Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Doobs]

Cracking scenes. Used to love the TTF in the early days, going back to when it was in Pacemaker.

The first time the RP took it over they had about 50 different spellings of Lean Ar Aghaidh, including Lean On The Aga and Lenny Henry. True story. That's why they eventually switched to a list of 1000.

Now seems like the ideal time to fire it back up again. The betting game's dead as a dodo and Fantasy Football comps seem more popular than ever.

If anyone fancies doing a bunch of entries, I'm in.

I am bound to put a fair few in if it comes back.   

[Karabiner]

Cracking scenes. Used to love the TTF in the early days, going back to when it was in Pacemaker.

The first time the RP took it over they had about 50 different spellings of Lean Ar Aghaidh, including Lean On The Aga and Lenny Henry. True story. That's why they eventually switched to a list of 1000.

Now seems like the ideal time to fire it back up again. The betting game's dead as a dodo and Fantasy Football comps seem more popular than ever.

If anyone fancies doing a bunch of entries, I'm in.

I am bound to put a fair few in if it comes back.   

Me too.

Full perm or 5/6/7 bankers?

[Doobs]

Cracking scenes. Used to love the TTF in the early days, going back to when it was in Pacemaker.

The first time the RP took it over they had about 50 different spellings of Lean Ar Aghaidh, including Lean On The Aga and Lenny Henry. True story. That's why they eventually switched to a list of 1000.

Now seems like the ideal time to fire it back up again. The betting game's dead as a dodo and Fantasy Football comps seem more popular than ever.

If anyone fancies doing a bunch of entries, I'm in.

I am bound to put a fair few in if it comes back.   

Me too.

Full perm or 5/6/7 bankers?

Neither

[tikay]

Similar for the bridge inside castle mall shopping centre
I’ve never been in to see it in it’s glory
It was a hole in the ground

Thanks Tony.

We never went in the Shopping Centres, we tend to avoid them in favour or exciting stuff such as castles (Norwich), prisons (Exeter), and of course Airports.  

We spent as few hours at Heathrow last week & I took a bunch of photos of incoming aircraft. If anyone would like to see them you only have to ask. I've got loads of them.

I spent a great deal of my childhood at airports, as my father is a keen plane spotter. I always remember the observation deck at Gatwick before they closed it down. As kids we would have a football or radio controlled car on the top level of Heathrow carpark over looking the runway and we would be one of the only people up there with a picnic.

Every year we still book him the executive suite at the Renaissance https://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-rooms/lhrbr-renaissance-london-heathrow-hotel/  he sits watching planes and mum reads a book.

We booked the observation suite at the Renaissance a couple of years ago, but the aircraft happened to be landing "the wrong way" that day so we saw very little.

We may well have met way back in the day, as Sunday afternoon at the obbo deck at Heathrow was a regular thing, it was immensely popular in the mid 50's & Dad often took me down there on his motorbike & sidecar.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Going to Heathrow along the A4 from West London was such a thrill in those days.

It was - still is - called the "Great West Road". Was there ever a more evocatively named road for a little boy? Especially, in my case, as Dad was a steam engine driver on the Great Western Railway. It promised SO much, any drive along the Great West Road was a thrill. Still is actually, it's not changed much at all once you get past Gillette corner, as all the land is owned by the Church Commissioners.

From Chiswick Roundabout - this was before the M4 was built - the road was flanked for the first few miles by beautiful art decor buildings, the best of which was maybe the Firestone Building.





The Beecham HQ was pretty neat too. It had a big sign outside, "LUCOZADE AIDS RECOVERY", but when the AIDS epidimic started they had to remove it as it was deemed to be insensitive.

[tikay]

Similar for the bridge inside castle mall shopping centre
I’ve never been in to see it in it’s glory
It was a hole in the ground

Thanks Tony.

We never went in the Shopping Centres, we tend to avoid them in favour or exciting stuff such as castles (Norwich), prisons (Exeter), and of course Airports.  

We spent as few hours at Heathrow last week & I took a bunch of photos of incoming aircraft. If anyone would like to see them you only have to ask. I've got loads of them.

