Evesham Cat's Protection and Dogs Trust, Sunday 28th March, 2010.

It's a repeat of last Sunday. Off to Evesham for a visit to the Cat's Protection to see how 'Cleo' (aka Kimberley) and Willow are getting on, before a bit of dog walking at the Dogs Trust.
1) First port of call is a Cleo. She's doing well now. Got over her health problems and has started to put on some weight. The CP would like us to home her but, having thought about it, we've decided to hang-fire. Perhaps someone with a garden will take a fancy to her? If she's still at the CT when we next volunteer in three weekends time, we'll take her home. Doubt if she'll be there tho'. She's a lovely loving cat.

2) Next it's a quick 'hello' to Willow. She's been chosen and is waiting for her new lucky owner to collect her.

3) Down at the DT we decide to take Rhia (on the right) for a walk again. We took her last week and this time she comes complete with a new kennel-mate: Totty, a four month old Irish stray. Last week Rhia was very well behaved but this week the dynamic has changed. She's in need of constant affection. Totty remains unimpressed by it all.

4) Next for a walk is Mary whom, we are ashamed to say, we don't know much about except she's full of vim and vigour and no matter how fast we walk her she wants to go just that bit faster. And what's all this sitting around about? Come on, let's get going!

5) The kennel notes say that Vincent is OK for dog walkers but it should say: 'fit and strong people only need apply!" This is a rare moment of calm thanks to the old fuss behind the ears trick. It was a relief to get the 18 months old Vincent back to the kennels without any mishaps.

6) Lastly (we're getting a bit knackered now) we take Spud, a Jack Russel Terrier (not sure how old he is) out for a trot. He's got a lot of poo for a little dog. He was obviously in need of a walk. His kennel notes say he likes a 'tummy rub'. The notes are not wrong. Sorry, no photo of any tummy rubbing as proof. You'll just have to take our word for it.

Evesham Cat's Protection and Dogs Trust, Sunday 28th March, 2010.

Evesham Cat's Protection and Dogs Trust, Sunday 21st March, 2010.

1) Spring has arrived (but you knew that 'cos we told you the other day) so it's a chance to get some dog walking in before April's showers arrive. We nip into the CP first just to make sure that those two cats we fell in lurve with last week are still doing OK. The IAMS Cat, or Kimberley as some fool has christened her (we prefer to call her Cleo), is still a bit unwell and hasn't been re-homed yet. Vicky keeps looking at David in that way.

2) Willow is still gorgeous so it's little wonder that she has found a new home. David can't help feeling a tad sad about this as he knows he will never see her again but, as Vicky is always reminding him, it is what the CP's for.

3) This is Rhia ('Her Name is Rhia and She Sails the Rio Graaaaande' - oh shaddup David, says Vicky, it wasn't funny the first time) a four year old Lurcher. She's an Irish stray and is probably the most docile and affectionate dog we've ever walked at the DT. A real tonic and a joy to be with. Make someone a great companion.

4) Ah yes. The day at Crufts has obviously rubbed off on David who is now a master of dog obedience. Either that, or Forbes (another ridiculous name) has only got little legs and is already glad of a chance to sit down and rest.

5) Finally, we have Lucky. She's nine years old and isn't particularly lucky 'cos her owner is now too old and unwell to look after her. She was very down at the beginning of our walk but managed to perk up a bit by the end. She even wagged her tail at one point. Not for long, but it was a definite wag.

Friday19th March, 2010 (Pt 2).

1) The 1988 British GP and all British hopes in the 500cc class rest on the shoulders of Niall MacKenzie. In this shot, Vicky has got young Niall and his engineer Erv Kanemoto, trapped in the back of the team truck and she's not letting 'em out without a photo. Amazingly, they seem more than happy to oblige. She even instructs then to 'stand closer' and they do. She said later that they were just like two well behaved children. Thank goodness it didn't fall to me to have to take this shot. They are heroes and so I would have frozen from sheer respect or got the camera on the wrong setting (or both).

2) Niall leaves the HB Honda garage for another attempt to get the 'bike on the front row. He came fourth in the race.

More from the '88 British GP next week.

Friday 19th March, 2010 (Pt 1).

It's the August 1988 British GP at Donington and Vicky has tracked down Barry Sheene. Some would use the term 'stalked' but that would be cruel and unfair. She's a fan. We all were/are. Nowt wrong with that.

