www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk 44 Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, May 15th, 2008 Geoff’s got a head for steain ^
•. appropriate name for a steain boat, writes Tony Hoy land,, but there’s more to it than
Whistle Down the Wind is an that.
MOST people of a certain age , w ill a dm it to seeing the 1961 British black and white classic film Whistle Down the Wind,
• produced by Richard Attenbor ough starring Hayley Mills and Alan Bates in his first film. Also in the background, during
____ ____ m.. ..'nTTi run the playground fight scene, making ,
his film debut at an early age was Geoff Laycock, owner of the steam boat Whistle Down the Wind.
Geoff was one of the local school-
' children from the villages around : Clitheroe, Lancashire, drafted in to play one of the 100 or more children
who appeared in the film. “The reason I remember it most,”
says Geoff, “was the fact we got ten bob each a day, which was then a. lot of money as my dad was only on £6 or £7 a week!” Geoff, who repairs cranes for a
living, had harboured the thoughts of building his own boat since being introduced to boating some years : ago by friends. But it was not until his daughter left university a few years ago that his dream started to
take shape. Own specification: The first step was the acquisition
of a Liverpool boat shell. Geoff required the bare essentials from the boat builders to ensure the rest. of the build was to hisown sp^ifica-, tion. This even included cutting o u t . the windows using a plasma cutter to avoid any rippling in the shell. , Geoff said: “Originally I was
going to do the build with an his toric engine, but the prices people were asking were prohibitive, even for second-hand ones. “Then I contacted the Steam
C'
boat Association, who put me on to Tom Mason. He was very helpful and gave me some idea of what size of engine I needed. “Eventually, I discovered an AA
Leek engine, built in 1986/87, that would fit the bill. The owner, John King in Dorset, also had a 21/2:1 gearbox and propeller for the proj
ect.” The engine is a 5x71/2x4 com
Always sound off when approaching a blind bend lo lei other boats know you are there. Inset, Geoff likes to keep the engine well lubricated, (s)
manufactured in three parts, which. mpans parts for it can be machined on a standard milling machine. The propeller at 19 x 16in is the
biggest you can fit on a Liverpool shell - pushing out a power that could be easily felt through the rud der on our test drive. ,:
\ Coming in under a budget of
£15,000 for this part of the build, Geoff’s attention turned to the boil-
, er. He had already cut out a bulk head at the rear of the shell to accommodate the engine room and ■
was on the lookout for a boiler to suit. A set of boiler drawings came from a man called Philip Martino, which answered his prayers and also met with the approval of the Steamboat Association. The boiler was built by TRS
Boiler Makers and is a vertical fire tube type with 187 tubes. It has a 27in fire grate and holds about 30
gallons of water. “It uses about three gallons of
.oundandirnotaWinthefact^^ ratherloud!” pound and is notable in the fact it is
rather loud!”
water a day,” added Geoff. “But most of that is down to showing off with the whistle, which tends to be
The big pressure gauge for the
boiler comes from an old boiler room at ICI in Darwen; where it was rescued by his brother-in-law from a skip. Connected to it is an original 1940s injector, which was
. sourced from eBay and came com plete in original box with instruc
tions. : ■ ■ As we retired to the boat’s saloon
for a warming cuppa, Geoff point ed out the slave pressure gauge
•courtesy eBay, which meant we • , the Leek engine after our inspec- could watch proceedings in com
mounted on the bulkhead, also . -------- - ^ (•• .
mUUlHcU UU lic •
.. «• •• • ....
fort. , ' The accommodation part of the
boat, lined out and fitted by Geoff, will sleep four people comfortably. It comprises a front bedroom with double bed; a bathroom with full- sized shower unit and toilet. The saloon has a double sofa bed, LCD TV and central heating. The galley area is fully fitted with sink unit, four-ring gas cooker and fridge. Geoff had been acutely aware that many projects of this magni tude stumble and fall due to trying
to complet m on a pare nme •
tion. There were two very good rea sons
for.this cautioned Geoff, the first being the obvious one that the sheer power generated made i t almost impossible to stop the engine turning over - meaning if you stuck your finger in there, it would also take your arm too! Philosophy
4-Tirrt ^TQrrr fTAnn The second practical reason was to complet teh tehem on a part time umeaujusuu, .uu.uw
that the guard also prevented lubri cating oil being thrown out on to the deck. Geoff’s philosophy here is that it is wiser to keep the engine well lubricated rather than spend time adjusting the flow exactly and
basis over several years. Being self- employed he managed to shuffle around his work commitments to work solely on the boat for three months to get it into shape. “In fact,” says Geoff, “the unoffi
cial name for the boat is Don’t Ask, because when the wife asks where I ’m going at the weekend I say
Don’t Ask!” As we got up a head of steam,
Geoff prepared for our trial run by bolting back all the safety covers on
Clitheroe
422324 (Editorial), 422323 (Advertising), Burnley 422331 (Classified), .^ otors to da y .co .uk
hillendale.co.uk
Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, May 15th, 2008 45 SUSTAINABILITY FACTS...
