WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Big Kev]

On the subject of roads, there are some road closures in Foulridge from tomorrow, the red area on the map will be closed until August 4th.

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[Stanley]

Ian, I came to that conclusion about driving in London long before the congestion charge. It was purgatory driving a wagon there even then, God knows what it's like now.....

[PanBiker]

You will see in the motorbike thread that nearly 50 years ago we did a trip down to London on the bike. I remember getting stuck on Hyde Park Corner with dozens of black cab kamikaze taxi's who all of course had "the knowledge". I think I went round four times before I saw a gap that I could go for.

[plaques]

You will see in the motorbike thread that nearly 50 years ago we did a trip down to London on the bike.

In my youth my pal and myself set of for a south coast holiday on a pair of Velocettes. Early morning and hopeless lost when a 1000cc Vincent drew up along side. "How do you get to..." we asked. Follow Me. off we went 50mph minimum. red lights no problem. Through London 20 miles in 10 minutes flat. The Vincent stopped. Straight on he said. That was a good ride wasn't it.?
Still remember it years later.

[Stanley]

Susan called in for a cup of tea this morning. We had several matters that needed sorting and have tidied all of them! Neither of us expected to be able to do it. Lovely.....

[PanBiker]

Through London 20 miles in 10 minutes flat.

That would be 120 mph minimum Ken. What marque of Velo's were you on?

[Tizer]

In the late 70s we'd gone to live near Redhill south of London. My parents had been on holiday touring the south coast and decided to come and see were we lived. When they left they drove straight into London because my dad thought he new the way through - and they promptly got lost, still south of the Thames. In desperation they saw a policeman in his parked car and asked him for directions. He said follow me, and then he escorted them all the way across London until he could say `Follow that road' and you'll find your way home. And they did. I bet you wouldn't be able to find a copper to do that for you these days!

[PanBiker]

Sally reminded me that we also got stuck at Marble Arch as well. I think after that experience I vowed never to drive in London again. I have navigated Cities in France on the "wrong side of the road" a lot easier.

[Big Kev]

I used to drive in central London on a daily basis, certainly not a pleasurable experience. Getting a 40ft container from Thamesport to Hampstead Village is definitely another journey to be avoided.

[plaques]

plaques wrote: ↑24 Jul 2023, 10:08
Through London 20 miles in 10 minutes flat.
That would be 120 mph minimum Ken. What marque of Velo's were you on?

Well 10 minutes is a slight exaggeration. The Velo's were Venoms mine a bog standard 500cc with our holiday gear my pal was riding a 350cc KTT but the Vincent had a pillion passenger which slowed him down a bit. As I said very early Sunday morning, empty roads no traffic. In the days of cafe racer meet ups. It was the sort of daft thing you did in those days.

[PanBiker]

Thought It may have been Ken. Could do that all day on my 1100 Pan European with another 30mph spare which came in handy traversing France a few times. Plenty of stops between bursts kept the average speed calculations at bay at the joining/leaving barriers on the payable bits of motorways. Lots of pocket rocket lads get caught by that.

[MickBrett]

I remember the first Vincent 1000cc motorbike I ever saw.
It was owned by Doug, the barber in Earby.

[Stanley]

Morning Mick! Always nice when I see your name on the screen when I fire up.
Kev, the addresses on the tickets which always sent my heart into my boots were the small private wharves on the side of the River in the East End. I had some that even the police couldn't find, in that case they got a retired bloke out and they could usually solve it.

[Tizer]

I had a friend who had been in Cairo during WW2. He said he never managed to understand the traffic there. At a main crossroads junction there was a policeman on a box in the centre. When he blew his whistle all the traffic stopped; when he blew it again all the traffic re-started!

[Big Kev]

Casablanca was interesting, at a roundabout you had to give way to traffic that was already on it. Fortunately I was a passenger or it could have got messy

[MickBrett]

Casablanca was interesting, at a roundabout you had to give way to traffic that was already on it. Fortunately I was a passenger or it could have got messy

I thought that law applied in the UK too? Or have I been in the States too long

[Big Kev]

Casablanca was interesting, at a roundabout you had to give way to traffic that was already on it. Fortunately I was a passenger or it could have got messy

I thought that law applied in the UK too? Or have I been in the States too long

I wrote that the wrong way round, you had to give way to traffic joining it

[Stanley]

The East Lancs Road (A580) was the first inter city highway in Britain in 1934. It took drivers a long time to get used to it and when they installed roundabouts it got worse, the American servicemen at Burtonwood were particular culprits as they didn't understand roundabouts at all and they had been installed by then.

[Tizer]

We have a big and dangerous problem due to a small roundabout. It's on a busy, fast straight road on a hill and it has one other road joining it at an exact right angle. So it's effectively a T-junction. Drivers coming down the hill are going very fast and often drive straight across, forgetting or ignoring the fact that drivers coming up the hill and turning to the right have right-of-way because it's a roundabout. It's a miracle that there hasn't been a very serious crash but it's going to happen sometime.

[Tizer]

`UFOs and aliens bring a divided US Congress together' BBC
If the truth is out there, the US Congress wants to know. The House of Representatives convened a landmark panel on unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAPs), known more colloquially as UFOs, on Wednesday, in the most serious acknowledgement yet that mysterious sightings deserve scrutiny at the highest levels of government.

Perhaps the crane was shot down by a UFO?
`The moment an NYC crane catches fire and collapses' BBC video

[Stanley]

I heard that news item as well Peter. I thought it was significant that the witness was a former member of US Intelligence.....

[Tizer]

ILP in the news...
`Ada Nield Chew: The factory girl who fought for women’s rights' LINK

[Cathy]

Thanks Tize. Ada Nield Chew - interesting read.
I looked up her date of birth in my Birthday’s Book.
She was born on 28th January- The Day of Outstanding Achievements. (Gutsy, Strong-willed and Driven).

[Tizer]

Gutsy, Strong-willed and Driven - that sounds about right!

[Stanley]

They were strong and affective fighters for their political rights. Something we need again I am afraid.