alastairq

Bangers have to be looked after...after all.

But for me, even E type jags were bangers in the 1970's....Still are, in reality[for me]

I run bangers...even 50 or 70 year old bangers.

I had a daily banger hit whilst parked outside, [by a driver who claimed they didn;t see the car, from 400 yards away]...I was stood in my front room window looking out at the time... Around 12 or so years ago now....

The tow bar took the brunt of the shunt...and a lightly applied hand brake [it was in gear anyway] ensured the thing simply moved a bit, like a shunted wagon.

The VW Uppitything that hit it ended up with its headlights looking at each other. The drive was still intent on continuing on their way to the seaside....so I left them be, simply hosing down the road of their coolant after they had driven off.  {!!!!}

Took a load of piccies, got details, etc.

My banger was largely showing no signs of damage [although it was from the late 90's.....so over 20 years old]...a crack in a rear light lens, etc. So I carried on using it.

The insurance [mine....via theirs]...wanted the banger inspected at a local crash repairers.....They checked alignments, and found one rear door shut was different down one edge to the others....it had always been like that, in my ownership. As such, the lad who assessed it told me, given the car's age, putting it onto a jig would do more damage than leaving it alone...but, ''reports are reports''....so the thing was 'written off'' and a sum agreed, with the insurer. My insurance was only involved in as much as I asked them to negotiate my claim for me....Hence the NCD letter from their legal department..just in case of admin errors further down the line.  

I had just renewed various sensors on the engine, and got a new battery for it....so firstly, I removed all the newly fitted stuff before the thing was collected.

Luckily I hadn't yet disposed of the old battey...

It was collected by a fella with a transporter....I was sorry I couldn't stay to help him load it, as I was 'late for work'.....

It appeared it wouldn't start, suddenly, so had to be 'winched' on...

The big mistake I made was then rushing out and buying a Ford fiesta , made this century.....with the proceeds!

Which I gladly sold for more than I paid for it....just.

Horrible thing!

17 hours ago, Pannier Tank said:

 

The 'No Claims Bonus' may well not be affected, BUT, that won't stop the insurer from putting the premium up, even on a 'no fault' claim! 

Indeed they can do!

However, I kept in mind  the fact that I stooze around for lower premiums every year.....and the written proof of NCD from the lawyers serves well when arguing the odds.

I also demanded written proof of how long I had been free from fault claims....The Coop went back to the pre-digital days and wrote to guarantee well over 40-odd years fault-free claims record.....as far back as their records could show.

Now, I simply don't bother...I just look for the cheapest per month....[handy, cos at my age, kharking it could be just around the corner...and by paying monthly .....due to a limited income....I can be sure of not paying the tw@tts a penny more than their shareholders deserve.]

Nearly all my claims in recent times have been for glass repairs....

I would recommend demanding from your insurer written proof that your No Claims bonus will not be affected. [It is amazing the lengths insurers' admin will go to , in order to make their life easier, by browbeating customers]

Their legal department should also be able to insist on repaying any excess that was on your policy.This they can reclaim off the other party.

I think it is preferable to demand your insurer claims off the other party for 'uninsured losses' too {I did...Good old Coop.....

Earlier, I mentioned Morgan undergoing the German crash testing, and passing. 

Despite having an ash-framed body tub.  {Plus a steel chassis]

IIRC, the main observation by the German authorities was that the Morgan suffered little or no interior intrusion, when compared to the modern vehicles.

On the subject of steering columns?

I agree [if I were truly bovered about it] that on an old car with a straight column,there is the danger of it becoming an assegai in a head-on collision...But, using modern technology [AKA the scrap yard]..it isn't beyond the capabilities of a reasonably competent enthusiast to substitute the essential components to turn a rigid column into one which has a mechanical 'weak link' inserted. A U/J, for example? Or like Land Rover Defenders, a wobbly joint?  [Note, to those in the other driving thread, Defender isn't name suitable for all land rovers ever made...only those with coily sprungs and ruddy gert location bars for the axles]

A venerable Dellow fellow who had a need for more power in his Dellow..also had an issue with a worn out  steering box. these were subtly unique to Dellows, in that they had a quite low ratio[mne is less than one turn, lock to lock]...and his was ker-nakered....So, in true enthusiast fashion, he substituted a more modern, split steering column, and a single ended rack [from a FIAT, I believe?]...onto the remainder of the slightly modified Dellow steering linkage [quite like that of a Ford Pop, seeing as the Dellow front axles were Ford Poop items]]...Thus netting two bodz with one stone, more or less....He got  a more relaxing steering column, and a more ''positive' steering rack instead of the vaguely accurate , worn out steering box.

