Leaderboard

Well today we went out for a breakfast run. We went into Scarborough and the place was deserted and it was fantastic. There was only the sound of Buttercup and Robs Westfield and the chip stealing, squarking gulls. We had a drive onto the harbour and watched the fishing boats and also the inshore lifeboat that looked like it was having an early morning practice. It was a brilliant morning for the RNLI lads as the sea was flat calm and it was also such a beautiful blue. We stopped at my favourite beach café "Oasis" and it is a mecca for bikers so if you like bikes, then that's where to head for. We had our milky coffees and hot sandwiches before heading up the coast. We went on a few back roads rather than the main road and it was as though were the only people up and about. [ unless we scared everyone away with the thunderous roar of our machines. ] We headed for Boggle Hole and I would strongly advise that if you do not like reversing then you don't go down the hill. it is like a 1 in 4 hill and once you are down at the bottom then the only back is to reverse up as you cannot turn your car round. Then it was up to Whitby for a pose and onto Sandsend for a toilet break and a coffee on the beach. As we went through Whitby, there was a man who I would certainly call "drunk" and when he saw us coming down the road he stood up on the pavement and gave us all the biggest smiles and thumbs up.....bless him, he looked so happy to see us. When we arrived in Sandsend I pulled up next to a waste bin and Bloomin Rob said that is where poor Buttercup belonged.....In the bin. I just do not know where Rob has acquired all this petty jealousy from..............I think it may have something to do with the lady who stopped to chat with us and she suddenly blurted out " oh look at that. I would have the yellow one rather than the orange one." :d . Once we had our skinny lattes it was over to Grosmont where we saw the steam train " Sir Nigel Gresley" pulling into the station. From here it was over to Glaisdale for a wee in the bushes and to admire the river from Beggars Bridge. Next it was over the moors to Castleton before we headed in a homeward direction. At the top of Rosedale Chimney we pulled into the pub on top of the hill and it was heaving with people. We went inside and then found out why....the food looked fantastic and there must have been 150 people all eating their dinners. It is somewhere I will definitely go and the menu looked to be price around £12.00 as an average price. We were going to stop for more coffee's but as the place was so busy we decided against it. As we came into the carpark, two white, Carver motorcycles came bay and they looked brilliant in their white colour. These are the bikes that were on top gear and they really tilt and lean right over. And that was the end of our day. Out for breakfast and home for dinner. here are a few pictures of the morning. I hope you like them.

Yesterday, about 8pm was another milestone in the engine swap and general upgrade of my old SE. After waiting for the hosetails for the fuel pump to arrive and sort out the wiring for the live feed, we finally connected the battery and nervously pressed the starter button ! After a couple of slow turns, due to the high compression, it burst into life, then cut, and then another few turns from the starter and she was firing . Remarkably , a smooth idle was achieved quite quickly and then I sat back for a little while to enjoy the sensations produced by the new powerplant.. The titanium exhaust wrap steamed away, but more concerning were a couple of coolant leaks where hoses joined the block etc, some tightening or replacements due there. Blips of the throttle produced a muted roar, enhanced by the Webers no doubt, and more impressive than on the old 1600. So now a period of testing to shakedown the new systems and then we're on the road next week if all goes well.

Speed series is where my interest first started in Westfields, visited Harewood hill climb and thought that could be fun, hope to be in the paddock properly at some point, keep up the good work Terry. Cracking mag this time, even though I'm sure everyone enjoyed Geoff's Scottish thread it was fun to read again, the diversity of Westfield ownership and the fact that no 2 are alike is reflected perfectly in the magazine. Keep up the good work one and all!

Thanks guys I will keep going

I work in IT in banking and got covered in oil today working under the land rover and am none the richer

Me, Tony and D ick are off to this years Circuit Des Remaprts - boat leaves Portsmouth on Wednesday night - not taking Westfields as its a bit too far for us oldies so in a TVR Tuscan, TVR T350 and an Audi R8 This year we are attending the elegance parade on the Friday night and also taking part in the international rallye which involves approx 300 cars being taken on a route around the local scenic towns and stopping at various Châteaus with a lunch at one of the Châteaus http://www.circuit-des-remparts.com/ Will post some piccies up when we get back but here is a few from last year - click here

Ingliston , where the late great Jim Clark cut his teeth

Definitely keep Tel's tales. As a hopeful future SS competitor it's my favourite part of the magazine and I think there's room for more SS stuff. This issue once again was a great read, I admired the high spirits despite a soggy Scotland trip.