You must’ve seen the new A350 Tony. Haven’t been on one yet, but it gets great reviews.

I’ll endeavour to get you a pic of one - unless, of course, the pic only counts if you’ve taken it?

Some A350 photos? Yes please. Think BA only have 2?

I've had to give up taking aircraft photos, no matter how hard I try they are all hopeless. No matter how hard I try there's always a bloody lamp-post or tree in the way. Took this at Hatton Cross tube station where the aircraft are barely 100 feet above the A30 as they come in to land, & still could not get it right.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Similar for the bridge inside castle mall shopping centre
I’ve never been in to see it in it’s glory
It was a hole in the ground

Thanks Tony.

We never went in the Shopping Centres, we tend to avoid them in favour or exciting stuff such as castles (Norwich), prisons (Exeter), and of course Airports.  

We spent as few hours at Heathrow last week & I took a bunch of photos of incoming aircraft. If anyone would like to see them you only have to ask. I've got loads of them.

You must’ve seen the new A350 Tony. Haven’t been on one yet, but it gets great reviews.

I’ll endeavour to get you a pic of one - unless, of course, the pic only counts if you’ve taken it?

Fly one to Tel Aviv a couple of weeks ago.

Only Premium Economy, but felt like Business Class in every respect bar the full recline, but still a further recline than in other PE experiences.

If it's not too personal a question, what were you doing in Tel Aviv? Concrete-related, presumably?

[tikay]

I don't know if you are still interested, but the Tote are planning on reviving the ten to follow competition:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/oct/17/talking-horses-tote-takeover-future-bright

I hope there is a lot of goodwill and it succeeds; though prize pools were pretty small towards the end.   

I don't know what this means for trying to get a bet on going forward.

I was quite interested to see that Betfred at last offloaded the Tote. Always felt an odd fit to me.

Ten-To-Follow? Ha, if only. My days of picking those are gone I'm afraid. I won it once, (very luckily), & that's a tremendous memory. Before the Tote did it a thoroughbred breeding magazine used to run it, Pacemaker International. Used to love that magazine.




I got lucky by selecting a filly named Three Troikas as my banker in a perm. She swept the board, won everything including the Arc. Think it was 1979. Amazingly, Three Troikas was purchased by Alec Head, owned by his wife, Ghislaine, trained by his Daughter, Criquette & riidden by his Son, Freddy. Not sure if such a thing has ever been done before.

Click to see full-size image.

I can't recall the entry process for Ten To Follow then, but it was pre-internet, so I guess it was handwritten & posted in an envelope with a 3d stamp. My, times have changed. 

[RED-DOG]

When I sold used car engines to a firm in Manchester for export there was a deadline after which they were worthless.

If I had a nice order, perhaps 1300cc minis with 4 synchro box, I would leave it as long as I dare before 'weighing in'.

Typically I would set out for Manchester in my fully laden* Bedford TK at around 5am on the very last day.

I used to go 'Over the tops', usually via the Snake pass or Woodhead.

What fabulously exciting roads they were, especially in winter if it started to snow.

Would the road be closed?
Would I get stuck?
Would the truck break down?
Would I get stopped by the Old Bill?

I was like the original ice road trucker. What an adrenalin rush that was.

OMG! The nostalgia is almost more than I can bear.  

Click to see full-size image.

*Over loaded

[tikay]

I was rabbit-holing on google images the other day & somehow came across mention of this wonderful staff which I'd clean forgotten about.

As adolescents, we were always messing with motor bikes & cars, obviously back then we did all our own servicing & repairs.

It had THE most wonderful aroma to it. Lovely stuff, & worked a treat.

Life without a tin of Gunk was unimaginable.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

When I sold used car engines to a firm in Manchester for export there was a deadline after which they were worthless.

If I had a nice order, perhaps 1300cc minis with 4 synchro box, I would leave it as long as I dare before 'weighing in'.

Typically I would set out for Manchester in my fully laden* Bedford TK at around 5am on the very last day.

I used to go 'Over the tops', usually via the Snake pass or Woodhead.