His engine was , IIRC, a Rover 1.8 unit.....rear axle was,I think, Anglia 105E-based, with a 4 star diff conversion.

Mine' original [probably not,as it happens] Ford Pop rear axle and 3 speed gearbox, 100E sidevalve engine...

Thus I can roar around London without it costing me a bean, so to speak, choking all the yuppies over their gucci coffees...It does consume oil rather nicely if I take right hand corners in the time honoured  ''ear 'ole'' fashion...something  a Dellow is remarkably good at.....I can corner tight bends faster than my old mates on their fancy big motorcycles....They catch me obviously on the straight bits, but cannot take sharp narrow bends as quick as I could.....The top road twixt Richmond & Barnard Castle proved that, on a 'mates' holiday...Something we used to do regularly when I worked...they would be  on the motorcycles, me in the Dellow...[I didn't have a motorcycle....couldn't get my right leg over one easily...]

I do have a physical 'weakness' in that I suffered a compound tib & Fib when riding a motorcycle, and having a near head on with an old type mini, on a very narrow bendy country lane, ant 11PM one night. [I was a shift working bus driver]

My right leg hit his right side front wing, destroying the wing, as it happened....The left side of my bike, and me, were totally 'untouched'...

Now over 40 years later, the right leg swells up enormously, due to old age, hypertension [treated], and  lessening of blood circulation...I was warned this would happen, 40 years ago...Left leg doesn't swell much at all.  Gives me a 'trouser' problem..I can get them on in the morning, but struggle to get them off at night.

Also, I find it difficult to 'cock my leg' over a bike saddle....

Yet, I can get in  my Dellow fine...more or less.  Thus far, I have never fallen over with the Dellow ....If I fell off a motorcycle, I guess t my age I wouldn't brush off the bruising and ignominy quite as easily as I used to?

One day I will replace the valve guides to cut the oil consumption somewhat...20/50 oil with high ZDDP content isn't getting any cheaper these days.

I have no trains within a 6 mile radius...and couldn't afford the fare any way.

I have no buses within a now-2 mile distance from home....and the walk to the nearest bus stop is very cross-country, without any sort of footpath or lighting.

So, I use my cars to get about. Cheaper at the point of usage.

On the subject of car safety, I agree it is a useful asset.

But in the 55 years I have been driving, mostly for a living, I haven't had to rely on any form of 'safety' feature whatsoever.  Not even a seatbelt. 

Which isn't to say I have never had a so-called 'accident'....Far from it...But, whatever I have been driving, no-one has ever brought a successful claim against me...

A lot of the above is down to driver abilities....If I worried about being side-swiped in my Dellow, I'd never ever leave home...and even 'home' wouldnt be 'safe!'

It's all about minimising the risks...lowering the risk factor...

I'm not a 'perfect' driver by any means...sometimes I'm even 'naughty'...I can, and do, make 'mistakes'....But hopefully, I will continue to not make an ''impact'' of any sort on other road users...

I cannot recall the last time I had to take any sort of evasive action..[OK, during the past 7 years I haven't been as 'exposed' to the roads as much as I was when 'working' for a living.]  My 72 year old Dellow, with its mechanical brakes, would cope, no doubt...Although it could get quite squashed should I lose the plot...

But I'd go anywhere in it [within reason, and a plentiful supply of oil]...

I'm not even sure the windbags in my daily 500 quid Suzuki even work now...it's 21 years since it left the main dealer...

An awfully high percentage of the incidents involving cars & bikes round here seem to be of the 'single vehicle' variety...so perhaps we need protecting  more from ourselves?

An awful lot of the fatalities round here also involve new {-ish, perhaps?] cars...?  Which suggests to me that modern technology doesn't prevent us from kharking it.

But, as I get older & older, I become aware of the fact that my body is nowhere near as robust as it used to be. So perhaps a lot of the fatalities might involve older people, who simply do not survive the considerable shaking up?

4 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Largely because they have built in safety features required by law. Perhaps the size (width) of the average  person has also increased.

