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Sunday morning, I spent some time improving the waterproofing situation in my car using some of rubber and foam that Josh and Ben (friends we met up with in Kyiv) had taken with them for me. At about 90km/h, the driver's side door had been riding up the wheel arch and diving in at the top, creating a big gap at the bottom and essentially sucking air in. Also the gaps around the front of the door to the screen uprights weren't great in the rain. A little foam and rubber later and it's a big improvement. Car can now to 130 on the motorway comfortably with no sign of the door wanting to cave in. It doesn't look pretty, and I'll need to fix it properly so I can take the doors off on nice days but for the moment it works. We then said our goodbyes to Ben and Josh so they could set off to catch their flight and we started driving again. We had a brief stop off at the "tunnel of love" to get some photos. About two miles before the parking spot, we drove through a little village. Two kids there nearly dislocated their jaws when we drove past, and sure enough when we got to the car park they had hopped on their bikes and cycled behind us (did I mention how bad the roads were - cyclists could keep up!). We spent a little time telling them about the cars and what we were doing anyway and they seemed delighted with it! Then we set off again to get to our camping spot for that night. When we arrived it was dark, so we just pitched the tents, cooked some dinner and went to bed. There had been some mention of a nearby fort on the campsite app we use so we decided to take a walk and check it out in the morning. I'm very glad we allowed the time for that! For Tarakanivskyy is an 18th century Fort, only accessible through tunnels. The tunnels themselves have loads of rooms, murder holes and everything, but unfortunately my camera would never do them justice. When you get through though, that's where the real treat is. The Fort was attacked by Russian forces in the early 1900s and left in ruins. The legend goes that the nazis inhabited it during WW2 and used it as a base where they carried out science experiments on POWs trying to learn how to create super soldiers. Obviously, I couldn't t find any evidence of this in the hour I spent walking around!

I need a few days of nothing remarkable happening so I can get caught up in these posts... Of all the problems to have, eh? Saturday morning in Ukraine we set off for our trip to Chernobyl. We were a little worse for wear after the night before so had planned on catching up on sleep on the 2 hour bus journey. Of course, we forgot about the road quality. No sleep to be had there! I won't try to explain the history behind Chernobyl here, but by all accounts, the HBO series on it is very accurate in what happened. I haven't watched it just yet but I've been meaning to and definitely need to after this visit. When you arrive at the exclusion zone, you get your passport checked, and then have to queue up for a personal radiation tag to measure how much you absorb during your visit. (generally a negligible amount). Then back on the bus, and we drove to one of the 200 abandoned villages. I'm only going to post up a really small subset of photos here btw, but if anyone is interested to see more, let me know and I'll send them across. This is a common sight. People were told they only needed to leave for a couple of days, so to take nothing with them, so basically everything was left. Including some nightmare inducing dolls at the local children's nursery After a few villages, we stopped off at the reactor. At the time, they cocooned it in a massive concrete building called the sarcophagus, however they knew this wasn't a permanent solution. More recently, they've built a massive metal structure inside which they're going to essentially dismantle the reactor. Next we went to Pripyat - The city built specifically for power plant workers. Our guide had several photos from before the disaster where you could see key landmarks and buildings, bustling with people, in stark contrast to the abandoned buildings now. You've probably seen photos of the fairground built for the workers' children before, but it's really incredible in the flesh. Next up, the school. The floor was littered with books, and in the canteen, there were a pile of children's gas masks on the floor. They had been issued in preparation for an attack by the US during the cold war, but due to the Soviets wanting to play down the severity of the disaster at the time, they were never used when the reactor blew, even though the could have prevented a lot of harm. After the school, we paid a visit to an old Soviet radar designed to detect US missile launches, known as the "Russian Woodpecker". I'd suggest googling that one for a photo. It was so big I couldn't get it into frame from any angle. I could go on more here to be honest. There are so many photos. I would highly recommend people take the time to visit Kyiv and Chernobyl, but make sure you allow time for both! One weekend definitely wasn't long enough for Kyiv. Fun as it has been, I would also recommend flying, or at least driving something with ground clearance! The roads are awful!

No worries! The forum isn't the easiest to host large numbers of photos on, especially when operating from a phone, so I'll start dropping all of the photos into a Google drive that everyone can access and just post the key bits up here. I'll stick a link up once I've had time to sort it!

