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Visit to Thames Valley Paraglider sites
Posted Saturday, 30 March, 2002
I met up with
Richard Prout at junction 14 of the M4. We then toured most of the Thames Valley
sites. I have never flown any, and this was a chance to see them, and get some
information on what to watch out for on them.
We ended up on Tan, which
is a site which was almost flyable today. But the wind was a bit on the strong
side. It seemed also to be rising so we did not wait for an evening
flight.
Really looking forward to flying Coombe hill, so am waiting for
that Northerly day.
Friday Posted Friday, 29
March, 2002
Lovely day. Did some work around the garden, and took
the Spitfire for a short drive.
Easter paragliding Posted
Thursday, 28 March, 2002
The sun is shining today. Hopefully it will
still be good for the weekend. I have booked with a club coach of TVHGC for
Saturday to see some the their paragliding sites. I hope it stays fine for
then.
Lenny Henry Posted
Wednesday, 27 March, 2002
All happens in one day. Should have gone
to the gun club committee meeting in the P&A this evening. But discovered on
Tuesday I had tickets to the Lenny Henry show at the Civic Centre for us
all.
So this evening we watched Lenny Henry. He was very funny, much
better than I expected. The show he gave was about his family and life, when his
family came over from the West Indies and lived in Dudley. How he grew up. It
was very funny and much appreciated by the audience.
Webcam - refreshing image
Posted Wednesday, 27 March, 2002
The link to the
refreshing image has been corrected so that the refreshing image is displayed.
The link to the webcam can be found on the home page of www.blasdale.com. You can go
straight to the webcam at:
http://webcam.walkerint.co.uk/
Spitfire back up and running
Posted Tuesday, 26 March, 2002
After a bit of
welding and fixing, the Triumph Spitfire has passed its MOT, so hopefully, if
the weather is fine we should be able to take it out for a ride over
Easter.
Liverpool Posted Saturday,
23 March, 2002
Drove up to Liverpool in the morning. Rather a pain
of a drive, a small section of the M6 was coned downed to two lanes. Of course
there was not work being done, or any evidence of any work ever being
done.
Picked Selina up, no idea how we fitted back into the car with all her
stuff. Quick lunch in a pub on the Penny Lane and then back home. Quick relation
visit on the way back
The Webcam is back Posted
Thursday, 21 March, 2002
The webcam is back and running. You can go
and view Steve at work writing Java programs at the Aylesbury office of the
elevon company.
Click on the link http://webcam.walkerint.co.uk/
Subscribe to the Blasdale site
Posted Thursday, 21 March, 2002
You can now
subscribe to the Blasdale
site, and get the latest news by email.
To enable this:
Jubilee Posted Wednesday,
20 March, 2002
Yesterday evening we met in the P&A pub for the
first of the Jubilee planning meetings. The intention is to have two days of
games and events around the village. This is to include clay shooting, aunt
sally, traditional pub games like dominoes etc.
The final day will
culminate in an evening meal in the P&A.
Saint Patricks Day Posted
Monday, 18 March, 2002
No changing of the flag at the local pub this
Sunday. Instead a very pleasant evening eating Irish Stew or Ham Hocks, followed
by Paddys, or Powers whisky.
No news Posted Tuesday, 12
March, 2002
Not alot has happened in the last few days. The weather
has been either to windy for paragliding (the weekend), or during work time not
the correct direction for the local Dunstable site.
Paragliding at Dunstable
Posted Wednesday, 6 March, 2002
Yesterday I managed
to get off work in the afternoon to go paragliding. Unfortunatly the wind rose
to above my skill level as I arrived. (Yes I should have gone in the morning, it
was likley the wind would rise as the day went by). There were about 7 gliders
at the site. Most of these stopped flying while I was there because of the
stronger wind.
As I packed up at just before 5 pm, the wind eased of a
bit. So I and another guy (John Cooper) went for a short fly before sunset.
Managed to get in another 30 minutes of flying. This time I took off from the
carpark, and not the bowl, so I have now flown over all the bushes etcetera I
have always avoided in the past.
Finally I left top landing too late, and
got dropped by the dieing wind. Landed at the bottom in the small area in the
corner of the bowl.
Paragliding and Dunstable Downs
Posted Monday, 4 March, 2002
Left work early (just
after lunch), the wind was blowing 230 degrees, not ideal, but flyable for
Dunstable Downs. It was about 8 mph at the bottom wind station.
Arrived
at just past 2.30, there was one paraglider in the air (Bill). The wind was
stronger than I expected. This was my first flight in 6 months, and all those
previous ones had been made in nil wind. So take off was a bit of a mess. I
think I take too long arranging the glider, by which time the wind gusts and
drags me back into the bushes.
Anyway a bit of advice from Dave, and I
was away with a pretty clean take off. I soared the ridge in the cloudy
conditions and gained a hight of 120 feet. After 30 minutes I flew out from the
ridge and bottom landed. While I was flying there was only Dave. Bill had left.
It was great to be in the air again after such a long lay off.
Stow gardens Posted
Monday, 4 March, 2002
This week end the weather was not too bad. No
rain, No wind, but only a little sun. We managed a trip out to Stow Landscape
gardens. These are managed by the National Trust and are around the public
school Stow. This was the first open day of the year.
It must be seven
years since we last visited. There has been quite a large amount of renovation
on the garden features since we last visited.
Saint Davids day update
Posted Monday, 4 March, 2002
The flag flew all day.
Friday night I crept across and replaces the Saint Georges Cross.
Some
debate on Friday and Sunday as to who put up the Welsh flag. We blamed Colin
(part Welsh), on Sunday the landlord was blaming the French Chef. Tonight, if
anyone is in, I will admit the swap. It all seems to have been taken as a
joke.
Saint Davids Day Posted
Friday, 1 March, 2002
Today is Saint Davids Day, patron Saint of the
Welsh. In celebration I have taken down the George Cross from the flag pole of
the pub opposite and replaced it with the Welsh flag. Dare I visit later in the
day? Will I have been banned for ever?