We rolled out of Haltwhistle noting a distinct fall in temperature! As a man with drawers, in York, full of cycling kit for all the seasons I was rueful that I had believed the weather forecast. It advised that the week would get warmer rather than cooler and so hadn’t packed some leggings, a heavier cycling jacket, a long sleeve jersey and a buff. However, the granny wheel action got some blood pumping as our route abandoned the lower part of the valley near the Tyne and an ascent began up to Vindolanda. It was just before 9:30am when we got close to the museum with lots of time to spare and so I suggested Plan B – ‘let’s go up to the actual Wall’.
Cycling up the B6318, the former Roman military road below the Wall, we headed east to Housesteads Fort. On this roller coaster of a road we endured the chilly easterly headwind. On arrival at the Fort car park it was busy with a large group of walkers who sounded like they were either Dutch, Belgian Flemish or Welsh (with heavy colds). Climbing up to the Wall we set foot on the path and took some photos.
Practising to be a fierce guard on the Wall (fail)On the Wall
I regaled John about my last visit here where leading some walkers I had the responsibility for a very elderly but determined lady who despite my request that she forsook the walk in the heavy rain and slippery conditions added to my concern by telling me that she’d had a replacement knee and shoulder. I let her walk this brief section before slipping down to the lower path yet I still wondered how long the Air Ambulance would take to get from Newcastle or Carlisle. After this we visited The Sill. This is a youth hostel with a very nice café. Fortified we headed up to Vindolanda.
This is ‘one I took earlier’ of a model of the fort layout. Now mysteriously not there now as you enter the site
This Fort and its subsequent small settlement had predated the Wall. The settlement was outside the Fort Walls and this is where the British lived and provided services, food etc for the Romans. Over the centuries Vindolanda had had nine separate forts. Four had been timber and the other five stone. When a Roman cohort left they broke down the fort. The next set of Romans built a new fort. It is this destruction that led to several foundations being compacted in wet ground. This wet ground preserved the artifacts that tell the story of the Fort over the 450 years of its occupation. The current custodians are very concerned that climate warming as it’s drying out the ground and probably destroying/damaging anything that is currently preserved in the ground.
Paddy gave a chilly tour of the site before we dived inside for something hot to eat. The museum itself is equally as fascinating and shows many of the artefacts.
Paddy, a retired accountant from Carlisle, in full flight
The weather had slightly warmed and we remounted for the cycle into Hexham. Most of this was delightful and the path took us beside the railway and Tyne before we ended up in the centre and our hotel.
To celebrate the Roman connection we had a pizza and then took a stroll around the town.
John waiting for a StradivariusEvening bowls
On a bright and clear evening this was delightful as we were invited to take up bowls! We declined and continued through the park before ending up at a violin repair shop. Here a lady told us all about the surprising skill set of the owner of the shop strangely located here in the sticks. Our next stop was for a beer that turned out to only be a half as the fire alarm went off!
If there are any pleasures to be found in a Carlisle city centre hotel then breakfast was one. Normally it crosses your mind that having the equivalent of a ‘heart attack on a plate’ is bad despite your saintly consumption of cereal with skimmed milk as a starter. However on a cycling ride you can console yourself that you’ll probably burn it all off later. On seeing the selection of cereals John and I reminisced on our school days. The cereals we got always came in these little Kellogg boxes and I can well remember that it was a ‘red letter day’ if you managed to get Coco Pops. (If you think about products that don’t change over decades then many foodstuffs are in this category.)
We emerged into the Carlisle rush hour from our hotel. but soon dived off the main road onto cycle paths. This is usually a traffic free experience but the path doubled up as a pedestrian path knee deep in school children ambling along, with their heads buried in their mobiles, to school. Despite the temptation to lay waste these barely sentient obstacles I dinged away on my bell to warn of our presence. As we nearly cleared the throngs of shuffling teenagers one bright specimen piped up to our backs that “bikes aren’t allowed on these paths!” Clearly the painting of large white bicycles on the path might have provided a clue I thought.
