Miscellaneous Links
Healey Journal
This is a catch-all page for those items I'm developing or links I've found interesting and haven't quite figured out where to place.
Contents:
Road Trips: Some interesting drives around Scotland and the rest of the UK.And some from elsewhere in the world....
Speed Traps :in the greater Glasgow area
Perranporth Eclipsed: Years ago, before I got my Big Healey and knew of the Healey family's connections to Perranporth we went there for a summer holiday, out of the sunshine as it were, during the much hyped eclipse only in the far south.
Road Trips:
One thing I think useful would be a brief overview of interesting drives, both here in Scotland and internationally. I won't host the material myself, just provide a link. Not much yet but here it is, some interesting roads to travel- in a sportscar like a Big Healey or a Jensen-Healey or a Rochdale getting there can be a large part of the fun. So ... here are some places and routes I'd like to see and drive over.
Drives around Scotland.
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The Automobile Association has produced a number of guides. The one shown at the left covers short trips in Scotland, and the one to the right covers the whole of the UK, including Scotland (as well as England, Wales and Northern Ireland) The association's web site: http://www.theaa.com has further details of these and their other guidebooks.
Most of the drives in Scotland cover approximately 120 miles and are reckoned to take a half day. There are a few longer trips for a full day and even a couple that would need two days. All Scotland is covered. The more general UK book provides longer drives that might take as long as two or three days, in addition to the drive getting there.
The routes avoid motorways and tend to use "A" roads with some of the better "B" roads (Note for non-UK readers: British roads are classified M [Motorway, multiple lanes both directions], A [Major road, often dual carriageway- four lanes- two each way, but more generally single carriageway- two lanes, one each way, with some dual carriageway for passing], B [Minor, single carriageway], and unclassified [mostly rural roads, usually single track, occasionally unpaved and not infrequently with roadside livestock] though the guidebook says virtually nothing about the scenery on the drives, instead reserving commentaries for the towns and other sites on the way. The numbers too are informative- lower numbers generally denote a more heavily used and/or better road- thus roads with single digits tend to be better than those with two, three or four digits- there are exceptions but generally these are the case.
Drives around Britain DVDs
It's now possible to see where you're going before you go there:
Britain's Best Drives
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This is based on a series (6 x 25 minutes roughly + some "specials" not broadcast) of programs broadcast by the BBC showing various drives throughout Britain: the Cornwall coast, the Lake District, North Wales, the Trossachs in Scotland, the Yorkshire Dales and the Wye Valley/Forest of Dean. There's a DVD of the programs and a book, sold seperately. Each of the drives is undertaken in a Classic car. Each program provides a good amount of driving photography along with a little local color and commentary. The routes were selected based on tourist guides published during the 1950s touted as the good old days for British drivers- before all the congestion and motorways- a more relaxed and congenial era when driving could be enjoyed and the roadside entertainments could entertain.
I was quite taken with this, though Richard WIlson, the curmudgeon actor from One Foot in the Grave, was not the most skilled with a manual transmission. Nevertheless, he drove about and commented sensibly on what was being seen and experienced. The book suffered a little by comparison in that it necessarily dealt with all the road-side stuff and less with the driving. Each car was described sympathetically. Each of the routes was detailled and its scenery discussed, and various roadside attractions (though I'm not sure that is an entirely appropriate term for them) discussed. The DVD was great on it's own; and the book was a nice complement for it, but I'd think that the book on it's own would not be so satisfying.
B Road Britain
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This too is based on a short series (3 x 1/2 hour roughly) of programs broadcast by the British ITV network. It too involves a British actor (Robbie Coltrane- Hagrid the Horrible from the Harry Potter movies) driving the backroads of Britain in an old XK Jaguar. He's a big guy and fills the XK well- I'd have thought that he'd have been far more comfortable doing the trip in his Checker Cab (he's a bit of a car enthusiast I believe, and I've seen him a couple of times in his American import cruising the northwestern suburbs of Glasgow). This is less about the roads and scenery, though there are some segments showing him barreling along the by-ways; but the programmes focus more on the various little towns and villages along these roads. Robbie stops and sees what they all have to offer. It's more about what's there and the things to do and people than it is about the getting there.
International Drives:
Russia:
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A very poignant roadtrip through the Ukraine around Chernobyl: http://www.kiddofspeed.com though there seem to have been a number of accusations of fraud about this... I don't know, but it's still interesting.
Here's a couple photos that I've "borrowed" from the site showing streets in an abandoned town.
I'd done some consultancy work in a smallish town near Moscow in the early 1990s and this sequence of scenes was very powerful for it looked much like the places I'd visited and had friends, but turned to desolation.