Wk
run the risk of it seizing - a far more expensive option than a drum of oil. Casting off, Geoff explained that the two tractor seats mounted on the stern were an addition to . appease his wife. Sue, who original- ly did not like the traditional style ; of the stern as there was a lack of comfortable space to sit and watch
. ;
the world go by. As we came to our first bridge
hole, Geoff went in to his well- rehearsed routine to fold down the six-foot funnel. ’ This is something he always remembers to do since an experi ence he had in the Foulridge Tunnel when the boat suddenly started to ; go down in the water. He had for gotten to fold down the funnel and instead of collapsing as the head clearance decreased, it kept pushing the boat lower and lower in the
water.
• Coming back up on to the stern deck after stoking the boiler Geoff recalled how firing up was a matter of trial and error in the early days. At one stage he thought a boiler twice the size was needed until he was shown the correct way to fire it. Now he is dedicated to gaining maximum^ efficiency from the boil er, and recommends the Polish coal he is using, but he is licking his lips at the news of some Welsh coal that might be coming on to the market. This may or may not be an obses sion, but the fact his mother bought him a ton of coal for Christmas gives some indication. “In truth she didn’t know what
to buy me,” said Geoff, “so that’s what I suggested. I was well pleased, but the missus wasn’t so keen when I told her half of it was her share of the Christmas pres
ent!” Whistle Down the Wind is based
a t a secure mooring at Knot t ’s Bridge, Hapton on the Leeds Liver pool canal and is only 18 miles from Skipton. Geoff is now at a stage with the boat that he is offering it out for hire for up to four people at a time and it is certainly a trip ivith a difference for steam enthusiasts. The steam boat hire will cost £300 per day, but includes the services of Geoff while it is in steam for insur ance purposes. For further informa tion visit:
www.steamwhistledown-
thewind.co.uk ^ Full steam ahead forBank Holiday village fair U '.
THERE will be plenty of steam in Chipping over the Whit Bank Holi day weekend. ■ The 10th Chipping Steam Fair is
- The entertainment starts at noon^ on Saturday when the show will be
due to take place on May 24th 7-. 26th at the Green Lane Show- ground, Chipping, and this year’s . event promises to be the biggest = and best yet.
• officially opened by Steam Fair president Mr John Weld-Blundell and the Mayor and Mayoress of Kibble Valley, Councillor John Hill and Mrs Hill. On the field will be 14 -full-size steam engines plus a fur-:
j 'th e rl4 miniature engines, including, '•' two steam organs and a steam-powr,-
ered car. Among the entries will be a 1917 Fowler Showman’s Engine and a 1932 DS4 Steam BV Sentinel.. Leyland Society of Model E n g i- : neers will be offering rides on their,: miniature steam engines. The star attraction in the mili
tary section will be the first appear ance of a Chieftain Mk II main bat tle tank. There will be another nine armoured and tracked vehicles in a
• total entry of 30 on the theme of the British Army on the Rhine. There
will.be large classic car,:
motor bike and commercial sec tions. Highlights in the commercial
• section are the Bowker Transport exhibits including a rare 1 9^ Thor- ineycroft.
• in mt -T tI.. J-N The Honda Goldwing Club is PlnK ic qIiAmM nmVlHp lotS tO dO. Whlle th© I
attending again with a superb col lection of machines. There will also be a full array of classic British
. bikes from the 1940s onwards. Cla^ sic cars, and in particular Morris Marinas, will feature alongside a car built for Practical Classic Car magazine.
