Recent content by richie1958

It would seem there are a few people fighting over their holy grail on Ebay UK at the moment http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Lewis-Leathers-Aviakit-Motorcycle-Jacket-/150959219173?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Clothing&hash=item2325dee1e5&_uhb=1 You can buy one of those jackets brand new and made to...

I was only referring to a whistling kettle first thing in the morning. It could be just me, but I prefer a quiet start to the day...

I've always been very serious about my tea drinking. I drink far more per day than can be healthy, and always have. Whether I'm at home or work, life is one long succession of brew-ups. When I bought my first house, I moved in with a pair of motorcycle panniers full of clothes, a sleeping bag...

As a seafarer, I tend to get dragged along with various superstitions. The important thing about living on a ship is to not annoy ones' shipmates. When you're living almost in each others' pockets, it makes sense to try and get along with everyone. So I NEVER whistle at sea, because some old...

I have gone away to sea and worked on British scientific research ships ever since I left school. I remember on one of my first cruises, we were steaming along somewhere in the Atlantic, when for no apparent reason, we stopped. We were just wallowing around not going anywhere.... I went and...

Yea that's working well Captain Lex. The hunt for the perfect greatcoat is a perennial occupation of mine. I'm six foot four, 42" chest and 34" waist. I found an RAF greatcoat displaying those exact dimensions on the label on ebay. Having won it and tried it on, I realized that the RAF sizing is...

Auld Edwardian check out the Stanley Holloway monologues on You Tube, starting with "Albert and the lion" Richie

Not sure what it is; but I'm sure I can see teeth in one of the photos. I think it's probably too old to learn tricks though...

Here in the UK, little school kids used to get a third pint bottle of milk every day. That has stopped now (By Margaret Thatcher) which I don't think is a good thing; but our teacher insisted on lining all the little third pint bottles up on the mantle shelf above the pot bellied stove, which...

I splosh Castrol GP50 into my old Norton. It was available when the bike was built in 1954; it's still made and even the gallon tins have hardly changed over the last half century or so. I buy new old stock KLG spark plugs as originally recommended by Norton Motors when they turn up. The last...

It was Meccano for me. I had loads of gears sprockets chains and made many weird and wonderful vehicles, usually powered by a Mamod steam engine. I even made my own clutches using cardboard as the friction material on the clutch plates. However, my dad came home from work one night with a pair...

It's damp and cold in Hampshire UK at the moment seabass; and I'm at that age where I've got far more hair on my face than I have on the top of my head! I was only discussing my new Cordova cap with my also follically challenged brother last night. He will be so envious! I was working on a...

Oh my goodness! That's wonderful Johnny! I can't wait for it to arrive! The beauty of Harris tweed is the more you look at it, the more colours you see; much like the Hebridean islands themselves...

Where else but in dear old Blighty would a puppet show about a wife beater continue to captivate little children for three hundred and fifty years!! And he's not even English! He's Italian and was originally called Pulcinella! You can hear the little kids in the audience were loving the show...

Thinking about it, the old Reliant three wheeler monstrosities weren't the only novel delivery transport in our village. There was a motorcycle shop that had franchises for Vespa and Douglas motorcycles. I remember this old codger who would either deliver new, or pick up motorcycles for repair...