English camping,the early years,we start with a ridge tent

This was about 1955 or so,we have the tent and just about nothing else,no money for sure,the car we used to travel in was my grandads,tents and other gear were ex army and from the Army & Navy stores,what a mind boggling place to wander around in,being ex defence force gear,it was all good quality.

The Ford behind was not ours,we had the loan of black Morris Oxford.Thats my mother in the picture.

Photo by RH McBride and its a self portrait too,click on the picture and see my dad in that mirror at the back of the tent awning! The picture is now around 56 years old,I wonder did my dad ever know he was in the frame?

Wylo a boat belonging to Frank Wightman

Frank was way before my time,his claim to fame was to drop out long before dropping out was fashionable,Frank did this on a very simple boat called Wylo,the original one is still in existance,its here in Hout Bay,a chap called Henry owns it,this is an extract from the TBA magazine:

Frank Wightman’s classics “The Wind is free” (1949?), and “Wylo Sails Again”, are in the National Library. Frank spent 20 years working alone in far-flung telegraph offices in order to spend the next 20 living as a recluse aboard “Wylo” at Kraal Bay, Saldanha. Lawrence Green’s last, evocative book “A Giant in Hiding” about Frank is a masterpiece. Such books will become Africana. Amazingly, “Wylo” has been found and is undergoing restoration in Hout Bay.

me again,

Wylo as a design was recognised as the classic it is,it may have a constuction design similar to Slocums boat,Spray,basically wide flat planks held together to keep the water out,its a simple single chined hull,yes its a box,nothing more really,just a lift each end,then we can call it a boat.

Then along comes Nick Skeates,he builds one too,he also calls it Wylo off
Nick sails,only to loose it on a reef on some pacific ocean island,Nick being who he is,decides to strip the boat,then build another but in steel, so along comes Wylo 2 but its really Wylo 3 if you follow? Here is a picture of it on the Hout Bay Yacht Clubs marina.Did I hear that Nick is on his fifth circumnavigation? I asked Nick if he was interested in a CKD kit to his design,he was far too busy and told me he has a large pile of unanswered mail from others wanting to build his Wylo copies,I believe some yards have been doing so? We could easily 'Kit Set' this design,in a more correct wood/epoxy if Nelson will allow me to take off the original boats lines?

This came in May 5th 2011,thanks John for the update.


Hi Roy


I just read your blog about the restoration of Wylo, Frank Wightman's boat which he built as a copy of Harry Pidgeon's boat, Islander, which I believe was built from plans printed in a magazine, probably the Rudder, since it is very similar to Thomas Flemming Day's designs, who was one of the Rudder's editors.

I went aboard Frank's Wylo when she was in Simonstown years ago as I grew up there and am very familiar with the Cape Peninsula. I also have what is to my knowledge the only copy in existence of Frank Wightman's second book, My Way Leads Me Seaward. All other references to that book, covering his voyage from Trinidad to New York, where Wylo was loaded aboard the Morgenster for the return to Cape Town, refer to it by a different title. Sadly my copy of The Wind is Free was never returned from a loan, but we're all guilty of such transgressions and one can only hope that it's gone to inspire a few other wannabees.

By strange fate, I also know Nick Skeates. Your comment that it is easy to see where he took the ideas for his design from Frank's Wylo couldn't be further from the truth, however unwittingly. Even the name didn't come from here, but was instead derived from Nick's first long distance boat, already called Wylo when he bought her, that was wrecked half way around his first circumnavigation (accompanied by his wife), which lead to him designing and building the Wylo 2 which he has now in New Zealand before continuing on his voyage. The full width cabin was, around that time, a trademark of Maurice Griffith's designs, from which, along with the UK east coaster's addiction to shoal draft, Nick drew inspiration. Copied might be a underestimating Nick's input into the process, for however offhand and laidback he might appear to be when one first encounters him, don't be fooled since he is extremely intelligent and, having just set off into his fourth circumnavigation, has a better idea than most of just exactly what is required of both vessel and crew to voyage on a ridiculously small income. Would that we could alter time and be present at a meeting of Frank and Nick to hear them comparing notes. Strange how such similar reasons for going to sea can draw such apparently different men.

Sadly,although I've got as far as living aboard, I'm still stuck in the UK by, as usual, shortage of sufficient funds. Wish I had a useful skill, instead of being an IT idiot, that could get some small employment on the way.

Please don't take the above as criticism of your excellent and very interesting site, as it is very easy to reach the same conclusion as you did. It would be great if you could post some of the restoration photos on your site.

Regards

John Dickinson

My mail to Justin Philips who is doing a blog on SA yachts:

Hello Justin,
Its great when these mails come in and John is correct,and long before Nicks Wylo,the original Wylo being a square rigger as far as I remember,still the Wylo that Ian and Cathy had here,which was built from Nicks plans, sure looked very similar above the water line,thats where my own assumption came from.There are pictures of Ian and Cathy,also Nick on my blog.

