2024 Rendezvous

[morninggents]

I think it was probably a European Championship round.
I seem to remember the excuse for the Fiat's opening the rear hatch was for cooling purposes but in fact it really was for better aero.

[morninggents]

I think it was probably a European Championship round in the late 60s.
I seem to remember the excuse for the Fiat's opening the rear hatch was for cooling purposes but in fact it really was for better aero.

I has a good day out at HSCC Donington Park yesterday. Only the second race meeting I've been to in 4 years.
Good racing in the Derek Bell race and the FF and FF2000 races with close finishes in all three. A good field of 35 cars in the combined Historic Saloons and Roadsports race too with plenty of place changes throughout the field and a scare at the start as an Elan in trouble off the line forced several others in to taking to the grass in avoidance. Very pleasant weather too.

Donington looked in good shape but a lot going on setting up for the Download festival next weekend. Loads and loads of tents, yurts, airstream caravans going up presumably to be rented out to festival goers. I expect the locals on here will be able to tell us all about it later.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

Just checked and the Willhire races were in the 80s . So still a long time ago and not sure which they were . But remember several Abarths running .

I think you are probably thinking of the European 500km race when three ran very quickly, I think from memory winning their class. I remember them sliding in echelon through Coram!

Happy Days, as someone once said.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

I think you are probably thinking of the European 500km race when three ran very quickly, I think from memory winning their class. I remember them sliding in echelon through Coram!

Happy Days, as someone once said.

You are probably right .
It was 40 odd years ago so details are not easy to remember .
But I did think it was an endurance race of several hours long , and could remember the little Fiats with relatively soft suspension and a lot of body roll but looking a bit odd with the boot lid up in the air .

[midgetman]

Here you go!

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[John Elwin]

There's dozens of Fiat-Abarth videos on You Tube, so here's one of them:

https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBUyCKOSnso

[delta]

That’s another track ticked off . The 500 guys are brilliant . I had a great couple of races . So now the long journey home but big smile .?

[midgetman]

It's so good that you smile after all these years. A true breath of fresh air in motor sport. Keep going, Iain!

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[andy97]

Originally Posted by morninggents

Donington looked in good shape but a lot going on setting up for the Download festival next weekend. Loads and loads of tents, yurts, airstream caravans going up presumably to be rented out to festival goers. I expect the locals on here will be able to tell us all about it later.

Not looking forward to the inevitable traffic grid lock.
Don’t care about the music but do object to the unofficial “DJ sets” every night in the camp sites until 2 in the morning, or similar.

The mess and throw away tents etc that is left behind is also galling when the media try to portray our youth as being largely environmentally responsible.

Surprised that JP still allows it TBH, as we know he is precious about his grass; must be a very good earner for the circuit.

[Tel 911S]

Been a bit quiet on here, so , just to wind Bauble up a bit , I thought I would return to the TITS and NUTS thing we had a little while ago .

Got a bird feeder in the garden and having a constant battle with squirrels .
At first they managed to jump from the fence to get on it . About a 6 foot leap .
So moved it a bit further away .
Then they managed to shin up the metal pole , so tried greasing it .Quite funny to watch , but after a few tries they wiped enough grease off to get up .
Then I tried putting a couple of plastic bottles on the pole . Worked for a while , but then , with a long run up and jump , they managed to get past them .
So now have 4 plastic bottles on the pole and often watch to see if they have any new ideas .
But it is amazing how they can think out new ways to get at the NUTS .

[Mike Harte]

What might work is boring a hole through the middle of a large round plastic mixing bowl, and secure it upside down on the pole quite near the feeder station.


However, squirrels are the most ingenious and infuriating little devils. Years ago, we found that a female had made a nest inside our loft having made a hole in the soffit whilst hanging upside down from the gutter. Once she and all the kits had left, a builder who was doing an extension for us at the time, repaired the soffit. This, however, incensed the mother who spent hours sitting on the fence near the exterior kitchen door screaming at the top of her voice even though we made sure that all the kits had gone, and inspecting all the wiring through the loft.

[grantp]

The squirrels, hedgehogs and most of the frogs we used to see regularly in the gardens around here have disappeared.

Also the foxes have become extremely rare visitors when once they appeared daily.

It's probably because the "village" boundary has moved about half a mile or more West with housing and even further out to the river and quarries with industrial development.

Still, no squirrel problems to deal with these days ... just 75k of temporary visitors and about another 5000 staff and construction teams for a week or two.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

What might work is boring a hole through the middle of a large round plastic mixing bowl, and secure it upside down on the pole quite near the feeder station.


