The Norfolk bash

[flyingfish]

Yes Tony, grabbed a short break with the Mrs in a very sunny South Wales.
Now going to sort the auto correct on the new phone

Boing

[flyingfish]

Yes Tony, grabbed a short break with the Mrs in a very sunny South Wales.
Now going to sort the auto correct on the new phone

Boing

[MartynB]

I'll just leave this here....

Dave

https://imgur.com/gallery/Lvlx4Pq

I just get a blank page Dave

[VALE BOY]

Sorry Dave. Wot's this, then (I don't have the app to open it). Something along the lines of "I love the crazy Scotsman"?.

Is it our Vale Boy?

💥I resemble 👀that remark Tony!🤣🤣🤣🤣 Mad Mental Jocks Rool, OK! 💥 🥃🥃🎶😎

[Unframed Dave]

Works OK for me.

Dave

[TonyL]

Yes Tony, grabbed a short break with the Mrs in a very sunny South Wales.
Now going to sort the auto correct on the new phone

Boing

Excellent! Hope you had (are having) a lovely time and not boring in the least.

[TonyL]

💥I resemble 👀that remark Tony!🤣🤣🤣🤣 Mad Mental Jocks Rool, OK! 💥 🥃🥃🎶😎

And we all love our little Scotsman.

Hope you is keeping well, Graeme.

Any nice, entertaining stories for us?

[TonyL]

BOING!

[Tony.T]

If you gents will allow me in to this discussion-

I've enjoyed a couple of afternoons in my garden in the lovely Cornish sun, testing my rebuilt Diana 48 and 52. The 48 will be a 52 soon when I fettle its S/H stock In fact the testing went well enough for me to shoot a couple of UBC cards.

Because of distance I can't really make your meets sadly- that and I'm too old to rough it, like my creature comforts don't you know!

I enjoy reading about the 'Bash' and I am with you in spirit if not in person! Take care everyone and BOINGG

[TonyL]

Of course you can jump in, Tony. One of the things that has always been so nice about the Bash is that there's no elitism or cliqueyness; it's an all-including entity and all about friendliness and sharing.

This Bash is off, due to the Covid situation worsening and the next one will take place next Spring, hopefully. It may happen at Norfolk. It might even happen at its spiritual home near Nuneaton, which might be easier for you? You don't have to camp, as either venue has guest houses / hotels close by.

But even if you cannot make it in person, you're always more than welcome to jump in on the forum.

Enjoy those rifles and keep up The Spirit of The Boing.

BOING!

[VALE BOY]

And we all love our little Scotsman.

Hope you is keeping well, Graeme.

Any nice, entertaining stories for us?

Hi Tone, A week last Thursday, I drove down to Silloth, the most north westerly town in England on the Solway Firth to collect a nice .22 Webley Xocet rifle and found it to be a really attractive and interesting wee former Victorian Spa town with a load of local history. It used to have an airfield that was a base for Canadian and American servicemen during WW2.

