coastrider

Space week on coastrider blog

2012-01-31T06:56:00.000Z

Countdown to the weekend...

4...

Space Week on coastrider blog...

2012-01-30T22:19:00.002Z

Countdown to the weekend...

5...

We went to the moon...

2012-01-29T11:14:00.002Z

On July 20th 1969 a human stepped out of a Lunar Module onto the moon...
Nearly 43 years later it is still mind blowing ,

The 3 astronauts; Neil Armstrong, Edwin `Buzz` Aldrin Jr and Michael Collins left earth on July 16th at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida USA in a Saturn V rocket...

Still to this day the most powerful machine man has ever built, designed by German Wernher von Braun, an ex WW2 Rocket scientist.
The rockets burned 20 tons of fuel a second on take off, produced 7,500,000 LBS of thrust from its first stage 5 engines which pushed the rocket to seven times the speed of sound. 40 miles high it was still accelerating.
It must have been mind blowing sitting on top of that thing...

Here an ace film that shows the power of the Saturn V engines at lift off, to the well suited music of Gustaf Holst`s `Mars The Bringer of War`...

After a 2nd seperation the Apollo 11 headed for the moon, as did Apollo 8 before it, except this mission was to descend to the surface.

With Collins in the Command Module Armstrong and Aldrin descend in the Luner Module (LM) to the Moon surface to touch down in The Sea of Tranquillity...

Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon, Millions of people all around the world watched in wonder...

History in the making...

There were further Apollo missions to the Moon and a total of 12 different astronauts walked on the moon and 6 drove the lunar rover buggies...

They served a purpose but looked good fun too!...

There is so much info about the Moon Program to digest!, the Wikipedia Apollo program is a good read if interested..

Here is a good film of the Apollo 11 footage...

It is amazing to think all the bases of the LMs, flags, and rovers are all just sitting there as are Russian unmanned equipment from landings...
and all the footprints...
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Hold on! that's a Surly fat tyre print on the moon!... so its true they do exist! -:)

The Supermarine Spitfire

2012-01-28T19:40:00.000Z

Transferred and updated from NTR blog;

Walking around the Military hanger at the Scottish National Museum of Flight here at East Fortune in East Lothian you feel dwarfed as you walk between the military jets which between them through time have played there part in military aviation history,

Amongst the large jets is a Lightning...

A Harrier Jump jet...

A Jaguar...

McDonnal Douglas Phantom...

And a Tornado...

However there is a smaller less obvious plane quietly sitting in a corner that played a very important part during WW2 and remains to this day probably the most famous and loved fighter aircraft to ever fly,

The Vickers Supermarine Spitfire...

This example is TE462, derived from the similar LF.IXe, the main difference being the installation in the Mark XVI of an American Packard built Merlin engine...

TE462 never saw squadron service, being built in 1945. Most of its active life was with maintenance units.

Features not in common with the more familiar Spitfire versions is the bubble canopy...

And clipped wingtips which enabled the aircraft to roll much more quickly.

Post 1940 Battle of Britain Spits had Hispano 20mm cannon as well as 8 USA Browning .303 machine guns, which would later be made under licence at the Vickers Factory...

Our TE462 spent time as a gate guard at RAF Ouston, Northumberland before becoming the first aeroplane the Royal Scottish Museum acquired, in 1971.

The heart of the Spitfire was its clipped ``elliptical` wing, and the Rolls Royce V12 Supercharged engine which was also fitted to the Hawker Hurricane,
The engine spat out 1000 BHP making the Spitfire the fastest fighter of its time in the summer of 1940,.
The Merlin's power would increase to nearly 2000 BHP by the end of WW2 and the engine would also power the legendary Mosquito light bomber, the 4 engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber and the P51 Mustang long distance fighter escort amongst others.

Here is a great film someone made using footage of Merlin V12 engine production from a Rolls Royce Factory...

First flown in 1936 the Spitfire was the Raf's first all-metal fighter.
Its nimble and precise handling and speed made it an instant favourite with every pilot who flew it..

Its legend began with its first combat on October 16th 1939 here off the course in East Lothian above the Firth of Forth when Spits from RAF Drem in East Lothian and Turnhouse in Edinburgh were scrambled to intercept German aircraft...

After helping win the Battle of Britain they would turn the air war over the Island of Malta.
Spits would also see action later over the Middle East in both Israeli and Egyptian hands.
Here is a film of some Gun camera footage, and as you see many of the builders of Spitfires were woman, in nylon stockings too!...

Many fighter Squadrons of Spitfires passed through RAF Drem between 1939 and 1946 here in East Lothian... the fighter station was on the front line for protecting the Firth of Forth Estuary from Attacking German bombers flying across the North Sea from occupied Norway...

RAF Drem was a satellite airfield for RAF Turnhouse- today's Edinburgh International Airport and once home to 603 Squadron.
Today if you fly to/from Edinburgh Airport you wont miss the (replica) Spitfire at the entrance in honour of the Squadron...

A minister blessing new Spitfires and Hurricanes, this was done to all ships and planes when new, behind is the village of Drem and Kilduff woods on the skyline..

A patrol coming in, behind is West Fenton and Gullane Hill...

Spitfires ready to scramble...

There pilots waiting in a nearby dispersal hut for that phone to ring to give the call to scramble...

Ground crews work on a planes guns, behind is Gullane Hill...

This picture of 4 young pilots is iconic, none of these young men saw the end of 1939...

A full Squadron...cycling through the now quiet Airfield Peri (Perimeter) track i often imagine what it would be like to be here 70 years ago to see and hear all these aircraft taking off, it must have been some sight...

Photographers wait for an important visit to RAF Drem in 1939, behind are the Garlton Hills and monument on Byres Hill...

King George at RAF Drem in 1939, accompanied by Sir Hugh Dowding would become Air Marshall of fighter command in 1940 during the Battle of Britain...

Many other Squadrons would pass through RAF Drem Airfield for short periods between 1939 and 1946 but mostly the airfields early WW2 duty was interceptor fighters which patrolled the coastline and North Sea and intercepted bombing attempts on Roysth Dockyard in the Firth of Forth Estuary...

Photo taken from a German Bomber...

A film i made of RAF Drem, using pictures collected, audio interviews of pilots who were stationed there, and historians accounts, the real gun cam footage if from the Battle of Britain, many of the Squadrons would have passed through Drem when on leave from the South coast of England.
As you will see even here there were tragic accidents, 20 young airmen from all around the world lost there lives while stationed at Drem. They are buried nearby at Dirleton..

I have always been interested in WW2 and esp the Battle of Britain and Spitfires and what happened here in East Lothian at the time.
As i grew up my dad would often mention that he used to go fishing with men who once flew Spitfires,
Then as an apprentice green keeper at Gullane Golf Club i would chat daily to elderly members who were Battle of Britain Veteran's,though they wouldn't talk about it unless you asked them. During the war one of them was based here at RAF Drem several times.
They would be very modest when you asked them about the war and would say they were just normal people who "did what they had to do" and "did there bit".
What there friends would then often tell you was of there bravery and medals won.

If you do the sums, the 8 303 calibre machine guns were set to cross at 250 yards to provide the maximum damage, if a Spitfire was diving at approx 400 mph on a bomber at 200 mph then that 250 yards disappears very quickly...that's how close the fighting was...

Some experienced pilots had there guns trimmed in a bit to converge at 150 yards.
Oh and the 8 .303 machine guns had 3 belts of 100 rounds per gun loaded that only lasted 14.3 seconds,
so those young men had to learn fast to shoot carefully to conserve ammunition.

The Hawker Hurricane was produced before the Spitfire and in greater numbers and was regarded by some as a tougher aircraft capable of taking a lot of damage and being more easily repaired.
65-70% of enemy aircraft were shot down by Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. It has also been said the Hurricane turned tighter than the Spitfire.

Hawker Hurricane...

So why then has the Spitfire stole the limelight and become the symbol of the Battle of Britain?, it seems to have developed a very special place in the hearts of those who flew it and also in the publics heart who watched them fly then as they do today at Airshows...

Here is film of both fighters...

There are not many original surviving Spitfires still flying today. 16 in the Battle of Britain Squadron.
There are only at the time of writing this 11 Hawker Hurricanes flying here in the UK.
While both planes shared the famous V12 Rolls Royce Merlin engine, the Spitfire seems to have a certain charm...

I am nearly 40 and thinking back to my late teens i was a similar age then in 1987 to what the Battle of Britain pilots would have been in 1940.
But i cant imagine myself doing at the age of 19 what those brave men - then just boys really did ...

What they did was quite an extraordinary feat of bravery, as they actually faced a near impossible task given the odds stacked against them.
They were often quickly trained flying Tiger Moths or Gladiator Bi planes during the summer months of 1940 with a quickening shortage of pilots often it was only 8 hours flying time then they would be posted to a fighter squadron and go on to fly Spitfires and Hurricanes. These fighter planes were capable of over 400 mph, this was in 1940, speeds then hard to believe possible.

They would fly these fighters into battle against armed German bomber crews and escort fighter pilots who were already battle hardened by there war against Spain.
Out numbered at odds of 4-1, they had to learn very fast and many inexperienced pilots never made it back from there first combat,
1 in every 6 RAF pilots would be dead by the end of the summer of 1940 which is by the way Russian roulette odds.

A recommended read is Geoffrey Wellum`s biopic `First Light`...

The youngest surviving Battle of Britain Pilot, at just 18 years of age, Geoffrey flew in 92 Squadron.
Reading his book it is like sitting in the cockpit, and you imagine the sheer adrenaline, fear, and tragedy that was witnessed by all pilots on all sides...

The BBC made an excellent Documentary Drama of his Book for the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Available on DVD it is a very life like look at life during those dark days.
Here is a clip of his first experience of a scramble, and a very lucky escape...

Despite being heavily out numbered the RAF bravely didn't fold under the German Luftwaffe onslaught over the summer of 1940 as expected by the axis forces.

In June 1940 only 1000 RAF pilots were ready with approx 600 fighters and they faced the impossible and by September 15th approx 3000 pilots from the Commonwealth would have helped stop the fall of the RAF and Germany withdrew its planned land invasion of Britain...
446 RAF fighter pilots would pay the ultimate price in the summer of 1940, and many more would be horrifically burned and crippled, a terrible sacrifice was paid by young men on both sides.

Watching Battle of Britain news reels on Youtube you see real footage of scrambles during 1940, but it is a realisation that this is not Hollywood...some of those planes were not coming back,
Also remember those gun cameras they fitted not only documented confirmed planes shot down but often the death of someones son, brother or husband...