Paris:
A "classic" drive through the streets of Paris- seemingly early one morning in the early 1970s, in what I believe was a Ferrari 275GTB: http://mx.truveo.com/Rendezvous-Ferrari-275-GTB-races-thru-Paris/id/144115201274510535 A large file that may not be advisable for slow internet connections.... (if the link is broken [and these seem to get broken regularly] try Googling "rendezvous Paris" street race, etc and it'll soon turn up...)
Some drives through western Canada: http://www.vintage-sportscar-touring.ca/tours.html
Suggestions of other road trip websites welcome- for some of my own here around Scotland see the "Chassing the Haggis" outings with the Austin Healey Club, accessed through the Social Page. If you suggest a site having a road trip note that it may be a while before I put it here- I'd like to have several before I put them up for access.
Scottish Speed Camera Locations:
http://www.strathclydecameras.com/locations.htm
This information is not so helpful in avoiding the local constabulary and Her Majesty's fund raising efforts as might be desired. The locations identify roads with cameras but not their specific locations- for example, Great Western Road in Glasgow is identified as being so afflicted but it doesn't say where or how many so a look out still needs to be kept. This is better than nothing, but it would help those of us that race up to the cameras before slowing to know just how far we can go.... and then resume our bad behaviour.... And it notes the locations of "mobile" speed cameras as well, though I'm not sure if the guys with guns (radar) get fingered too....
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This animation runs well, but if another image is clicked to enlarge that photo the animation stops and doesn't re-start. I must confess that I do not know why it mis-behaves so, but reloading the page starts it up again.... |
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Although Perranporth isn't shown on this map its there- just south of Newquay on the coast. Click for a larger image. This and the star map below are courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center. For more information on solar and lunar eclipses, see Fred Espenak's Eclipse Page. |
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In 1999 long before I acquired my Healey and took any great interest in matters relating to the Healey family I visited Perranporth, Donald Healey's hometown. Had I been aware of these Healey connections I'd have been an even more enthusiastic visitor and found more to see. And would have been an even bigger bore for my family for I had drug the whole lot kicking and screaming along to that idyllic spot on the north Cornish coast to see the light go out-- an eclipse. It was much anticipated and the locals had envisaged a veritable horde of visitors- prices skyrocketed, and there seemed to me at least to be enormous crowds of folk (though some discussions with local tradespeople lead me to understand that their numbers were actually reduced by people staying away out of fear of overcrowding generally and an inability to find cheap accommodation or amenities). It was a long drive from bonnie Scotland to the wilds of the north Cornish coast, but we arrived a few days early and settled in. Went to the odd donkey sanctuary, and dolphin aquaria, and imbined a bit of local produce- cider of some significant alcholic content and generally relaxed, waiting for the lights to go out, as it were....
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Photo: I.C.Smith. |
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The day dawned, as so many do, with terrible overcast and a very poor prognosis for being able to see the eclipse. We debated trying to travel to areas that might be more clear, but the only ones we heard of were in France- which was rather too far under the circumstances. So we toughed it out. But we did get very, very lucky and about a half hour before the eclipse was to become total the skies began to clear. It was very strange for we could look directly through the cloud haze and see the partial eclipse (something not to be done, generally!) Then as the haze dispersed and the sky cleared we could get all our special goggles out and watch it happening.
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One of the most intriguing aspects was sitting on the cliffs at Perranporth and looking out to sea where we could watch the shadow racing across the waves towards us. It was like seeing the night fall in time lapse photography, utterly spell binding. I only regret not taking a picture of the phenomenon for it was most impressive... I can well understand that such events might have greatly scared our less knowledgeable ancestors.
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Once the eclipse became total we could see the corona and the halo around the sun. It was a really impressive moment. One aspect that was most impressive was the number of other stars and even planets visible. The photographs commonly seen always concentrate on the sun and the visual pyrotechnics surrounding it, but to see the whole night sky in the middle of the day was just as impressive in its own way too. What's more, its one aspect of an eclipse that really has to be experienced in person to be appreciated. No photograph can convey the eerie feeling of full night at mid-day with all the stars and planets twinkling and shining and the odd halo'ed sun in amongst it all.
We were most fortunate for we later learned that very few other places in the UK were able to observe the total eclipse, for virtually the entire countryside in the eclipse's path was clouded over. Even another town ten miles away was socked in. It was a truly amazing experience, and one for which all my family later decided that Dad's rotten idea of dragging everyone to a poky little no-place town in the middle of no-where simply to see the sun not shine wasn't so bad after all.
Some eclipse photos:
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The beach at Perranporth, sun shining and sky's blue... er, um, actually it was terribly overcast and the sun must have been shining though we couldn't have told....
Photo: I.C.Smith
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The eclipse starts and the clouds begin to part....
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The eclipse nears totality, and its getting darker...
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At totality
That's all, folks....
Copyright © James M. Wilson, All Rights Reserved.