" - With tractors, auto and tractor ■ jumble stands, vintage engines and classic plant, there is something for everyone mechanically minded., ■
• • • The Poulton Dog Agility Display ' Team and the the Sutcliffe School of Dance will be entertaining the - crowds in the main arena.
- 'A'craft tent and'helicopter^ri f over Forest of Bowland countryside.
should provide lots to do, while the Mary Whelan School of Trish Dancers, magician Alan Bailey along with Punch and Judy and folk trio Flick of the Wrist w i l l , appear in the refreshment tent., The ‘Sentinel’ steam passenger ,
•. •
bus will be running return trips : from the show field to Chipping vil-< lage. Over the past nine years, £40,000 has been passed on to wor thy causes including the memorial hall, multi-use games area, chil dren’s playground. Community Children’s Alliance, Scouts, Cubs and Brownies. ■ •Thotograph.taken at last year's,, steam fair courtesy of David Jacks.:
( s ) ‘. • r~ 77’/ . i
Hillendale Ford is
option, pl plus ai anl BALI a C.u 1 1 ./ VI VIC
handling. : There’s a eco-friendly diesel
E op io i
ORD’S Focus now has sharper looks inside and out to match its sharper
By JONATHAN CROUCH
enough to house a 1.5-litre bot
unit. What hasn’t changed is top cubby and class-leading lug- the great packaging and gagespace. rewarding driving dynamics. Add up all the points when it comes to buying a family hatch back and it’s hard to escape the conclusion that a Ford Focus
extra 2 0TDCiV tle, a sunglasses holder, a dash- - ----- Benefiting from Ford’s ‘kinet-. n i ro iu ruu .mavc. moiuv.,
ic design’ approach to styling, the latest Focus takes its inspi- ■ ration from its Mondeo stable- mate. Inside, the more upmar-
....... ..........
might well be your best bet. For ' ket aura continues. Nicer soft- Ford,'the problem is that most touch plastics now cover the potential buyers don’t add up all the points. They’re swayed by rivals that are better looking, have higher-tech engines, offer more equipment or record more frugal fuel figures in some vari ants. All of which, when added to the fact that the MK2 Foc^ has become a rather over-famil iar face since its launch here in 2005, has been costing Ford more sales than it would like. Its response is a better-looking, bet ter equipped, higher-tech and more frugal Focus. Yet one that keeps all the good things com mon to the original. If driving dynamics are all you care about.
U y i I c l IX lU : 6 < U c c lU , y u u c < u c a u u u i / ,
instrument panel as well as the upper front door trim and this is complemented by plusher seat fabrics plus a variety of more attractive fascia finishings. The compact control-blade
rear suspension helps the five- door hatchback model achieve a hefty 385-litre carrying capaci ty, as the load bay is completely flat and unencumbered by sus pension intrusion. In the Estate version, there’s 475 cubic iitres of load space with the 60/40 rear bench in place, but drop the seats and there’s a cavernous 1525 litres, making the Focus a good deal bigger than many
this is stiil the very first car ' executive class estate cars, with which you should begin ' Prices sit in pretty much the
your search for a family hatch- same £12,000 to £20,000 span back. The everyday mundanity as you’d expect, spread across of the Focus often obscures ' three and five-door hatchback,
quite what an incredible car it a four-door saloon, an estate is. That and the fact that we and a Coupc^Cabriolet version with its fashionable metal fold
take this sort of competence for granted. Get underneath the Focus and you’ll find a more advanced suspension system than that of a Porsche 911. Ford of Europe ploughed an enormous investment into the original Focus and the MK2 model continues to live off the benefits, even though many rivals have clawed back much of the ground they lost to this car in this respect in the early years of this century. The suspension system is much the same as that ubuu III luu lyyo iiiuuui miu wiu
lessons learned in packaging are available in llObhp as well as sed in the 1998 model and the
still as relevant as ever. This ■ 136bhp guises. subJiajo handling competency . . Equipment features run to •nuB^you can get the most
in-.Siiriostpfj 'yh^t you would now
term’s of enjoyment frorh any of expect.on a car of this typ®
the given engines on offer. In terms of drivirig^omfort,v‘7:tioning,r,ABS etc) but there are v
there are soJterrridihg riyalsS ,,'somfejvice extra touches, in , certairily, but-ybu’d'be less^ikely^'addition to a moyable armre to want to fie in ofie of .them on^and a four-litri^pacity storage,, a twisting'B-Road? Conlfbrt4& ".compartment, there are storage
aiso;hbouroh-w§Aov^%lf ience Coo, ^'Foril has
integral-uor.the facility^to add f.?’: inciiifiinir a ainve box bic bnx.
