Santander

We're just back from a four day visit to the northern Spanish city of Santander. "We" being myself, Gwen and her brother & sister-in-law. We were interested in visiting the city after budget airline Ryanair starting flying here recently.

Only two hours from Edinburgh, Santander is a beautiful city in a wonderful seaside setting. Great architecture, spectacular beaches, a lovely city to walk about. Unlike most of Spain it's not hot & dry but has a fresh temperate climate. We enjoyed good food all washed down with excellent Rioja wine. 

This area is green and has an alpine look

View from our hotel

The beach

Beach tennis is popular

There were a lot of contrails - the city is on the flight path between the UK and the resorts of southern Spain

The marina

  The city has many grand buildings

This magnificent building is the Mayor's residence (I think)…..

….."guarded" by this pair of friendly old girls.

Peppermint Time

A glass of peppermint tea in my garden - the first of the year

Very pleasant with a little sugar

It grows every year without fail

Blossom means apples for Fritz in September

I think the plum tree is going to disappoint again

Rosemary

Watch the Birdie

We have been enjoying an unusually dry spell in Scotland recently. This has meant increased activity at the birdbath in our back garden. Wood pigeon are a common visitor to drink & bathe.

 

 

MZRC Rally, Tighnabruaich

This weekend I went to the MZRC rally in Tighnabruaich. Although it has the feel of remote Highland village it is only 36 miles as the crow flies from my home. The shortest route there is using the ferry from Grourock to Dunoon But I went the long way via Helensburgh and Loch Fyne to make a run of it.

This was my first opportunity to go camping on my SV650. To carry my gear I fitted my compact Givi E21 panniers on SW Motech frames. I carry my tent and air mattress in a tube bag strapped onto the pillion seat. Despite the SV's sporty nature it makes a good solo tourer. The V twin engine is grunty in the twisties and relaxed at motorway speeds.

The weather was dull and a bit cool but dry.

Route

The SV in touring mode

I don't think I'm giving away state secrets by saying the home of Britain's nukes is at the Faslane base on Gare Loch

The ruin of old Castle Lachlan on Loch Fyne….

….and the nearby New Castle

Ardlamont point at the bottom of the peninsular. There are a couple of houses here with one of the best views in the country even on a cloudy day. The island of Arran is in the centre of the picture. This is an high dynamic range panorama to make things more dramatic.

Bikes at the hotel

We camped in the grounds so didn't have to walk far for food & drink

Customised MZ Trophy….

…..with the owner's portrait on the tank. This was his expression when he realised that the brakes don't work

Sunbeam S7 with balloon tyres   

Me trying Andy's Bullet outfit. I stopped smiling shortly after when I realise how scary riding a bike and sidecar is.

The Kyles of Butes on the way home.

Dunoon under heavy skies

On the ferry heading home 

A Day Out at Summerlee

We had a pleasant meet up today at the Summerlee Industrial museum in Coatbridge where there was a rally of classic cars. We were busy yacking about bikes but I managed to take a few snaps.

Daimler SP250. This was a 2.5 litre V8 sports car from 1959. It was unveiled at the New York motor show where it was called the ugliest car there. Well I think it's pretty cool. The  police in London operated a fleet of there cars to catch the reckless café racers of the day.

A rare Alvis TB14 (one of only 100 built)

Classy interior

Jaguar XK150

Jim was showing his Trabant.

Fun details under the bonnet. For safety reasons the fuel tank is located in front of the driver and above the engine! The engine is hiding under a vinyl cover and what's with the huge ignition coils?

Of course the car has a fuel gauge. It's this rod that you dip into the tank to find out how many litres are left.

This huge locomotive was built in Glasgow and operated in South Africa. Depressingly it and me are the same age. I hope I'm in slightly better condition! 

They have some old trams running. This one came from Dusseldorf.

Some of the old machine tools used in local factories.

This a favourite photograph of mine in the museum. It shows boy workers in the Coltness Iron Works in 1900 preparing beds for casting pig iron. Note bare feet. Aye, youngest nowadays - they don't know they're born!

Featured Bike - 1928 Brough Superior SS100 "Moby Dick"

This bike had been in the news recently because it is being sold at auction and is likely to achieve a world record price.

The bike is a 1928 Brough Superior SS100. These bikes were considered the "Rolls Royce of motorcycles" and were guaranteed to achieve 100mph - an amazing speed in their day. But for its original owner, Charles Hobbs, this was not enough. He commissioned the engine supplier, JA Preswich, to manufacture barrels to increase the capacity from 980cc to 1,142cc. Along with hot cams, twin carbs, high compression pistons and special fuel the bike became the fastest road bike in the world with a top speed of 115mph. A later owner claimed 126mph on public roads.   

The bike is being auctioned by Sotherby's next month. Estimated price is £585,000/€700,000/$750,000.

The bike was last sold in 2011

As a footnote….. Brough motorcycles were started in Nottingham in 1902 by William Edward Brough. His son, George Brough, worked with him and then started his own company in 1919. Now you can imagine that Pops wasn't impressed when his boy called his bikes Brough Superior. "What does that make me, Brough Inferior?" he was reported to have said.