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Diary of an Ordinary Van

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Normal service will be resumed

Postby Vee4 » Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:26 am

Normal service will be resumed ...

or perhaps it won't be. I had lost track of the last entry here being on 22 October 2012!

Leicester area Transit owners will be aware of the closure of the Chatfields dealership on Melton Road, Leicester.

From Leicester Mercury: 30 jobs are lost as van dealer closes

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This is the 'dealership' often referred to in the Diary, which I refrained from naming to avoid any embarrassment. I had been using their services since the Mk5 purchase in 1997, so now I will be looking for an alternative as the Ordinary Van comes up to its next routine service. I always thought Chatfields a good place for Transits since they only worked on Ford and Iveco commercials.

I received a letter from Evans Halshaw implying that they had taken over the customer records, but after a few unsuccessful enquiries I discovered that was not the case. As far as I know, my options will be:


Guest does not claim to specialise in Ford Transit vans, so I think I will try Sandicliffe before opting to open an account with any of them.

I hope to find time over the holiday (?) period to add some of the Ordinary Van's recent exploits and for an end-of-the-year review ...
'69 Mk1 V4 :) >> '76 Mk1 V4 :) >> '84 Mk2 OHC :wink: >> '97 Mk5 Banana :D >> '09 Mk7 TDCi 8)
The van in front is a Transit. It might be my Mk7 - follow the trail of rusty water: Diary of an Ordinary Van
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Re: Normal service will be resumed

Postby Altransit » Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:37 am

Vee4 wrote: I hope to find time over the holiday (?) period to add some of the Ordinary Van's recent exploits and for an end-of-the-year review ...

Looking forward to this 8) :D
1994 Mk4 SWB 115 Minibus 70ps Di (R.I.P.)
1997 Mk5 SWB 115 Minibus 70ps Di (Gone, but not forgotten!)
2004 Mk6 SWB T280 Medium Roof 85PS 2.0 TDDi - Vantunered (Also gone)
2008 Mk7 SWB T280 Medium Roof 85PS 2.2 TDCi - Also Vantunered
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Season's Greetings

Postby Vee4 » Tue Dec 25, 2012 1:35 am

Season's Greetings

Another strange year, in which all my free time seemed to vanish with no concomitant increase in my income, comes to a close. The year was strange but the Van was Ordinary - exactly as needed to keep calm and carry on.

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Some characters went missing in 2012, some previously mentioned in these pages:

Neil Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Sir Patrick Moore, Clive Dunn, Sir Bernard Lovell, Eric Sykes, Robin Gibb, Levon Helm, and Bert 'Play in a Day' Weedon.

This winter's poetry offering is from 2011 choice, Robert Frost's compatriot, Walt Whitman:

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To a Locomotive in Winter

"Thy metrical, now swelling pant and roar, now tapering in the distance,
Thy great protruding head-light fix’d in front,
Thy long, pale, floating vapor-pennants, tinged with delicate purple,
The dense and murky clouds out-belching from thy smokestack,
Thy knitted frame, thy springs and valves, the tremulous twinkle of thy wheels,
Thy train of cars behind, obedient, merrily following,
Through gale or calm, now swift, now slack, yet steadily careering ;
Type of the modern—emblem of motion and power—pulse of the continent ... "

Whitman must have written this on seeing a passing Transit. With that beard, he should win the 'Best Santa Costume' competition at the Transit Towers Christmas Party. Take the exit by the big blue oval, and bring your own biscuits ...

Merry Christmas, dear reader, and here's to a preposterous New Year. May you find a nice new Transit under the tree in the morning.

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'69 Mk1 V4 :) >> '76 Mk1 V4 :) >> '84 Mk2 OHC :wink: >> '97 Mk5 Banana :D >> '09 Mk7 TDCi 8)
The van in front is a Transit. It might be my Mk7 - follow the trail of rusty water: Diary of an Ordinary Van
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Re: Diary of an Ordinary Van

Postby Altransit » Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:45 pm

Merry Christmas Mr Four, and the OV 8) :D
1994 Mk4 SWB 115 Minibus 70ps Di (R.I.P.)
1997 Mk5 SWB 115 Minibus 70ps Di (Gone, but not forgotten!)
2004 Mk6 SWB T280 Medium Roof 85PS 2.0 TDDi - Vantunered (Also gone)
2008 Mk7 SWB T280 Medium Roof 85PS 2.2 TDCi - Also Vantunered
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Re: Diary of an Ordinary Van

Postby ake » Tue Dec 25, 2012 3:09 pm

Merry Christmas :)
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ake
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Thunderbirds are ... gone

Postby Vee4 » Thu Dec 27, 2012 2:38 pm

Thunderbirds are ... gone

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Photo from Getty Images - note the Radiospares 'cooker' knobs and the 'fingertip' toggle switches, just like those you fitted in your souped-up Anglia/Capri/Transit. Yes, I mean you!