(The white square on my sunglasses is a rear view mirror)
As we cleared the city we were into the countryside. The traffic was light but the roads had started to go up and we climbed up several country lanes to arrive in Brampton. This market town seemed to be teeming. A coffee break ensued along with the surreptitious consumption of the remaining chocolate covered custard creams after the coffee had been delivered to our table. John was delegated with the procurement of sandwiches and I with crisps. John sadly failed as my cheese and tomato sandwich turned out to be the saddest abuse of sliced white bread, tomato and cheese I had experienced in many years. I absorbed the blow. Unluckily, for them, two American tourists from Portland, Oregon sat next to us at the cafe and establishing their home I felt compelled to tell them about the legendary Bob Sanders pedalling across the USA. Weirdly this conversation took place as a passing dog vomited in front of them. How they’ll treasure these encounters…
Anyway, refreshed we pedalled on into the real wilds and found that the road did start to climb seriously upwards. However as we started to live on the granny gears we stopped at Lanercost Priory. This is a delightful site with a Priory ruin and church. Inevitably Henry VIII shut the priory and sold off the building to a rich pal. What remains is still interesting.
Lanercost Priory (English Heritage)
Shortly after leaving we came across the Wall: our first actual sighting of the remnants. The first 30 miles was always earth, turf and timber.
The stone Walll starts at Banks
Sadly, It seems that it is only the last 150 years or so that the Wall has been properly respected and preserved. Over the centuries the stone in the Wall was taken for many local uses and I imagine there will be most farms that have a building or wall that was built from this Roman largesse. The Wall took six years to build and at one time 15,000 men worked on it. The stone mainly came from local quarries. The Wall was 3 metres thick and 4.2 metres high. Along the Wall were 80 milecastles that housed soldiers and gateways for the movement of people and livestock. (A Roman mile was slightly less than the mile we know.)
The ditch in front was called a vallum. Needless to say the structure must have appeared impenetrable
After the climb out of Banks we plateaued and came to rest at Birdoswald Fort. This was the most westerly Fort. To be frank the most impressive feature was the set of graphics and models inside the Visitor Centre. The other interesting thing about the remains was the high location and its imperious views of the surrounding countryside. On asking the staff why it was called Birdoswald they admitted they or no one else knew? A strong suspicion is that this name was latterly given to the Fort and it was called Banna before this.
Some serious climbing was necessary to get to the Roman Army Museum. The last hill before we got there was steep enough to be a ski jump slope and before my heart leapt out of my chest I dismounted and pushed before resuming the ascent. This museum goes into the life of Emperor Hadrian and covers the life of the troops who were deployed on the Wall and how they went about their training and responsibilities.
After all this culture it was time to descend into Haltwhistle where we were billeted in a pub on the main drag. In discussing dinner options with the Receptionist she said that Tuesday was tapas night across the road at a hotel. That sounded brilliant and after a shower and a pint in the fading sunshine at a nearby pub we further toasted our day with a glass of vino over our patatas bravas, chorizo and other plates.
They were inordinately proud of this award!The day’s ride. 30 miles and 2,074 feet climbing
Whilst our return flights were booked we hadn’t decided where we’d go after Corpus Christi prior to arriving in Texas. However, Anna had done some research in Austin and Fredericksburg in the Hill Country had come up as a great destination. Hill Country is the name for the area above Austin where the flatlands finish and rolling hills take over. After the fearful city centre concrete motorways the reversion to an A road that had bends, traffic lights and the odd brow of a hill had appeal.
You can see the miles we were covering and the places. Corpus Christi to Fredericksburg is 215 miles
Anna had also knocked it out of the park with a terrific Airbnb near the centre of the town. From the point of view of design and appointment it was the finest we’ve ever stayed in.
Always on social media…
On our first night we wandered up the Main Street; I liked the signage and cars we saw.
(Not if hell froze over)Yup, people buy these and drive them
On our walk we discovered two things. The first was that the town had a German heritage from its earliest settlers (Native Americans to one side who’d been there centuries, obvs.) in 1846. The second was that the town was the birth place of Admiral Nimitz. He went onto be Commander In Chief of the Pacific War effort after the USA was dragged into WW2 after Pearl Harbor.
You see, I jest you not. The Pioneer Museum had a barbed wire displayAdmiral Chester W Nimitz
The town was quite an upmarket settlement with a thick veneer of affluence. Not all this was positive as when I got talking to a bike shop owner she lamented getting staff who could afford to live in the area was difficult. This seems a common problem in parts of England as well. Anna quite fancied sitting and relaxing but I always have the view that we’ve come a long way and we should get out and about. So the Pacific War Museum was visited, err… by myself! I had no idea there was a museum before we came but it seems their illustrious son, Nimitz, had led to a museum being sited here. It was like a tardis where from the Main Street a relatively small building didn’t reveal that in fact there was a massive museum with exhibits including a mini submarine, several aeroplanes and a boat etc. that illustrated the Pacific campaign against the Japanese.