Real news real footage, it is a bit propaganda with the music and commentary but watch the RAF footage at 3mins 40 secs...

Pilots accounts often talk of the years of nightmares of watching friends shot down, unable to remove the canopy, often due to a enemy bullet damaging the slider rails, seeing there friends being burned alive and there screams on the intercom radio- something the young woman at battle HQs had to deal with too...
How the surviving pilots coped with the loss of life is remarkable...

Fatigue would play its part as the days wore on from August into September, but it has been documented of these young men's amazing fighting spirit- maybe because they were fighting for there own survival and our country, and this was going on in the skies over southern England where daily people would watch these dog fights in a huge outdoor amphitheatre...

That intense struggle to victory of our skies was as Churchill would later quote `There finest Hour`...

The pilots who survived have often been quoted as saying they do not want thanks, or medals for what they did, but just to be remembered, that is all, as then those who did not come back are forever remembered...

Every year here at East Fortune Airshow a Spitfire flys over for a few minutes and dives and rolls.
I find it awe inspiring and quite moving to watch and listen to the roar of its Merlin engine...

I have wanted to make a film on Spitfires for a long time. There are lots of Spitfire films on Youtube already so i have tried to do one a bit different by using documentary narrative of surviving WW2 pilots and ground crew. They can describe more than myself the charm of the aircraft, also is some narrative of Battle of Britain Historian Dr Stephen Bungay and also female Spitfire owner and pilot Caroline Grace.
It took a few weeks evenings editing the real WW2 fighter film with some of today's airshows then added the narrative and music.
The WW2 flying footage combined with the narrative of those involved with the Spitfire give - i hope some insight into this amazing aircraft and the important part it played so people could live a free life today...

Here is my tribute to "the few" who flew the Spitfires and did there bit during dark days,

massive respect...

Nice House For Sale

2012-01-27T17:50:00.000Z

Nice eh?

Do you like your privacy?, i know i sometimes do, would you like a secluded house miles away from prying eyes and curtain twitching nosey neighbours?, or maybe a weekend retreat to get away from it all?,
Or maybe you suffer from mass paranoia and just need to feel secure and safe...

Well folks this just may be the place your looking for, this is for sale to the north of Albany, in the Adirondacks.
In its 230 Acres of surrounding land within its own perimeter security fence it has its own 2050 feet airstrip...

Inside the house has lovely warming features...

Want more privacy than this?, ok then head to these doors and punch in the code on the wall key pad...

Through the doors and then down and down you go...

To a 2000 lbs nuke proof blast door and then you enter into a
9 LEVEL COLD WAR MISSILE SILO!...

Check out the underground luxury rooms...very 1960s James Bond/ world domination villan...

Marble bathroom? -:)...

Further below more tunnels and blast doors eventually lead to the Missile Launch Silo...

Here is where the SM - 65F Missile would have sat, this Silo was never armed with one...

This facility opened in 1962 and was closed in 1965 due to being made obsolete with the introduction of Titan 2 rocket. The Silo cost around 18 million dollars in 1958...yep!

Now it could be yours for a snip at only $1, 750,000... hope my lottery numbers come up...

In its description i like the bit about the escape hatch from the launch control - straight to the garage above, nice, a direct link to the man cave -:)

More info here; Silo home .com

And film...

Surly Moonlander Fatbike with Charlie The Bikemonger

2012-01-26T20:58:00.000Z

Good chap and UK Surly confederate, evangelist associate and dealer Charlie the Bikemonger has got a fresh new Moonlander in, man it looks ace -:)

watch the night sky... -:)

A Lost Coast Road, and old crossings...

2012-01-26T16:36:00.001Z

Transferred and updated from NTR blog;

I mentioned before about old roads no longer marked on modern maps that can be traced using old maps and out on route exploring for traces of them.
Heading West out of Gullane on the A198 heading to Aberlady village you pass an old stone roadside mileage marker just before the sharp bend at Galla Hill and its disused quarry (Quarry Corner).
These stones are still marked as MS on today`s Ordnance Survey maps,
This one gives the miles to Edinburgh...

As you approach the bend at Quarry corner you will notice a gated road going straight on through Luffness Golf Course...

This road is now a private access road across the Golf Course to vehicles to access the sewage treatment works, but you can of course walk cycle or horse ride down here (watch out for golfers playing across the road!) and down the hill you will see a grass track continuing straight on South to South West in line with the road where you are standing...

This was once the road from Gullane Village - then called `Goolin` to the Village of Aberlady with a tidal crossing causeway across Aberlady Bay.
You can see it marked here on the John Thomson's Atlas of Scotland, 1832, This map is a great source of old information on the County of Haddingtonshire as East Lothian was then called...

Also note the Race Course marked on the map where now is the present Gullane No 1 Golf Course...

Today the 3rd Hole of No1 Course is named Race Course, Originally there was just one Golf Course at Gullane which started at where the Old Clubhouse Restaurant is and wound up and around the hill,
The Links was Comman Land and the local villager`s had grazing rights and even rights to hang there washing!, many Top Race Horse Owners and Trainers owned Houses and Stables on Gullane hill and they had rights allowing them to run there horses on the links. Eventually it had to be decided who would get priority of use of the common land of Gullane links and it was decided it would be for Golf as it could be enjoyed by all, local and visitors with its massive increase in popularity in Victorian times with the coming of the railway to Gullane bringing people from Edinburgh to the coast,
Imagine if it had been the horses that got priority, and today Gullane Hill could have been a top race course venue like Aintree...

What i don't know is if the present coast road (A198) from Quarry corner to the Nature Reserve Car Park was back then a private estate road of Luffess or a toll road but both are marked on the Map but at sometime the present road was made the main road avoiding the tidal causeway.

Back on the old road and it crosses a grass field between Luffness Golf Course and Aberlady Nature Reserve...

This field is in fact part of the original Luffness Golf Course,
Notice the present Luffness Golf Club is called `Luffness New`,
because it was moved and some of its holes relocated after a legal land case decided that some of the course was in fact on Gullane Golf Clubs Land!, the new club moved to the present Clubhouse over 100 years ago, the original Clubhouse ruins are disappearing in Sea Buck thorn bushes to the south of this field which are hard to get through to photo, here is a print though of the original clubhouse taken around 1870...

Now just a grassy rabbit warren here would have been fairways...

Here many years ago my big brother found a Gutta Percha Golf Ball here dug out a rabbit hole which has been dated from around 1880- 1890...

These were the first wound inner golf balls and painted white, these can fetch 4 figure numbers at Auctions if in good enough condition.
Your unlikely to find a `featherie ` golf ball outdoors intact,these were the first golf balls made of leather stuffed with goose feathers but they are still found in dry attics etc...
These are very sought after and easy fetch 5 figure numbers at auction...

The track continues through what is now Aberlady Nature Reserve...

Heading towards the Bay there is under an old Hawthorn a stone with hand cut edges which i believe could be an old way marker for the route...

Ahead you can see here at low tide the remains of what would have been a raised stone causeway...

The Bay is now filling up with silt but when in use this would have been raised and only impassable for a few hours between high tides...

And here looking North across onto the Reserve...

In 1940 The British Army made use of the solid foundations of the causeway when they prepared coastal defences for what was thought an eminent Invasion from Germany after the evacuation of Dunkirk,
rows of concrete anti tank blocks were constructed along exposed coastlines, here is a photo from 1940 of the blocks across the causeway...

P.O.Ws from Gosford Camp were put to work helping in the construction...

I wonder if the Tommy watching the prisoner was or knew `T Black ` who signed this remaining block further north of the bay on the reserve...

The Blocks here across the Peffer burn and along to Aberlady were removed in the 1960s to help build the reclaimed base for the building of Cockenzie power Station.

Here is a pic from then of a crane lifting out the blocks...

Friend Jason and myself rode across at low tide one summer evening last year, first wheels tracks there i bet since that crane removed the blocks...

The Reserve today is well known because of its raised wooden footbridge over the Peffer Burn Estuary...

popularised by the Late Local Writer and Scottish historian Nigal Tranter who lived nearby in the house overlooking the bridge and the bay,
I grew up listening to talks at Primary School of local history by the writer and later would see and talk to him when i was a Green keeper at Gullane while he was out walking the reserve and dunes of Gullane Links with his note book in hand where he found a lot of his inspiration for his writing...
He would make the bridge over the Peffer Burn and the area famous to the world in his book ` The Bridge to Enchantment`...

Many visitors i have spoke to out here have been inspired to visit here in East Lothian because of his writings, He is also one of a few people who have documented visits to every single Scottish Castle...
a memorial to him is at the Nature Reserve car park...

There have also been other crossings of the Peffer Burn here in the past,
beside the Bridge on its east side is another remains of a causeway to ford the Peffer Burn...

And a bit upstream is the remains of a Victorian bridge built by the Hope Family of Luffness Estate...

I remember it standing as a kid (late 1970s) but it was a dangerous bridge then...
here are pictures of it in the 1950s and local Scouts kayaking the Peffer...

The Peffer Burn is a tidal burn right up to the present main road crossing beside Luffness Mill,
What is also of interest to me is there are 2 Peffer burns in East Lothian,
the other north of Tyninghame Estate and south of scoughall farm at Peffersands,
both are in line of each other on the OS map which would indicate they both have the same source but it is not documented (on line anyway) but it is somewhere North of East Fortune if you follow each Burn inland on the maps,
a contour map and a day out walking could find the source,another `to do` to add to the list...

And here is another lost road across Hedderwick Sands between Tyninghame and Dunbar no longer shown on modern day maps...

Always something new to find or research here on East Lothians coast...

Happy Cycling...

2012-01-25T07:14:00.000Z

Cycling definitely goes well with mellow electronic music where the rhythmic spin of peddling seems to fall easily into sync with the beat. I mostly use this music as it also suits film of the coast, from waves breaking, filming along a tide line of debris and wheels spinning across the sand and also to panning across bays.
There sometime earie offbeat sounds are great for Urban Exploration films too.
As well as music by Phontaine and Mogwai, another band with a Scottish connections i love is the electronic duo Boards of Canada ,
One of my favourite bands, i can lose myself for hours listening to there unique sound. there are loads of great fan made films of there music to watch on youtube and vimeo, some are very very well made and i will be posting some of these along with other favourite bands fan made movies in the future, as it is for myself all linked to coastal cycling and other interests i post on here.

Here is a fantastic fan film to some of Boards of Canada`s song `Happy Cycling`...

boards of canada "happy cycling" from charles andre on Vimeo.

