Picture(s) of the day....

[Dormouse]

It might have been badged Westwood as the dealer I bought it from were Westwood agents. They had it on demo to the council to dig the likes of graves but It could not actually dig deep enough. No one else took it on so I bought their "demonstrator" at a reduced price and promptly snapped a front spade anchor in it's mounting pulling out tree stumps. Two things happened after the dealer wouldn't accept warranty on the broken arm. My local blacksmith made Square sockets for the arms to go into not the round ones it had and the pump coupling shear connector doughnut was replaced (not with a Westwood part) as the hydraulics just kept stalling the engine and the doughnut was way over rated. I actually bought two and I did eventually shear the first one and learned what the pump's limits were.

[Dormouse]

The machine arrived only with a 16" bucket and I am not surprised one tester complained about towing behaviour at speed. I took the bucket off when I towed it and what a difference in towing. No more tail wagging the dog. I subsequently got my blacksmith to make me a 7", 11" and 3ft spreader paddle. The 16"bucket was twice the weight of his 11" one and you could now tow with the buckets in place. I only ever used the 16" one for clearing ditches and the digging depth and speed improved when you used the 11" bucket. I did a bit of contacting with it for BT (now OpenReach) by cutting cable tracts around awkward bridge parapets and in tight confined spaces. You could fit the narrow wheels and just about work down the side of houses or through doors. I once walked it into an old earth floored byre through a narrow door and dug out the earth down to found level filling a wheel barrow to get the earth outside only removing the earth ramp at the doorway last. Happy days!

[Dormouse]

I found this on Ebay which seems to have solved a lot of the problems I had with mine.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294096588286 ... Swl69e~b50

[mickthemaverick]

Back to some pictures!!

I had to take SWMBO to her friend's in Warrington today so I have a few pictures to spread around the forum. This is just where I found a place for my lunch on the way home but still in Lancashire/Cheshire area.:

Own work not far from Knutsford

When I left home my Trip A was reading 8.7 miles. On arrival in Warrington it looked like this:

Warrington Trip reading with very acceptable mpg!

I took a completely different route home to avoid the motorways and on arrival back here it looks like this:

Again, pleased with the fuel consumption!!

So all in all a good trip which I have to repeat on Wednesday to collect her. However in the meantime SWMBO will become SWCBI !!

[Gibbo2286]

I had a quite enjoyable trip to Warrington once, on the train.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Pepper Pot Lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 488473
John Allan / Pepper Pot Lighthouse

Institution Cafe Bedale, indulge in a bit of gentle humour on FB, the loch in the pic came up the other day...

https://www.facebook.com/cafeinstitutio ... 3&theater

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Scotland's oddly named Lochs number 2


Loch Drunkie - geograph.org.uk - 1607593
Karl and Ali / Loch Drunkie

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

Just sent them to the place I used to work - all the doors they make are named for Scottish lochs.

[myglaren]

^^ And they do have a panel called Loch Loch now

First for two years, they remained dormant last year.
Otherwise a bit of a disaster for flowers. Most seeds never germinated. Of those that did, most were poppies and the rain has battered them down and they are dying off now.

[NewcastleFalcon]

POTD Bridge Connoisseur's Club

Regards Neil

[Peter.N.]

Where is that?

Peter

[NewcastleFalcon]

Where is that?

Peter

A direct question deserves a direct answer. That is the Royal Border Bridge (Rail) over the River Tweed at Berwick Upon Tweed taken from the viewpoint at the end of the Elizabethan Walls!

REgards Neil

[Peter.N.]

Thanks Neil, I thought it must be up that way somewhere.

Peter

[NewcastleFalcon]

So why are a couple of tower blocks in Sunderland the first picture of the day.

They are at the cutting edge...and feature in a new set of 6 Programmes from Bobby Llewelyn's "Fully Charged" empire. As featured on this thread here

viewtopic.php?p=693955#p693955

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

They look vaguely familiar. Used to be in Sunderland almost daily, rarely go there any more except to see my mate who lives in Fulwell, almost in Roker.
Eldest daughter worked at the uni in Monkwearmouth but had to look it up, not the uni but Monkwearmouth, couldn't remember which part of town it was.