 

You could always go back to the day of the sliding window Mini where the only thing between you and a side collision was the door panel and its layer of vinyl trim

 Don't forget the contents of the door pocket?

The Hustler kit car series was quite the 'thing' back in those days.

Using BMC mini mechanical components, the design really was a multi-tasking one.

[Wasn't it Towns who designed it? Famous I believe for the Aston MArtin LAgonda?}

At the time, the angular body shapes were all the rage..[look at the Triumph TR7, for example?]

The Hustler could be had in 4 or 6 wheel form....[one 6 wheeler used to frequent the Driffield school  as an ice cream van]..

It was also designed for construction in very 3rd world countries who had limited industrial capacity...hence the 'wood' construction, for example?

All very 1970's/1980's indeed!

I haven't done any research, so am relying purely on memory here.

Wood is a the favoured body frame material right up until recent times...ask any of the coachbuilders?

Then don't forget the Marcos sports car...with its chassis made from plywood?

Quite why we all feel 'steel is strongest' is quite beyond me.

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

AFAIK Morgan's still have ash frames.

A reason why Morgan did so well in Germany's crash testing program.

1 minute ago, PhilJ W said:

It looks rather small compared to the modern cars around it.

 Indeed, the difference is most marked.

My '67 Ford Mustang coupe....considered by many i the UK to be a 'large' car [perhaps an illusion based on the knowledge it is American?]

Yet, its overall 'footprint' is slightly smaller than the last iteration of Ford UK's Mondeo.

Whilst, inside, it is nearly 11 inches wider at shoulder height.

Indeed, most spacious for a 'small', cheap, American car..

5 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

nd such 'replacement reconstructions' have bedevilled the classic car world for decades. At which point does a vehicle become "authentic"? Chassis rails? Engine? Oil pressure gauge?

For a Morgan 3 wheeler [F2 F4 etc] the gearbox is the numbered key component. Unique to Morgans.

Morgan chassis, even up to today, can be had new [or, used?] quite freely. Indeed, for older Morgans it can be cheaper than going through the whole renovation business, to buy a new chassis [from GeeDees, for example?]  After all, what is a 'chassis' frame if not simply a bunch of steel shapes, stuck together?

Morgans traditionally have required a new body tub [just the rear bit really] every decade or so, as the ash frames 'work' and become unusable.

For the Morgan F types, the engines started out as Ford 8 HP sidevalves....Easily swapped or uprated, as any half decent sports car should be if the owner 'developed' it properly. 

Given that Ford themselves recommended overhaul [or replacement] of their engines at around the 20000 mile mark..and sold quite cheaply, rebuilt engines...much like BMCs Gold Seal engines...

It is rare indeed to find a 70 or 80 year old car that still has its original engine. Or gearbox. Or, indeed, has not had some damage repairs conducted.

Then, what about interiors? Do we shun the old car that has had a re-trim? Better still, shun the old car for not sporting original type of paint, why not? [That would stop all the 2 pack jobbies for starters]

The Morgan F2 has but two chassis rails. Plus, the head frame, which often needed renewing anyway [it carried the front, sliding pillar suspension]

The Radiator was a difficult bit, as I recall, but they are available...even new, apparently.  [Mine, luckily, had been nickel plated by a long dead previous owner....the 'shell' is part of the radiator itself, so gets hot too....much to my amusement in car parks. I once owned a '39 Morgan 4/4 4 seater]

Seats? Well, just how or what did Morgan use?   

The F2/F4 body tub is exactly that...a tub....and can be replaced as wear & tear take their toll.

For the F2, the gearbox number gave it the all important identity.  [I contributed a refurbished Ford `100E engine for my sins...a definite upgrade over the orignal 8 HP engine]

Mind one intrepid Morgan F2 enthusiast developed his car to the extent it finally sported a Ford crossflow 1600 motor..which could see off any MGB around, in its time.

No old vehicle will be 'authentic'....[and therefore likely unusable anyway?]

Vehicle consumables see to that!

As for 'oil pressure gauges?'

Well, when a vehicle was around 5 or 10 years old, and the original [but likely not very good?] oil pressure gauge gave up...would it not be fine for the owner to replace it with a newer one...perhaps from a BMC sports car or somesuch? Or, whatever they could find in the local scrap yard?