WW2 XT Class Submarine Wrecks, Aberlady Bay

2012-01-24T06:44:00.001Z

Transferred and updated from NTR blog;

Half a mile from the high tide line of Gullane Point out in Aberlady Bay on the Aberlady Nature Reserve lie two wrecks of WW2, exposed at low tide on a sand bar and accessible to visit are two Royal Navy XT class midget submarines...

Here is the known history of them, on line and local history;

They are two of six midget submarines class XT (T - Training) built by Vickers-Armstrong Ltd.
They were manned by a crew of 4. The ship`s were 51ft long and 5ft in diameter,
Their range was generally taken to be 500 nautical miles surfaced and 82 nautical miles submerged, at a speed of 6.5 and 5.5 Knots and powered by a Gardner diesel engine (as was used in a London bus!) on the surface and battery propulsion below the surface...

1942
The Tirpitz was the flagship of the German Navy in 1942, sister of The sunk Bismarck it was a major threat to Allied shipping in the North Sea on route to Russia...

Using a secret hideout in a secure Fjord in Occupied Norway Tirpitz would lie in wait in the North Sea for convoys where it would pounce then retreat to its secluded hideout. Protected by shoreline anti aircraft and underwater anti-submarine nets and minefields made it a hard target from the air or sea.
In October 1942, an attempt to sink her using chariot 'human torpedoes' failed because of the bad weather but Tirpitz was out of action due to a maintenance overhaul over the winter.
In March she moved to a more remote hideout called Kaafiord in the far north of Norway.
In September 1943, RAF Spitfires based in the Soviet Union took Ariel pictures of the ship and the surrounding anti-torpedo nets in the fjord.
Kaafiord was out of bomber range, so the British would use the X-craft...

Operation Source...
Six X Class submarines named X5 - X10 would be towed 1000 miles across the North Sea by normal subs. If they survived this which would be a mission on its own then they would then detach and head into the Fjord evading minefields, listening posts and the anti-submarine nets surrounding the Tirpitz to drop 2 powerful side cargo`s under the target...

Each loaded with over a ton-and-a-half of Amatex high explosive...

Volunteers had already been training around Loch Cairnbawn on the west coast of Scotland using the XT class (training) versions of the X class submarines...

Training in these cramped craft was crucial for the mental and nervous endurance the crew would under go...

It was a seriously dangerous mission hence why it was crewed by volunteers...

On 11 September Six X-craft were used;
HMS X5, X6 and X7 were allocated the battleship Tirpitz, in Kaafiord.
HMS X9 and X10 were to attack the battleship Scharnhorst, also in Kaafiord.
HMS X8 was to attack the aged pocket battleship Lützow in Langefiord.
The craft were towed to the area by conventional submarines,

HMS Thrasher towing X5...

All were manned by passage crews on the way then close to the target the operation crews would take over.
The crossing of the North Sea must have been cold and cramped and with the condensation pretty grim... not to mention extremely claustrophobic...

X9, probably trimmed heavily by the bow in the heavy sea for the tow, was lost with all hands on the passage when her tow parted and she suffered an abrupt plunge due to her bow-down trim.
X8 (passage crew commanded by Lt. J. E. "Jack" Smart) developed serious leaks in her side-mounted demolition charges, which had to be jettisoned, these exploded leaving her so damaged she had to be scuttled.
The remaining X-craft began their run in on 20 September and the actual attacks took place on 22 September 1943.

Scharnhorst was engaged in exercises at the time, and hence was not at her normal mooring so X10's attack was abandoned, although this was due to mechanical and navigation problems, and the submarine returned to rendezvous with her 'tug' submarine and was taken back to Scotland.

X6 and X7 managed to drop their charges underneath Tirpitz, but were unable to make good their escape as they were observed and attacked.
Both craft were abandoned and six crew survived to be captured. Although the fate of X5 is unclear, it is believed to have been sunk by a direct hit from one of Tirpitz's four-inch guns before having had a chance to place her charges.
In 2004, a saddle charge identical to those used by the X-class was found on the bottom of Kaafiord a short distance from the site of the attack.
Although it has not been positively identified, it is believed to be from the X5.

Tirpitz was lifted out of the water by the explosion and suffered damage and a slight list to port. Electronic and fire control systems were seriously damaged, and all auxiliary machinery either thrown off its housings or damaged internally.
Tirpitz didn't get the damage repaired by the X-craft attack so the midget subs succeeded in damaging the ship keeping her berthed at Kaafiord until 1944 and her sinking later by Royal Navy and Air Force attacks.

Map of Operation Source...

The commanders of the crafts X6 & X7, Lieutenant Donald Cameron (X6) and Lieutenant Basil Place (X7) were awarded the Victoria Cross,
Robert Aitken, Richard Haddon Kendall, and John Thornton Lorimer received the Distinguished Service Order and Edmund Goddard the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.
The commander of the X8, John Elliott Smart was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

Today only one surviving X Class Submarine remains which is now restored in the Royal Navy Museum,

X24...

After the war in 1946 two of the six XT class training subs were towed into Aberlady Bay and moored between 4 Anti Tank Blocks with a single block on top...

Then there were two live fire missions on the subs when they were afloat at high tide to test new experimental explosive cannon shells from aircraft,

One attack by a Supermarine Seafire-the aircraft carrier folding wing Spitfire...

And a De haviland Mosquito...

This is documented on the RCHMS Canmore website and many of the shells have been found on the reserve years afterwards.
I found many when working as a Green keeper on the Links there in the 1980s, here is one of the shells,
not 20mm as were the usual Hispano cannon shells fired by fighters but a 1/2 Inch calibre as more common at the end of WW2 ,the smaller bullets are 303 shells shown for comparison...

Local History;
Now what does not seem to be recorded is after the exercise was carried out local fighters based at RAF Drem would strafe the subs for target practise,
How do i know this?- local knowledge, a tractor driver who retired when i was 17 was in the Royal Observers Corps here during WW2 and said there was a marker pole behind the 7th Tee up on the Hill of Gullane No3 Golf Course (base is still there in concrete) and fighters would line up over it and dive down towards the subs and fire once over the line of coastal Defence Anti tank blocks,

Mustangs from 309 Squadron while based at RAF Drem, Gullane hill in back ground...

We used to find the spent shells in winter time on what is now part of the Nature Reserve while lifting turf on a mowed area west of the present No2 course `12th` Green, it is now an area protected for its rare Orchids. No mention of further live fire on the subs is documented, but local people witnessed it.
This story seems fair enough as RAf Drem still had fighters stationed in 1946 and also the sheer amount of shells local folk have found out on the exposed sands at low tide- now grass covered lagoons and the Green keepers found lifting turf over the years in that line from the 7th tee, must be way more in number than fired by just two planes.
I have read that there is film of the munitions test which would be great to see.
If the sand bar the wrecks lie on ever moves enough to reveal the base of the four anti tank blocks between the wrecks then you will see the rotting chassis of a Willis Jeep, i haven't seen it for about 10 years now.
Every year the wrecks deteriorate more, the wreck to the west of the Tank blocks is in better condition...
It is about a 40 minute walk out to the submarine wrecks from the Nature Reserve car park east of Aberlady village if you want to go and visit them,

If you do go, have a think about what it must have been like for the men that operated these crafts, the transport crews, as well as the operational crews, must have had nerves of steel, massive respect for there bravery...

Who knows how long they will be visible for at every low tide...

Collecting pictures and some documentary film of `Operation Source` in WW2 as well as pictures from the many times i visit Aberlady Bay, here is a wee film i made of the X & XT crafts...

An old spoon, with a story...

2012-01-23T17:59:00.000Z

Transfer post from NTR blog;

Last year i was along visiting my folks and my dad gave me something he found years ago in the late 1970s/80s) when he was the County Ranger.
It is an old silver spoon he found out on Aberlady Nature Reserve here in East Lothian amongst the remaining WW2 Coastal Defence Anti Tank Blocks...

Looked like just an old spoon...

Until i looked at the insignia...yep that`s a swastika!

Underneath it is also stamped GROMARGAN GERMANY,
google that and i found there is still cutlery made there today, and they state it to be the finest made too,
It is light for its size and must be good quality stainless steel to have lain outside possibly for 40-50 years.

I found some GROMARGAN cutlery for sale on Ebay, it isn't cheap, this spoon with its insignia could be worth a few quid- but with that swastika unfortunately for the wrong reasons...

Now its a long shot but a probable reason how this spoon with an Army Badge and swastika insignia came to be out there on Aberlady nature reserve was that German POWs from Gosford POW Camp helped work on the Coastal Defences here in East Lothian. The spoon is not a mess kit spoon as issued to troops but a dining spoon, Officers did not do manual labour under the Geniva convention so how did a German squaddie come to own this?, i have had this spoon verified as genuine and not fake by a German reinactment group,

Here is a picture of a German POW beside a block and a sentry watching on the Gullane road, east of Aberlady...

Gosford Camp was extended after the D-Day Landings and would by the Wars end house nearly 4000 Prisoners.
The Coastal Defences were started after the Dunkirk Evacuation in 1940, the tank blocks on the Nature Reserve were made in August of that year, how do i know?,
Because some have writing on them...
This one is dated Wednesday 21st August...

If indeed it was a POW who lost that spoon, i bet he was in trouble for doing so,
I read that captured soldiers were allowed to keep there mess kits of cups and cooking pots (mess tins) but forks and knives were removed, and all cutting or spreading of butter, jam etc..on food and eating had to be done with that spoon.
A spare spoon or knife could be made to be used as a knife or key, POWs kit was checked daily and a reported missing spoon would probably result in time spent in solitary in the `cooler`, with the intent that the soldier would break and reveal he had traded or sold it to another prisoner...

Now just because the spoon has a swastika does not mean hits owner was a Nazi- something which would not interest me anyway, but i wonder who he was, where he was captured and if like many POWs he stayed here after the War ended or was returned...
We grew up with our parents friends of German ex POWs who stayed here after the war, many worked on the local estates and farms, many that had to return to the former East Germany faced an uncertain fate...
Guess we will never know the story of this WW2 artifact, but its owner was lucky to have been captured as he made it through it all...
If i can ID the Regiment/Group Badge then maybe i could find out the information on POW regiments that were at Gosford Camp, also there was a Camp at Aimsfield in Haddington but most were non German Axis troops,
My friend Tommy `battlefield Detective` in Holland has been researching but has not found an ID on the Regiment badge, if anyone can help please get in touch...

I can just imagine Sweden going to war..there elite troops kitted out with mess kits by IKEA... -:)

An old Tin, with a story...

