Arts
Crossing the Atlantic, Arrival
Every morning the Chief engineer and his #2 would be having breakfast. He was a cheerful Ukrainian man and I always used to ask him, tongue in cheek, if the engine was still OK. On [more…]
Cardinal Puff
Arts
Crossing the Atlantic, At Sea
I unpacked my belongings and noticed that outside of my cabin windows was a little orange motor boat that was lowerable down to the water via a crane that swung the thing away from the [more…]
America
Crossing the Atlantic, Departure
Over the years I have read many books regarding the Battle of the Atlantic and the role of the U-boat. This was largely due to a guy I once worked with suggesting I read a [more…]
Engineering
Solar Panel Installation for Dummies
I thought I might share my limited knowledge and experience with fellow GPers regarding solar panels or solar PV. From Wiki: ‘Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the [more…]
Hobbies
The Lakes to London by Bus
For a few years I have always fancied travelling to London from my home town only using regular bus transport. The rules would be no trains, no taxis, no trams, no coach travel, however walking [more…]
Hobbies
The Tale of my Old Dumper, Part Four
Perhaps it’s worth mentioning the tool I use for cutting sheet and plate steel, a standard 4.5 inch angle grinder. ½ inch thickness can be dealt with quite easily and if you mark the job [more…]
Hobbies
The Tale of my Old Dumper, Part Three
The next component that I needed was a so-called ‘’spool valve’’ with is basically a device with a hand operated lever that ports the hydraulic oil to either end of the hydraulic rams according to [more…]
Hobbies
The Tale of my Old Dumper, Part Two
This dumper, one of the first types to hit the scene has no hydraulic system and the skip is basically unloaded by pulling a big lever which releases a hook and the entire skip rolls [more…]
Hobbies
The Tale of my Old Dumper, Part One
The beginning This story starts roughly six years ago when we moved to Cumbria having purchased a small farm cottage with adjoining derelict barn which we planned to convert to domestic accommodation. Firstly a warning, [more…]