I-Spy Citroen H Vans (aka HY/TUBE etc)

[NewcastleFalcon]

Could be Claud the butler Jim, they are based in Frome. Yapp Wines call on them to cater when they have their "end of bins" sales. I do like a tenuous link...(as above link from Citroen H, to Broom Wagon, to Tour de France, to Masham's little jumpers, to Masham's rival brewers..to a which is the best beer dilemma!)



There is also a cycling link with Claud the Butler, as they do specialise in catering for cycling events, and of course Claud Butler is a famous cycle manufacturer so the name is no co-incidence.

looks like they also have a Renault Estafette to call on



regards Neil

[CitroJim]

looks like they also have a Renault Estafette to call on

That looks like a pretty little thing!

Good to see the Yapp-mobile again

Speaking of intoxicating stuff said person from Frome brought me a few cans (yes! plastic half-gallon ones) of proper Somerset scrumpy.. One is called 'Badger Spit' and another is called 'Fighting Cider' and is a strong one at 7.5% ABV Yet another is called 'Silly Ewe'

I had just a sip yesterday morning and could feel the effects immediately

I don't drink but I do make a small exception for the drink of my homeland although it'll take me years to get through it all...

[NewcastleFalcon]

With the elderflowers absolutely in profusion up here right now last night I put on a small batch of elderflower champagne.

Piece of cake just a handful of elderflower heads water sugar lemon juice and rind and a dash of cider vinegar and let it do its stuff in a bucket! The natural yeast ferments it, bottle it in a few days while its still fermenting and keep letting a bit of the CO2 out.

With the natural yeast it can be slightly alcoholic 1-3%, or with a bit help from wine makers yeast it can get a bit stronger.

Only thing to watch out for is the bottles exploding apparently but I intend using 2-litre plastic sparkling water bottles, so its not going to do much damage even if they do

Enjoy your scrumpy Jim, love the names!

regards Neil

[Hell Razor5543]

Well, Royal Ascot seemed to be somewhat attractive to the H Vans. This one is the second of 'The Wondering Wine Company' vans.

http://i1033.photobucket.com/albums/a41 ... 1403426833" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://s1033.photobucket.com/user/james ... sort=3&o=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And here is one of me with the rest of the EPoS crew;

http://s1033.photobucket.com/user/james ... sort=3&o=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And finally a poor quality selfie!;

http://s1033.photobucket.com/user/james ... sort=3&o=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thanks James

When you said you were working at Royal Ascot I didn't think you would be in the full regalia!
I'll leave it up to you if you want to put up your selfie, and your colleagues as images on the thread, or just leave the curious to find them!

Here's your Citroen H pics though



The young lady looks like she needs something to lean on and desperate to remove her heels!

This one ain't so artistic James, theres a fuzzy bloke in the focal point of the picture. Like the discarded hat, shoes and bag though.



regards Neil

[Timmo]

Aha! I can See the van now you pointed it out!
Pretty lady though.........

[Hell Razor5543]

This one ain't so artistic James, theres a fuzzy bloke in the focal point of the picture. Like the discarded hat, shoes and bag though.

Yes, well, what can you do when a punter wanders in front of you just as you press the shutter?

I had to have the top hat and tails as there is a dress code in the Royal Enclosure. We were looking after over 250 tills (of which the better part of 100 were in the various Royal Enclosure locations).

If anybody is looking to replace their EPoS tills they should look at the Toshiba ST-A20 units. This was my eighth Royal Ascot, and normally I would have had to replace over 20 tills, similar number of cash drawers, and as many as 50 printers in 5 days. This year we had new equipment (the afore mentioned Toshibas), and we swapped out 1 till, 1 magnetic swipe reader, 1 customer display and 1 till printer across the whole event (and the last two failed from being dropped). Whoever designed them was an engineer; they are very reliable and (when they do go wrong) very easy to work on. I would like to meet the designer, and shake his hand.

[CitroJim]

Only problem with kit that reliable James, is that not so many engineers are needed to look after it. I hope next year you will be one of the lucky few still to be doing the job.

It sounds like a lot of fun. Not for me though as I don't do dress codes...