Well, all fine n dandy if one is intent on creating an almost-mobile museum piece.

But if one is intent on actually using ones handywork for the purpose for which it was intended.....for personal reasons....[instead of succumbing to buying, at vast expense all round, a new hair dryer electric car }  then, rather than leaving the chassis rail & gearbox sadly lying on the junk heap [for, junk is what they truthfully were]...better to add the few other bits to produce the original car ...??

Reminds me of when I collected my Dellow from Southampton docks on repatriation to the UK...?

A couple of really ancient gents were having a Jaguar XK 140 {?} ''shell'' forked onto their trailer. Not much was left below the waistline of the shell.

Few, if any mechanical bits present.....

When I enquired as to the reasoning, one gent told me....they had a shell [or what was left of it] which still carried it's ID plates from the factory....The chassis number, effectively.

As for all the rest?

Well, he said, everything mechanical was available via the trade [at a price, I suppose?].

Engnes, gearboxes, axles, suspensions, trim, seats, interiors, etc are[were?] all replaceable items...The 'originality ' of the vehicle ...it's original identity, came from that all important chassis plate thingy. [Sorry, I know little of old Jagwars]

By now, if the gents have survived, they would have returned yet another Jag XK 140{?} to the land of the living, I hope.

Reminds me of an old chum, who re-built a Morgan F2 [orF4?]

His starting point was the unique Morgan gearbox, and one chassis rail.

11 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Being effectively banged-up in the thing for an indeterminate period with bngger-all to do except wait for the decisions of the home office is different.

Having briefly gone through the lists of 'goodies' the immigrants have access to, I think they have a lot more 'freedom' to wander than I do?

Plus, the accommodation isn't 'just' a bare bedroom! [They are all en suite.....something my local council says I cannot have, as a pensioner]

They have free access to all sorts of stuff [that I don't! At least, not for free!] such as gyms, 24 hour canteens....etc

They also have access to lots of external visits, guided tours, etc, as well as free transport, at all sorts of hours of the day & night.

All rather PC and gucci, methinks? 

Not that I would deny the immigrants such basics.......far from it!

But we are in a position whereby we all have these bright ideas about policies, etc...but when it comes down to it, there isn't enough manpower available to make anything work as it is supposed to.  Especially when, as a nation, we don't want to pay for it.

Hence the need to find somewhere reasonably priced to accommodate folk while our undermanned immigration system tries to flounder its way through the paperwork.

It's all about human dignity at the end of the day.

Something our 'friends' in Europe seem to be unable to muster, if there's such a rush to get across the channel?

Makes me wonder why we are bothering with this idea of an 'immigration system?'

When we are patently short of the more basic workers throughout our economy?

Life's all very well whilst one has the money to pay for it.

Yet, fit & proper accomodation for oil workers?

[Or, don't oil workers count ?]

Perhaps we should just let them all get on with finding a job and getting on with life?

From the dim n distant past, I recall a certain motorsporting preference for the 4 door [Escort?}, as they had a stronger floorpan?

Well, now that Saddy Khan has extended the ULEZ boundaries to just short of Edinburgh, what are those of you amongst our august membership who are affected, going to do to sidestep/overcome/accept the new rules?

Will the new rules have an impact of 40 YO-plus car values?

Is there a new road mapping compy thingy that will allow the planning of routes avoiding all forms of road charging?

Will I have to change the oil in my Dellow more frequently?

9 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

Do Bachmann do spares for the Wild West locos?

I think those old Airfix locos may have been closer to 3.5mm scale than the Triang ones? 

{ I have an Airfix version, it looks very twee when compared to anything from Triang.}

Of course, if a pilot isn't forthcoming, then one could always forward-date the Triang item, paint it back, and fit a switcher pilot?

{Flat pilot beam, steps and  a coupler release bar?}

1 hour ago, Reorte said:

no human involvement at all

 Not quite the situation that I'm aiming at, or could even remotely afford to achieve.

As I get further into old age, and each physical task becomes more & more of an effort as time passes, I begin to appreciate how some relatively 'menial' tasks I would prefer to be accomplished by using today's technologies.

I am not at the stage where I can make use of care-in-the-community...I wouldn't really get along with the idea of a 'stranger' popping in twice a week to hoover up the stairs.

But I could live with a small bit of modern technology helping me achieve some of the tasks I see myself struggling with in the future?

