Motorbikes At A Steam Show

It sounds all wrong, for as far as I know the steam motorcycle has yet to be invented, but it still makes perfect sense to me. Motorbikes were a huge part of growing up around here in the 1950s and 60s. I often would visit friends in the village to find them with a motorbike in bits in the shed - or on one memorable occasion in the kitchen; their mother having gone out for the afternoon.

That particular episode did not end well, though the mechanical expertise gained piecemeal in teenage years must have given a head start to those who later turned their hands to restoring the kind of vehicles on display at Haddenham Steam Rally.

There were easily accessible motorbike sports too. "Scrambling" or "moto-cross" was racing stripped-down bikes over rough and often muddy terrain. In summer "grasstrack racing" was a low-cost version of "speedway". Men like Dave Bickers, Andy Lee and Badger Goss became heroes to those who cared little about footballers or pop stars.

"Motorcycle trials" is a different kind of sport. It's not a race but depends on successfully negotiating a seemingly impossible obstacle course. Penalty points are incurred if you put a foot to the ground. "Dabbing" was the term used for putting a foot down and a group self-deprecatingly known as Dabbers Trials Club were on hand to demonstrate. 

The beauty of trials is that you can pitch it at whatever standard you choose. You don't have to risk life or limb, or even wreck your bike. Many just like to amuse themselves pottering around a course of their own devising on farm tracks or around disused chalk pits.

Proper trials bikes are stripped down to the bare essentials and kept as light as possible - they don't even have a saddle, as competitors ride standing up to maintain better balance and control.

But the Dabbers Club also like to ride vintage machines. While looking online I noticed that a man called Dougie Lampkin was seven times the world trials champion in the early 2000s. Now that surname is one I recall from way back. Sure enough, Dougie is the nephew of Arthur Lampkin, a well-known moto-cross and trials rider back in the 1960s.

But when Midsummer Fair was on in Cambridge the place to congregate was over by the "Wall of Death".

The Wall of Death originated in the USA and was imported to these shores in the late 1920s. It's said that at one time there were ten of them built along the Skegness sea front in order to train riders to perform at Billy Butlin's Holiday Camps. The Fox family was involved from the outset and has continued to this day. 

The Wall consists of a wooden cylinder which the bikes ride around, held up by friction and centrifugal force. I think they only go around 30 miles per hour (around 50 kph) but in a tight, confined space with the noise echoing around it looks much faster.

They even take a go-kart around. In the early days they sometimes used a bike with a sidecar and took lions and bears on the Wall - or else they had a monkey that balanced on the fuel tank. Needless to say - that doesn't happen any more.

Going up to meet the audience.

Setting a bad example to the younger generation!

What would you like me to do next?

No problem!

Three for the price of one.

Teamwork!

Les caught some video on his phone.....

Take care.

The County Show

From saxophones to sheep-shearing, from tie-dyed T-shirts to tractors, from yesterday's Strawberry Fair to the County Agricultural Show today. As you've probably guessed if you follow this blog I like a bit of variety in my life!

We like strange breeds of animal at "By Stargoose And Hanglands", so here's a Kunekune pig. These small pigs were kept by the Maori people of New Zealand though where they got them from is a mystery as they certainly were not native to that country. In 1976 there were only thought to be 18 of them in the world, but now they are popular pigs to keep as pets due to their small size and friendly temperament - if you want a pet pig that is.

What you're more likely to encounter at the Cambridgeshire Show however are huge machines used on the wide acres of East Anglia.

It's all a long way from the equipment ("tackle" as the old timers called it) when I used to work on a farm.

That's more like it! We used to have an old Nuffield - it had to be started and given a run every day otherwise it "went on strike"!

We stopped for a Cornish pasty and a pint of locally brewed ale before having another walk around.

In the main arena the Welsh Axemen were showing off their skills - and a good deal of strength and effort.

Also going through their paces were the magnificent Shire horses from Home Farm at Wimpole. They made a mockery of the phrase "moving like a cart-horse".

And there was a demonstration of sheepdog handling - always worth watching. But the most exciting entertainment (and nothing whatever to do with farming!) was from the Bolddog Lings motorcycle stunt team.

I have nothing to say about the last few photos, but if I'm sure their mum would say, "For goodness sake......

....TAKE CARE !

Seaside Rock

Back in the 1960s when I was "jest a little ol' boy" the young men used to visit coastal resorts at holiday weekends. Some rode scooters, dressed fashionably and liked music by The Who, The Small Faces and obscure American soul records. Scooters like this one....

They were called Mods and their arch-enemies were the Rockers who rode big motorbikes, wore jeans and leather jackets and liked music by Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley and Elvis Presley. They would have liked bikes like this, though no one had that kind of money at the time...

They'd have liked to own a car like this too...

...but usually had to settle for something more like this...

There were so many old cars and bikes around that you almost expected to see Elvis around the next corner. Blimey, who's this singing "Jailhouse Rock"?

No, I know, he doesn't look much like The King and to tell the truth he didn't sound much like him either. It's probably just as well that Elvis didn't live to see some of the army of 'impersonators' around today! Never mind, this isn't Las Vegas and everyone was having a grand time and not taking themselves too seriously.

The whole event was raising money for charity and they had picked a beautiful weekend.

"It'll look great when I get it finished. Just needs a bit more work on it."

"Do you remember the fights we used to have when we rode down here in the nineteen sixties? Mind you, I still say the Kinks were better than Elvis."

Take care.

Meldreth Motorbike Show

The annual bike show, organised by The Royston And District Motorcycle Club, was held at the Riding School at Meldreth this week. Last year it raised over £10,000 for Meldreth Manor, a school and home for young people with severe physical and learning difficulties (and the place where I work). It also raised a similar amount for the East Anglian Air Ambulance service.

The weather was not so kind this year - a grey, drizzly evening - but that didn't stop bikers turning up in numbers. Just a few photos to give you a taste of the event.

A motorbike built for two....

All rather distant from my usual subject matter, I know, but the motorbiking community do a lot of good work at the school - bringing Easter eggs and Christmas goodies to our young people as well as raising this huge amount of money for charity every year.

Take care, whether on bikes or not.