[Northern_Mike]

Only problem with kit that reliable James, is that not so many engineers are needed to look after it. I hope next year you will be one of the lucky few still to be doing the job.

It sounds like a lot of fun. Not for me though as I don't do dress codes...

Me neither, and it wasn't much fun for those of us who have to drive near the place on our way home from work, due to the dire traffic management.. I appreciate it keeps James in work, but it took me an hour and a half to get home last night!



From there, it took me nearly 40 mins to get to here (about 1/2 mile).



The traffic approaching on the roundabout is from Windsor - there were NO SIGNS in Windsor saying that the road below was one-way only and closed off because of Ascot.

Then we find below So,they'd shut off a couple of roads, and made one one-way only.... but without bothering to warn anyone previously, so it was utter bedlam.





And I didn't see any H-Vans. If I had, maybe one of them would have sold me some wine to chill me out in this traffic jam!

[Hell Razor5543]

Only problem with kit that reliable James, is that not so many engineers are needed to look after it. I hope next year you will be one of the lucky few still to be doing the job.

It sounds like a lot of fun. Not for me though as I don't do dress codes...

True, but as I appear to be a fixture (willing to take time off to cover the event), and prepared to muck in and help out where I can, it seems likely (based on what the team leader said) that I would be asked back next year. Most of the team this year were there to help sort (or report) simple issues that didn't need my (or Ray Parnell, from Toshiba) skills (some of the faults were power or network related, and the responsibility of the Ascot staff, not my client). The client would much rather have us on site and not need us, rather than trying to get an engineer on site for a costly till failure (by that I mean a till that isn't trading; some tills might take £1,000 a day, others could take more than that an hour!).

I don't mind the suit; I find it comfortable for the event (if it is the right size). Plus, it means that I can get into the Royal Enclosure areas, where only a few race goers are allowed (and I get paid to do so)!

Sorry about the traffic issues, Mike. If it is any consolation, as I helped to strip down about 130 temporary tills I didn't get home this morning until after 01:30!

[CitroJim]

With an attitude like that James you'll always be in demand

Don't go changing!

[Hell Razor5543]

I enjoy covering Royal Ascot. At times (in the past) it was mayhem, and I would wonder why I kept coming back, and then something would happen to remind me why I kept doing this job. I have seen racing history made (such as last year, when The Queens' horse 'Estimate' won the Ascot Gold Cup, which was the first time the reigning Monarch had won this race), I get to go where most people cannot go (even so called 'celebrities'), and I get paid for the privilege. What more could you ask for.

[NewcastleFalcon]

The pictures from Mike of the traffic jams, had me thinking of the "heater on full blast" scenario on a hot summer day in a traffic jam that I hope all us motorists have experienced at one time or another, just to keep the motor from boiling over. Course modern cars with fully functioning cooling fans on either slow or fast speed dont require the assistance of the heater as much as they used to...

No doubt le tour de france will cause similar scenes in Yorkshire/Cambridgeshire/Essex/London

Before the race goes through there is a fair procession of promotional vehicles dishing out souvenirs/freebies to the spectators at the side of the route, known as the Caravan.

This is a vehicle used by one of the main sponsors Le Coq Sportif. According to one account at least its not a proper Citroen H but a replica, because the Tour Organisation did not give permission to enter an old HY, because this wasn't quick enough, didn't have sufficient acceleration and lacked adequate braking power. So the Coq procured a modern camionette and built the old body on the new chassis.



I also discoverd today that "Le Tour" are very precious about the use of the name "Tour de France" and, "Le Tour" and "Le Grand Depart". So much so that a simple poster competition organised up here in Newcastle to celebrate the Tour de France coming to Yorkshire, by the Cycle HUB and Saddle Skedaddle had to change their competition rules so the posters didnt use those phrases..



regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

If you like heavy breathing, and a slightly out of place soft oriental sounding theme, maybe this will appeal.

Course if you are already a Kraftwerk Fan, and I suspect there must be at least one in the FCF community, you are probably already giving "Tour de France" a revival to celebrate the forthcoming "Grand Depart" of "le Tour".



regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Our friends at Peugeot and Renault also did a nice line in vans, but the H Van just has the je ne sais quoi for me



regards neil