The Wylo is South Africas oldest sailing boat and its still here in Hout Bay,the Maritime Museum wanted me to to get it from owner Henry Nelson for them but nothing ever came of that,its up the valley past Custom Feeds if you want to view it,yet another boat for your blog!

http://www.wylo.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=101

Regards

Roy

Henry gets ahead

Thats  no ordinary head either,its a Sunbeam Sport Wills Ringed and ported alloy cylinder head,due to be fitted to a 998cc Hillman Imp block.

We are finding out that at around 12 weeks old,Henry or pidgeon likes company,he will follow Jean about the garden as she does her work and when I am in the garage,fly in and check out what I am doing in the same way.

Not exactly a great idea when your fitting a brand new camshaft carrier (thanks Bob) which I sourced while back in the UK a while ago,the camshaft and followers were brand new already,so things are good in this department,Henry agrees.

The Hillman Imp cylinder head was just way ahead of the field on a small family car when it came out in May 1963,its easy to work on and when the shims are set up correctly,stays set for a very long while,no push rods to clatter about either.

Henry says,Ok Roy you can re fit the R20 race camshaft now?

The Arundel Castle Mailship

With so much stuff in the way of pictures and memorabilia lying around right now,I find this old postcard in a photo album,its a well known ship and looks very fast to me,did they do the Southampton to Cape Town run in eleven days?

Why we have the card still I have no idea,I also do not know who it was posted by or to whom,dated in Southampton (stamp removed) 30th of January 1958,it may just be a card given to me when I was stamp collecting?

Left click either image to view in a larger size,Fazakerly is just out side Liverpool City.

Roy and Chris on the old battery,Devils Peak (table mountain)

Cape Town was a very different place when this picture was taken,that me on the left and Chris Van Gass next to me,he was and still is a newpaper jounelist,last I heard he was an editor for Business Day and based here in Cape Town,with a B&B in the Agulas area.

Also around the 1969 date,the picture may have been a timed exposure? Not the lack of any container base as noted by a good friend Colin Hancock the other day.

We met Chris again,some 33 years later we had a reunion braai at our Hout Bay home,this is one of the pictures,dated 05 03 2003 its now some eight years back,time flies when we are having fun!

Ford Escort Mark one or two wanted

Ford Escort two door sedan wanted,either a mark one or mark two,must be sound body wise,paint and mechanicals accepted in any condition within reason.The car must have papers or be police cleared,no chopped up drag cars will be viewed.Cape Town area only or inclusive of delivery in the selling price to the cape.

The Mk 1 version.

Contact me on 021 790 3859 with details,

Ford Escort Mark I (1968–1974)Ford Escort Mark I


Production Jan 1968–Nov 1974

Assembly Halewood Body & Assembly, England

Saarlouis, Germany

Nazareth, Israel

Homebush, Australia

New Zealand

Taiwan (Ford Lio Ho, CKD)[1]

Genk, Belgium[2]

Body style 2-door saloon

4-door saloon

3-door estate

2-door panel van

Engine 939 cc Straight-4 OHV

1,098 cc Straight-4 OHV

1,298 cc Straight-4 OHV (1300 & GT),

1,558 cc Straight-4 (Twin Cam)

1,994 cc Straight-4 (RS2000)


1100 cc Straight-4 OHV

Wheelbase 94.5 in (2,400 mm)

Length 159.25 in (4,045 mm) (saloon)

160.8 in (4,084 mm) (estate)

Width 61.8 in (1,570 mm)

Height 58.5 in (1,486 mm)

Curb weight 1,690 lb (767 kg)

The Mark I Ford Escort was introduced in the United Kingdom at the end of 1967, making its show debut at Brussels Motor Show in January 1968.[3] It replaced the successful long running Anglia. The car was presented in continental Europe as a product of Ford's European operation. Escort production commenced at Halewood(Liverpool) in England during the closing months of 1967, and for left hand drive markets during the autumn/fall of 1968 at the Ford plant in Genk.[4] Initially the continental Escorts differed slightly from the UK built ones under the skin. The front suspension and steering gear were differently configured and the brakes were fitted with dual hydraulic circuits; also the wheels fitted on the Genk-built Escorts had wider rims

The Mk 2 Escort version.



Roy

The Twelve Apostles from Glen Beach

Taken late afternoon and about 1969,using slides which I have just scanned.

Left click the picture to view in a larger size,photo by Roy McBride

Henry takes to computers

Henry has writen some interesting words when he walks all over the PCs key board.

Henry now about ten weeks old

Hout Bays specialist shops

We need specialists,some in each field,one such place deals in electical supply,thats AC either domestic or commercial,I was fortunate a year or so back to walk in to Super Team electrical wholesalers and meet up with Philip behind the counter.

Freddie,Brian center and Philip to the right.

My needs were not straight forward,I was installing a 220 volt system in a yacht,I explained what I thought was required and Philip sorted out what was needed,wires,plugs,glands,distibution box and the breakers.Mainly ex stock but Super Team will normally do you a same day supply ex their own suppliers if you can wait untill the mid afternoon,as they have a delivery service and do collections daily,recomended!

The Super Team as it is today,Brian has recently come out of retirement to help out when his son re located.

Freddie,Philip and Brian

The team,best for good  service in Hout Bay contact them on 021 790-8724/8 or

philip@superteamcpt.co.za the address is 39 Victoria Road.

