New Cinema near Lichfield and Burton on Trent and Derby

Just heard today about The Red Carpet Cinema

Sounds a fantastic place to go near Lichfield, Burton on Trent or Derby for a proper film experience.

Looking forward to first visit.

Update - Have now visited at long last, shall be going again in future, and avoiding those overpriced multiplexes.  What a great experience.

Eagerly await the new Bond movies for next visit.

No new railway in 120 years?

There have been new railway north of London in last 120 years. Patrick mcloughlin should get his facts right.

I've watched the 4 track being laid by Lichfield. It works very well with a good service to London.

Stop HS2 now!

I won't be voting for any political party that does support it.

Westfield header tank

86FB 8K218 AD expansion tank.  This is as fitted to my 1996 Westfield.

This part is probably no longer available at Ford dealers, I managed to get one of the last 2 1/2 years ago, still haven't fitted it mind you.  At east when I do fit it in my Westfield, the engine bay will look considerably tidier again.  I hate the scummy looking, brown stained one that's looked that way for about 10 years.

i know they can be cleaned with dishwasher tablets but mine has crazed as well, one day when it's under pressure and totally split. The cracks are so bad I'm surprised that it's not already failed.

Fuel pump for Westfield c 1996 with an in tank pump for fuel injection.

Update on replacement pump....

The replacement pump kit is ITP043 available from various sources. http://www.glencoeltd.co.uk/ is the direct source in the UK. They are an extremely helpful company for anyone looking for fuel pumps.

Actual codes on the pump are:

F1 DUA3

08289503 EFHD

Just the first one of those was required for Glencoe to advise what pump was needed.  The numbers were a devil to find and then see, a few photographs later and I managed to get all the codes off it. Codes are hidden behind the return pipe that runs back to the bottom.

The pump unit still has the float assembly with it, although it's not connected. The unit obviously wasn't compatible with the Westfield fuel gauge.

If you need tech assistance with these or Facet pumps, call them and ask for Rob or Terry. 01784 493 555. They were a great help to me with my fuel pump query.

I just hope the replacement works OK when I connect it up :-) - edit - fitted and working, new filter wouldn't fit but old one did so not a problem.

Hope this info is of use to someone else one day.

UK lending

So the UK is borrowing about £2,000 foot every person in the UK this year.

That's some seriously unbalanced books in my view.

What a mess we have all got ourselves into.

Cioch Glamaig Jacket Review

I've had my Cioch Glamaig Jacket for a couple of years now. It is my only 'Paramo' type item of clothing which I purchased after getting absolutely soaked in my GoreTex jacket. I though it was my old Goretex jacket leaking but alas not, it was my sweat unable to escape the Goretex 3 layer fabric, so I thought it was time to try something different.

After reading many reviews and tests I decided to take the plunge of the 'marmite' world of Paramo type fabrics, and looked at offerings from Paramo as well as Cioch and a another UK supplier.

I couldn't believe the great pricing of the Glamaig in Perfect Fit which was a UK made jacket (big thumbs up to that) but made to measure as well.  We must all do our bit to support local manufacture, it's a much better financial foundation than services, anyway back on subject....

You measure yourself according to a template and send your dimensions onto Cioch. They will check the dimensions are sensible and query any that are not clear so it would be very difficult to go wrong.

There is a wide range of choices of fabric in many colours, I choise Beachcomer Blue without any 'accent' colours.  With hindsight I should have chosen an accent colour as it would have enhanced the styling.

I opted for the fully lined sleeves which I think is a must, this is always the first area of the jacket to wet out on the outer fabric - that does not mean leak by the way!

When I got my Glamaig it was great to take it out of its package and put it on - it fitted just right everywhere, like a glove.

In the past two years I've worn my Glamaig a number of times in some heavy rain (I actually enjoy walking in the rain) and have stayed totally dry.  That means two things:
1. No rain got in from the outside
2. No build up of condensation at all inside.

Given that I walk very quickly as a way of trying to keep some fitness, the fact that it and I stay dry inside is great.  I wear 'normal' waterproof trousers with loads of venting when its really raining hard, and can guarantee that my trousers get soaked under them, and its not the waterproof trousers leaking.

I've worn both Merino and none wool clothing underneath and they both work just fine with the Paramo type of pump liner and out fabric.  I generally wear merino due to its none smelly properties!

So big thumbs up to Cioch for providing a jacket that is made in the UK, fits perfectly and is a good price.  One day will have to invest in over trousers as well....

26 January 2016 - now another 3 years on. My Cioch Glamaig is still a great jacket for me, the fabric is showing no signs of wear, and the zips are perfect still which I expected as they are not fine micro type zips.  Had to return one of my daughters jackets that had one of the waterproof zips as it failed after 2 months - avoid like the plague - they don't last. Even the shop advised that when we took it back.

So big thumbs up to Cioch, its still great to put on and know that I'm wearing a hand made jacket made on the beautiful Isle of Skye.

Budget - the tax

Why is the government carrying on with the reduction in personal tax when the country cannot afford it?

It's just utter madness.

Have labour got back into power secretly?

We cannot go on borrowing more - why not stop borrowing more and start playing back what we owe?

HS2 - Why?

HS2, why?  I’ve been asking myself this for a long time.  I’m an engineer, I understand that we need to progress, new tech is to be embraced.  So why don’t I get the need for HS2?

We are told it’s so that we can get to London faster because presumably someone wants to?  I’ve not heard anyone say to me that the trains are too slow, we can already get to London in 1 hour 10 minutes from here. Using HS2 would actually be slower for us as we would have to spend an extra 40 odd minutes travelling to Birmingham first. The other side to the speed argument of HS2 is that is will save loads of time which is just not true.  You only ever hear HS2 quoting the station to station times, they never quote actual travelling times from door to door including all the intermediate travelling stages.

We are told the problem is capacity, and that the train will promote growth outside London.  So which trains are over crowded at the moment? Morning ones to London, and evenings ones out of London. So the HS2 would be adding capacity to travel to London and not away from London.  Something smells round here…..

HS2 would be environmentally friendly – really? How can something travelling at around 200mph be environmentally friendly, that statement just defines the laws of physics, and that’s before we have looked at the local impact (with local  benefit) of the building of the line.

Another thing i have wondered is where the passengers are that want to have to pay more for their train journey. I know that as a 2+2 family the cost is already the reason why we don’t use the train as it costs more than using the car, and to be paying for new trains plus new line plus high speed HS2 is going to mean much higher ticket prices for passengers on HS2.