Danny finds that the Best of Friends must Part
Chugalug, Smujsmith ( no Maestro, I !) and Nutloose (you do me too much honour, "write a book" indeed !) Thank you all for the kind words (and thank you to the Moderators for the all-encompassing latitude which they've always allowed to this best of Threads).
BEagle and Blacksheep, Marvellous tales (especially the the one about the Captain, who voiced what we've all thought at times).
This has been a perfect example of a Forum at its best - my throw-away remark about a shift-change, and look what follows in its wake !........D.
**********
Shortly after I got back, I was given the dates for my Air Traffic Control Course: RAF Shawbury from beginning of March until end of June. Now we could make our plans. I was to finish there on Friday 1st July. We would marry on the Monday, the 4th (yes, I know that's Independence Day), and take it from there.
Now a sad parting of the ways lay before me. The Bond was now almost five years old, with 30,000 on the clock. The little Villiers engine was as lively as ever, but the body was showing signs of wear and tear; fatigue cracks had started to appear from the base of the screen pillars, and although I'd drilled them to stop them as soon as spotted, it was a bad sign. Worse, the "soft top" now leaked like a sieve; it was becoming anti-social.
Apart from this I had to acknowledge that it was hardly suitable transport for the Married Man I was soon to become. It would have to be replaced by something more conventional. I scouted round the local village garages. Somewhere (can't remember) they had a 1938 black Vauxhall 12-6 ticketed at £105 (guineas died hard) in front of the tin shed. It had 65,000 recorded (I thought that that was probably genuine).
By the way, I should perhaps remind you that at that time new (or any post-war) cars were scarce and prohibitively expensive. Outside any Service Mess nine out of ten would be of pre-war vintage and in various stages of disrepair. A seventeen year old was nothing out of the ordinary (for that matter, I'm running a 14 year old myself now, and the paintwork's fine).
The story was this: it had been owned from new by a bank manager who'd taken it into his retirement. He washed and leathered it down every week and treated it like a baby. On his death 18 months before it had passed to a young carpenter, who used it as his work van. (Timbers ? - Easy, open sunshine roof (sort of sash window affair) and shove them through onto back seat. The inside trim was knocked about a bit, but what's the problem ? Bang any loose bits in with an inch nail). The Registration Book backed up the story. A year later the Carpenter had prospered sufficiently to buy a van, ELY 410 was on the market again.
A buyer in those pre-war times didn't have to worry about rust as much as we've had to do in recent years. You started with a steel girder chassis which could have come from the Forth Bridge (and would last as long). They mounted this on four cart springs and put a beam axle across the front (and a solid back axle behind). Stick an engine and transmission in the chassis, and an ash frame onto it, bolt-on the body panels. Four wheels, and that's about it.
Consequently, after I'd seen that the inside would be acceptable after a thorough clean-out, I turned to the mechanicals. It was a wreck. Everything needed doing or replacing. The thing would move and (after a fashion) stop. But again, in those days, this was no cause to despair. Any garage or machine shop in the land would tackle the task, and you could buy a reconditioned anything quite cheaply. I decided to take the job on.
Now we got down to business. After some haggling, we shook hands on £50 plus the Bond (I think they gave it to the apprentice to play with). The deed was done. As I drove away, I looked back at the poor little thing sitting forlornly at the side of the shed. We'd come a long way and had a lot of fun together (my fiancée and I did our courting in it). Smoke gets in your eyes. (Where are you now, EY 9548 ? And was he kind to you ?)
The smoke was all coming out of the back of the Vauxhall. Most cars smoked then, but this had to be seen to be believed. You could see nothing in the driving mirror at all - it was just a solid wall of smoke. Oil consumption was about 50 mi/Quart, but again the garages catered for this. "Reclaimed" oil (ie filtered old sump oil) was on tap everywhere at 1/- a quart.
In this appalling vehicle I made as many journeys back to Teesside as I could. It was not noticeably quicker than the Bond. Again I overnighted at Tamworth, or once in a nice little pub across the green from Kenilworth Castle. Steering was a bit funny as the primitive Vauxhall IFS ("Knee-action Ride") was in the same state as the rest (knock-kneed). The weeks went by.
Evenin' all,
Danny42C
Say not the struggle naught availeth.