2012-01-23T17:35:00.000Z

Transfer post from NTR blog;

When i was 14 or 15 i was out walking along the old Right of Way from Lochhill Farm to Aberlady Village on the eastern side of Gosford Estate and just before the 6 Acre Wood i kicked something lying in the long grass...

It was an old Tin which looked like it was made of brass as was all green,i took it home and cleaned it up to reveal its markings, it was from the first world war in Christmas 1914...

Princess Mary was the daughter of King George V and Queen Mary.
She was 17 when War broke out in 1914...

As the first Christmas of the War approached Princess Mary wanted to contribute to the commonwealth forces a gift for Christmas....
Due to the scale of this it was decided best that an appeal fund was set up in her name, Hers words to the people were;

"I want you now to help me to send a Christmas present from the whole of the nation to every sailor afloat and every soldier at the front. I am sure that we should all be happier to feel that we had helped to send our little token of love and sympathy on Christmas morning, something that would be useful and of permanent value, and the making of which may be the means of providing employment in trades adversely affected by the war. Could there be anything more likely to hearten them in their struggle than a present received straight from home on Christmas Day,
Please will you help me?"

Money poured in by the public only too keen to make there loved ones fighting have an enjoyable Christmas, though `the war that would be over by Christmas` was now looking to be a long affair and the true horror of trench warfare was starting to become knowledge by returning wounded and rising numbers of the fallen...
It was decided a box would be sent to the sailors and soldiers in service of the Commonwealth as an appreciation of there bravery...

There were approx 500,000 boxes made...
There were two contents in the boxes, one for smokers, one for non smokers,
Non Smokers box included a packet of acid tablets, a khaki writing case containing pencil, paper and envelopes together with the Christmas card and photograph of Princess Mary...

Smokers box included one ounce of pipe tobacco, twenty cigarettes, a pipe, a tinder lighter, Christmas card and photograph of the Princess...

Along with letters and cards from family and loved one these boxes must of been a welcome gift to the young men at Christmas in 1914,
For infantry sat in a cold trench in terrible conditions with death all around or sailors on ships in constant fear of torpedo attacks at anytime...

I wonder who it was who lost the box i found, was he a survivor?
or was it a tin sent home with personal belongings of a fallen soldier or sailor?
The box is nearly 100 years old now, a relic from `The War to End All Wars`...
But still there is fighting in the world...

You can read more about the Princess Mary Appeal Fund and the Boxes on line here at;
The Imperial War Museum

Winter is what you make of it...

2012-01-22T20:39:00.000Z

Sunday we had a ride organised to go down to Seacliff and then ride east to Tyninghame. a 30km loop from my house with everything to offer, from nice all weather trails on the John Muir Way, to the scenic Seacliff Harbour and views across to Tantallon Castle and the Bass Rock, technical rocky riding and sand dunes to play on, woodland single track then a village cafe.
Riding today were friends Dave and Jason on there pugsleys and Andy on his new Salsa Mukluk, and again another new bike on the coast here!,
friend Colin from Edinburgh on his lovely 9zero7 fat bike,
Again another sunny Sunday dawned with clear skies and a cool air, but a fantastic light.

Winter is what you make of it, we did today, and many people out walking on the coast we met around at Tyninghame were doing the same, they were out enjoying the day too, mud free on the coast for them and there kids and dogs, enjoying the fantastic coastal scenery, the clean fresh air, like them and my friends this is my ideal winter day...
There is something amazing about the coast on a day like today, the blue of the sky and glow of the red rocks in the low winter sun, we met a lot of people who showed interest in our bikes, including family members of the beach and estate at Seacliff, who wee impressed at these bikes and where they can go,
I love the interest in fat bikes from people i meet, we get nothing but positive vibes, esp when we point out there minimum footprint, and what we all ses in a days ride with the distance we can travel,
Again at a cafe stop at Tyninghame people smiled and looked at the bikes, and a lady had a go, coming back with the usual big grin!, it is all good...
I took loads of pics today being amazing light, its a £60 compact Canon camera, so there not great but capture the day....

Baby Lady birds...

The death of Jason's Alfine hub, it has been rough since a ducking in the sea in Northumberland in September, it locked up - Kaput!, so he swapped the wheels and single speeded the rest of the day, now you know why pugsleys have reversible wheels...

Tyninghame Cafe...

Village and Estate history...

You know you want to buy one...

mine...

Saturday High Tide Ride...

2012-01-22T06:21:00.003Z

Got in a wee quick ride on the coast on Saturday from Gullane, amazing how in just over an hour how much of a micro adventure you can have, a high tide and a big swell from the North Sea pushed in by a strong wind made for quite a wild sea, and a cool 3 degrees Celsius, with a bit of winter sunshine it was perfect...

Along with Jason our two pugsleys were joined by a new fat bike now rolling on the east coast...

Friend Andy has got a new Salsa Mukluk, this is i think the first Mukluk in Scotland that we know of or have heard about on line on the forums etc, first around here anyway, it came via our friends The Bike Chain in Edinburgh, oh they have a demo 18" Pugsley too -:)

It was a squeeze between the surf and rocks in places but in just over an hour we did a loop east of Gullane to Yellowcraig and back...

White horses...

Big rollers in Freshwater Haven...

Andy loves his new bike!...

Wild!...

Out of the crate the Mukluk is near ready to go for Beach riding, nice wide 82mm rims give a more noticeable foot print, frame sizes are different at 13,15,17,19, and 21" to the Surly 16,18,20,22" giving different top tube lenghts so there is the perfect size fat bike for everyone...

Looking forward to writing wee reviews and comparisons of the Mukluk and Pugsleys...

For a change i took my SD Tachyon 2010 XC camera and did some filming, left running for the whole ride the SD files upload really quickly and upload real quick onto Youtube, not as good quality but i do like its shaky cine camera effect and that halo glow around the sun. Not used this camera for a while but it is so simple to use and quick to attach on and off the helmet with the 3M snap velcro...

Here is a long film, 120 mins edited to 20 mins, mostly slow techie riding...

4 Songs;
A Faithless song i have, do not know the female vocals!
`Big Calm` (Instrumental) by Morcheeba
`Twice` by Little Dragon
`Super Nova` by pico

Youtube film...

2012-01-21T07:05:00.002Z

If your gonna ride bikes you gotta know the lingo... -:)

Scotlands Mural Town, Prestonpans

2012-01-21T07:01:00.001Z

Here in East Lothian the small coastal Town of Prestonpans is full of Industrial Heritage.
Its name came from its salt manufacturing using pans on the shoreline...

Lots of interesting Buildings...

It has 14th Century Tower Keep...

What i love is how the towns History has been put on its walls in Murals.

Coal was mined since the 13th Century,There were Brewery's and potteries and a brick works...

It also once had a fishing Harbour `Morison`s Haven` at nearby Preston Grange,Herring and oysters mostly...

Memorial to the men from here who gave there lives in the two World Wars...

Preston Grange itself has a Heritage Museum which is free to visit and has some examples of Kilns and Mining machinery that operated the pits which went far out under the Firth of Forth. There will be another post later just on the Museum...

Coal Mine Shaft Cap...

Prestonpans is also site of a victorious battle again an English led army, on 21st September 1745.
The Scots led by `The Young Pretender` Charles Edward Stuart defeated the army loyal to the Hanoverian George II led by Sir John Cope. One of the most successful battles for the Scots during the 2nd Jacobite Uprising.

But it is strange that today the battle is celebrated for its slaughter of the Hanoverian troops rather than commemorate those that died on both sides...

You can read more details about the battle Here...

Other Murals show ways of life in the Town...

And recreation...

In 2006 a 32 foot tall Totem Pole was carved by sculptors from a 75-year-old Cedar log given to Prestonpans by the people of Vancouver Island.

I think this is ace...

A six-pointed star represents the salt industry and a miner for the town's coal mining past...

A teapot to represents pottery,a Prestongrange brick, and a fishing boat all represent past Industries.
Both Scottish and English flags were included on the totem pole to represent the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745...

I Think the Town has done a great job of preserving its history...

The Ruins of Seacliff House...

2012-01-20T20:44:00.002Z

East of the Town of North Berwick is the estate of Seacliff, during the winter months you will see an old ruin through the trees above the secluded beach...

The original Seacliff House was built in 1750 by a Robert Colt.
It was later bought by George Sligo who in 1841 employed the famous Scottish architect David Bryce to build a new house in baronial style on the core of the older house.

In 1907 it was gutted by fire, taking the life of the then owner Andrew Laidlay,
He is buried in nearby Whitekirk Church yard.
During WW1 The Royal Navy established a top-secret research base there.
The station, known as HMS Scottish Seacliff, was mainly used for navigation training and U-Boat defence.
The exterior now survives almost complete with gables, turrets and bartizans.
Slowly Nature is taking back the ruin as the woods and ivy encroach it every year,
It once must have been an impressive house with its views out to sea above the secluded sandy cove with Harbour, and across to Tantallon castle and the Bass Rock...
Please respect the Landowners privacy who live nearby if visiting...

East Lothian`s Royal Observer Corps Part 1; WW2

2012-01-20T17:50:00.000Z

During WW2 the skies of the UK and its coastline was watched by the eyes of members of The Royal Observer Corps as well as the developing Radar for approaching enemy aircraft.
The Observer Corps (Royal was added in 1942) was formed in 1938 throughout the UK and isles.
The South East Scotland Group had around 30 or 40 posts controlled from the main central command post at Galashiels.
Here in East Lothian there were the following posts;

North Berwick,
Athelstaneford,
Aberlady,
Dunbar,
Innerwick,
Garvald,
Humbie,
Tranent,

The posts of the ROC were usually organised into small groups of 3 and would triangulate to pinpoint fixtures and monitoring.
Here in east Lothian North Berwick (post A1), Athelstaneford (post A2) and Aberlady (post A3) formed a single cluster.
Dunbar (post Bl), Innerwick (post B2) and Garvald (post B3) another.
Humbie and Tranent formed a separate cluster with posts outside of East Lothian.

To monitor aircraft observer`s used a simple and effective mechanical tracking device. Where the approximate height of an aircraft is known it becomes possible, by using a horizontal bearing and a vertical angle taken from a known point, to calculate the approximate position of that aircraft using a mechanical sighting `Micklethwait` height adjuster positioned over a post instrument plotter consisting of a map grid.

Setting the instrument with the aircraft's approximate height the observer would then align a sighting bar with the aircraft.
This bar was mechanically connected to a vertical pointer which would indicate the approximate position of the aircraft on the map grid.
Observer`s would report the map coordinates, height, time, sector clock code and number of aircraft for each sighting to the aircraft Plotters located at the Centre Group Headquarters in Galashiels where a plotter was used on a map (The small flags you saw on map tables in war rooms).

