Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[Neal Ball]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Today has seen a major step forward as far as I'm concerned. I've finally got the filling and sanding done on the 517 and administered a coat of black primer.

It's made a big difference to the way I've been feeling about this project. 

I'll check it for blemishes tomorrow and hopefully get the green paint on!

 

 

 

 

 

That has come on very well. Excellent job.

[Limpley Stoker]

2 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

1968 at the earliest, I think, on account of the number plate on the Herald.

Spot on : the green GPO vans were rebranded as yellow Post Office Telephones in 1969 and the depicted van doesn’t look new.

[MrWolf]

3 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

1968 at the earliest, I think, on account of the number plate on the Herald.

 

I can see that I'm going to have to be less subtle with the humour and references to literature. 

How greasy was my spoon? Was a reference to Llewellyn's 1939 novel How green was my valley.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Green_Was_My_Valley#:~:text=How Green Was My Valley is a 1939 novel by,community in which they live.

 

1959 just being an allusion to the closure of the branch and his follow up novel from 1960.

You're right about 1968 though. Those reflective front plates became an option and the car appears to be on a "G" registration, August 68- August 69. The picture is from the 70s though which is why I said it reminded me of childhood.

All the old style cafes were disappearing against a tide of Little Chefs and Happy Eaters, who all priced themselves out of the market in time having distanced themselves from lorry drivers, motorcyclists and holidaying families to concentrate on the expense account and Luncheon Vouchers clientele.

 

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Limpley Stoker said:

Spot on : the green GPO vans were rebranded as yellow Post Office Telephones in 1969 and the depicted van doesn’t look new.

 

The last Morris and Austin Minor vans were produced 1971 IIRC although some were registered on a K plate for 71-72.

The other van is a bit of an obscurity, it appears to be an Austin / Morris 152 Omnivan, one of the first monocoque vans from BMC, hence very few left as they tended to dissolve in our rubbish weather.

 

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I can see that I'm going to have to be less subtle with the humour and references to literature.

Yes, that one went over my head - sorry! I do remember a good TV serial adaptation in about 1974 though.

[MrWolf]

That was it, 1975, Stanley Baker and Siân Phillips.

There was a Hollywood film made about 1941 which is what made author Llewellyn famous.

 

The title gets used for all sorts of daft things.

[russell price]

5 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

The last Morris and Austin Minor vans were produced 1971 IIRC although some were registered on a K plate for 71-72.

The other van is a bit of an obscurity, it appears to be an Austin / Morris 152 Omnivan, one of the first monocoque vans from BMC, hence very few left as they tended to dissolve in our rubbish weather.

 

Weren’t these sold as the 250 JU later alongside the J4 etc all swept away in about 1974 when the Sherpa was launched. 

[MrWolf]

6 hours ago, russell price said:

Weren’t these sold as the 250 JU later alongside the J4 etc all swept away in about 1974 when the Sherpa was launched. 

 

As with anything that became part of British Leyland, it's a bit complicated...

 

From 1956 to 1967, Austin and Morris produced their version of the J2 van.

 

 

Morris J2 pickup version.

 

 

It looks more like the Lesney / Matchbox version than the actual toy.

 

Austin 152 has a different grille and badges but otherwise virtually identical.

 

 

To keep Bedford off the big fleet orders from the post office (They had British Railways of course.) The J4 was launched in 1960. The closest most people will come to driving a Russian van....

 

 

Realising that Ford was now dominating the one ton van market, BMC launched the JU250 in 1967 with a carrying capacity of 22CWT 

 

Wake up at the back!!!

 

It was a typical parts bin special and replaced not only the J2 and 152, it also had to replace the Leyland 15 and Leyland 20, a restyled version of the old Standard Atlas, BMC having bought Standard Triumph in 1962. It wasn't enough to beat the Transit and Bedford launched the CF in 1969, which like the Ford, was no slouch and unlike the Ford, went round corners.

 

 

Because BMC still had some major contracts, the J4 lumbered on into the BL era being replaced by the Sherpa in 1974.

 

Well, not really. BL foisted a beam front axle on the poor J4, just like the 1920s style lump of railway line under the Transit, then grafted a long nose on the van to move the engine from between the front seats to under and forward of the windscreen like the least practical part of the Bedford. Nothing else changed, except for raiding the parts bin for ever cheaper and nastier switches and trim etc.. The big van didn't reappear until the advent of the Freight Rover and I only have to use the word Rover for the entire world to know what a POS that was. After BL fell apart LDV took over and their designers didn't seem to notice that the bonnet badge looks like a skip....