ed a number ofrprahficalaspects'fjtems such as a 230 volt sockgt.^ from theiGMAX:ininiMP.V.;'
or.the..USB audio cpnnectiom
,
ing roof. Engine-wise, petrol buyers
have the old 78bhp 1.4 and 98bhp 1.6-litre units at the foot of the range. If you need to go faster, there’s a 123bhp 1.8-litre option, a 143bhp 2.0-litre petrol unit and the 220bhp 2.5-litre powerplant found in the ST models. For diesel buyers,- there’s an entry-level lOSbhp 1.6-litre TD Ci, while above this unit sits the highly acclaimed 2.0-litre TDCi diesel that Ford developed with Peugeot, now
- - .
Woman’s View
Haul to Ignore
:,TheBMW ^ 1 Senes
\ Opening T im e s ' '•- J t ? MofKlay-FfltJay;...- ,.8,30am-7.00pm- ■ • L'Saturday 9am-Spm ;
^'-Sundayllam^Spm' -'iT vi>Driving Machine The Ullanate
BM W IS e r ie s 1 161 Editio n S p o r t 3 -d o p r
BMW Select finance example The New BMW 116i Edition Sport 3-door
34 monthly On the road payments",
£195.00
; cash price’ £17,005.00
Customer : • . ■ Deposit
Total : ^ • First monthly' Amount Deposit
£5,367.60 ’ £320.00 ac]
Dealer Deposit Contribution
£2,995.00 . . £2,372.60 Contract.
- payment • v/; oferedit.- ; / mileage £11,637.40 18,000
Excess mileage Optional final I Totalamount; charge (pcrm
' Choice of Colours • Sensatec Trim f ' Air Conditioning • Alloy Wheels • 6 Speed Manual ' CD player • Alarm • Immobiliser
. . ■ Official fuel economy figures for the BMW range; . , , 7
Extra Urban 70.6-26.4 mpg (4.0-10.71/100km). Urban 52:3-12.4 mpg (5.4-22.71/100km); Combined 62.8-18.6^ ■ mpg (4-5-15.2 1/100km). CO^ emissions 1 '19-366 g/km.
- 'Lloyd End of M65,’CrdwniWay,;Colne, Lancs,
H i„i 2.73p
; payment ^ • payable . .. £7,111.04 £19,428.64
Car to be delivered by the 30lh April 2008. ••Rnance example is based on a 36 month BMW Select agreement for the model shown; a BMW 116i Edition Sport 3-door. tO n the road pnee includes 3 year ■ BMW Dealer Warranty, BMW Emergency Service, 12 months road fund license, vehicle first registration
^ fee, deltvery, number plates and VAT. Rgures are correct at bme o f going lo press and are subject to ^ change without notice. All finance is subject to status and available to over 18s in the UK only (excluding the Channel Islands) Guarantees and indemnities may be required. We can arrange finance and hinng
facilities for you. . • . ^ . . v ■. . Typical 9.0% APR bfic L-'.l'ij t o o u . ihli mifh f n ; ! i eu;u. / ..hdi)) ■' 'jeiepheine: P'1282 720742'After; Hours: 07843266912 • - il-j.-.v;, -1;. :'-.Ti:'i m «
Lomeshaye Business Park, Nelson, Lancashire BB9 6LL (M65 June 12], BB9 6LL - Tel: 01282 723731 •
www.hillendale.co.uk
. rOK.,ln,K rlKII-.,Vmiles,please v is
itwww.landrover.co.uk/sustalnabillty . 45,000 HILSS ; fo r fu r th e r Information. -
• ^ n
23% of Range Rover customers go
off-road at least once a month
THE CAH WITH FAMILY VALUES
'A l l UK Land Rover vehicles from 2007 model year Include
B p s E X , = as sUndard the CO, Offse t Package which Is based on offsetting the CO, produced by a vehicle over 45,000 .
GO BEYOND
^ M S ID E ^ in
m m
A Vectra victoiy
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23