Please post more pictures. Not it sure what I like best though, your pictures or the written history. Fort looks incredible.

Thanks stay in Whitecross which is just outside Linlithgow I have a quantum xtreme been out on runs with Robert Craig and a few other members. Looking forward to hopefully get out on a few runs with the club.

Hi Julie Change of plan at home so happy days. 🙂 We'll see you tomorrow so hid your cake.🤣

Excellent write up and pictures. I can 100% recommend the HBO series of Chernobyl it is brilliant.

No need for that in my view. Every scottish council voted remain so yes of course they are going to look to obtain a deal. Just like the 'English' would if it were the other way round. This country is divided enough without generalisations of 'you Scottish' or 'you English'. Boris and his puppet master have brought all of this on themselves. Their aims are good but their tactics have been dreadful. And dont forget one thing it was the English supreme court who had the last say on this before you start throwing stones north of the border.

I finally have some free time. May I join you ?

Remember as per the article below, the new head of the ECB was convicted of a criminal offence. Unsurprisingly she did not get any real punishment and has gone on to this plum EU job. In any other world she would not even been considered for the role as having a criminal conviction would make you unemployable but here in the crazy insular world of the EU she was deemed the best. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/christine-lagarde-convicted-imf-head-found-guilty-of-negligence-in-fraud-trial-a7484586.html

Would have loved to join u but not quite ready!!!!

Hardly surprising they aren't waving us off considering we're their 2nd biggest net contributor. But I agree they should just get their thumbs out of their ass and get on with it.

04 Oct 2019 Banksy parliament painting depicting MPs as chimps sells for record £9.8 million https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/banksys-painting-depicting-mps-as-chimps-sells-for-record-98m-a4253721.html

Hi all stay up in Scotland have a few mates that are members joining to hopefully get out on more runs.

Michael is coming as well.

@Westfield Parts Dept please do come along, we will be out most weekends over the winter. @neptune yes, will be good to see you again @Andy Westwood great, let the cake commence (for anyone who does not know, Andy had the most humongous slice of cake last time we all met and everyone was very jealous) Chris is joining us too. Leaves only one question, is it blue or red, Mr E? perhaps we will have to wait and see.

Not me in case anyone was wondering. However, I did have the opportunity to take a banksy, selfy, of a banksy.

I should also mention, my travel buddy is into proper photography, rather than the stuff I've posted so far which is all taken on my phone. His Instagram is here: https://instagram.com/chrisramsayphoto?igshid=587ni1crcw2u He's generally a few weeks behind in posting things on this, particularly while travelling as he needs to find the time to go through and edit photos etc. but stuff since I arrived should be appearing on there shortly. Also, if anyone is interested in seeing the Norway and Arctic circle leg of the trip that I missed by being too slow building my car, you can have a look on there now!

Wonder how the chimps feel about that.

Hi Julie, obviously we’re not going to make it😝 but OMG you’ve never had Eggy bread!! You need to get out more 😂 if you eat enough of it , it will keep your fingers warm!! Take care and see you soon luv Andy and Becky( from somewhere nice and warm) xx

Ursula von der Leyen elected as next EU Commission president replacing Jean-Claude Juncker https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ursula-von-der-leyen-elected-eu-commission-president-new-views-germany-brexit-army-a9007466.html She is due to take office on 1 November. Ursula von der Leyen to be plagued by scandal 16 Jul 2019 https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1153829/EU-news-Ursula-von-der-Leyen-European-Commission-president-Germany-defence-latest "Last month Dennis Rohde, a spokesman for the Social Democratic Party, which is Angela Merkel’s coalition partner in government, said the the (German) defence ministry had dished out contracts “unlawfully”. He said: “The affair has two strands for me. One is that, on a large scale, contracts to outside consultants were unlawfully awarded, obviously favouring companies that had a good connection to the ministry of defence." Seems millions not accounted for, but incompetence only, so forgiven.

A bit of "FaceTime" while hacking around a track!

Last sunday at trackday, still impressed by this small but great car !! And with new experiences regarding suspension settings etc. and some 'action' with compilattion of fails/mistakes and one full lap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8yQCk3Bg9U (not sure if it is allowed to put a link to video in this section ?)

Might see if I can make it over for a bit, probably not be able to stay the whole run, but be good to get the Westfield out.