 

 

Back to trains, I hope.

 

[russell price]

 @MrWolf Thanks, Commers i know  about and Transits, The BMCs of this period i always found a bit confusing, 

Yes back to trains now, the517 is looking good.

[MrWolf]

They're not too bad. For the body, think Transit. Do you like welding? Lots of welding?

 

For the engine and gearbox, think Japanese vans.

Topping up the screen wash is an engine out job....

 

Handling. Do you remember Spacehoppers?

 

 

Very, very silly.

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by MrWolf

[Winslow Boy]

43 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

They're not too bad. For the body, think Transit. Do you like welding? Lots of welding?

 

For the engine and gearbox, think Japanese vans.

Topping up the screen wash is an engine out job....

 

Handling. Do you remember Spacehoppers?

 

 

Very, very silly.

 

 

 

 

Just to clarify that last statement. Are we talking about space hoppers or something else at this point.

 

Because if its the something else aka the nice looking brunette with a shapely pair of legs I'm  more than happy to carry on but if its vans your on your own.

[MrWolf]

Too much, Monsieur Winslow?😍

 

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by MrWolf

[5 C]

On 14/03/2023 at 22:46, MrWolf said:

After the chatter over on The Sheep Chronicles about Knott End, this is the station after the trains ended but before the fancy revamp which possibly saved it from demolition. It's a picture that reminds me of childhood.

 

 

From: How greasy was my spoon? By Richard Llewellyn, 1959...

 

This talk of vans is all very well but what I really want to know is which was the classier of the two eateries - the Knott End Cafe or the Knott End Restaurant?

[MrWolf]

21 minutes ago, 5 C said:

This talk of vans is all very well but what I really want to know is which was the classier of the two eateries - the Knott End Cafe or the Knott End Restaurant?

 

Two eateries, two menus (one in pidgin French) two hatches, one kitchen?

[MrWolf]

I haven't shared that which has been thrown at the turntable for breakfast in a while:

 

https://youtu.be/ddGdvaC9ooM

 

 

[NHY 581]

7 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

 

A trim little craft. 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by NHY 581
Being cheeky

[MrWolf]

12 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

 

A trim little craft. 

 

 

 

Just how the makers intended. 

[Winslow Boy]

9 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Too much, Monsieur Winslow?😍

 

 

 

Yummy and the brunette not bad as well.

[Winslow Boy]

2 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

Two eateries, two menus (one in pidgin French) two hatches, one kitchen?

 

One chef though.

[MrWolf]

Hey! Barista!

I ordered a skinny latte with oat milk and your wi-fi isn't working!

 

 

The world has truly gone to ****.

[Nick C]

21 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Hey! Barista!

I ordered a skinny latte with oat milk and your wi-fi isn't working!

 

 

The world has truly gone to ****.

I think we should start selling "grass milk" - made using a special totally organic process refined over millenia to ensure the finest quality all-natural product. (or in other words, fed to a cow, which is then milked...)

[JustinDean]

33 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Hey! Barista!

I ordered a skinny latte with oat milk and your wi-fi isn't working!

 

 

The world has truly gone to ****.

We have oat milk in my cafe. It’s bl**dy disgusting.

The wifi is tip top though. 

[John Besley]

3 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Hey! Barista!

I ordered a skinny latte with oat milk and your wi-fi isn't working!

 

 

The world has truly gone to ****.

Hell drivers .... British classic

[The Stationmaster]

On 15/03/2023 at 12:56, MrWolf said:

That was it, 1975, Stanley Baker and Siân Phillips.

There was a Hollywood film made about 1941 which is what made author Llewellyn famous.

 

The title gets used for all sorts of daft things.

And the tv version was repeated only a few months back - probably one of Stanley Baker's best performances of hos whole career (and reportedly one of his last performances).  'Hell Drivers' seem to t be every 4th week at the moment aftera lull of some months.

[MrWolf]

I remember filling up the old Bedford five tonner in the early hours of the morning at a very foggy motorway services and the sixty something driver of a modern artic was admiring the truck and then seeing me attired in an old flying jacket said: "Bloody hell, I thought it was Stanley Baker's ghost!"

I'll take that as a compliment. 

 

I can watch those old films over and over, it's badly dubbed war films and westerns that do my crust in. (It's no good at all, they stop me from groovin', they bang on me wall etc....)