be in beige.  Wouldn't mind so much if they were all different colours.[;-)]

[Gluestick]

Great pics JE and John!

Love the big Squeally.

Reminds me of the late John Gott: wonderfully sensible bloke. I was racing with him at Lydden Hill the day he passed on.

 

[Russethouse]

[quote user="now just john "]We are all entitled to our little bit of gods earth for a while, but why would you want to live in one of 5 in a row?
(unless you're quintuplets of course) reminds me of  little boxes. [8-|][/quote]

Because they are usually modern, do not require lots of upkeep and you may like being close to other people.

Not everyone wants to be isolated.

[Patf]

As well as these new villas we have a massive construction slowly going up in the village. I think it's some kind of barn, but it's big enough to be a supermarket.

It's a strange contradiction, because in other ways the old stagers in the village are very keen on keeping things pretty and natural. Quaint little picnic spots arranged on the woodland paths, flower arrangements and models of ancient haycarts etc.

We are outside the village so it doesn't impinge on us yet.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Blimey, John, you've a long memory!  I'd forgotten that song [:D]

[/quote]You don't watch "Weeds" then Sweet 17, as this is its theme song.  (A must see in my book!)

Hey, don't you just love threads about nothing and everything?  Well done, Gluey (goodness, the people you know/knew).

[just john]

GS Nasty bump that one; perhaps you know 'the other JC', John Chatham? I believe he will be at Le Mans too this year, DD300 is in the main shot somewhere.(white hardtop, just to the left of the 250) [8-|]

I've always wondered what fun it might be if the drivers all jumped into different cars and drove it like they stole it![6]

RH Absobloominglutely, new is nice enough and I enjoy being in the middle of folks, but why not five individual designs in a countryside littered with every conceivable variation?

[Renaud]

RH says "I don't think that many people will be able to afford to take early retirement soon".

Well I think that the problem is rather the other way round. Who exactly employes the over 55s now? Certainly I do not see much silver hair in the City nowadays. When the government rabbits on about people soon having to work into their 70s, I always wonder who is going to employ these people? 

[Russethouse]

I'm the wrong person to ask - my father worked until he was 76, he loved his job and had a wealth of contacts, still did deals etc. My uncle continued working after retirement then started a decorating business and my grandfather was commuting until he was 80, because he was a skilled worker and the company valued those skills and the fact that he could show younger people what to do. My father in law also took early retirement from one job and started another, then just kept on working for several years.

There is a life outside the 'City' you know

 

[cooperlola]

My mother worked as a physio (albeit part-time) into her early 70s.  It is do-able, especially in certain professions.  But I've never regretted giving up in my late 40s and I don't envy the next few generations whose pension schemes will never, it seems, give them this option.  All in all I reckon I was lucky to have been born when I was and have the options I had.

[Gluestick]

[quote user="cooperlola"][quote user="sweet 17"]

Blimey, John, you've a long memory!  I'd forgotten that song [:D]

[/quote]You don't watch "Weeds" then Sweet 17, as this is its theme song.  (A must see in my book!)

Hey, don't you just love threads about nothing and everything?  Well done, Gluey (goodness, the people you know/knew).

[/quote]

John Gott was, of course, for those who didn't know the Chief Constable of Northants. I can just imagine his take on speed cameras!

At the time (1972/3) I was entering three modsports Midgets in the Modsports championship and driving one.

Interesting tale about one. It had been built by Roger Enever (son of Sid Enever, BLMC Director production). Roger had somehow (Nepotism?) got hold of the keys to the Midget plant and during a works shutdown, pressed out a complete set of three MG Midgets in MS4 aircraft ally sheeting: probably ruining the press tools in the process.

Robin Widdows had one of the cars and set a lap record around Nurmbergring which I believe still stands as the class is defunct.

This one was one of our team cars

Held together by rivets and epoxy: drysump 999c.c. XSP ex F3 all steel engine.

Didn't arf go!

Pic of me at Lyddon (my favourite circuit after Brands) first race in my Midget, before it went into the paintshop for team colours! 1972.

Me with - hair! And Mrs Gluey (pitcrew) taking instruction. Pic can be dated by Mrs Gluey's crocheted jacket.

 

[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/Michaeleff/MG-Pit71.jpg[/IMG]

[just john]

On the button Renaud, I was approached by a young brillopad headhunter on behalf of his client who had named me; (the recruitment agency knew nothing about me) on the basis of what presumably was an admired reputation of achievement, then asked if I was prepared to dye my grey hair and shave off my beard! after consultation with better half she said 'ridiculous, lets gets ready to retire now then'.