Oh yes keep going Terry

Ah. OK, not sure if I'm reading this right, as to what camera you're using for which role, so: Sorry, I know Go Pro have tried to improve low light performance somewhat over the years, but essential it's just the wrong tool for the job. If that's what you were using. The Go Pro was originally designed for a very specific task, it's just that we all saw how good and useful it was for such a (comparatively) small amount of money, and jumped on the band wagon. But the reality is, it was designed as a wearable action camera for people to strap to themselves while participating in extreme sports; so it's designed with a really wide angle lens to get the wearer and the background in shot, it (was originally) designed for use in bright daylight, though that has been improved on over time. It only really needed to record the weare screaming, and perhaps swearing as they enjoyed their near death experiences, so didn't have to have great audio. Just because they can capture what they're good at in superb HD doesn't I'm afraid, make them into a minuturised substitute for a proper general purpose video camera. For the sort of thing you were filming, something like an SLR or compact with the ability to shoot HD video would have been so much better. I use a little Canon EOS M for filming stuff like that - it's basically a compact digital still camera that can also shoot video. (It just has the ability to take interchangeable lenses, including those for my Canon SLR). Now, assuming good you were using a still camera and or regular video camera, the other half of the equation is that night time stuff is just damned difficult to shoot. It takes practice and expertise to know how to meter the light readings correctly. To the extent that many cameras will just get lost in auto modes, so may need using in manual settings. Likewise if they're autofocus, many if not most of the cameras at systems will usually struggle badly in low light, as they tend to try and read the contrast between areas of a subject. In low light, some will switch to infra red beams to range find, but this can fall over badly doing the sort of stuff you're talking about, so really, you often need to drop back to manual focus. The lack of light will often mean your cameras have wide open apertures which will reduce the depth of field a lot. While the slow shutter speeds will exagerate rate any movement in the camera or subject. And lastly, the sensors in some digital cameras and camcorders are just better than others in low light conditions.

Becoming almost a permanent work in progress on my driveway !

Loving it! Great result Paul. Thanks a lot to everyone who came, sorry the weather put paid to your trip Michael. Hopefully next time. They've just popped some photos on Facebook for anyone interested: https://www.facebook.com/163310803735467/photos/pcb.1017567411643131/1017563614976844/?type=1

You don't necessarily need mega expensive kit to take some good night time photos, you do need a bit of knowledge and technique though, and it helps to know the limitations of the kit you are using, so that you can get the best out of it and work with it, not against it, that way you won't waste time or get disheartened chasing the impossible. A bit of research, as Marcus said, and a bit of practice before the Blackpool trip will pay dividends.

Keep Tels Tales please - as a non competing SS driver from last year I am needing the updates on the series

Spotted two Westie's on Anderson Drive at junction with Gt Western Road (Aberdeen). Guess it was a couple of cars returning from Ingliston. I think one had a saltire on the weather gear.

Last time I went to Blackpool I got my camera nicked! Seriously though anything like this type your query into youtube and get hundreds on instant tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+take+good+night+pictures

What a shame, I feel very sorry for you. How kind of you to take all this footage and bother to share it with us lot. Think of it as a learning experience and at least if/when you go to Blackpool you will have mastered it.

For successful nightie shots at any distance you will need a powerful flashgun

Ive just used B&Qs own exterior masonry paint to tart it up. When it was bare block work I used a stabiliser fluid like http://www.diy.com/departments/sandtex-clear-stabilising-solution-4l/38251_BQ.prd , before painting with similar external masonry paint. Also did the floor with the same stabiliser before using single pack epoxy floor paint.

Crashing into 10 cars sober is 'worse' than crashing into 10 cars drunk IYSWIM

Agreed. I have a 4:27 and I am swapping to a 3:62.

Excellent Tel, it's all a question of balance, we need some of everything. We need the touring features, we also need the Speed Series features. Plus naturally, all the technical bits as well. This last edition has been one of the most "Whole", well rounded copies I've seen in a long time, thanks to every single contributor that took part.

Very much enjoyed and appreciated as already said - keeping it is a Wayne Rooney (that's a no-brainer!).

Certainly should be kept

Looking at the top end of the bonnet, the fibreglass is nearly flat although it dips down into the first reccess a bit. I had a look at some of these at Stoneleigh. It might need some plastic padding but I was wondering about fixing one cenrally with the pin mounted on a stainless steel bracket fixed to the scuttle. Obviously the other one of the pair would be for sale. What do you lot think?? Rory's Dad