What fabulously exciting roads they were, especially in winter if it started to snow.

Would the road be closed?
Would I get stuck?
Would the truck break down?
Would I get stopped by the Old Bill?

I was like the original ice road trucker. What an adrenalin rush that was.

OMG! The nostalgia is almost more than I can bear.  

Click to see full-size image.

*Over loaded

Did you deliberately put it on the Interesting Diary Tom?

Very nice post, if I may say so, & almost up to the required standard here.

[RED-DOG]

When I sold used car engines to a firm in Manchester for export there was a deadline after which they were worthless.

If I had a nice order, perhaps 1300cc minis with 4 synchro box, I would leave it as long as I dare before 'weighing in'.

Typically I would set out for Manchester in my fully laden* Bedford TK at around 5am on the very last day.

I used to go 'Over the tops', usually via the Snake pass or Woodhead.

What fabulously exciting roads they were, especially in winter if it started to snow.

Would the road be closed?
Would I get stuck?
Would the truck break down?
Would I get stopped by the Old Bill?

I was like the original ice road trucker. What an adrenalin rush that was.

OMG! The nostalgia is almost more than I can bear.  

Click to see full-size image.

*Over loaded

Did you deliberately put it on the Interesting Diary Tom?

Very nice post, if I may say so, & almost up to the required standard here.

Yes. You fired me up with your post. The A57 was my A4.

[Pokerpops]

I was rabbit-holing on google images the other day & somehow came across mention of this wonderful staff which I'd clean forgotten about.

As adolescents, we were always messing with motor bikes & cars, obviously back then we did all our own servicing & repairs.

It had THE most wonderful aroma to it. Lovely stuff, & worked a treat.

Life without a tin of Gunk was unimaginable.

Click to see full-size image.

Gunk is still available.

https://gunk.com/


I spent the first twenty odd years of my life in Northampton but have memories of Dad drving us to London Airport to watch the planes land and take off.
We did it as a Lifeboys coach outing too.

[tikay]

When I sold used car engines to a firm in Manchester for export there was a deadline after which they were worthless.

If I had a nice order, perhaps 1300cc minis with 4 synchro box, I would leave it as long as I dare before 'weighing in'.

Typically I would set out for Manchester in my fully laden* Bedford TK at around 5am on the very last day.

I used to go 'Over the tops', usually via the Snake pass or Woodhead.

What fabulously exciting roads they were, especially in winter if it started to snow.

Would the road be closed?
Would I get stuck?
Would the truck break down?
Would I get stopped by the Old Bill?

I was like the original ice road trucker. What an adrenalin rush that was.

OMG! The nostalgia is almost more than I can bear.  

Click to see full-size image.

*Over loaded

Did you deliberately put it on the Interesting Diary Tom?

Very nice post, if I may say so, & almost up to the required standard here.

Yes. You fired me up with your post. The A57 was my A4.

Good stuff, I get the connection now. Strange how roads from back in the day can be so evocative.

How many times in your life have you driven across Snake Pass & Woodhead Pass? Bet it's a time or two.

[tikay]

A thorough treat last night on TV, a 2 hour Eric Clapton documentary, "Life in 12 Bars" from BBC Four. I had taped it, and after it finished, at around 1am, & sat & watched the whole 2 hours again. Superb.

Not so nice when he was deep into addiction, but once he got through that he aged wonderfully well, & when him & Jeff Beck shared a stage it was the coolest thing ever. (Or it was to me).

He lives down in Surrey in an Italian style house that must be worth plenty millions, Hurtwood Edge which is "Listed".

He & Pattie Boyd, who he sort of shared back & forth with George Harrison, were what we all aspired to be then, & they were coveted & envied by all, THE most glamorous & cool couple ever.

Eric seems to have broken the rule that we all age badly, he looks better & better (to me) with every passing year, whilst Pattie, not to be rude, has aged in the way most of us have, or will, though I guess she has seen more of life than most of us. Maybe that old saying about beauty being in the eye of the beholder is true. Or maybe I love Eric & not so much Pattie.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.