Old Memories

Whilst looking through some old family photos the other day, my parents dug out a couple of pics of My brother & me when we got our first engine.

We are still debating the year, it's either 1985 or 1986, or thereabouts. So we would've been about 2 months past our 6th or 7th birthday (we are twins, for those who don't already know) but it could have been earlier than that. It definitley wasn't later as we moved house in May of 1987. I know what time of year it was though, as we bought it from the Festival of Transport rally, which has always been held on the August bank-holiday.

So I scanned the pics today & here they are. Shame not many of you have met us, or you could have had a guess at who was who....





Oh yes, & I forgot to add, this is the very same Tarpen that I restored as my first ever Stationary Engine Forum resto thread last year (July 2012). Here's the thread for anyone who hasn't seen it....

http://www.stationaryengineforum.net/t5143-nutgone-s-tarpen

It's still in the family, & still going to rallies.

Now, I deliberately didn't name this thread personally as I would like others to add any old photos they have of this hobby. So why not get those pics out, it might seem embarrassing, but I'm not shy, so come on, let's see 'em.

That picture was literally as we got it home. I remember my dad dragging it out of the rally after buying it for £25 (that was £25 they really didn't have at the time either, but we loved engines so much they had to buy it) & wheeling it all the way across the car parking field.

Our 2 little camping stools had been bought for us by my nan & granded for christmas or birthday. We got the engine back & my dad went to his garage to see if he had any spare oil to mix some 2 stroke, when he got back to the engine there we were, the 2 of us, sitting on our stools waiting for him to come & start it!

You can even see the piece of green washing line he cut off the rotary airer/ washing-line thingy as a makeshift starting cord. I often wonder what would have happened if the damn thing hadn't started!

[quote="nutgone"...You can even see the piece of green washing line he cut off the rotary airer/ washing-line thingy as a makeshift starting cord. I often wonder what would have happened if the damn thing hadn't started! [/quote]

Priceless Nutts!

Whirlygig? at least that's what we used to call the clothes drier. Who puts their washing out these days?

As for deciding between who's who, I'm gonna say Ians the one in the red T-shirt.

Will have to dig out some pics of my first D Type.

You guys were way ahead of me - at 7 years old I was still working my Tonka truck and just starting on a Meccano set.
Graeme

At that age Pete (Foden) was climbing chimneys. :stick lol: :stick lol: :stick lol:

Stu.

stationary stu wrote:At that age Pete (Foden) was climbing chimneys. :stick lol: :stick lol: :stick lol:

Stu.

Aye Stu, life were tough 'Darn Souf' back then, was very pleased when I moved North and found that Fred Dibnah had knocked most of the things down!

Don't really know what I was doing at seven, I had been at school for 2 1/2 years (started at the age of 4 1/2) and I suppose that I had a Meccano set and a Hornby Dublo three rail train set to amuse me when I got home? Wouldn't mind going back to those days and have another go at life, I might just make a better job of it second time around ha ha.

Pete.

Well I remember working on that engine & starting it, unsupervised, when I lived in the next house we had (actually it was a shop my parents turned into a café, we lived above it). We moved there in May 1987 & left to live in the Isle of Mann around October/November 1988. The engine went to live in my granddad's shed until we returned in June 1991 & started doing rallies again that year.

I was born in July 1979, so would've been working on the engine around the time of my 8th birthday.

I'm sure we are only about 6 years old in that picture, & we weren't allowed to mess with the engine then, we would've been too young. But my dad has always been a patient man, & always answered our questions (my mum doesn't know how he managed that, apparently we used to ask a LOT of questions), so I guess I must have had a pretty good understanding of that engine when I was 7 or 8. I remember taking the petrol pipe union off the top of the float chamber & dropping the funny shaped nut down the back of the engine. It was dark in the garage & I couldn't find it. I was scared to own up to it as I thought it was lost for ever, but it turned up soon enough & no fuss was made about it.

I also remember, around that time, I got an old round pin plug, 2 bits of flex & 2 light bulb holders & I wired up 2 lights to run off the engine. My dad checked the wiring in the plug, but he didn't have to alter anything.

I was crap at sport though! which meant I never got on well at school. I was crap at art too, but always good with science & maths (not brilliant, but good). I guess we're all good at something, I've always said so too, everyone's good at something, with me it was engines & electrics, which did me no favours at school, but my hobbies & after-school life were always interesting,
I was either scraping knuckles, cutting myself or electrocuting myself!

Foden wrote:

stationary stu wrote:At that age Pete (Foden) was climbing chimneys. :stick lol: :stick lol: :stick lol:

Stu.

Aye Stu, life were tough 'Darn Souf' back then, was very pleased when I moved North and found that Fred Dibnah had knocked most of the things down!

Don't really know what I was doing at seven, I had been at school for 2 1/2 years (started at the age of 4 1/2) and I suppose that I had a Meccano set and a Hornby Dublo three rail train set to amuse me when I got home? Wouldn't mind going back to those days and have another go at life, I might just make a better job of it second time around ha ha.

Pete.

Yep a nice thought to try life a second time round don't know how much I'd change, but knowing then what I know now I wonder if I'd have done the same job? I don't think so even though I enjoyed my job, my health is suffering now for it.

Stu.