A PT boat that launched torpedos at Japanese shipping
The graphics also told a comprehensive story of the rise of Japanese hegemony in the region and the strains in the area from earlier centuries between China, Korea and Japan that led to the Japanese expansionist ambitions. I never quite appreciated that Roosevelt made the choice to put military resource into Europe first to defeat the Nazis before turning to the Pacific with the resources that eventually won the war.
Anyway three hours later I emerged a wiser man. When Anna did, herself the next day, deign to continue her education we found a Pioneer Museum that told the story of German migration, starting in 1846, to this part of Texas. The German language was still spoken here until the mid 20th Century but what seems to remain now are the restaurants, museums, surnames and an immense pride. Particularly interesting was that two of the volunteers at the museums were of German immigrant ancestry and rabbited away under questioning. I think if you’ve spent time with white Americans their European heritage is important to them for their identity (and tourism in Europe!) This is probably less so for other American ethnic groups.
You get the impression that the Texans make a concession with a few recycling bins for the woke and delusional. Us in other words. Here Mrs Ives is saving the planet.Spot the spelling mistake…
Frankly on our long drive around the State we saw few African Americans. Latinos were in great numbers in the large urban areas but in places like Fredericksburg you might only see Latinos working in construction or gardening. Other ethnicities in the State, whether, say, Asian or Chinese, were as common as blokes from Acaster Malbis.
‘Merica at its most Right Wing and direct
Lastly, always be suspicious of a country song. There’s a very pre-eminent artist called Miranda Lambert. Her last LP was called Postcards from Texas. I already had the album download but managed to buy the vinyl for $8 in San Antonio. A complete steal. It has a track on it called Looking Back on Luckenbach. Well blow me if that wasn’t a small town near Fredericksburg. Interested to see the town that spawned the song we saddled up and headed out to look around. We drove along a country lane and somehow missed the town despite earlier signage? Ultimately we came across about six elderly wooden buildings and a field that turned out to be a music venue where minor or aspiring country artists might appear on a low stage. Crushed we headed back to Fredericksburg with a story if not a visited landmark.
My first full time job was at a factory in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire where I joined as a graduate trainee. It was a steep learning curve going from a happy go lucky student to a salaried employee. Relatively recently I’d found a page on Facebook talking about the company, Aveling Marshall. Sadly, the company is long shut and the factory in Gainsborough is now a shopping precinct! No doubt the size and reach of the global construction and agricultural manufacturers was always going to see off a little player. In following the Facebook page I got into a conversation with the author/administrator (Ian Palmer). He asked if I’d write up my time there for a quarterly magazine he published. See below.
To make this remotely interesting for the readers of the magazine I’ve peppered it with the names of staff I worked with. Unfortunately I never did get to know the names of the two strippers…
“When Ian asked me to write about my time at Marshalls I really hadn’t thought a great deal, for 46 years, about those two years at the Britannia Works, I now realise how much that time was integral to my growing up and an early education in business. I graduated from Manchester Polytechnic in the summer of 1976, at the tender age of 21, I had no idea what I’d do but my then graduate girlfriend signed up with a recruitment agency; so I did! They found the opportunity with Aveling Marshall and I trundled down to Gainsborough to meet the Training Manager, Peter Watkins. All I knew was that they were part of Leyland Special Products. This group contained the makers of refrigeration, military personnel carriers, dump and fork lift trucks and construction equipment. He asked if I was interested in Finance or Purchasing? With little thought but aware I’d taken three attempts to pass O Level Mathematics I plumped for the latter! From here I had a second successful interview with the Purchasing Director, John Walker and on October 4 (after a telegram advising of my successful application) I turned up for work on the princely sum of £2,512 pa.
The product portfolio was the Challenger, road rollers and Track Marshalls AM 100 and 105 although new products were coming. Overall in the Purchasing Department I had three jobs: Purchase Analyst, Buyer and Senior Buyer. My recollections of the first job were the pricing up of many pages of A3 size Bills of Materials. These Bills related to machines being transferred from Aveling Barford, namely the articulated wheel loaders/shovels. The hundreds of sheets bore down into exceptional detail and I well remember pricing thousands of fasteners! Doing this today with a laptop and spreadsheet would have been easy and relatively fast. With a biro and Tippex I just about got there although I’m sure the accuracy of all these manual entries would have been dubious. Not all the time was spent in the office I had a couple of several week blocks away at a college in St Helens doing a qualification in Purchasing. I must thank Aveling Marshall for a post graduate qualification from the Institute of Purchasing & Supply.