Some of the Observation Posts were simple canvas structure`s...

Others were Brick buildings with a half roofed half viewing parapet like this one on Gullane hill (Aberlady Group) with a nearby Air Raid shelter which also was beside an anti Aircraft battery. The shelter was knocked down in the 1990`s as it became unsafe...

3 posts survive today in East Lothian which can be seen, North Berwick Post (A1) on North Berwick Law...

And here is a pic from WW2 of a troop carrier on NB Law during its operation!...

Another is the Innerwick Post (B2) overlooking Skateraw...

And at Humbie Post is an Orlit (concrete section) post though I'm not sure if this is pre or post 1945?...

Coastal Radar From Northumberland, and then Drone Hill on Berwickshire`s Coldingham Moor along with radar across the Firth of Forth Esuary in Fife would be first to pick up German Aircraft approaching across the North Sea from occupied Norway.
Once in visual view the Observer`s would visually identify and track them.
The observer`s also had to be quick to ID by sight and sound our own fighters too...
RAF Spitfire over the East Lothian coast flying form RAF Drem here in East Lothian...

Remember there could also be incoming allied Bombers returning from raids over occupied Europe or that had got lost in foul weather.
If a bomb run over occupied Europe was aborted due to foul weather which could result in unnecessary civilian life being bombed then the formations were split up returning to various Airfields to reduce the chance of mid air collisions.
Many of the air crashes over the UK of allied planes were returning planes lost in bad weather and flying low to try to get a visual sighting. an example is the B17 Flying Fortress crash on the Cheviot summit.
If the Observers could ID them and notify HQ who then radio`d the Anti Aircraft Gun battery's then hopefully they wouldn't be shot down by there own Guns.
So the Observer`s role was as vital as the Radar Stations.
A system of colours of flares fired by approaching friendly aircraft was developed which helped notify the Observer`s and the Anti Aircraft gun crews along the coast which probably helped save aircrews lives.

The East Lothian group were the first group to plot enemy aircraft over Great Britain in WW2 on the 16 October 1939 when a Heinkel He 111 on a reconnaissance mission over the Firth of Forth was tracked.

Then again they would help track and monitor the attack of Royal Navy shipping in the Firth of Forth by Junkers Ju 88s of KG 30.

Twelve days later the East Lothian observer`s again saw action as they tracked the combat which resulted in the shooting down of the Heinkel He 111 which crashed at Longnewton Farm, near Humbie near the location of Humbie post J1. The pilots coat and other artifacts are in the National Air Museum here at East Fortune...

The Royal Observer Corps would provide an important roll during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 alongside all other Ground Units in the fight going on above over the skies of Britain,
The ROC were credited by Churchill and also the RAF Air Chief-Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding for their vital role during WW2...

The Royal Observer Corps was stood-down on 12 May 1945.
The corps was then reactivated in January 1947 with the unavoidable Cold War developing. Then in 1957 as we entered the Jet Age the aircraft reporting role was abandoned and the Corps then manned blast proof underground posts from which if we were under nuclear attack the posts would monitor the size of explosion, then the prevailing winds and so the areas which would be affected by fallout could be evacuated by this information being sent from posts to central controls.
At the end of the Cold War in the early 1990`s, the ROC was completely disbanded in March 1992.

You can read more information here on the Royal Observer Corps

In Part 2 i will list East Lothians part played during the Cold War Years and the sites of the ROC Underground Bunker Posts and there functions and locations in East Lothian...A time of Clandestine cloak and dagger warfare...

East Lothians own Whisky Galore story

2012-01-19T20:10:00.000Z

The famous author Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) was related to the Dale family who still own and farm much of the land around Seacliff. The Author often visited North Berwick town and Seacliff estate...

A book he wrote in 1892 titled The Wreckers is said to be based on tales he heard of the “Pagans of Scoughall”, who would lure ships into shore using lanterns in order to wreck and plunder them on the rocks at Seacliff.
Seacliff today...

The Pagans of Scoughall (pronounced skoal as in the lager) had the worst of reputations, and were said to tie a horse's neck to its knee and attach a lantern to the rope. Then drive the horse slowly along the cliffs, so that a vessel out at sea would think it a ship riding at anchor, and come in, only to be wrecked on the rocky reef known as the Great Car and be plundered by the ghoulish people.
Stevenson also wrote in his book 'Catriona' of the 'lights of Scoughall' and purposely put 'Tam Dale' in charge of the prisoners on the Bass Rock island prison offshore in the Firth of Forth.

Researching the wreck of the SS Podarosa at Scoughall Rocks...
SS Poderosa wreck...

I happened upon an amusing story of another boat that ran aground here on its rocks and of its cargo;

The Haddingtonshire Courier reported on the events in October 1864;

During a large storm a French Schooner named the `louise` was driven onto the rocks near Scoughall on the North Berwickshire coastline on Saturday evening...
The Louise was carrying Hard liquor, Not Whisky though but 110 tons of Brandy.
The crew and skipper were rescued and by the time they were ashore so had the Brandy begun to be washed up...

The Courier reported;
"truth compels us to state that in connection with the stranded cargo the conduct of many of the country people who had been attracted to the spot was in the highest degree reprehensible. We are willing to believe that it was not till the last man was rescued from the vessel that they began to help themselves to the Brandy,but once they commenced,they were not slow in availing themselves to the opportunity to make themselves for once in there lifetime acquainted with the fine taste of Cognac.
One cask after another that had been washed out of the bottom of the wreck and partially stove in,was surrounded by groups of country people- young lads and boys being among the number-and the contents being drank so freely and recklessly that scores of them sat down beside the barrels in a state of helpless toxication... The scene witnessed on the Sunday afternoon on the wreck-strewn beach at Scoughall was utterly disgraceful to the character of the people who took part in it,and would seem to indicate that where strong drink can be surreptitiously obtained, neither the honesty of some of our Scottish peasantry nor there respect for the sacredness of the Sabbath are proof of there desire to get at it"

Out of 2000 casks the Coastgaurds seized 1000 casks,
The local Customs official Mr Brodie in an effort to restore his country mans dignity reported in a later Courier that the numbers of those found intoxicated was exaggerated and they were Irish farmhands and labourer`s from other farms...

Mmm...I bet there were a few sore heads around Seacliff on the Monday Morning...

Whisky Galore

2012-01-18T21:45:00.002Z

Feb 2011

Last week was the 70th anniversary of a famous incident in Scotland,
Seventy years on it remains one of the most romantic island tales...
The people of Eriskay, in the Outer Hebrides awoke on 5 February 1941 to find a cargo ship the SS Politician aground off their island.

A wreck was not unusual but for islanders struggling to get by on wartime rations, the cargo was astonishing, it included 250,000 bottles of whisky!.

What happened next was immortalised in the 1949 Ealing Studios film Whisky Galore!

Under cover of darkness locals rowed out to the wreck and scrambled over the side using rope ladders.
In the following days and weeks they took hundreds of cases of whisky from the hold.
Here's a clip from the film...

But of course No duty had been paid on the spirits, so Customs and Excise Officers came after the islanders!
They hid the whisky all over the island as well as in there homes,it was hidden in milk churns, drain pipes, up chimneys, under pillows of the elderly and even in Baby's bottles. Some was found and some islanders eventually were charged and received 2 months jail sentence, they were probably more worried about missing out on the drink than the criminal record...
But locals weren't just helping themselves to the water of life, there was also Linen and There were bicycles too on it but couldn't use them because there was no roads on the island!. There was even a grand piano but none of the islanders had a house big enough to take it.
The whisky was available for years afterwards in extremely large amounts so was a case of getting as much as you could down your neck in as short a space as possible before it was discovered and confiscated, This Heavy drinking resulted in a lot of the crofting work being abandoned and People ended up as long-term alcoholics.
But not all the salvaged whisky was drunk. Years later, bottles are still turning up.
One of the Original surviving bottles sold at auction for £20,150 in 2002...

Be nice if such a ship ran aground around here...

Heres a poem of the disaster/miracle...one of the best poems i have ever read...

The SS Politician

"Och, times are hard in Barra"
You'd hear the Badochs cry.
"No food to feed a sparra!
And effery bottle dry."

Old men, once fresh and frisky,
So full of ploy and play,
Dropped dead for want of whisky,
The blessed Uisque Bae.

Now, the dusty dry Sahara
Is a bare and barren land,
But the drought that year in Barra,
Was more than man could stand.

Aye, life was hard and cruel
And days were long and sad,
When the strongest drink was gruel,
And the war was going bad.

A cleffer man, old Hector
And wise the words he said:
"Without the barley's nectar,
A man is better dead."

But strange the ways of Heaven,
When men in darkness grope.
Each sorrow has its leaven,
Each tragedy its hope.

The great ship "Politician"
Her hold stocked high with grog,
Steamed proudly past the island,
And foundered in the fog.

A case was rent asunder,
Twelve bottles came to grief,
When the Barra surf - like thunder -
Came pounding on the reef.

And then the scent of nectar,
Came on the wild wind's breath.
"I smell it" screamed old Hector
"It's whisky - sure as death".

He yelled out Kirsty, Kirsty,
Bring down my oilskin coat.
No more will we be thirsty,
Salvation's in that boat.

Though thirst her tongue had blistered,
Old Kirsty forced a laugh.
"I'm coming too" she whispered,
"It's me that needs a half."

Now, Chon MacNeill was dying,
The death that's far the worst.
No end so sad and trying,
As the fatal pangs of thirst.

For weeks he had been lying,
Without a sign of life,
And all the neighbours crying,
For his nearly widowed wife.

He sobbed "I am delivered"
"From the torture I am free".
As his nostrils flared and quivered,
In the glory from the sea.

He shook, chust like an aspen,
The man they thought was dead,
An' sighin' gulpin' gaspin'
He vaulted out of bed.

Barefooted, in his nightie,
He slipped from out their reach,
With steps both long and mighty,
He headed for the beach.

Now Sarah Chance MacKinnon,
A lady through and through,
Was chust a wee bit partial,
To a drop of Mountain Dew.

She brooded at the Ingle,
Her form all old and bent,
When her blood began to tingle,
At a well remembered scent.

Wan sniff and she was rising,
Two sniffs and straight outside,
Where odours appetising,
Were blowing from the tide.

She ran, but so did others,
Och hundreds, maybe more,
As uncles, cousins, brothers,
Stampeded for the shore.

The boats went gaily dashing,
Across the crested wave,
The long oars dipping, splashing,
To their Aladdin's Cave.