Hows Henry?

Henry is doing just fine,in fact very fine,he can now fly from tree to tree,down to the fence,then over the top of our double story house and to the back garden,all self taught , as neither Jean or I ever mastered the art of flying.

Henry today,cautiously free if he wants to be but at this time home is inside our house and flying through the front door still means home,we have cared for him about nine weeks now.

OK,Henry sometimes walks in,he got that from us maybe?

Roy

The Ever Ready Sky Leader LW/MW portable radio

This radio has been in the family some years,how many I had no idea untill I found the paper work for it.
It turns out to be some 51 years old and it still works!

Thats my mother on the left,the guy she is talking to is unknown to me.

My dad it seems may have  bought new old stock,that radio is dated as a 1957 model,check the link and scroll down the page.. (note,the dates do not match but this is the radio we have)

Ever Ready Sky Leader radio.

As ever I have checked up on the radio,from whats published that is a 1957 model radio,so sold as new old stock to my dad in 1960, the radio is now 54 years old!

Check this link,scroll down  http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Engineering/Electronics/EverReady/EverReady.htm

Roy

Left click to read the deposit slips,which are dated 1961,making the radio only 50 years old?

My folks kept all bills that were important,I have had a good sort out and have found some stunners,some date to 1947! This purchase receipt says the new radio was bought in  1960,so 51 years back,when it cost seven pounds seven shillings.

My cousin,the then Sandra Jennings,now Thornell and living in Durban since around 1966,Sandra often camped with us and there she is listening to the Ever Ready Sky Leader portable radio.

More on this classic radio.

One of the first all transistor portable radios to be built in the UK, the Ever Ready Sky Leader remained in production for several years. This late example in a blue rexine covered wooden case and brass trim was built in 1962 and comes complete with its original shoulder strap.

Country:  Great Britain (UK)	Manufacturer/Brand:  Ever Ready Co. (GB) Ltd.; London
Year: 1958	Type: Radio - or past WW2 tuner
Semiconductors (the count is only for transistors)	6: OC44 OC45 OC45 OC78D OC78 OC78

Principle	Super-Heterodyne (Super in general); IF-Freq 470 kHz; 2 AF stage(s)
Wave bands	Broadcast (MW) and Long Wave.
Power type and voltage	Dry Batteries / 9 Volt
Loudspeaker	Permanent Magnet Dynamic (PDyn) Loudspeaker (moving coil) / Ø 4 inch = 10.2 cm
from Radiomuseum.org	Model: Sky Leader
Material	Leather / canvas / plastic - over other material
Shape	Portable, e.g. Portable Radio (with or without mains > 8 inch).
Dimensions (WHD)	240 x 190 x 85 mm / 9.4 x 7.5 x 3.3 inch

 Dont you just want one too!

Roy

Our 1954 Morris Oxford

We used to borrow my grandads company Morris Oxford,his name was Fred Ford and he was my mothers dad,he was the CEOof the main Liverpool Morris agents,we used his car for special weekends and on main holidays,his was black.

When my grandad died from TB and related issues we ended up buying a similar car ourselves,it went everwhere and was generally reliable,my dad was ex army and very good with mechanicals anyway.

Another shot that I assume I took at a camp site in Llangwanadlle,North West Wales and right on the coast,this  was one of those days when the AA were needed,recomended!

Roy

Those Camping Club years

It was years too,all year while it was warm and often a January frost bite special site meeting at Loggerheads,North Wales, where heated showers and loos were made available by the local council at a local school close by.

Thats Linda,Roy McBride and John McKay posing for the shot taken by my dad, RH McBride

This picture taken by R McBride in 1968,thats his Sunbeam Stilletto parked next to his beige tent,the F in the registration plate signifies the 1968 year.

At another camp site,probably in Wales,which due to only the passage of the Mersey Tunnel out of the center of Liverppool City,then a half  hour drive through Cheshire,Wales was very accesable,we could be in the main town of Ruthin within an hour?

Camping fun,the way it was in 1964

This large black and white picture was taken by my dad at Garth,a campsite in North Wales,it was of National Feast of Lanterns holiday weekend and fancy dress was on the menue.

Picture taken,developed and printed by R H McBride

John and Shay French at the Camping Club of Great Britain & Irelands main Liverpool and North Wales section main event of the year.John who was a coal man (delivery) saw (i hope) his son Les, rise through the years to become the clubs Chairman,this was and still is a first,in that Les started as a CCY youth member of the club,rising to the top position in the club.

Roy

John and Shay were super folk,we really all loved them a great deal R.I.P.

Robert Henry McBride,photographer.

Introducing the man,my father, who has taken many of the pictures I have
used,Mr Robert Henry McBride.Dad started as an amature photographer,then moved to the Liverpool College of  Building where he ran their copy room and did what ever camera work they required.

He later took up a post at Liverpools St Pauls Eye Hospital where he was the Senior Photographer,a job which suited him and he stayed there untill he retired.

Dad standing next to our 1954 Morris Oxford,registration OKC 475,either myself or my mother took the picture? I would guess this was around 1963?

Roy