Month: September 2012

South Parade Pier At Risk


South Parade Pier’s owners face liquidation over unpaid energy bills. The danger is if the owners of the pier have to close it down due to lack of income then the real rot will set in. All the while the pier is in active use there is a chance for it to be maintained and refurbished. As soon as the usage declines then so does the state of repair.

Everyone knows that these structures are expensive to maintain due to the harsh, salty and damp environment that they are in. There must be an argument for Portsmouth City Council or even Hampshire County Council stepping in and providing some degree of subsidy to ensure that South Parade Pier doesn’t go the way of Hastings and Brighton piers.

Seaside piers are part of our heritage. Many have succumbed to extreme weather, arsonists and old age. We almost lost South Parade Pier a few years ago, no thanks to Ken Russel and his crew who were filming Tommy at the time. We don’t want that to happen again.

Its time for local government or even national government to step in.

South Parade Pier’s owners face liquidation over unpaid energy bills – Local Business – Portsmouth News.

Curzon Rooms Fire – It Was Only A Matter Of Time


Once again, and the second time in less than a month, The Curzon Rooms in Waterlooville have been the target of arsonists.

The Curzon Rooms building has been an eyesore for many years, slowly decomposing, while the owners and Havant Borough Council have played pat-a-cake around the planning regs. The generally poor condition of the building has not been a welcoming site for potential businesses who may have been tempted to come to Waterlooville.

Havant Borough Council have not made life easy for the owners of the Curzon Rooms otherwise the site would have been redeveloped many years ago. In the meantime Waterlooville Town Centre has slowly gone down hill while the council focus on creating a “retail park” style shopping centre on the west side of the town.

So what was already an eyesore has now become even more of one. It is time for HBC to get the building forcibly demolished.

Curzon Rooms fire, Waterlooville. Picture Malcolm Wells
Curzon Rooms fire, Waterlooville. Picture Malcolm Wells

Police probing ‘suspicious’ derelict Waterlooville building blaze hunt youths – Local – Portsmouth News.

Rough seas and tide put an end to plucky lady’s dream


Chris Pitman is one plucky lady. She attempted one of the most arduous challenges for anyone let alone a 61 year old.

But it wasn’t to be. Weather and tides conspired against her and she had to give up just 5 miles from the French coast.

Chris should be really proud of her acheivement and the money that she has raised for charity.

Rough seas and tide put an end to dream of Channel record – News – Portsmouth News.

Good Luck Chris


Yes, good luck to 61 year old Chris Pitman who is attempting to become the oldest British woman to swim across the English Channel.

Chris, from Bedhampton, started her attempt earlier this morning at around 03:15. Leaving from Dover she expects the crossing to take between 15 and 18 hours.

I wish her the best of luck.

Chris starts her swim across the Channel – News – Portsmouth News.

Go Team GB


Well done to Stef Reid and Sophie Kamlish who both achieved personal best in the T44 200m final.

Watching Ola Abidogun receive his Bronze for the T46 100m.

Waiting for David Weir &  Johnny Peacock.

Winning By A Mile


Omara Durand took gold in the Womens T13 100m final. Such a smooth runner and left the rest of the field for dust.

Listen to the roar – Look at the smile


Hannah Cockroft collecting her gold medal for the Womens 200 m

How Much ???


That was pretty much the response from my wife when the garage called to advise that her car had failed its MOT and, how much the repairs were going to cost.

The car is only eight years old has less than 30K  on the clock and does less than 3K a year. This really is the car with a lady owner that only drives it to the hair dressers once a week.

So, how much was this going to be ?

As the mechanic described it, worst case “If we have to replace both rear brake assemblies and the brake shoes too” then £300″. “Obviously if we find that any of the parts don’t need replacing then we won’t and the price will be reduced accordingly”

So all in all it’s not actually a bad price. Given how much garages charge these days we could be considered to have “gotten off lightly”. Still a bit of a shock when the car gets so little usage.

So now we are going through the usual “get rid of it”, “the MOT is more than the car is worth” gut reactions.

All pretty much un-warranted as this car really doesn’t owe us anything. It is a Ford Ka and as you would expect for a low mileage car it hasn’t let us down. In fact most of its woes are now down to age, rather than wear and tear, hence things like brakes (probably rubbers getting tired) and the last MOT we replaced track rod ends (probably the rubbers getting tired allowing dirt into the ball joints).

I don’t get to drive the Ka very often but when I do I always enjoy the experience. Given it’s size it handles much like a go-kart. That is it is very nippy and it goes where you point it. The steering is direct making it fun to take round corners.
So although we have a black cloud hanging over us right now I’m sure the sun will break though very  soon.

Update: 18:00

Good news from the garage. They didn’t have to replace any brake parts. Still charged us for the strip down, clean and adjust but the bill came in at £200.