Currently I  have two hoovers [three actually, one is an 'outside & workshop' hoover, a cheapoh offer when a new local {12 miles away is of the corner-shop local for me}]....One 'downstairs', and a small cheap Tesco hoover upstairs, {bought nearly 15 years ago now, but with a 'cleanable' but small, bag]  Saves me lugging things like the hoover up & down stairs?

But I'd rather have a robotic hoover pottering around, than have one of my family coming round 'to help out the old git'...If one were cheap enough? [Hoover, not git!]

I see such things as an aid to retaining some semblance of 'independence'...

I'm not in the thought-market for a fully robotic house, however....I wouldn't have a need for one....In exactly the same way that I still have no need for power steering, electric windows, lane assist, collision assist, ABS, or other automotive cosseting that at one time I would be able & capable of doing myself, more reliably.

Incidentally, in a nearby village facebook page, a distraught lady posted asking if anyone had seen her Roomba, which had 'escaped' and was last seen pottering down the village Main Street, heading towards the village pond. Apparently it can't swim...

I'd really like a cheap robot hoover that can climb stairs as well.....

Mowing the grass can be sorted by borrowing one of next door's rare-breed sheep...

But I do find myself increasingly looking at ways of making dome-stick life for me, a lot easier....on a very limited[IE, zero?] budget.

I welcome the contributions from my other next door neighbour, of a dozen large sticks of their rhubarb.......Which promptly went to Ex-wife #3 to convert into rhubarb crumble!

All these small considerations after I realised that I need to make things easier, that I once took for granted.

For example, some 10 years ago I had to purchase a new hoover....my Hoover hoover having expired.

My main consideration, [aside from looking for  one that didn't require the regular & frequent purchase of things like bags, filters, etc?} being one of 'lightness'.....[the 'getting up the stairs ' thing]...

My other hobby has demanded I actually spend a lot more on ''tools of convenience'' [for old cars]...than on the cars themselves.

I may never use those tools more than once or twice before I, too, expire......But at least I sit here comforted by the knowledge that the normal maintenance they require won't be a pain-laden chore requiring copious hot baths and radox afterwards.

[Next on the list of will-getz is one of those elctro-hydraulic scissors ramps]

All in the name of not having to 'pay' someone else to do these tasks for me!

Spinning a meagre, zero-surplus income out even further.

[I managed to survive not just lockdown { not even catching covid}...but the subsequent fuel cost crisis, for heating, by only recently finishing up several tree's worth of [eventually] dry logs...my leccy only providing some light, this compy, and kettles for tea....also powering up the oil-fired boiler for bath water...

I welcomed the insertion into my bank accounts of quite a few hundreds of quids to supplement my meagre pensions, courtesy of government payouts, local authority payouts etc.....I will keep the few hundreds in a savings account , waiting for the price of heating oil to fall a lot further than at present [I don't really quite need it yet]

As I get older , I found that swinging a 5 foot long heavy axe to split logs to a size that suits my Morso log burner....might get too much, so I spent a couple of hundreds of govt freebie-money on a small log splitter.

Indeed, why not?   

Just had a phone call appointment with my {new?] GP...I didn't ask for it, she just booked it!

Seems I am not in any way 'ill' at all [merely hypertensive..which has been known about & treated for nearly 28 years!}....

Indeed, I have never ever needed hospital treatment for any illness [as such] in my life.  Treatment for loads of injuries, but never actually poorly. 

Moderation in all things [except perhaps, raspberry trifle?} is the key, methinks? That, and not getting stressed over expensive [and for me, futile] holidays?

Getting old, and redesigning my lifestyle over the years to suit a minimal income led to less stress overall....

17 hours ago, hayfield said:

ike the water meter which despite being a gardener still saves me money rather than being unmetered.

 Which reminds me, ...Having applied for a water meter,  I have yet to receive any sort of response from the water company.  This despite using their online application thingy.

Some 10 years ago I was informed my home couldn't have a water meter fitted...Then informed [after a look-see, AKA survey!] that the first response was rubbish.

The water company even refuse to apply the reduced rates that are supposed to come into play if a meter cannot be fitted....

Methinks someone, somewhere up there, cannot be 'arrised?

A few years ago, the same home was surveyed for potential fitment of smart meter [leccy only]...as a condition of the new supplier...only to be told there isn't a 'signal'...

