Author Archives: Barrybloke
I saw a VW Beetle advertised at Tunbridge Wells for £250 and went to inspect it accompanied by Eric and Lee. When I saw this particular example I knew it was not for me. It was about the first Beetle I had seen which did not have glossy paintwork. I offered the owner £200 pounds […]
This was when I moved away from the VW badge, but stayed within the “family”. Lee and I were driving through Westerham one day and I suggested we should visit a garage, which had been well-known to us for decades. This was a former Volkswagen dealership, Wolfe Garage which had undergone a change of identity […]
It is now some time since I told you about our cars and the world is going through a recession. In order to lend assistance to the motoring section of the British economy, the government has introduced a car ‘scrappage scheme’. Under the terms of this scheme any car which is ten years old can […]
In January of this year I began to look around for a replacement for my 1999 SEAT Toledo, which, although still in excellent condition, had 83000 miles on the clock. I must also confess to feeling a little envious at watching Susan drive off each morning in her gorgeous Passat. I had wondered about a […]
About forty-four years after the end of my National Service, my son Lee passed on to me a Maidstone telephone directory which was surplus to requirements, having been replaced by a newer edition. I was idly looking through this one morning when I reached the surname Terry. This awakened my interest and I looked down […]
The summer of 2003 had not been a particularly happy time for me in terms of my health. Over the preceding three years I had been a frequent user of the local primary health care facilities, visiting the Health Centre and summoning the Doctor-on-call on numerous occasions. I experienced a variety of ills; palpitations, panic […]
Sometime over the weekend of 18-19 June 2005 I had a hint from Sarah that John was thinking of driving to Nordwalde, near Münster, in north-west Germany and that I might be invited to accompany him. A little background information is required here. John is building a ‘project’ car in his garage, at home in […]
One morning, a few weeks ago (August 2005) I was in the sitting room at home and Susan and Sarah were in other parts of the house. Our sitting room is at the back of the house with a full-width conservatory adjoining, which almost doubles the size of the room. This looks out onto a […]
Some years ago Lee, my elder son, took us on a day-trip to France, took us in the sense that he drove us in his car. We drove around to various well known sites from WW1, including the monument at Thiepval and Albert. Walking through a public garden in the latter town I spied a […]
A couple of years ago my wife, Susan and I drove to Maidstone Hospital where my daughter Sarah had an out-patient appointment. The hospital was undergoing building extension works and car parking was ‘difficult’. Having driven around the car park at the front of the hospital several times without finding a space I went to […]