As least the ECB is now in good hands! As the Mises Institute reports: "It's rare to find someone who is consistently wrong on everything. Christine Lagarde...comes close" Of her actions in the IMF they reported: "Pumping yet more credit into the Eurozone is as effective as giving adrenalin to a dead horse." Good luck EU.

@Julie Hall - Peak District AO Eggy bread is fantastic - especially with lashings of tomato sauce! I haven't had it for years as it doesn't cook on an AGA as you need to fry cook. Missing a meal? Not sure that is a good plan! I become a diva if not topped up with food on a regular basis If you want my black pudding you’ll need to sit closer to me than Glen otherwise he might nick it.

You'll get more than that. We'll insist on driving you round and showing you the sights too

Doing a little bit of shopping today:

@Julie Hall - Peak District AO next year when your doing a breakfast run, give me a shout. I may be tempted to come up for food Regards Patrick

With reference to the latest proposal... A European Commission spokesperson said on Thursday: "There are... problematic points in the UK's proposal and further work is needed, but that work needs to be done by the UK and not the other way around. "We would remind you that it's the UK leaving the EU and not the EU leaving the UK. Knobhead! (is that expression allowed on here? if not I will promptly find another) It doesn't matter a jot who is leaving who, the two entities are separating, the work on how that happens needed all along to be done by both parties. This has been their approach - obstructive, and extremely irritating, and they have at no point negotiated in good faith, it is clear. Jim

Decided to have a go at putting some stripes on my car, did it over a couple rainy days, so had a spin out yesterday to test them. They seem to work, either that or it was the effect of cold air, dry roads and being cooped up for a couple of days. Gary

Like Jim, I know of serious family feuds due to Brexit (eg. not speaking any more, at all). It's a real shame we weren't presented with the facts - or at least an estimated version of events - up front. I guess it's to be expected with politicians though, especially those who are more interested in lining their own pockets than anything else.

Here y'go (Not my picture - apologies to the original photographer whoever you are!)

A very bracing drive to work this morning.

Tour of the Cambrian Mountains 2019

Somehow made it to Kiev! Border crossing from Poland ended up taking the best part of 7 hours just to get to the polish checkpoint, then another couple of hours to get to the Ukrainian one. The Ukrainian police thought my car was hilarious - not sure how many times the word "crazy" was said! They let us through eventually though. Chris had to buy some insurance for his car on the far side. With none of the Ukrainians speaking English, and us having no Ukrainian, we have no idea what he actually ended up with but it cost the equivalent of about €11! By the time we got all that sorted, it was nearly midnight, so we found a spot to camp on the far side of the border, cooked some dinner and went to bed. Google said it would be 6 hours to Kiev from where we camped so we got up at 6:30, packed the tents and hit the road as soon as it was light. For all the worries that we had for the road quality, it's really not as bad as people made out. Probably on par with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, with the exception being any bridges. They really seem to be the weak point in the road surfaces. One of them that we crossed, (on the main road to Kiev), you could actually see the river through the holes in the tarmac which was quite concerning! Also, when waze warns you of a pothole on the road ahead in Ukraine, be prepared to take a detour around a crater. It was pouring down with rain for most of the drive. The car was fine for it other than one or two points where there was standing water in the ruts in the road which made it a little twitchy! Ukrainians have been really polite and friendly any time we've talked to them so far (or tried to!). Everyone has been asking permission before taking any pictures of the car. I really want to get a photo of the westie next to one of the old ladas here but haven't seen an owner around when I've been parked up to ask! Once we got to the city, the driving seemed to change. Its a sort of chaos that everyone here seems to understand. The lane boundaries (and even driving versus pedestrian boundaries) are really not very clear which doesn't make for a fun drive. When we eventually made it to the hotel, reception said we could use the underground car park. After scraping the gearbox hoop on the way in, the security guard told us otherwise. More scraping on the way out, and had to use the outdoor car park around the back of the hotel instead! All OK though - while they all want the photo, nobody here would want a Westfield, it's too low and wet for their tastes! Besides, between the pretty well hidden ignition, the immobiliser, and the lack of a steering wheel, it's pretty well protected! With the weather being pretty horrible, and the amount of distance we had to cover, I didn't get a chance to take any decent photos yesterday, but when we leave on Sunday, I'll try to get something as a little evidence of how far east we've driven! I wonder what's the longest distance from home anyone's ever driven their Westfield? Might have achieved a random record with it!

Sorry not going to make this one. 😢