[Gluestick]

[quote user="now just john "]

GS Nasty bump that one; perhaps you know 'the other JC', John Chatham? I believe he will be at Le Mans too this year, DD300 is in the main shot somewhere.(white hardtop, just to the left of the 250) [8-|]

I've always wondered what fun it might be if the drivers all jumped into different cars and drove it like they stole it![6]

[/quote]

No, John: I didn't know JC.

Nice pic of Gott's ex-Abingdon team car in Modsports trim here.

http://www.austin-healey-club.com/Pages/AH50-woolmer-series.html

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Gluestick"][quote user="cooperlola"][quote user="sweet 17"]

Blimey, John, you've a long memory!  I'd forgotten that song [:D]

[/quote]You don't watch "Weeds" then Sweet 17, as this is its theme song.  (A must see in my book!)

Hey, don't you just love threads about nothing and everything?  Well done, Gluey (goodness, the people you know/knew).

[/quote]

John Gott was, of course, for those who didn't know the Chief Constable of Northants. I can just imagine his take on speed cameras!

At the time (1972/3) I was entering three modsports Midgets in the Modsports championship and driving one.

Interesting tale about one. It had been built by Roger Enever (son of Sid Enever, BLMC Director production). Roger had somehow (Nepotism?) got hold of the keys to the Midget plant and during a works shutdown, pressed out a complete set of three MG Midgets in MS4 aircraft ally sheeting: probably ruining the press tools in the process.

Robin Widdows had one of the cars and set a lap record around Nurmbergring which I believe still stands as the class is defunct.

This one was one of our team cars

Held together by rivets and epoxy: drysump 999c.c. XSP ex F3 all steel engine.

Didn't arf go!

Pic of me at Lyddon (my favourite circuit after Brands) first race in my Midget, before it went into the paintshop for team colours! 1972.

Me with - hair! And Mrs Gluey (pitcrew) taking instruction. Pic can be dated by Mrs Gluey's crocheted jacket.

 

[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/Michaeleff/MG-Pit71.jpg[/IMG]

[/quote]Cor, Gluey, I love it when you talk dirty![:D]

[just john]

I don't know how you got yours up so quickly Gluey !

I would have given my left wotsit for an ally racer, but still had fun with a F/G sprint/hillclimb machine (great Peter May full race 1275 lump and S/C box)

Goodwood? can't remember, bit different now anyway

[IMG]http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh166/classic69_72/SMSGoodwood.jpg[/IMG]

 

Wiscombe, it was the 2nd gate I had trouble with!

[IMG]http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh166/classic69_72/SMSatWiscombe.jpg[/IMG]

[Gluestick]

Nice pics. John. Like Goodwood.

Boring when ".......the Duke of Richmond and Gordon has become fed up with us playing noisy racing cars in his back garden!" as Bill Boddy wrote in Motorsport.

In those far off halcyon days, John, Modsports class was limited to 1200 c.c. Or summat. So for the class, we used all sorts of stuff. My first engine was based around a FJ Red Crank: which broke: at 110 MPH along the top straight at Brands!

Exciting................................[Www]

John Britton (Arkley) of course built an E-Type killer: he drove one and Gabby Konig (Mark's wife) drove the other.

The cars were Midget looking, but only had the centre bit of the shell from steel, the rest was paperthin glass. he also used Arden 8 port heads and injection.

Alan Woodes built a demon engine by cutting off the boss of a 1098 s crank (Steel) and welding on a standard inline A series flywheel boss.

Later all banned. Original bodywork material between axles centres was the reg.

Dear old Fred Mathews, the RAC scrute, used to used a magnet to check bodywork back from the axle centres: so we took the ally car into the bodyshop, slit open the wheel arches and pushed up some mild steel sheet, closed it all up and re-painted.................

Fred's magnet used to glide from the top of the rear wing and sort of shudder to a halt before it fell off!

I convinced him it was due to the new silicone polish we were using, which was worth 2 secs per lap in improved airflow! [:D]

 

[cooperlola]

[quote user="now just john "]

I don't know how you got yours up so quickly Gluey !

[/quote]They're both talking dirty now.[:P]

Is club racing still so much fun these days or is that behind us forever?  Love the Mk1 Sprite, John. I have a friend - known to all as Gary Frogeye, because his name is Frogeye and he drives a Gary - who has one.  It should be at LM in a fortnight.