They climbed aboard the liner,
The halt, the lame, the old.
No Vikings e'er were finer,
No Pirates half so bold.

They peered with anxious faces,
Within the gaping hold,
And saw a thousand cases,
Of precious liquid gold.

"Ashame! Ashame!" cried Kirsty
It is an act of God,
Just think of Barra thirsty,
And all this going abroad.

Och the ceilidhs and the pleasure,
Oh the choy in Castlebay,
As the gurgling golden treasure,
Chased the cares of war away.

Och the bottles that were hidden,
Buried deep beneath the croft.
Oh! the cases in the midden,
Oh! the joy up in the loft.

Who would heed an air raid warning,
Who would hide himself in fright,
With a tumbler in the morning,
And a bumper late at night.

And Barra boys hard fighting,
On sea and ocean wide,
Deserved their wee bit parcel,
With glook, glook, glook inside.

Old Hector cried we're winning,
The fact is plain to me.
This night is the beginning
Of Victory at sea.

He swigged another chug full,
And happily he sighed:
"The Germans sure have had it,
Now Barra's fortified."

A Slainte - now for Churchill,
His name I proudly call.
But the Barra Politician
Is the greatest of them all.

Meaning of unusual words:
sparra=sparrow
Uisque Bae=water of life
Ingle=fireside
choy=joy
Slainte=health

WW2 Bunker Explore...Berwickshire...

2012-01-18T21:42:00.000Z

Feb 2011,
Friend Ped asked if i wanted to take a look at a Bunker he stumbled/fell across when out wandering about 3 years ago down the coast in Berwickshire.
From his description it sounded like a WW2 Air Raid shelter but i still wanted to go explore and have a look just in case it was something else from WW2 i have been researching lately-more of that in the future...
He only had to ask me once and we drove down on Saturday to have a look,
With the car parked in a lay by and `Fly` his very active collie in tow we walked through woods and up and down a few steep ravines and it felt like the middle of nowhere but we were quite near the East Coast Rail Line and in the distance you could hear the rumble of traffic on the A1 road..."If i hear banjo`s playing Ped I'm out of here!" i said as we plodded through tight trees and undergrowth until we reached it,
Visible in the winter with the vegetation died back you would miss this in summer or fall in and hurt yourself,
Before i could see the entrance i could see the raised area sticking out in the surrounding area...
I was nearly on top of the entrance before i saw it despite the died back vegetation...

With another entrance under that small tree it looked like a WW2 Air Raid shelter and this looked like the vertical entrance with its foot rungs...

Half filled with soil it looked like it had once been filled at both ends to seal it off but someone else had reopened it-don't blame them...
I too wanted to go in for a look, Ped went first then i slid down on my backside into the room with a small torch in my mouth and camera in my jacket...
Fly busied herself with a stick up top...

It was indeed a WW2 Air Raid Shelter, one of several designs at the far end was the door to the ground level exit/entrance...

They had one vertical,one ground entrance/exit in case they were hit direct from a bomb on either end, this ground exit/entrance was filled in...

These look like a type of air vent,the vertical entrance/exit would have had a metal cover as the side exit had a door...

Wasn't much inside,no sign of beds or bunks but the holes in the walls show where they went...

There was some old rusty tins...

The bricks were made in East Lothian at Prestonpans-seems all war sites i visit have bricks from here...

And this i think is an ink bottle?...

But what puzzled me was these things...

Anyone any idea what they are?, they look like some sort of angle measuring instrument,there were about 6 of them lying there,they had a wooden base-now rotten...

Time to head out into daylight...

Fresh Air!...

That was a nice wee explore,
Now the question is why was there an Air Raid Shelter there where it is not near any buildings?, there isn't any remains of any nearby or of a Home Gaurd lookout or defence buildings like pill boxes etc. Nearest thing is the railway, maybe there was a Signal Box nearby once and it was for that?, a look at an old map may give the answer.
Here is a wee film of the Shelter...

Meanwhile my friend Al had phoned from John Muir Park having seen my Pugsley sand bike tyre tracks and thought i was there-but they were from the day before.
He was down searching an area where he has already found his own WW2 artifacts uncovered by currents...
And today he had found this lot...

A mortar fin, .303 shells and bullets and two 20mm ispan Cannon shells- there from an aircraft, a beaufighter, Mustang, Hurricane or Spitfire, need to have a search myself there in the future for some souvenirs...

Cove Harbour & Pease Bay, Berwickshire

2012-01-18T21:39:00.000Z

On the Eastern Border of East Lothian is the County of Berwickshire.
If East Lothian is the hidden gem of scenery then the county of Berwickshire next door is the often overlooked and unexplored county for many.
So much of its countryside away from its coast isn't featured in guide books etc.
Its coast is different to East Lothian by its Geology as it has the Lammermuir Hills meeting the North Sea giving a more dark red sandstone clifftop scenario than the white sand beaches and bays of East Lothian...
Berwickshire is quiet too.Away from the coast in the Merse are miles of old country roads and tracks and trails steeped in history.you can go walking or cycling and hardly see another person all day. For myself its the last retreat.
If you like coastal scenery then you will love this little gem of a place.
A lovely little hidden Harbour... As its name suggests a secluded cove whose cliff top cottages nearby once housed its fishermen.Only 2 creel boats work out the harbour now.
From the car park a track via some steps leads down to the Harbour which is hidden from view...

Barometer was correct!, it was a crisp clear morning with a cold onshore breeze.

The Memorial to the 1881 Fishing Disaster...

Down the track and a tunnel through the hillside which has storage tunnels now sealed off to the public and you emerge into the cove...

And a fantastic view...

The red house is a holiday house,the stuff of dreams!...

Return back up through the tunnel and the track goes round to Cove Cottage and sea wall...

Returning up the track there is a clifftop trail east from the houses of Cove along to Pease Bay...

The views over the Harbour,the coastline and the North Sea here are superb...

On the horizon is Coldingham Moor where the Lammermuir Hills tumble into the sea at St Abbs...

Soon Pease Bay with its Caravan Park comes into view far below.The bay is popular with surfers and a few were out today...

The path drops down through a glen to the road...

Where i walked down to Pease Bay to walk up Pease Dean Nature Reserve which i will post in the next few days.
Heres a film i did of the walk so far...

Maps of Scotland

2012-01-18T21:34:00.001Z

We now live in a world of mobile phones that now have Internet and Google Earth and every life saving gadget there is. But a lot of people still say `don't rely on electronic items to possibly save your life in emergency's in remote area`s outdoors`. And they will then tell you there is no substitute for a real map and compass and the ability to use them properly together.
If your not up Scotland's highest mountains in life threatening weather conditions and just in lower level rural areas with plenty of landmarks to use to Aline your map and take bearings then you should manage to get home ok.
A map to myself is like a 3D guide to an area, using all the information available in front of you like contours,slope terrain (scree, woodland, bog, water) you can plan and navigate routes across pathless ground. But of course your thinking `yeah you can do that but they also show all the roads,tracks and paths`, But do they?.
Only ones still regarded as roads/paths or seen from Aerial photos...
Many more are lost from present maps, omitted by mistake or believed to be so long out of use to have disappeared from sight. This is when its good to have old and new maps to cross reference.
I'm a bit of an anorak when it comes to collecting maps of here in Scotland.
I have collected all 84 ordnance survey 1;50,000 scale Landranger Maps of Scotland and a lot of the 1;25,000 Explorer maps...

Over the years Ive also collected many maps from the 1950`s to the present from Imperial to Metric...

These maps are a great resource for finding old roads that were once tarred pre WW2 then abandoned after WW2 for more direct routes or wider routes. Probably this was also done to reduce local authorities road maintenance costs as the countryside population declined from less Agriculture workers and motor vehicles replaced horse and carts to transport goods so have some roads become unnecessary.
A dead give away of an old unmaintained road are these `no through road signs`..

It may be Tarred to a farm,church or village but a track may well continue on to a present road.
Many company's produced maps like the 1950s/60s Bartholomews which show roads and tracks often not on present OS maps...

And for cross reference with present maps to confirm old roads the excellent Johnston 2 miles to the inch series...

Rights of way were never marked on Scottish maps, only England and Wales maps.
Of course we now have the Right to Roam here in Scotland thanks to the Open Access allowing the Public rights to walk ,cycle and horse ride all paths and boat any waterway. There are also rules (for everyone) regarding responsible use and respecting landowners wishes regarding shooting on moors and hills etc...
The National Library of Scotland has published all its maps of Scotland on line; to view
These are maps from the sixteenth century to the 1900`s and also Ariel maps after WW2, included are the first Ordnance Survey maps of 1847, The famous Roy's Military survey of Scotland, will take a while to look through this lot!.
Here also is the history of the ordnance survey which will explain what these things were made for and planted on hills and mountains all over the British Isles...

I will do some posts on Old lost roads that can be found on the ground today, marked on older maps but omitted from present day maps soon...
And as you maybe also know they usually don't show military areas or buildings in past or present use...

Peaston, East Lothian

2012-01-18T21:31:00.000Z

Head south to Humbie from Orminston here in East Lothian and you will pass through an old farm, with a lot of History.
Peaston Farm still has some lovely old buildings in decay.
Planning has been applied to convert to housing.There is still some old stuff to see.
Wikipedia says "The land was acquired by Baron Nicholas Thompson in 1172, where he built a small farm and enslaved locals from the neighbouring villages as farmhands."
In the farmyard sits a statue of James Hogg `The Ettrick Shepherd`, a famous Borders Poet...

Carved crook and damaged nose...

The statue was brought from the ruins of Byres Church just North of here,also was this stone cross that's has been placed on a shed roof...

Some of the Farm Steading buildings...

Puncture proof wheels...

Roadside sign...

Derelict Farmhouse...

And a whole street of derelict farm workers cottages, East Lothians St Kilda!

All this is viewable from the roadside,a lot more to see if you want to go explore, then best ask a nearby Resident first.

How much (online) time?

