CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

[CitroJim]

Good on you looking after the binmen Paul I know how they would have really appreciated. I always, if I see them, thank them and the reaction I get suggests it's a rare thing and they are more accustomed to being moaned at.

I'm wondering if this country will move to doing the bins during the night as warming intensifies? They did in Darwin when we lived there and it worked well. Less road congestion for the binmen to battle through and nobody to moan at them!

I wonder if whether we like the heat or not is a bit determined where our ancestors came from. If Scandinavian with the Vikings or Mediterranean with the Romans. Once above low to mid twenties it is a bit much for me, when younger my hair was fair so I may originate in the north.

That's a good question. I'm fair haired/skinned carrying recessive ginger genes. I burn easily in the sun and never tan much. We are of the belief that four or five generations ago both sides of my family were Eastern European immigrants so not of true tropical descent...

So maybe the old nature vs. nurture argument?

Yesterday, I enjoyed a most excellent visit to Mick the Mavertick and Xantia_V6 of this parish. A clear run both ways with no traffic congestion at all, not even in Hitchin I drove Strawberry as her aircon works. Wind-down windows and an opening sunroof

Given the strength of the sun shining in through open windows I was sure to apply lots of sunscreen, not wanting to end up with a condition called 'lorry-driver's arm'...

On arrival home my new alternator brushes had arrived. I still await the oil seal.

And in other news, I am pleased to note the Citroen Car Club have found a new columnist to replace me Another AX enthusiast!

[bobins]

Did you have a moment's silence for Radio 4 LW terminating this morning, Jim ?

<edit> Actually... thinking about it, the question should be : Did you have a moment's silence accompanied by a background hiss and crackle ?

[PaulC5]

Lorry driver's arm, that brings back memories although I have never driven a lorry. Others include before cabin filters when with the central vents on full you could be dirty after a long trip. Smoking in cars making others smelly and feeling sick. PVC seats where I would be soaked with sweat, all part of the good old days. Watching bike races on tv the riders often have dirty and tanned faces and must have breathed in a lot of muck so no wonder some have asthma.

[CitroJim]

Did you have a moment's silence for Radio 4 LW terminating this morning, Jim ?

<edit> Actually... thinking about it, the question should be : Did you have a moment's silence accompanied by a background hiss and crackle ?

Yes, I did... Had to be done.. The carrier is still up (on reduced power I believe) with the 'retune' announcement on repeat. The crackles were mainly the result of lightning - R4 LW was always a great predictor of an approaching thunderstorm! We've lost that now...

It's due to fall fully silent and disappear for ever on the 30th. Truly the end of an era. Lots of fevered hand-wringing going on but really it was inevitable. Hardly anyone has a radio capable of tuning into Long Wave these days and the listenership was vanishingly low. Besides, many, most, under 40 didn't even know what LW (and MW) broadcasting was until the imminent closure of R4 LW and the publicity surrounding it.

As a lifelong professional radio engineer. I've witnessed many ends of eras and this is just another one. The world I began my radio engineering career in has almost totally disappeared. Just memories now and very little, if any, preserved as heritage...

I see there are pleas to 'list' the Droitwich 198KHz aerial masts and the array it supports as a heritage structure. I can't see it happening as the sheer cost and safety aspects of maintaining the structure are immense and therefore very unlikely to happen. It must be maintained and cannot be neglected. I understand the masts are near end of life and their condition and cost of renewal was one reason for bringing the service to a close. That they were running out of valves was rubbish. They can be infinitely rebuilt as necessary.

It is hoped that the transmitter (or parts of it) will end up as a museum-piece. Some are calling for Droitwich to fully become a museum. They forget it will continue as an operational station for a while yet as it still transmit Radio 5 Live on 693KHz and a number of DAB multiplexes.

It may be possible to turn the old 198KHz bit into a museum whilst the remainder remains operational. It happened at the Washford transmitting station in Somerset when the transmitters were renewed in the 80s. The much smaller new transmitters were housed in the former power house and the old transmitter hall became a tropical zoo, heated by the transmitter exhaust heat. The building is a superb example of 1930s BBC Art Deco.

Lorry driver's arm, that brings back memories although I have never driven a lorry. Others include before cabin filters when with the central vents on full you could be dirty after a long trip. Smoking in cars making others smelly and feeling sick. PVC seats where I would be soaked with sweat, all part of the good old days. Watching bike races on tv the riders often have dirty and tanned faces and must have breathed in a lot of muck so no wonder some have asthma.

Ahh, that all brings back a lot of memories Paul! Some bike racers still end up a bit mucky. Paris-Roubaix on a rainy day for example

Yesterday, the new oil seal arrived for Bluebell:

And I fitted the new alternator brushes and bench tested it. The alternator is now all ready for anothe spell of service..

No car work is planned for today, I'm a a running event in Salcey Forest...

[bobins]

I can see the value in fully documenting Droitwich and maybe preserving sections of the masts - though I'd guess they'll just be toppled, so finding a straight and preservable section afterwards would be tricky - but full on Listing of the site seems a little pointless. The architecture of this era of transmitter halls and associated buildings is always fabulous, and it'd be good to keep some of them just because they hark back to an era where 'things' mattered, but in the end - a proper more or less forensic documentation of the site should suffice. As an aside - I've helped look after a Scheduled Ancient Monument in the past, but it's more or less inaccessible to your average Joe Public, and it's always niggled with me that there's a valid question - if it can't be seen by the public, is it worth preserving ? A bit like the tree that falls in a wood when no-one's around.