I was told a story by Tony, the BBS vendor of the Webley, if that the town’s principal church on the cobblestoned Criffel Street at front of the town, named after the mountain in Dumfries and Galloway on the opposite side of the Solway, was built without its steeple being erected...So for some reason the powers that be decreed it should be completed just when WW2 broke out in 1939. So the church had scaffolding surrounding it for the duration of the war, effectively having a ‘scaffolding steeple’ as work was discontinued for obvious reasons. However, with the influx of the airmen who began to have ‘an impact’ on the local fair maidens....in due course, the scaffolding steeple’s austere structure was being enhanced by the attachment of the local girls’ undergarments obtained as ‘trophies’ by the Yanks and Canadians, flapping in the breeze! 😅
Later that evening after the best Fish and Chips I’ve ever had the good fortune to experience, courtesy of the local chippy, I took a wee wander round the town (which only has a handful of really wide tree-lined streets and discovered a great little Motorcycle Museum which as I discovered the following morning when it was open that was a former grocery corner shop belonging to the proprietor’s mum.
Continuing my walk that evening I went into the RAF club on the front, one of only 3 pubs left in the town when formerly there was more than a dozen in its holiday resort heyday. Extremely good pints of Guinness at 3 quid a pint cannae be bad and it also gave me the chance to converse with some of the locals albeit maintaining social distancing as is the requirement these days. Opposite me was an elderly lady called Joan who came to Silloth in 1958 from Ellon near Aberdeen to work on the fish gutting back in those days when Silloth, and nearby Maryport (looking a bit sad these days) Workington and Whitehaven all had busy fishing fleets. She’d married a local fella and her daughter and son in law were sitting next me at the adjacent table as it turned out. He was an interesting character who owns the tricked up Saab 9-5 estate car which I’d seen and heard going past me earlier in the evening...
so that got the conversation round to cars and motorbikes and I knew that Silloth airfield had been converted into a Motorcycle Racing Circuit in the 50’s I believe. In fact a biking pal of mine, Davy Johnston, still holds the lap record for production bikes set on an 840cc Rickman Honda back in 1978 and the circuit closed down in 1979! At this point of the conversation in came a local character called Ed who must be nearing 80 who still rides motorbikes (750 Honda Four) and in joining in the craic he told that he moors a 35 foot yacht in nearby Maryport that up to this summer, he sails to the Isle of Man twice annually for the TT and the Classic Manx races. So right away we struck up a guid rapport and on me telling him that I’ve got sailing experience on yachts and sailing dingys of all sizes he invited me to crew if I’m ever back down that way.... So who knows, maybe next year I’ll maybe be sailing on a yacht ⛵️ to the Isle of Man!

On the Friday morning I visited the wee Silloth Motorcycle Museum with some great examples of Aermacchi, Honda, Manx Norton, Suzuki, racing bikes and several others crammed in with a load of racing photographs, memorabilia and good quality merchandise. It was fascinating meeting the proprietor, Jim Snaith, who is former racer with several championship wins on short circuits as well as competing at the TT and the Manx on the Isle of Man. It transpired that we shared a lot of mutual friends and acquaintances who had been competitors and others involved in that wonderful sport. A great way to spend a whole morning whilst the rain was pishing down outside. Jim told me that it’s still a popular holiday location as there’s something like 5 caravan and camping sites in the vicinity. It’s quite often a weekend ride out location for bikers and also if it hadn’t been for this Bastard Corona virus the annual Beer and Music Festival would have been taking place that very weekend! Hopefully it’ll be back on go next year along with a plethora of other events that sadly have fallen by the wayside this year.

So there you have it... you did ask!😉...all due to picking up an old Webley!
Btw, It’s worth going to Silloth just for the Fish Suppers, great Guinness and Motorcycle Museum alone! 🎶😎

[Chippendale]

Hi Tone, A week last Thursday, I drove down to Silloth, the most north westerly town in England on the Solway Firth to collect a nice .22 Webley Xocet rifle and found it to be a really attractive and interesting wee former Victorian Spa town with a load of local history. It used to have an airfield that was a base for Canadian and American servicemen during WW2.