2012-01-18T21:13:00.002Z

There is so much to look at on line these days!, when i started my blog there were only about a half dozen (6) blogs which centred on regular reports of riding the Surly Pugsley fat bike, the reason this blog was started, now there are loads, of lots of other makes of fat bikes.
Go onto the usual source for fat bike info MTBR fat bike forum and it is full of folk. and now there is also another fat bike website; FAT-BIKE-COM to look at.
Go onto Facebook and there are about 4 or 5 fat bike pages you can post on with a pugsley, not to mention twitter and other sites which i do not use,
Then there are the other related interests i blog about, East Lothian, Youtube films, music, urban exploration, WW2 stuff, all there websites, group pages and blogs...
Where do you get the time to look at everything?, the web sucks up too much free time, which is a shame as a lot of stuff is really good to look at.
The thing is i haven't looked in on , never mind commented on a lot of blogs for so long... so apologies to those who i used to frequent...
So i have decided to cut down on on line browsing, and Internet time, you won`t notice it on here, or the beach riding thread on MTBR as it will be business as usual -:), but i will be reading more of the old blogs again, as blogs are great, people do some great writing on them, and as i know by the viewing stats 95% of people do not comment on them, but the odd comment goes a long way to making you make the effort to write them,
esp if like myself you struggle big time with grammar, if i was a teenager they would have a scientific condition name for it -:)

So... after a year of starting it i am scrapping my second blog `No Through Road` as i just do not have the time to write it, it takes a lot longer to write stuff than post pics with comments, and the stats show little viewings for the work as few comments, yet, a lot of friends comment on the same subjects on here, some friends have said that like myself they do not have the time to spend browsing the web for hours, and always forget to look in on there.
Do not worry its storeys will not be lost and i will still do the same sort of stuff but it will all be on here in one place. Starting with transferring its posts over here over a few weeks until its all here and labled so can be found easily.
Then i need to work on better grammar... -:)

Made in Britain...Brooks Saddles...

2012-01-16T21:00:00.004Z

Its a name that is iconic world wide in hand made leather saddles for bicycles, and they are still made in the same way today in England since production started in Birmingham in 1866.
Check out the spring machines... -:)

Brook saddles may not be the preferred choice of all cyclists but they have had a loyal following for many years, owners have ridden the same saddles for over 50 years, and many old saddles still survive today on vintage bicycles.

I have 6 Brooks saddles, none are on my regular used 4 off road bikes this now, though one was used for 3 years on my Pugsley Fat Bike,
Four i still use, two B17s, the benchmark Brooks saddle, a 3 year old on my Dawes Galaxy which i ride daily to work...

And another nearly 10 year old on an old 1980s Muddy fox Courier MTB...

But it is the two older saddles i still use that are really nice, a 1954 B66 on a 54 Raleigh Sports...

And a 1962 Brooks Professional Saddle which i recently fitted to the retro Klunker build...

The company was owned by parent company Sturmey Archer, both were once subsidiaries of Raleigh,
In the year 2000 Sturmey Archer collapsed and was bought by Selle Royal who have continued the traditional production at the Brooks factory in England to this day.
There is something really nice about owning something that has been hand made, every part of these saddles is hand formed, some using machines but put together by hand, here is the rivets installed...

In recent years there has been a huge interest again in Brooks saddles and there other products, people want hand made quality and are happy to pay for it.
You have one life, and one ass, you may as well treat it to some hand made comfort...

Have a look through the Brooks Website...

Night Beachride

2012-01-12T18:58:00.001Z

Night Shadow man...

Been a while but finally i tried out my lights on sand using the 1300 lumen CREE XL-M torch along with the two 1600 lumen Magicshine 872 bar mounted lights to see if it would improve filming using the Go Pro camera...

I went a ride around the sandy single track trails and beach with friend Jason on the pugsleys, while in real life the helmet torch was unbelievable in power the Go Pro only saw a bright centre spot, so not as good as hoped, Think i need to try another magicshine from one of many mates who now have them on the helmet and see if view when looking away from the bars is good.
How ever film riding on the Bake Bean trail previously mentioned in the last blog was quite good, the whiteness of the sand and bushes to the side gave a good contrast,

Here is the Bake been trail all the way from Gullane village down to the Pine Woods at Jamies Neuk, a nice trail, deserted too at 6pm once dark,

Song is `Nightbook` by Ludovico Einaudi

click 720p to watch in HD

It was blowing a gale but once into the pine woods you could here a pin drop...
Compact camera picture with no flash shows just how bright these combined lights are on full power...

I love night riding and never feel scared out in the woods, in fact i need to make a film riding to all the spooky places i can think of!, some old Tombs in some old Estates and that WW2 German POW Cooler cells would be well spooky at night, along with some ruins and big woods...

Best read this before you go out on your own, just in case -:)...

It came with the film, now available on DVD, this week from Amazon, I really really wish i went to see this on the big screen as i thought it is ace!...
If you like goofing about in woods at night on bikes and with big torches then this film is right up your street...

The Troll Hunter is a Norwegian Dark Fantasy made in a `found footage` mockumentary, 3 students set out to make a documentary film about an alleged bear poacher called Hans...

But when they stumble upon him at his work they discover something far more scary!, he decides to let them film and go with him on his job...and they get close to the action to film, a bit too close...

It has a decent script and seems to cover all aspects to say it can`t happen or be true, It is best to watch in Norwegian with subtitles too rather than the optional English (dubbed)
A great movie if its your thing...

Trailer...

The Troll Hunter ranks alongside the other classic `Pre Night Ride` film `Dog Soilders`
Someone has managed to upload the full 1 Hour 40 mins film on Youtube, go scare yourself -:)...

Links Trails...

2012-01-09T21:08:00.000Z

After Saturdays Tri pugs ride, i enjoyed some solo me time out on the pugsley on Sunday,
I headed for the Links to the East of Gullane, a favourite area of mine to ride, between Muirfield Golf course and the coast is several square miles of Links - thats coastline covered in time with blown sand then covered with grass, what many of our County's famous Golf Courses were shaped on.
Here is the area on Google Earth...

The Links here is a designated SSSI (Special Site of Scientific Interest) with its Flora and Fauna,
Criss crossed with what must be several miles of winding trails through the Matt grasses and finer Fescues it is legal to walk, cycle or horse ride here (responsibly), and like today with a mid afternoon high tide you get away from the busy beaches to the west at Gullane and seldom see people here,
A favourite trail is the `Bake Bean tree trail` well only known as that by myself! it can be followed from east of Gullane beach car park starting down the deer path through Scots Pine woods...

Then east along the perimeter fence of Muirfield Golf Course, through the Sea Buckthorn bushes with its Orange berries which give there name by local kids of Bake Bean Trees,
I never seem to get punctures from the thorns of these but ride into a bush and the tip of the thorn will break off under the skin, they are very sharp, and take a bit digging out,

Recent work on a detour around a wet area from a natural spring...

This gets very soft in summer when dry and the sand becomes powdery...

Past a couple of turn offs that lead down to the coast and you arrive at the Pine woods at Jamies Neuk,
and a crossroads, spoiled for choice here, behind me are the Greenkeepers Utility sheds, looking SW the we we came...

WNW a trail leads down through the pine woods with more options...

NNE another trail leads down to the shore at Freshwater Haven...

and East we continue along the boundary fence of the Golf Course...

And the main track down through the Links towards Sandy Knowe...

You often see Roe Deer out here, esp in windy weather, they come out of the woods so they can hear whats around them...

Looking West back to Gullane...

Here at Sandy Knowe i was looking for something i spied on Google Earth, Military buildings!

These are the bases of one of two WW2 coast artillery searchlights (CASL) for Fidra Battery, manned by the 309th Coast Regiment, The 2 Gun battery's were not on Fidra but at Marine Villa, where there are still two complete Searchlight stations, one you see on the coast...

The other is in the Private garden of Marine Villa...

One of the 2 ex - Navy 6" Guns was concealed in a cottage of a former Estate Forestry worker who was given 24hrs notice to vacate the cottage!, can you see the give away? -:)

Soldier of 309th Coast Battery on watch...

This was just some of the defences of the Firth of Forth Estuary, These guns and the same across at Findhorn in Fife were for shipping, the whole coast here was defenced from Glider landings with poles and mine fields...

You can read more about Fidra battery and other WW2 stuff around here on the East Lothian at War website.
Only the bases remain here at Sandy Knowe today...

Here would have been the generators, the two bases visible...

And nearby a filled in bricked shaft, oh i like these!, probably an air raid shelter, need to return with the shovel...

This is where a stove sat, every army Billet has a stove!...

Time to get rolling...down onto the shore, i often do a loop from here, along to Yellowcraig woods via the coast, then up into Archiefield estate and a nice easy track returns to Sandy Knowe where i can return to Gullane on the Bake bean trail or along the coastline...

Recent construction of Golf Course Holes and the winter gales has seen a lot of sand blown over the cliff here, partially burying the entrances to the two small caves on the hillside...

Along to Yellowcraig and those techy rocks below Marine Villa...

Oyster Catchers, you hear them before you see them...

Looking west back to Marine Villa, the recently cut Sea Buckthorn i blogged about a few weeks back, here on the coastline has caused a public outcry; East Lothian Courier

Fidra Island...

Single track or beach?, single track!...

A quick loop around Yellowcraig woods, it was busy with walkers being Sunday afternoon, a large Beech tree blown down in the recent Gales, i read a Beech tree takes 100 years to grow, lives a 100 years, and takes 100 years to die, how old was this big fella?...

met an old school friend at Yellowcraig out walking, Dave it turns out reads my blog, along with some of his mates, his grin seeing the pugsley in the flesh was priceless -:),
With between 180 - 350 views daily on average i wonder who all checks in on here every day...
thanks for doing so, feel free to leave comments, good or bad!...
leaving Dave i headed back down to the coast, a new track through the recently built Renaissance Golf Club, an exclusive Club, but you have the right to pass down this track, just use common sense and wait for golfers to play, usually a friendly wave will get you waved through, golfers seldom like to be watched playing -:)...
Here is a film of this nice easy descent to the coast, the Golf Course track goes through the gate onto the old track at Sandy Knowe, known locally as the coastguard track..

Song is `4B` by Boards of Canada...

Nice to stop and do soom wave watching. very relaxing...

Riding east back above the coastline to Gullane, piles of barbed wire fasteners still lie here after 70 years, there are still a line of them through a dune west of here...

The single track above the coastline often branches and rejoins so there are lots of routes along here...

This small few miles of coast show just how much variation there is in riding on our 45 Miles or so of coastline here in East Lothian, and there is so much to explore and see along the ever changing coast...

Saturday beachride

2012-01-08T17:34:00.001Z

Sometimes a change of plan can be a good thing, Saturdays beach ride was planned for a ride east to the John Muir Park and a visit to Dunbar Harbour, but a mid afternoon high tide, a strong westerly wind and a thorn puncture stop (that thankfully sealed with Stans Juice when re inflated) meant a change of course to the closer Tyninghame coastline worked out for a great wee cycle with a sheltered return home...

This E Type Jag was at the car park, does it belong to Lucifer?...

Lovely colour...so glad i got a purple pug... -:)

Tri Pugs at Ravensheugh, above Peffersands...

A ride along the secret trail...