Stamford24 wrote:

As for deciding between who's who, I'm gonna say Ians the one in the red T-shirt.

He's only gone and got it right!

So, come on then folks, let's see some of your old pics from the rallies.

Some of you must have some. Little boys sitting on tractors or holding the starting handle for that first Lister D. You all started somewhere in this hobby.

I will see what else I can find, I know I've got one or two others about somewhere.

I haven't got any I'm afraid, I didn't start collecting engines until I was 43 so no 'Little Boy' pics here!

Pete.

No embarrassing "Bobby Ewing" look-alike pics from the 80s either???

(Do our younger readers know who Bobby Ewing was??? I wonder).

Like Foden I too didn't get into engines before I was 23 although I have always been interested in engines just of a different sort. Firstly and always will be Steam! on rails... then when I was 18 I got into these things...

Probably the best car I owned. God I wish I had it now.
Then through work (another interesting chapter) I got saddled with this for £20! from a workmate?

and through work turned it into this... after a couple of years I got bored and sold it back to the chap I got it from. He passed it on again and after 12 years asked me if I wanted it back! Its sitting in the shed now awaiting my attention and a new mag.

These were another couple of early finds again through my (by now due to redundancy) ex-workmate.
My 1.6L struggled pulling this little lot!

...and after many moons and a change of ownership the K type was finished last year. Seen on the left.
The J type too was another basket bought by me for spares and passed on.

In the late noughties my steam passion rose again and I got involved with a small private railway but distance, ill health and the credit crunch put paid to that dream. Can you guess which mug is me Matt/Ian?

You're on the right, right?

Lovely stuff. I'm not a Ford fan, my dad was a mechanic right through the 80s & 90s, he even ran a Ford garage in Brighton around the time I was born, but he knew his stuff, so he knows how badly designed & made Ford cars are. But, I do love a Capri & Transit vans (wouldn't mind a Mk3 Cortina either). Despite the badge, the Capri was a lovely looking car, those Mk1's were lethal handling though, by all accounts. I would love a go in one, I'm a big rear wheel drive fan.

nutgone wrote:You're on the right, right?

Lovely stuff. I'm not a Ford fan, my dad was a mechanic right through the 80s & 90s, he even ran a Ford garage in Brighton around the time I was born, but he knew his stuff, so he knows how badly designed & made Ford cars are. But, I do love a Capri & Transit vans (wouldn't mind a Mk3 Cortina either). Despite the badge, the Capri was a lovely looking car, those Mk1's were lethal handling though, by all accounts. I would love a go in one, I'm a big rear wheel drive fan.

Yep Right, right!

Capri, Posers Car really. If you wanted something that handled then an Escort was better but still pretty basic. Vauxhalls wiped the floor with em though when the Astra came along. One up, a 1300 Astra could give a 2000 Ford a fright! I had a 1300 Capri (yeah really!) and managed to loose the back end of that once!

Blimey, you must've been trying hard!

My dad knew a dentist who bought a brand new Mk1 Capri 3.0l & within about a week of owning it he had killed himself in it. They were a bit of a tail happy monster those large engined models, I would still like one though, but it probably wouldn't last long, I managed to put my 5 series in a ditch a few months back!

In fact in the dry, I felt that everyone should drive a Capri. You could feel quite easily when the back end was beginning to loose grip, and it taught you respect.... well so long as you listened to the messages being fed to you! I too know of many that got wrapped round trees, lamposts etc.
Ever driven an Austin Seven? that's an interesting experience too... brakes... WHERE'S THE BRAKES!

I have to say I was a ford man for years always having Escorts (van, car and estate) Apart from the van the others were all given engine transplants up to 1600cc and leaving the 1300 diff in they were very good caravan pullers. I even had a 1600 sports now that was fast. I was offered a Capri Mk1 3000 off a mate when he bought a Mk2 2800cc it was a great car very well looked after and my mate knew it would be going to a good home but the insurance quote stopped my buying it so he sold it to his cousin and yes within a week he wrecked it. It was a strange change I made from Ford and it wasn't a car I'd ever thought of owning but I bought a wedge not sure of the engine size I don't think it the smallest they did, what a good car very comfortable, lovely to drive and a good caravan tug it was the top model in the range so all trimmed out nice.

Stu.

Stamford24 wrote:[quote="nutgone"...You can even see the piece of green washing line he cut off the rotary airer/ washing-line thingy as a makeshift starting cord. I often wonder what would have happened if the damn thing hadn't started!

Priceless Nutts!

Whirlygig? at least that's what we used to call the clothes drier. Who puts their washing out these days?

As for deciding between who's who, I'm gonna say Ians the one in the red T-shirt.

Will have to dig out some pics of my first D Type.[/quote]

Smitty wrote:

Stamford24 wrote:[quote="nutgone"...You can even see the piece of green washing line he cut off the rotary airer/ washing-line thingy as a makeshift starting cord. I often wonder what would have happened if the damn thing hadn't started!

Priceless Nutts!

Whirlygig? at least that's what we used to call the clothes drier. Who puts their washing out these days?

As for deciding between who's who, I'm gonna say Ians the one in the red T-shirt.

Will have to dig out some pics of my first D Type.

[/quote]

Ditto, the one in the red,
J. lol.