|
From the account of what Dad told us happened after he had turned onto Waterside
Road after crossing the bridge was that the motorcycle was performing well so he carried
on past the turning into Marsh Lane and between there and the end of the road he went over a bump in the road and the battery came loose, fell to the ground and broke open. This meant that the motorcycle ground to a halt.
From that point Dad had the unenviable task of pushing the heavy machine back the way he had just gone. On his return home angry and fed up Dad was well ready for a mug of tea.
Not long after that
escapade Dad had obtained a double adult sidecar that was soon renovated and connected to the motorcycle, and both as one unit were back on the road again.
Strange Goings On Up Elsham Hill!
The one trip that stuck in my mind of travelling in the motorcycle and sidecar, was
the one that took us to Barnetby Le Wold via Elsham.
The reason was that I was in the front seat of the sidecar and Bill and John were in the back with Dad driving and Mum sat on the pillion seat. Everything
was fine until we started to leave Elsham up a short steep hill and we were only able to get about two thirds of the way up it .
At the top of the hill and on the left of us, were farm buildings. Running in
front of the buildings was a road and in the corner of the field in front of the farm was a number of large stones, which Mum - who had grown up in Barnetby had told the story about how that they had been moved by
one of the farmers from the corner to somewhere different, but within a few days the stones had somehow returned to their original positions and no one knew how!
Dad tried going back down the hill and going
up it faster and when at the same spot, we ground to a standstill a number of times.
The only way for us to get up the hill from where we stopped was for every body to help push as Dad steered the motorcycle
with the engine in gear to help us. At the top we all got back in and Mum got on the back again and went on our way with no more bother. To this day I cannot explain why we could not get the full way up that hill as
we had gone up similar or steeper hills and had no trouble with us all on or in the motorcycle .
The fastest newsround in the West (End)!
Another motorcycle which was made by the Ariel company and went under the name of
Golden Arrow SS - the two letters stood for Super Sports - was owned by Dad.
This was a 250cc twin. This meant that the engine had two pistons side by side. The frame was painted ivory (a shade of white) and the tank was gold in colour. The motorcycle was quite fast and would do speeds well over the legal limits and this make of engine was used in a number or racing motorcycles due to their speed and easy adaptation.
One day we used it to deliver newspapers. This came about due to the rest of our family going to visit one of the cinemas in Scunthorpe and when I found out what the picture was ( cannot remember which
one now ) I wished to join them. After picking up my bag of papers to be delivered Dad and I set off with me being dropped off at one point and Dad moving further up the street to wait for me to get to him . With
quick instructions we moved from street to street. Where there were small gaps between the houses I ran past Dad and he moved up the street. Longer gaps saw me on behind Dad until we got to where the next lot
of papers needed delivering.
That night my papers were finished in about ten minutes instead of the normal time it took me on my cycle and there was some amusement the following night with customers that were on the latter half of my round when they asked why their papers were earlier than normal ... which could have been up to half an hour earlier! I had to explain to them about the use of Dad and his motorcycle so we could go out. Jokingly they said we should use it every night!
Dad had another motorcycle that was in the back yard I think was made by Triumph which is all I can remember. I and my brothers were punished for messing about with it. After no one owned up to the
deed and I think after a couple of slaps I said that I had been sitting on it and one of my other brothers had done something similar. We had owned up so that we got no more punishment but we later found out the
other brother had taken the motorcycle out of the back yard and this was what Dad had wanted to know but he punished us all for not owning up.
The other brother did not get away with it as we got our revenge by giving him a thumping. What I will say is that the punishment was meted out fair and square (not sadistically like was heard of in some families ) and from it we learnt disciplines and respect that many from following generations don't have today.
One other motorcycle Dad had was a LE Velocity that had hand start and hand gear shift like the first Police motorcycle on the Yorkshire Television Program Heartbeat. This `bike` was water cooled and sported
a radiator at the front to cool the engine One day the engine failed and it was found that water had some how got into the electric's and parts of the engine it should not have been in and that left the motorcycle
useless.
(Not quite) to Whitton by car
While at the Station Masters House Dad had cars as well as motorcycles in which he
took us on many outings. When he got his first car Dad made two wooden ramps that were the same height as the kerbstones this was to allow the car to come up from the road level onto the pavement and over it into
our yard and then back out again. Just to the right of the gate that opened onto the path that lead to the front door Dad removed a section of fencing and made it into gates that when put back in place opened and
closed to allow him to drive the cars into and out of the yard so that it was not left on the road all the time because in those days when night fell a small red and white light was required. This was one
light that had different colour showing each side had to be put onto the car, this was on the side of the car away from the pavement and all Dad did to put the light on was to wind the window down clip the light
over the top with the cable to it inside the car and plug the end into or just under the dashboard socket to power the light and then wind the window back up so that it was shut again. The idea of this was to warn
other motorists that a car was parked there.
One night after tea Dad told us to get into the car as we were going for a ride out to the village of Whitton. Setting off, we went down the road and onto
Waterside Road, past the end of Marsh Lane and straight on until the road ran out and came into a field.
We went along a track until it started to run out. When the track ran out it was almost certain that there was a misunderstanding in the instructions Dad had been given on how to get to Whitton. Dad turned the car around and we went back home disappointed as it was too late to try again but Dad said he would take us another day.
Next week: Finding the right road to Whitton and going out in the car ... and coming back on the bus ...
|