Dave has a look inside the half filled with sand, WW2 Coastal Defence Machine Gun Pill Box...

Great light today...

Then onto the beach at Peffersands...

And up onto the dunes for a bit of surfing on the pugsleys...

I shot some film with the Go Pro, not a lot so made a wee film with these pics...

Song is `Feels like Home` by Phontaine...

Dave filmed me rolling down...

Then along the beach and home via the woods for coffee and biccys (cookies!)...

Old School BMX photos

2012-01-06T22:32:00.001Z

Now the grand old age of Forty my High school teenage years were the mid 80s,
Now the 1980s get a lot of ridicule for its fashion and pop music culture... but one of the most amazing times in cycling happened, esp for us kids at the time, it all of course started back in the early 1970s, but it was in 1982 when Steven Spielberg's blockbuster movie ET showed the chase scene with BMX bikes that here in the the UK BMX sales went ballistic, and the rest as they say was history...

If you bought one of those original Kuwahara K2 ET replica bikes then you should have kept a hold of it, £750 just for the frame alone raise your eyebrow? yep, all those icon BMX models of the 80s are worth a small fortune, Kuwahara KZ, Mongoose Supergoose, Diamond Back Turbo, and some that i owned included the Skyway TA, Haro Freestyler, Gt Pro preformer, SE Racing PK Ripper and my last bike the SE Quadangle, they all reek with nostalgia and demand a price too on ebay...
Some of the bikes like i owned are here on this film, a few grands worth of bike porn here...

While i wait for my new fat bike for beach riding i have realised i now do not need or wish for any more mountainbikes, i have enough to keep me going to well after the next apocalypse...
A couple of classic BMXs though would be lovely, time to get saving!,
For myself i remember those teenager years riding BMX as a time of no worries... no worries about money - you had a part time job which funded your bikes, there was no stress from it, no bills to pay (still at home!). no car to run, we cycled those wee bikes everywhere or got the train, no drinking, and no drugs like many did... no worries about spots, riding bikes daily had you fit as hell and healthy, and lastly no hassles about relationships - oh hold on that's still the same!,

I remember those great years as it often was - a weekend down the woods digging a bomb hole with a jump and landing out of it and then riding that jump over and over until the sun went down...
Or a day trip to the local 2 BMX tracks, or a weekend at Livingstone`s infamous skate park staying at friends, and riding the park with then some real legends in our sport...
After 23 years i think i will get another BMX, go down the woods and dig a jump and have some of that no worries fun again... my size 11 Vans waffle sole Hi Tops are sitting waiting... -;)

Available to buy on DVD is the history of BMX titled `Joe Kid on a Stingray`
Every kid rode a bike, i think my generation was lucky to ride some of the best made ever...
Here is the trailer...

In the meantime here is a photo thread form the Old School of the 80s, if you were there too i am sure memories will come flooding back, never came across a pic of a bike with a Skyway rear wheel, wire front, i often rode my bikes like that, Skyway Tuffs are a bit of an icon image of the 1980s BMX...
Roll the pics...

Dakar 2012

2012-01-03T11:34:00.001Z

Is underway!, no longer do you need to pay Sky TV to watch one of the most amazing scenic annual motor sport events but can watch it daily in HD for free on Youtube...

Since its move from Africa to South America the Dakar has continued to beam fantastic Helicopter filmed desert scenery images into our homes through the dark evenings of January where back to work after Xmas and the lack of festive decoration lights everything can seem a bit dull...

That is a dune!...

Even if you have no interest in desert motor sport tune in to see the fantastic desert scenery of Argentina, Chile and Peru ...

Stage 1;

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T15:23:00.001Z

Hogmany is quite a bit of a big doo here in Scotland, esp up the road in Edinburgh with its big street party and fireworks from the Castle, 5 1/2 Tons of fireworks for this year...
Hogmany this year was a sober affair for myself as doing driving duties later today due to family hospital stuff,
Traditionally Your not supposed to have a drink until the bells chime at midnight - hence the saying `toasting the New Year`. I was in bed before midnight and long gone in the land of nod as the bells chimed, to get up early and do my annual dawn beach ride, no booze means a good nights sleep -:)

This year i rode west from North Berwick the 8 miles out to the reserve and Aberlady Bay to visit the WW2 mini submarine wrecks, then rode east non stop back along the coast to NB.
At 9am the town of North Berwick was deserted!, be a lot of sore heads around here later today after Hogmany celebrations, The silence was earie, it was kind of like the start of the film 28 Days Later
"HELLO!" -:)

Riding west out of town, sunrise just after 9am by the time it clears the Lammermuir Hills...

Out across the Reserve to the coast...

Touchdown...

There will be a lot of sore heads today up the coast at Edinburgh....

No one else out here...

WW2 mini subs appearing out the retreating tide....

You can read a bit about the history of these submarine wrecks and how they came to be here over On my other blog

Time for a wee sip of Glenmorangie to toast the New Year, Slange! -:) ...

Then the ride east 8 or 9 miles along the coast to NB with my own thoughts for company...

Retrospect 2011

2011-12-30T01:18:00.003Z

Another fun year doing the usual stuff though a few changes to how i do them,
I have been mostly cycling locally, instead of driving miles and miles to cycle, just ride from the back door or drive 10 -15 miles to then ride, I now really appreciate where i have to cycle all year round here in East Lothian. My bikes are now all set up perfect for riding around here,
Petrol money saved from cycling to work and cycling off road locally, has slowly been saved up and is contributing to a new bike next year, which i am really excited about, first complete new bike in 4 years -:)

January;
The mother of all winters, the second year in a row we got snow, proper snow, everybody was moaning about it as the roads became snow ploughed hard pack as grit supplies ran out, i loved it and had many days riding through Xmas into the New Year on the pugsley in conditions it was originally designed for...magic...

Starting another blog, to post non cycling stuff around East lothian and related to my interests has been fun,
i need to get my finger out and get it rolling again...i have loads to post up on there...

Febuary;
I had a grand day out riding west to Edinburgh on a fantastic clear winters day, it was perfect in every way a day on the coast can be...

March;

A day of sore legs riding my regular 29er bike on the beach to introduce another friend to the fun of riding fat bikes, Dave is pugsley owner No 5 here in East Lothian now...resistance is Futile

The lowest tide of the year allowed a ride to North berwick Harbour entrance!...

It also showed up a seldom seen wreck on our coast and my favourite post on the NTR blog , this post is exactly what i wanted to blog about over there,

April;

The first 3 pug beachride!, Jason and Davie joined me for a ride at John Muir Bay,
I took a grinder to my BOB Trailer added a 29er yolk, a kite buggy wheel and created the Fat Bob trailer
just the job for hauling junk and firewood off the beach...

May;

I splashed out some saved pennies on a Go Pro HD sports camera which would take about 2 months to manage to edit and publish properly on my coal fired PC, but a visit to Glentress Trail Centre with some of the Winton Massif cycle gang i did one of the first Youtube films of a new Blue Route Section that opened that day, Berm Baby Berm...

June:
I was 40!, yeah!, and still kicking... and had a great booze up garden party with friends,
but before that the best 2 weeks of the year - Summer Holidays and another roadtrip up North around the coast of Scotland, from an amazing weekend at the UCI Down Hill World Cup with friends, to camping out using the pugsley and FatBOB trailer on the NW coast and that magical ride at Faraid head at Durness on the biggest sand dunes in the UK....

Why go anywhere else?... -:)

The most amazing beachride ever to date- Faraid Head at Durness in the far NW corner of Scotland, seeing as i published the film in the wrong format i will just have to return next summer for a re film...

July;
A rare thing turned up on ebay, an unused Mk1 purple Pugsley frame...just what i wanted...
A quick frame swap and it was not long until it was rolling on the coast, in HD film too!...

August;
We rode the last bit of Unridden coast on the pugsleys on a very hot day, hard riding and have to return on a very low tide again in 2012 and film here...

A great Bivvy beachride to Holy Island too, pre run for a cool weekend coming up...
The following weekend would see another bivvy solo ride further south exploring the coastline...
was an amazing evenings ride to sunset...

The weather turned pretty unsettled through the month, Harvest time was like 2 years ago when everything just seemed to be cut in a few days between terrible windy wet weather, but when it was good you had to get out, trails became unridable away from the coast, the coast was as always ok to ride...

September;

Not all bad weather is bad, during a crazy windy day we had an amazing day tailwind assisted flying across Aberlady Bay after a half hour winching out across at low tide in very low gears...

When i got my Surly Pugsley i never imagined anyone else would be interested in them or beachriding,
For friends to get one i could grasp, but i never imagined a UK fat bike owners meet...

Glad i caught it on film, a real special weekend, really special,
i imagine there will be a few more folk next year....

October;

We had a mini Indian Summer , did not last long but it was nice when we got it...

I did some more work on a wee coastal trail i ride at my local beach and did a wee film using a Gorrilla pod with the Go Pro...

Did a cool sunrise timelapse down there too, need to do more timelapse of the coast...

Lots of evenings nightriding with friends and solo rides with cheap powerfull lights which have unreal power for the money, end of the month and a Halloween Post with links to films and some nightriding film...

November;

Started off good with fireworks on the 5th and then mid month i was grounded by a virus or something which rendered me with blurred double vision and bad balance, it was nearly 3 weeks before i could read, watch TV or use the PC, scarey stuff, despite eye tests, blood tests, and an MRI scan nothing has turned up in tests to say what it was, after 4 weeks it went away as fast as it happened over about 48 hours,
A big scare and wake up call to get out and enjoy life as you do not know what is around the corner,

December;
A week after i returned to work i enjoyed a Saturday on the coast with friend Dave cycling again and the
Sunday afternoon spending a while making a point and shoot film at Gosford Bay at low tide... life is good again...

I built up a Klunker replica as a wee progect, still to get out and do a film with it it, should be fun...

Thanks everyone who stops by for a read, and a real big thanks to support and best wishes during that health scare, see you all on the coast in the New Year, enjoy your Hogmany -;)

Xmas hols fatty ride 2011

2011-12-27T18:42:00.001Z

This years Xmas Hols fat bike ride (day after Boxing day) was a cross country loop from my house which was 99.9% off road.
Dave and Jason joined me on there pugsleys, not many riding pics as we were er... riding!.
The 14mile loop took a while as a lot was slow speed on soft trails, perfect for the pugsleys which left little evidence of our passing, it has been a very mild Xmas, and very windy at that, calm today it is to be Gales again up to the 31st, back to work a couple of days then time to celebrate Hogmany, as i always do now with a bike ride and a toast from the hip flask...