Another character didn't make it to the New Year: Gerry Anderson, creator of Supermarionation, with favourites including Thunderbirds (of course), Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Fireball XL5.

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Lady Penelope along with Gerry and Sylvia receive an award in 1966.

The shows were created at Bray Studios. All of the Ordinary Van's predecessors worked at Bray Studios. Sadly it is unlikely that the OV will be visiting because the studios are to be demolished to make way for posh houses. Bray Studios were also host to Hammer Horror, St Trinian's (The Wildcats of) and not forgetting Eric Clapton's Unplugged performance for MTV. No more egg, chips and beans in the canteen ...

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The dodgy sign that indicated the driveway to the studios.
'69 Mk1 V4 :) >> '76 Mk1 V4 :) >> '84 Mk2 OHC :wink: >> '97 Mk5 Banana :D >> '09 Mk7 TDCi 8)
The van in front is a Transit. It might be my Mk7 - follow the trail of rusty water: Diary of an Ordinary Van
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Re: Thunderbirds are ... gone

Postby Altransit » Thu Dec 27, 2012 7:33 pm

Vee4 wrote:with favourites including Thunderbirds (of course), Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Fireball XL5.

................. and Supercar 8)

Image
RIP Gerry Anderson, the icon of my childhood :(
1994 Mk4 SWB 115 Minibus 70ps Di (R.I.P.)
1997 Mk5 SWB 115 Minibus 70ps Di (Gone, but not forgotten!)
2004 Mk6 SWB T280 Medium Roof 85PS 2.0 TDDi - Vantunered (Also gone)
2008 Mk7 SWB T280 Medium Roof 85PS 2.2 TDCi - Also Vantunered
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Re: Thunderbirds are ... gone

Postby Vee4 » Mon Dec 31, 2012 9:12 pm

Re: Thunderbirds are ... gone

So we have Supercar, and Lady Penelope's Roller, FAB 1:

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But where is the futuristic van? Ford, not far from Bray at the Langley Plant, saved the Andersons the trouble of designing one by introducing the highly futuristic Transit Van:

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Just look at those futuristic specifications!
'69 Mk1 V4 :) >> '76 Mk1 V4 :) >> '84 Mk2 OHC :wink: >> '97 Mk5 Banana :D >> '09 Mk7 TDCi 8)
The van in front is a Transit. It might be my Mk7 - follow the trail of rusty water: Diary of an Ordinary Van
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Olympic Legacy

Postby Vee4 » Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:03 pm

Olympic Legacy

The New Year Honours are here again, and we are reminded of Britain's success at the Olympics. The Ordinary Van has its gong already, the OVE.

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It is little known that the OV also benefited from 'Olympic legacy'. This drain cover in west London had sunk by 4 or 5 inches and had to be dodged to avoid a sickening thud and possible suspension damage. Shortly before the Olympics, it was levelled because of being on the cycle road race route, so it no longer requires a swerve:

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Sir Bradley (Go Wiggo!) followed a different route in the time trial, so this drain cover would not have troubled him, but sadly it did not help Mike Cavendish in his bid for gold.

Happy New Year!
'69 Mk1 V4 :) >> '76 Mk1 V4 :) >> '84 Mk2 OHC :wink: >> '97 Mk5 Banana :D >> '09 Mk7 TDCi 8)
The van in front is a Transit. It might be my Mk7 - follow the trail of rusty water: Diary of an Ordinary Van
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Burns Night

Postby Vee4 » Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:18 pm

Burns Night

All these celebrations! Difficult to keep up but here's some neeps and tatties with haggis (vegetarian, of course) for dinner:

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Why not listen to a reading of Burns' Address to a Haggis from the BBC's Robert Burns site while you munch your way through that lot?

The Ordinary Van's BTCS will help in this snowy weather, making sure I don't get stuck on my way to the celebrations. It dug me out of a hole early on Tuesday after an unexpected overnight fall of snow left me stuck at the bottom of a sloping driveway with a right-angle bend half way up.
'69 Mk1 V4 :) >> '76 Mk1 V4 :) >> '84 Mk2 OHC :wink: >> '97 Mk5 Banana :D >> '09 Mk7 TDCi 8)
The van in front is a Transit. It might be my Mk7 - follow the trail of rusty water: Diary of an Ordinary Van
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Re: Diary of an Ordinary Van

Postby Vee4 » Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:26 pm

Ten Years of Being Ordinary - A Retrospective

Part 1 - We all love an anniversary

Some time ago (some years ago, it turned out when I checked!), I had to give up my more-or-less regular entries to the Diary. Work pressure and the need to move premises ate up all my free time, but I have long thought that I should do a 10-year retrospective in case any Forum members were curious about the fate of the Ordinary Van. I was thinking of compiling one entry with everything but it occurred that I might never get that finished so it would make more sense to do a series of entries. That would also enable me to respond to specific queries, if readers had any.

