While we lived in London, and especially after we bought the Bug, we often went for day trips on the weekend.
My sister Rhonda and her friend Elvie came to Europe during that time by boat, and landed at Southampton. We drove our little bug to meet her, but once in Southampton couldn’t find the international dock.
We stopped at a garage and asked directions, and almost fell over when the attendant replied "Aargh its about harf a mile down the road" in the thickest of what we would call a pirate accent. Of course the cliche accent is derived from Southampton and that region of England, the origin of many British sailors, and they ALL speak like that!
On the 26th May we attended a motorcycle race meeting at Brands Hatch, a motor racing circuit near Swanley in Kent, south-east of London. |
| The ship on arrival |
We stopped at a garage and asked directions, and almost fell over when the attendant replied "Aargh its about harf a mile down the road" in the thickest of what we would call a pirate accent. Of course the cliche accent is derived from Southampton and that region of England, the origin of many British sailors, and they ALL speak like that!
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| Rhonda (in dark sunglasses and Elvie to her right |
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| Rhonda and Elvie |
It was the King of Brands day, which was essentially a race day with races run by engine size and motorcycle category. It was a fantastic day and the first time we ever attended a motorcycle race meeting.
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| Me racing at Amaroo Park in 1976 |
I converted a Honda 350 dirt bike into a road-racer by adding a front wheel with its corresponding huge brake from a TZ Yamaha, among a few other modifications. It was relatively successful because of its good power-to-weight ratio and powerful acceleration out of corners and up hills, and excellent cornering ground clearance.
The viseo below is of a Brands Hatch Superbike race of 1974, similar to what we saw.
On another day trip we stopped at The Green Man hotel.One would think that it would be easy to find the location of this pub on the internet, but there over 100 pubs called The Green Man.
Anyway here are some photos of one of them, including one with Danielle and the Bug - note the very large British "L" plate.