Ever since, I have received no pestering for a meter, despite having now,a perfectly reasonable signal.

I wonder if , years ago, a 'marker' was applied to the property? Especially as I've changed supplier a few times since then...and had no pestering whatsoever?

Plenty knockworthy about the Ford sidevalve 1172cc engines, yet....when a side by side comparison is done with the Ford competitors , of the day...the Ford sidevalve [especially the 100E...although the older 10 was about as simple as simplicity could get....]....was right on the button regarding comparability with Austin/Morris 803cc OHV engine, or the 948cc OHV engine. Better than Standard's 8 or 10  OHV engines in terms of output too. Far superior output to what VW were selling at the time too. Never mind the French competitors, or the Italian competitors.

Plus, darned nearly every British  specialist sports car of note, started out using Ford 1172cc sidevalve power. Mostly down to two reasons...Availability in numbers, and very reliable & strong..unlike the BMC and Standard offerings, of the day!

Sure,the 3 speed gearbox was a pain, if trying to be a sporty driver [my Dellow is on 3 speeds....but I rarely use 1st gear except when climbing the side of the house...I do have a 3 speed box with a close ratio gearset in it too [Buckler D type cluster.]....but I currently run a standard Ford 10hp cluster...The thing will top over 70 mph, but the engine is over 5000 rpms in doing so. Prolonged engine speeds of that nature mean  a litre or two of oil before the engine is restarted. 

[Ford 10HP drivetrain, Ford 100E engine, and a few Aquaplane bits means 50-plus bhp....]

2 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

t was deliciously ironic that Ford saw fit to christen my sluggish steed "Popular"!

 However, known for getting less well-off folk from A to B....

4 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Or go bankrupt and lose the house anyway!

 Under UK Insolvency Regulations, not always the case, by any means.

I am a bump-along-the-bottom pensioner.

Civil Service pensions really only deliver the goods if one's salary was significantly high enough.

I was a grade [band] D Civil Servant..equivalent to a middle management grade. All my colleagues [serval hundred at our establishment alone] were on the same grade.

Prior to being graded, a Specialist Instructional Officer [job title,posh, ain't it?} was quite well paid when compared to what became equivalent post gradings.

But the Civil Service as a whole struggled to find a slot for the likes of us to fit into.  Much like Government Meat Inspectors, for example?

The problem with the low salary level was, it was difficult to budget for increased units of pension...

Many colleagues were ex-military anyway, so often had their military pensions [and lump sums] to fall back on....All of which didn't assist empathy.

My pension income consists of  a small gaggle of individual pensions. Bits from here, and bits from there.

40 quid a month here, a hundred quid a month there.....and so on.

Taken as a whole, it is more or less livable on.

The best performing pension income I have comes from a decent bus company pension, albeit not a lot of year's worth, as it started quite a while after I did...

Before that, I didn't consider buying into a pension if one were available, simply because I didn't know from one month to the next, whether I would still have a job or not. {Thanks, Maggie!]

I even have a small amount from way back in the days when I was really a lad.....But again, only a couple of year's worth as that was when I could qualify to pay.....

None of them were transferable...None could be 'added,' to a new one....So there it is..bits and bobs really.

I never really realised how much being in ''work'' actually cost me...until I left the workplace environment completely. 

One advantage of [private LL] renting in old age is, the fearsome prospect of having to pay for expensive maintenance or repair to a property isn't the tenant's responsibility.

Indeed, personally, I have discovered a minor source of income by notifying my LL of a problem [ by text], sourcing any hardware needed [tinternet]...and fixing the issue myself. This leads to a knock on the door from my LL, a bottle of wine in one hand, and a wad of cash for me in the other!

On my tenancy agreement, it states ''no pets''...which, I believe, is a 'standard' restriction?

On seeing 'my' cat, I can honestly say [or, could say?] that she is 'Not-my-cat'....she actually, simply, adopted me after moving in from next door. [ Neighbour who 'homes' displaced ferals from the usual sources such as Cat's Protection, etc ]

I realise LL could be stuffy about it [her?]...but if so, then LL can also dispose of the rooftop wasp's nests, etc. Not my pets, definitely...although I don't harm them, and keep suitable old postcards on every windowsill, to help pop errant visitors outside...