I was told a story by Tony, the BBS vendor of the Webley, if that the town’s principal church on the cobblestoned Criffel Street at front of the town, named after the mountain in Dumfries and Galloway on the opposite side of the Solway, was built without its steeple being erected...So for some reason the powers that be decreed it should be completed just when WW2 broke out in 1939. So the church had scaffolding surrounding it for the duration of the war, effectively having a ‘scaffolding steeple’ as work was discontinued for obvious reasons. However, with the influx of the airmen who began to have ‘an impact’ on the local fair maidens....in due course, the scaffolding steeple’s austere structure was being enhanced by the attachment of the local girls’ undergarments obtained as ‘trophies’ by the Yanks and Canadians, flapping in the breeze! ��
Later that evening after the best Fish and Chips I’ve ever had the good fortune to experience, courtesy of the local chippy, I took a wee wander round the town (which only has a handful of really wide tree-lined streets and discovered a great little Motorcycle Museum which as I discovered the following morning when it was open that was a former grocery corner shop belonging to the proprietor’s mum.
Continuing my walk that evening I went into the RAF club on the front, one of only 3 pubs left in the town when formerly there was more than a dozen in its holiday resort heyday. Extremely good pints of Guinness at 3 quid a pint cannae be bad and it also gave me the chance to converse with some of the locals albeit maintaining social distancing as is the requirement these days. Opposite me was an elderly lady called Joan who came to Silloth in 1958 from Ellon near Aberdeen to work on the fish gutting back in those days when Silloth, and nearby Maryport (looking a bit sad these days) Workington and Whitehaven all had busy fishing fleets. She’d married a local fella and her daughter and son in law were sitting next me at the adjacent table as it turned out. He was an interesting character who owns the tricked up Saab 9-5 estate car which I’d seen and heard going past me earlier in the evening...
so that got the conversation round to cars and motorbikes and I knew that Silloth airfield had been converted into a Motorcycle Racing Circuit in the 50’s I believe. In fact a biking pal of mine, Davy Johnston, still holds the lap record for production bikes set on an 840cc Rickman Honda back in 1978 and the circuit closed down in 1979! At this point of the conversation in came a local character called Ed who must be nearing 80 who still rides motorbikes (750 Honda Four) and in joining in the craic he told that he moors a 35 foot yacht in nearby Maryport that up to this summer, he sails to the Isle of Man twice annually for the TT and the Classic Manx races. So right away we struck up a guid rapport and on me telling him that I’ve got sailing experience on yachts and sailing dingys of all sizes he invited me to crew if I’m ever back down that way.... So who knows, maybe next year I’ll maybe be sailing on a yacht ⛵️ to the Isle of Man!

On the Friday morning I visited the wee Silloth Motorcycle Museum with some great examples of Aermacchi, Honda, Manx Norton, Suzuki, racing bikes and several others crammed in with a load of racing photographs, memorabilia and good quality merchandise. It was fascinating meeting the proprietor, Jim Snaith, who is former racer with several championship wins on short circuits as well as competing at the TT and the Manx on the Isle of Man. It transpired that we shared a lot of mutual friends and acquaintances who had been competitors and others involved in that wonderful sport. A great way to spend a whole morning whilst the rain was pishing down outside. Jim told me that it’s still a popular holiday location as there’s something like 5 caravan and camping sites in the vicinity. It’s quite often a weekend ride out location for bikers and also if it hadn’t been for this Bastard Corona virus the annual Beer and Music Festival would have been taking place that very weekend! Hopefully it’ll be back on go next year along with a plethora of other events that sadly have fallen by the wayside this year.

So there you have it... you did ask!��...all due to picking up an old Webley!
Btw, It’s worth going to Silloth just for the Fish Suppers, great Guinness and Motorcycle Museum alone! ����

Lovely little tale there pal, enjoyed it.

Keep safe up there Graeme,
Cheers

Melv

Chippendale (with clothes on)

[TonyL]

Yep, I did ask for it and you most certainly delivered......in spades, Graeme.

Yet again a most wonderful, enlightening and entertaining story from our lovable roving friend from north of the border.

[Blackrider]

Graeme’s storey reminds me of my one and only visit to Silloth over thirty years ago while holidaying in the Lake District.
I seem to recall a very nice ice cream shop and an old derelict dock but not much else.
Pleasant enough place though.

[Chippendale]

Graeme’s storey reminds me of my one and only visit to Silloth over thirty years ago while holidaying in the Lake District.
I seem to recall a very nice ice cream shop and an old derelict dock but not much else.
Pleasant enough place though.

Apparently there is a good golf course, a few of the members of the club I used to frequent were really enthusiastic about, made a point of plsaying there year in year out.

Cheers

Melv

Chippendale (with clothes on)