Looking at this photo now makes me wish I had a camera back in the '70's when I first started to go to 'bike meetings on my 5oo-4. You could get any number of shots of young Barry back then. He always made time for his fans. At the October '75 Brands Powerbike Meeting I remember walking into the Paddock at the end of the racing, and seeing Barry sat on top of his caravan, then my mates and I walked all around the paddock gawping at the riders packing stuff away and when we came back to Barry, about an hour later, he was still there signing stuff as happy as Larry. Of course, as serious bikers, we were too 'ard to want to get our programmes signed. That was for gurls and families. I look back on it now and think: 'what a wasted opportunity'. There you go.

I didn't have a camera back then. Never wanted one. Had other financial priorities. Think of all the riders competing back then. I could have got photos of Ago, Read, Smart, Potter, Haslam (on the Pharoah Yams), Ballington, Grant and Ditchburn on the 'Green Meanies' etc etc. You name 'em, they were there. But Barry Sheene was the best ever. For Vicky and I, our all-time favourite. So we must be grateful we have this image of him taken when his racing career was well-over. But still he retains all the same cheeky enthusiasm he always had for motorcycle racing. Dodging from garage to garage, motorhome to motorhome on his paddock 'bike, cadged off somebody no doubt, chatting to riders and teams about their prospects for the weekend. Still a star.

Crufts, NEC, Sunday 14th March, 2010.

1) Tinker is a sweet natured little dog. Which is just as well really as folk have been doing this sort of thing to her since the show opened some six hours ago.














2) That's it. Stand there, don't move, and I'll rest my head just so. Mmmm, nice. It has been a loooooooong day.

3) Best in Show? Absolutely.




















4) Not exactly walking the dog, eh?

Evesham Cats Protection, Sunday 14th March, 2010.

1) I say. Aren't you that IAMS cat-fella?







2) Willow is fairly happy to be the recipient of 'a luv'.











3) The prisoner of Cell Block 5 has been successfully reincarcerated since last time. There's nothing to say he has to be happy about it.

Saturday 13th March, 2010.

1) Careful, Bob. Don't take another step back. Doh, too late. Classic.

2) Bob, Vicky and Sue stop to contemplate whether the chattering classes should be allowed to change a baby's nappy literally inches away from your pre-booked table at the posh restaurant (The Quay, in case you were thinking of going there) where you are trying to eat your Saturday lunch. Evidently, it's perfectly acceptable.

Friday 12 March, 2010.

1) Darley Moor, October '87 and something in British motorcycle sport is stirring. This is Malcolm Heath, Norton's test rider, on the new Rotary 588cc superbike. The 'bike had already done a few low-key Darley club meetings but this was the first time it had competed against a national field. There was a lot of interest in the 'bike, it was British after all, but we'd seen this sort of project come and go just as quickly before, hadn't we?


2) Heath leaves the paddock only to break down in the first Stars leg (although he finished a creditable eight in the second leg). Word was it would be a 'right goer' in more experienced hands. We weren't all that convinced. Rotary engines? Mazda had used one, hadn't exactly set the car world on fire. Suzuki had a 500RE road 'bike back in the mid-'70's. A bloke at the Toddington and DMCC had one. Didn't know anyone else who bothered. Bit top-heavy and 'all arse and moustache' as I recall.

3) However, by the time we saw the 'bike again, at the British Championships meeting at Mallory Park the following July '88, the designer Brian Crighton (on the right) had persuaded Norton's management to find the funds to pay Trevor Nation to ride it. 'Big Trev' was no mean rider at national level and results immediately improved. It was time to start taking the project seriously.

4) This was the sort of competition Norton were up against. British ex-GP riders like Keith Huewen, on the Loctite 750 Yamaha. The Jap importers were not all that happy with the ACU for decreeing that the Norton Rotary should be measured at 588cc. It all depended on how you measured the engine. There were dark mutterings
from some quarters that it was actually nearer 1300cc. But the importers relented and agreed it could race. The British Championships would never be the same again.

Evesham Dogs Trust, Sunday 8th March, 2010.

Meet Areal (strange spelling but there you go) who's a lovely girl with the dual advantage of love-ability and transport-ability............................



........unlike Lightning and Summer who might be the best of friends but are a real handful and I'd really appreciate you putting that ruddy camera down for a minute, David, and giving me a hand. Thank you.

Friday 5th March, 2010 (Part 3).

