Leaderboard

Having read through this amazing thread a couple of times now, I've come to realise that speaking out is the first step, and also the hardest step. I'm always a little bit behind at catching on to things and this is no exception. We, as a family, have not had a great time this last 9 months as my Father in law passed away very suddenly at the end of last May when he was seemingly in very good health. It hit us hard, but my Mother in law and my wife both had a really hard time. The in - laws had been married 49 years and despite all the common jokes, I got on really well with them both and we are very close. From the very first time that i met them, they made me feel really welcome and part of their family. My wife was an absolute rock to her mum, and she needed to be. Without her, I firmly believe that my Mother in law would have fallen to pieces completely. What i did notice was the effect it had on my wife, trying to be strong for her mum when she had just lost her dad. She didn't really take any time for herself to grieve and this was really hard on her mentally. I was there to support her as and when required, but mostly she tried to cope on her own. We got through this rough time together eventually, but I think what I'm trying to say is that without opening up your feelings to someone willing to listen, the road to recovery will be that much harder, and I guess that's what I'm doing now. I was there for my wife but I felt that no-one was there for me. I was offered support from my workplace if it was needed, but I didn't even think of accepting it. Why? I don't know. Maybe I believed that if I accepted help and support that it would make me seem more vulnerable to my family when they were looking to me to be the strong one. I now realise, of course, that this is not the case. As I said earlier, It's been a tough 9 months and we've seen it through. What I have been through is nothing compared to what others have experienced, but with the current attitudes towards mental health and wellbeing hopefully we can all start to talk about our feelings more. Great thread @AdamR. @AndyR although we have never met, you are an inspiration. Your children are very lucky to have you in their lives. Thanks for reading.

Don't mention the lasagne then? he had a salad sandwich😄

Honda engined Westfield's, have you heard of them? sit in the garage and look pretty, yep, that's them but we made a pact today that we wouldn't mention them. @RobH72 @LukeW @Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO frightened of other engine types? 😃 It was Bonnets Off in Matlock as we were joined by @syman84 Michelle and Olivia, who has sold his car and is picking his new one up tomorrow, which we will look forward to lots of lovely photo's of. I am sorry that we couldn't stay longer and have a brew with you guys but we had promised to meet the others and were on a schedule, hope to see you again though please come again. The V8 with it's shiny rocker covers The Zetec Bonnets Off We set off on our route firstly posing through Matlock Bath, then up the twisty Via Gellia road cutting off to pick up the flowing Bentley Brook road which took us onto the really pretty bit, the wynding lanes of Dovedale and finally landing us at The Manifold Inn, Hulme End. It was a joy to be out, the roads were dry and the air hitting your face was less icy than of late. Bill was waiting for us when we arrived. Dave arrived a few moments later. My photo is not is focus because you have to be quick when Dave arrives, this is the unedited photo and it's not bad considering. At the Manifold Inn, Hulme End inspecting Bill's roof We took a seat next to the fire and lunch was served. The food was excellent and the service was too, we will be returning here I think. Next it was time to show Dave our new road and sail past Tagg Lane Dairy without stopping because we needed to show Bill the Smithy at Monyash, lot's of 'firsts' today. The new road It is a case of park where you can in Monyash as there is no car park. Dave and Andrew Bill and us, don't forget Tango Man It gets messy around now as the cake arrived, Andy Westwood was mentioned at this point No licking the screen It's been a marvellous day out, great to catch up with everyone after what seems like a long absence and although the remarkably quiet roads were covered in muck it was at least dry and not animal derived. Thank you for joining us today everyone xxx

Looks as though you had another great day out! It won’t be to long before we can come out to play as well , take care folks luv Becky and Andy.

but please remember for the Honda boys to come out to play, it needs to be dry, sunny and warm. No cow poo. About 20degrees. To be able to fly, conditions need to be just right. 😜😜😜 I’ll get my coat.....

but after the straight there is always a bend and then the revs have to drop below 8000 🙃 and the rest of us can catch up.

There's only one response to that and it involves RPM > 8000 rpm, coming past you soon 😎

Hi everyone Looks like you had a great time I'm not jealous at all. I see Billy's roof is working now😃 Sue says the cake looks good. Hopefully see you all in April the cars serviced just waiting for my cousin to weld my cracked silencer.

Sorry I missed it, looks like you had a great time! I'll try and redeem the Honda engine reputation on the next one I promise! 😂

have in-hidden it. I think up you do an injustice to your self calling it self indulgent, too, I know it’s perhaps a cliche to some, but I think it just helps prove the universality of the truth that setting out to help others often helps yourself, just as much.