A Track Marshall crawler tractor
Shortly after I joined a Purchasing Manager was recruited, David Forman. David loved a document and I well remember his spending what seemed weeks designing dedicated Kalamazoo cards that kept all the detail about components on them. These were stored in a special filing cabinets. I think the administrative staff in the department kept them up to date. This must have been either Pearl, Shirley or Sandra. I’m still in touch with Sandra today who is a proud grandmother who still lives local to Gainsborough. When we worked together we’d have been amazed to envisage ourselves now as grandparents! I was sat next to Lennie Auckland. Lennie was in his sixties and was a kind and helpful guy who was fiercely proud of the town and drove a three speed Ford Popular. This car seemed ancient even then! I had been given a Triumph Herald by my parents a few years earlier but using the Leyland car discount I bought a Triumph Spitfire. I’m not sure how I found the money: no doubt a lot of debt.
Other staff included David May, Steve Tonks, Dyer who delighted in answering the phone with “Dyer here”, Cameron, a Scotsman, who could have three lit cigarettes on the go as he moved around the office from desk, to filing cabinets to other offices, Neil, a Jehovah’s witness and Alan who looked after non-production purchases.
The tractors are still common on the beaches of Norfolk taking and retrieving fishing boats out of the sea. I snapped this on a holiday.
It was an era of high inflation and suppliers sought regular uplifts. In line with the Government’s Price and Incomes Policy there was a lot of bureaucracy and justification sought. (Frankly, ask a supplier to justify an increase then they can!) However, I remember being sat in John Walker’s office as he often put suppliers to the sword trying to get the increases reduced. Also, in John’s office Cathy would appear with a memo from her boss the Managing Director, Fred Clem. All Fred’s memos were on green stationary. He was an elusive figure but I well recollect a dinner where he posed all the graduates the question ‘if you had one component in stock and you had a request from a customer via the Spares/Parts department for it or you could fit it to a new tractor and sell that unit what should you do?’ The correct answer, in an industry that depended on service and equipment to work 16 hours a day, was to sell it as spares.
As I got used to turning up for work five days a week I also got used to wearing a suit and tie. I recollect trying to make the same shirt last three days before I might disappear back to Leeds for my mother to do the laundry. Eventually I moved from week day digs in Torksey to a flat in Gainsborough where I moved in with Mike Gordon, another graduate recruit. This Scot joined as a Profit Analyst. He ruefully commented, after several months, that a better title would have been Loss Analyst! The week nights seem to have been spent listening to vinyl at the top of this two storey abode and I think I wore out Boston’s first album along with Peter Gabriel’s first solo album. However, the weekends could see us drive to the metropolis that was Retford to a disco. Alternatively, it could be a trip to Cleethorpes to see The Stranglers. It was the height of punk rock and I still have all my Sex Pistols 45’s. Sunday morning saw me often donning a white shirt and any other kit and striding out to play for the mighty Real Aveling football team. I only scored once from full back and I think I can remember the exact move and how I stroked it under the ‘keeper. Clearly I never scored many goals! If that was memorable so was the night at the Social Club when two strippers were on the bill. It just seems inconceivable that today a company venue would be used for such entertainment!
‘The Indestructible caterpillar returns’ – a poster I took when I left and had mounted.
After a couple of years I became restless and started to look for a move away. I wrote to Ford Tractor Operations in Basildon to join as a buyer and was successful and departed to Essex. I eventually left Ford to study for a Master in Business in Administration full time at the University of Bradford. I didn’t return to Ford but took a job as a Purchasing Manager at a furniture manufacturer in Yorkshire. I spent 23 years here rising to be a director and moving eventually into sales, marketing and then running their nationwide cabinet installation. The company had sales in excess of £100m and was the subsidiary of an American company. Today I’m very much retired and apart from family responsibilities I like to spend time riding my bike whether in the Yorkshire Wolds, across the USA, around Australia or all over Europe.
Wonderful memories. Thank you, Ian, for this trip down memory lane.”
Tony Ives’ Blog 