Si Pavey and Charley Boorman at the 'Meet and Greet' session after their 'gig' at Wolverhampton's Wulfrun Hall. Not the usual sort of gig we go to, granted, but very enjoyable all the same. We wondered what sort of audience would be attracted to such a gig and reckoned that it was split roughly 50-50 between born again bikers and folk simply interested in travelling (or both). Not sure we learnt a lot more about Charley and Si's exploits than we already knew about them but it was very entertaining nonetheless. The biggest mystery remains unsolved: at which precise point in time did Simon, as we knew him back in the day when he was an ACU Off Road Coach, become Si? About the same time that Jamie became James Whitham, no doubt.

Friday 5th March, 2010 (Part 2).

1) I think I'd been to just one Motocross meeting before I joined the ACU and that one was a small club meeting in Cambridgeshire back in the '70's. So the July 1988 British Motocross GP at Hawkstone Park, in Shropshire, was the first time that Vicky and I had been to a big off-road event. The weather wasn't great but the atmosphere more than made up for it and, as this shot of some of the riders lining up before being presented to the crowd shows, cigarette sponsorship was de rigeur.

2) This is top British rider Dave Thorpe on the works Honda 500. Told you the weather wasn't the best. He won both 40mins-plus-one-lap legs and sent everyone home happy. Which was lucky as getting off the car park fields was a nightmare. Not the most exciting shot, eh? Note to self: try to get one of him in the air next time.

Friday 5th March, 2010.

Honda's RC30 quickly became the mainstay for many a privateer racer at all levels of the sport. This one is being eased through Cadwell Park's Hall Bends at the British Champs meeting on 26th June 1988 by Brian Morrison. He came first and set the fastest lap in a heat and then came second to Darren Dixon (Suzuki RG500) in the final. The meeting was overshadowed by the fatal accident that befell Kenny Irons during a warm up lap (of all things).

Thursday 4th March, 2010.

Any visit to Birmingham for a haircut also provides a splendid opportunity to call in at the city's remaining music stores for a swift browse. First port of call is Tempest Records. But, what's this? It's closing down! This is very bad news indeed but explains why they couldn't get the latest Transatlantic (it's been on order since well before Xmas - in the end I had to get it from HMV for more money and sans bonus DVD). Kept saying that it was on order from Germany. Expected any day. Keep checking. Humph. Transpires they haven't ordered any new stock for ages (no Airbourne or Joe Bonamassa then) and now all stock is in the sale and when it's all gone they will close forever. Even their web site is closing. This is very sad news as Vicky and I have been going to Tempest records for at least 25 years. It's always busy as well. Full of weird people into rock's rich tapestry, hip-hop, trance, dance and all things in between. Stocks vinyl as well for those who can afford it.

Next stop is Swordfish. Not a regular visit for us. This doesn't appear to be closing down just yet but it probably will do eventually given we are the only ones in there. I'm looking for anything by Mick Taylor or the albums by the Stones on which he played (even tho' it sticks in my craw 'cos I know that Jagger and Richards don't pay him royalties). There's no Mick Taylor solo stuff and all the Stones albums are full-price (i.e. a bl**dy rip-off). Same thing at Tempest (apart from the fact that they were a third-off in the closing down sale) by the way. So, nothing purchased at either independent record store.

Finished up at HMV where they don't have anything by Joe Bonamassa (couldn't even find a section). The Rolling Stones stuff is even more expensive and they've never heard of Mick Taylor. At least they've heard of Airbourne and confirm that the new album will be out next week. To assuage my frustration we settle for Midlake's latest album of mournful folke rock. If it's a s good as that last album of theirs ('The Trials of John Claude Van B*ggering F*rt Knocker' or whatever it was called) it'll be bostin'. But we leave town slightly frustrated at the way the world's going. But what can we do? It's progress, eh?

It's the internet from now on methinks. Let's hope web sites employ loads of people.

Tuesday 2nd February, 2010.

It's official. Spring's arrived and you read it here first.

Brrrrr, there's still a chill wind, mind.

Sunday 28th February 2010.

1) There's no better way to beat those pre-Big Match nerves than to take a long walk along the River Severn where friendly robins let you shove yer Pentax right into their bushes and take their photo.

2) Back home and it's all-set for the kick off of the 2010 League Cup Final against those dastardly dirty-cheatin' Manure-fellas.

Lucky 2000 Cup Final Villa T shirt (under jumper)? Check. Lucky 2000 Cup Final Villa scarf? Check. Lucky Villa flag from 2010 Chinese New Year? Check. Lucky Villa knitted mascot made by an Auntie many-many years ago? Check. Howard the Bright Green Christmas Reindeer who keeps us safe and well on our travels and so is bound to bring good luck today? Check.

What can possibly go wrong?