After a great deal of deliberation I have come to the difficult decision to sell my Westfield as I believe that someone else should now have the enjoyment of driving her. I always swore that I would never sell, but after 12 years of ownership I'm finding that I'm now using it less and less and instead favouring my other cars. I am the first and only owner having built the car myself over a period of approximately 10months between May 2008 and February 2009. SVA having been passed first time in February 2009 and First Registration April 2009. The chassis was fabricated by Westfield in 2007 and was originally allocated to Kit Car Magazine for a magazine build, however when this failed to materialise the unstarted kit was stored at the factory until being sold to myself. Fitting of all Aluminium panels, brake lines and fuel lines had already been completed by Westfield prior to my purchase. The donor car for the build was a 1990 Mazda MX5 with approx 75,000 miles on the clock bought as a pallet donor from MX5 Heaven, the braking system was all bought new. After two years of use on the road the engine was stripped and fully rebuilt by MX5 guru Fraser White of Blink Motorsport. I built the car predominantly for touring and spirited road driving hence the modest performance figures but don't let this put you off, with a kerb weight of only 582kg the 130bhp power (dyno plot available) is very tractable delivering good torque and power around the mind-range just when you need it and is more than adequate for a b-road blast. I've never been interested in track-days however I have completed 12 sprints. During my ownership the car has always run faultlessly, and never left me at the roadside, Having confidence in my build it's first journey was the 150mile round trip to Norwich for the SVA test and then only two months after registration It clocked 1000 miles to LeMans for the 24Hr. Current mileage is presently about 12,000 since build. When I was researching the different kits and my personal spec I wanted the simplicity of build using a single donor and for the drivetrain and a modern fuel injected engine. I had strong feelings about the Mazda clocks and dashpod which Westfield had designed to be used with this kit however I instead wanted an interior look and feel that mimics Westfield's modular build range of cars, so modifications were made to enable the standard westfield dashboard to be used. Chassis and Body 2007 Mazda SDV Aluminium lowered floor pans Westfield Full ZK bodywork in Crimson Detachable rear arches Chrome options pack Heated windscreen PPG Paint protection film to rear arches Standard boot box Standard range fuel tank (approx 150miles range when touring) Boot tonneau cover Full tonneau cover Hood and doors Space saver spare wheel Westfield sport seats Willans 4-point harnesses with Twist buckle fastening Crystal halogen headlamp lens conversion Smiths Telemetrix instruments and pro-sport programable tacho and shift lights Textured vinyl dashboard (i've never seen another like it) Suspension Gaz Coil overs Geometry and corner weighted by Andy Bates AB Performance (set-up sheets included) Brake calipers, discs and pads are standard Mazda and were all bought new for the build (no refurbished calipers or second hand pads) Wheels and tyres The car is currently fitted with and has been set up for 14x6" Wheels wearing Yokohma A-021R tyres. These I find suit the car very well for touring and wet grip. Engine & Drivetrain 1600cc Mazda B6 (1990 Mk5 Donor) Full engine rebuild by Fraser White Blink Motorsport in 2011 +20 Overbore Crank Scraper Cometic Head gasket Sump Baffle Skimmed head 3-angle valve seats Matched fuel injectors AFM spring modification Engine produced 130bhp (approx 108bhp at wheels) tested by Atspeed (see plots) Westfield 4-1 Exhaust manifold (this car was used by Westfield for development of the prototype manifold) Westfield 6.5" Stainless steel Cat silencer (approx 91-93dB on track) Mazda 5-speed gearbox 4.3 ratio V-LSD Limited Slip Differential Coolex Aluminium Radiator Coolant re-route Carbon canister deleted Mazda B63H ECU and fully functioning diagnostics connector for fault finding Paperwork An MoT test was carried out just before the car was laid up SORN for the winter with no advisories. This is valid until 2nd November 2020. A comprehensive folder of receipts, build history and a CD of photographs will be provided with the car. This car has wanted for nothing during my ownership and has always been maintained regardless of cost. It will be a sad day when sold but realistically it seems a shame to have a car that is only doing 200 miles a year. Viewings are more than welcome and passenger rides available to serious and prospective buyers if the weather is favourable. Please no time wasters, dreamers or opportunists, I am open to sensible discussions about the price and spares I have but not until you have viewed in person. £10,750 - NOW SOLD The car is located in Colchester, Essex Any enquiries please either PM me via the forum or email me at wsccessex@btinternet.com Mark

8000 rpm Honda power will never sound as good as V8 sound track though Andy

Thanks for another lovely day. Thought I’d share a photo of my dinner before any of you try and stitch me up with Clare 😀

You're lucky it's just your Kindle!!!! Lol

Thanks Rab, phoned and paid this morning 👍

@Jude - The Mad Widow what happened to your post? I hope I didn't delete it! I've just had a major tantrum from my Kindle fire tablet whilst I was relying to your post. When I came back on line, my reply had been posted, but your post has gone! So now my reply doesn't really make sense... 😂 I can only apologise if I somehow inadvertently deleted or hid it....

I have heard of, and seen some of, the black dog videos online through my work. This was a while ago and I'd forgotten about it until you just mentioned it Dave. Nice one. 👍

@GaryD1971 The kindness and support we can get from others is incredibly therapeutic. We are all too reluctant to expose our underbelly. I am glad you have. After my husband was killed I started a Facebook group, Mad Widows and Widowers with Motor Homes. Nearly 500 people there now. A place to laugh and cry, share, ask... Reminisce. There is strength in numbers. Similar is happening here... I hope you know that everyone who reads your story will be wishing you well. Maybe we should have a special badge so we can recognise each other in a crowd. Group hugs! #secretsociety :0)

I'm coming in Westy with full weather gear on .