It's a pleasure to return to these pages and discover that the Diary is still intact, apart from a few broken links beyond my control, so my thanks to "the usual suspects" for keeping the Forum going. Now it's up to me to remind myself how to use the composition and editing tools to put together some decent entries.

10 years and counting ...

For some reason, the OV's approaching 10th anniversary has not made the headlines. Just too ordinary I guess, and it is overshadowed by a certain 50th anniversary featuring the exploits of Neil Armstrong, previously featured in these pages and in Wikipedia. The important contribution of the Ford Transit to lunar exploration should not be forgotten, of course:

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Another 50th anniversary this year, also overshadowed to some extent, is that of the maiden flight of Concorde. "She flies, she flies," was BBC commentator, Raymond Baxter's excited shout - what else could he say? Nearly as much excitement as the roll-out of the first Transit, four years before.

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Your contributor has a certain affection for Concorde, having helped with development work on the Olympus 593 fuel system. Here is a classic twilight takeoff at Heathrow:

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More on that subject later, possibly. And more about the Ordinary Van ...
'69 Mk1 V4 :) >> '76 Mk1 V4 :) >> '84 Mk2 OHC :wink: >> '97 Mk5 Banana :D >> '09 Mk7 TDCi 8)
The van in front is a Transit. It might be my Mk7 - follow the trail of rusty water: Diary of an Ordinary Van
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Re: Diary of an Ordinary Van

Postby Altransit » Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:56 pm

It's always puzzling (and sometimes worrying) when a regular poster disappears from the forum, so it's good news that you're still about :D 8)
1994 Mk4 SWB 115 Minibus 70ps Di (R.I.P.)
1997 Mk5 SWB 115 Minibus 70ps Di (Gone, but not forgotten!)
2004 Mk6 SWB T280 Medium Roof 85PS 2.0 TDDi - Vantunered (Also gone)
2008 Mk7 SWB T280 Medium Roof 85PS 2.2 TDCi - Also Vantunered
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Return to the fóld

Postby Vee4 » Wed Jul 24, 2019 9:58 pm

The blue sheep of the family returns to the fóld ...

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Blue by hezitate, on Flickr

Thanks to Altransit for the welcome and thanks also to pollag for the wake-up call. I can confirm that the Ordinary Van and owner are still up-and-running, and both with mostly original parts! More on that subject later, no doubt.

Notes:
(1) Is that a PL16 pylon?
(2) I had to use the <ó> character instead of <o> in the heading because there is some website called the fold which the link skimmer insists on using. We must have had this conversation before - is there a way to stop the skimmer hijacking genuine text entries?
'69 Mk1 V4 :) >> '76 Mk1 V4 :) >> '84 Mk2 OHC :wink: >> '97 Mk5 Banana :D >> '09 Mk7 TDCi 8)
The van in front is a Transit. It might be my Mk7 - follow the trail of rusty water: Diary of an Ordinary Van
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1969 - More Anniversaries!

Postby Vee4 » Thu Aug 29, 2019 12:47 am

What was it about 1969?

It was the year my first Mk1 was forged in rust and there occurred some notable music festivals:

The best-known festival of them all - Woodstock

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If you have time, check out the Dick Cavett Show from the night after Woodstock. It's a classic program, and includes Jefferson Airplane featuring Grace Slick

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and, of course, Joni Mitchell who famously did not go the the Woodstock Festival, although she wrote the definitive song.

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The whole show is available in various clips on YouTube, or you can buy the DVD - I did, long before YouTube ...

Often overshadowed by Woodstock - The 1969 Isle of Wight Festival

Bob Dylan headlined. He was trying to avoid the rowdy rabble that invaded the peace and quiet of his upstate New York retreat. The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival is more famous, or infamous, and includes Joni's and Lennie's (Leonard Cohen) sets where they struggle with, and eventually win over, the fractious crowd.

Certificate PG - includes B&W photos of WEM PA columns.

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The Ordinary Van still 'treads the boards' occasionally - on site 2019:

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40th (continuous!) anniversary of this festival. Will they make it to 50?
'69 Mk1 V4 :) >> '76 Mk1 V4 :) >> '84 Mk2 OHC :wink: >> '97 Mk5 Banana :D >> '09 Mk7 TDCi 8)
The van in front is a Transit. It might be my Mk7 - follow the trail of rusty water: Diary of an Ordinary Van
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