However, squirrels are the most ingenious and infuriating little devils. Years ago, we found that a female had made a nest inside our loft having made a hole in the soffit whilst hanging upside down from the gutter. Once she and all the kits had left, a builder who was doing an extension for us at the time, repaired the soffit. This, however, incensed the mother who spent hours sitting on the fence near the exterior kitchen door screaming at the top of her voice even though we made sure that all the kits had gone, and inspecting all the wiring through the loft.

I have seen a plastic bowl type thing used on the bird feeders in the past .
But I do like to just make it a little bit harder each time , and see how long it takes for them to figure out how to get there again .
As you say , they are very ingenious little devils and sometimes very amusing .

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

I have seen a plastic bowl type thing used on the bird feeders in the past .
But I do like to just make it a little bit harder each time , and see how long it takes for them to figure out how to get there again .
As you say , they are very ingenious little devils and sometimes very amusing .

We've got a number of bird feeders in our garden and also have squirrels who visit us and devour the peanuts.
To be honest, we don't mind the squirrels, they're quite cute, it's the big fat aggressive bullying pigeons that get on our nerves, not just for their attitude to the smaller birds, the mess they make by barging into the feeders by barging into them making the contents spill out so they can eat them off the floor, plus the mess they make as a result of eating all of this bird food If you understand what I mean).
If anyone knows of an effective way of scaring away the pigeons without frightening the other birds I would be glad to know.

[Gerard C]

https://stock.adobe.com/fr/images/no...sign/502647576
Like you, I don't like the idea that consists in feeding a bird then find his droppings on the bonnet of my car!

[Mike Harte]

Viv, I have seen feeders that have the food container inside a frame that allows smaller birds, the robins, Tits, etc, to get to the food but the larger birds such as pigeons can't get through. I think that that is really the only answer, and one that I saw had a base between the food container and the external frame so that any spills were contained within the feeder.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

We've got a number of bird feeders in our garden and also have squirrels who visit us and devour the peanuts.
To be honest, we don't mind the squirrels, they're quite cute, it's the big fat aggressive bullying pigeons that get on our nerves, not just for their attitude to the smaller birds, the mess they make by barging into the feeders by barging into them making the contents spill out so they can eat them off the floor, plus the mess they make as a result of eating all of this bird food If you understand what I mean).
If anyone knows of an effective way of scaring away the pigeons without frightening the other birds I would be glad to know.

Like you , I get lots of birds coming into the feeders .Great Tits , [ there, I got that one in ,] Blue Tits , Blackbirds , Woodpeckers , Robins etc .
What I have done is to put another tray about 6 inches above the tray with the peanuts and stuff in , that does seem to have the effect of stopping the bigger birds , Woodpigeons , Magpies etc from landing there and taking all of the food .

[midgetman]

We stopped feeding birds when our elderly laissez-faire cats died and were replaced with two inquisitive kittens. It seemed unfair to invite them into the firing line...

No tits here just pussies, as Mrs Slocombe would have said.

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[chunterer]

Similar story here..
Squirrels (tree rat) and Pig-eons (air rat) gobble everything!
I find that the feeders are emptied in 2 days maximum!
I buy the beige sunflower seeds rather than a seed mix as most creatures love them. Also puy out a combo of fat balls, suet pellets and an interesting medley mix which contains all sorts of stuff. Bread crumbs is another winner.

Noticed a lot of youngsters so far this year which is encouraging. Gteat tits, Robins, Blackbirds, Greenfinches, Dunnocks, Sparrows, aforementioned air rats and there's also a Magpie mob that make a tremendous racket!!

[GORDON STREETER]

I have double trouble with my bird table !
https://www.facebook.com/10000537141...1501056909766/

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I have double trouble with my bird table !
https://www.facebook.com/10000537141...1501056909766/

'Content unavailable'
maybe check your permissions?

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

'Content unavailable'
maybe check your permissions?

I think I have sorted it
https://youtu.be/gG6527d7zkI

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by midgetman

No tits here just pussies

Good news.

[bauble]

Been a bit quiet on here, so , just to wind Bauble up a bit.

I heard that. Pardon? (for those who remember "I Didn't Know You Cared")

When my grandson was just a toddler, my wife and I used to collect him from his home, while Mum went to work, to keep him happy on he journey I bought a CD of nursey rhymes. His favourite track was; "Wind The Bobbin Up", a jolly rocking track, on one occasion while stopped at traffic lights, a chap pulled up alongside with his window open and playing some atrocious noise on his stereo, so I wound down my window and gave him a blast of Wind The Bobbin Up. So I do have previous.


As to squirrels, before we moved to our current accommodation we had plenty of wildlife in the garden, loved it.

[GORDON STREETER]

I went round to a mates place to fit a starter motor on his TD5 Land Rover, he showed me his tame Robin when we had a cuppa !
https://youtu.be/wdvrud4Xw7M
Also we have a family of woodpeckers in the garden and this is one of the young being fed.