Suns out durabang was out today

Not a photo, but it originated from one, so I guess it counts! My mam kindly painted this from a photo I took in Montenegro! Here's the original it came from!

Hopefully I’ll be in the Westfield if it’s not racing too much.

Couldn't miss out on a morning like this

It's Getting there

Thank you to everyone who read and replied to my post. I'm actually humbled by how many people care! I'll reply in more depth later but it's just proven to me again how great a club the WSCC is!

Hey Everyone In 2012 my wife and I adopted this incredible 2 year old boy (Josh) with so many disabilities you'd be hard pressed to find to find someone (even in the press) with more complex challenges to deal with. In 2014 we decided to do the same again and adopted a 3 year old girl (Evie) with just as many disabilities (albeit a lot more life threatening as she needs daily medications to keep her alive for the next day)! They have both come on in leaps & bounds. We were told Josh was never, ever going to be able to sit independently or have a sense of worth yet he's now walking and hacking into peoples YouTube channels due to his intelligence with a computer ... however if you put him near a road he will just walk into it without any consideration to his safety! Evie, who is also blind, was abused in many many horrific ways and now wants to train as a nurse to help others (and she has a good chance of fulfilling this wish!). Two days ago (before her latest seizure) I took her horse riding and the instructors think she, my 8 year old miracle, might have a shot for the British Para-Olympic team in the future ! For background her abuse was so bad she wouldn't allow me to change her or even be alone with her for the first 14 months! Every time I tried she went into a primal meltdown (as her primary carer this meant two or three times a day I had a girl who screamed the house down every time I tried to change her)! As my wife is a teacher, and had a lot of time off compared with me, I gave up my 'office' career as a marketing manager and became a marketing consultant (working from home) ... effectively becoming primary carer to both our kids. And, while it might not seem like it further down, I really do love all of it! So 12 months ago Evie had her first epileptic seizure. I was getting her ready for school and she just stopped breathing and fell to the ground ... only stopping being hurt further by me cushioning her fall (which my elbow ended up in sling for!). There was no trigger or prior warning. During this I was on the phone to the ambulance, performing CPR, trying to keep our son safe and trying not to throw up because I was in a bad way myself with the elbow. It was such a bad seizure that Evie required 8 doctors (plus many other nurses/professionals) in the resuscitation bay at the hospital just to keep her alive. Since then it's happened, to various degrees of severity (luckily not as bad as the above episode), every two or three weeks. There is no exaggeration when I say the critical care unit at our local hospital know me and the kids by first name! Both the kids are also autistic with Josh REALLY into his sports cars (hence my avatar as Roary The Racing Car). Due to this, and the success I've achieved being self employed, I've been able to indulge in my passion for cars ... enabling me to have a selection of incredible vehicles. So I understand I'm very fortunate. I understand there are plenty of people in a far worse situation to me and would love even a little of the lifestyle I currently enjoy. I've heard all the praise before. I know it's incredible what we've done and what we've given up. But both my wife and I get so much from the kids and wouldn't change it for the world. I would like to say I'm good at a number of things but I'm great at making my kids laugh. Not even my wife is able to do it as well as me and if that's the only thing I'm ever great at in life then I'll die a very happy man! And despite all of this I'm struggling! As soon as you adopt social services don't care about the adults. They say they do but they really don't so apologies to any social workers on here ... I know you are restricted by red tape and funding but a phone call once in a while (after the statutory requirements finish and one that isn't threatening BTW!) wouldn't hurt! Friends & family are brilliant at first but don't get what it's like to look after someone with disabilities. Finding childcare is next to impossible, they get offended when we have to cancel on short notice because of illness and they don't invite our children to their children's birthday parties as ours are different. Also don't get me started on being a man as a primary carer in a school carpark ... mothers and school staff really find that strange!!! But that's just the 'little stuff'! The big stuff ... well ... In 2020 I've had to perform CPR on my daughter three times and, despite being a very successful marketer, I can't even describe in words how it feels to save your own child on a regular basis. My relationship with my wife is strained despite knowing how important a stable relationship is for Josh & Evie (two of the regional groups will probably notice I only travel alone ... and that's only in part due to childcare 😞 ). Luckily those around me don't tell me to "man up" (except the Yorkshire WSCC Group but they do it in the right way 😉) but that's how it feels I should react to a situation like this ... however it's becoming more and more difficult to do hence this rambling post on a forum of amazing petrol heads! So thank you everyone who takes the time to read this and thank you to whoever started this thread (in my humble opinion you should be given free membership as you've given people like me a place to offload some things!). I'm not looking for sympathy or even advice. I've been on many training courses both for the medical and physiological side of things and know where to find professional support. However professional support isn't the same as real support and I just needed to unload some things. I know if I read this post again the marketer inside of me will cringe at the shocking grammar but to those who know me I hope you're understand why sometimes I'm chatty and then sometimes not! And finally is there is anyone who feels even worse than me ... PM, email or call me as I know what it's like to feel that low!

Ditto with Barry.... I'll be there but not promising what I'll be in 😊 Mr T.... that's just poor planning!