Donald Sutherland plays a nazi agent in this 1981 film The Eye of the Needle. Knowing plans about D-Day he needs to report back to Berlin with a U-Boat meet-up off Scotland. Ending up on a remote “Storm Island” he takes up with a woman who is emotionally estranged from her husband who lost his legs in an automobile accident on their wedding day just as he was about to head off as a Spitfire pilot. As our protagonist is being pursued by Scotland Yard he commandeers a Velocette motorcycle to hare through the glens of Scotland. He ditches it in the sea after just crossing the Connel Bridge which crosses Loch Etive. The film was directed by Richard Marquand who went on to direct Return of the Jedi for George Lucas.
Fotheringhaye is a small hamlet a few miles west of Peterborough. It is an unassuming spot that was pivotal in the history of England. It was the birthplace of Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) who was the last king of the three Century long Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the battle of Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses between the Lancastrian and York Houses marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. Thus commencing the House of Tudor and the creation of ‘modern’ England. Fotheringhaye Castle was also where Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded, another key moment in the formation of a nation.
We’re binging the latest short series on Netflix this evening. All the light we cannot see. It stars Hugh Laurie as a French resistance radio operator. His pillion is the protagonist helping efforts against the Germans. 1930’s New Map motorcycle is period correct and had a couple of good scenes.
We took the small car ferry over to Washington Island at the top end of the peninsula beyond Green Bay. 25 square miles of woodland, farming, vineyards, cabins. A harbor to the farther Rock Island, itself a nature reserve.
A farm museum
Interesting real variety of farm buildings, tools and cabin of the day. Bleating goats gave noise to the location.
Leafy Roads
No need to go fast. Perfectly paced for the go-slow feel of the place. Relax.
– albeit a slight hiccup in the eighties, this marque has stretched from the Victorian age (The first prototype dates from 1901 so just makes it) to well into the Twenty First Century.
– individual bike exhibits were splendidly assembled each showing off the machines with posters, paraphernalia and provenance. A racing Norton; Knievel’s stunt bike; McQueens Traveller; Harley garage.
– a lovely photo from someone’s family album. The lass on the right was someone’s grandmother who served as a nurse on Hawaii during the Second World War. The white socks and head scarves are pure period cuteness.
– we’re currently watching Narcos, about drug lord Pablo Escobar, who, at the height of his infamy, was bringing in $70 million a day from cocaine smuggled to the US. the image is a still from rare footage of him on a Yamaha dirt bike as he rode around his Hacienda homestead.
– a pivotal moment of the Twentieth Century when the Free World decided to take back what had been overthrown by the Nazis. Here’s a fresh faced army courier strapped into a Horsa glider, with his Matchless ride, bound for Normandy.
– an adventurous sort tootling along the historic Main Street of a town that drew late 19th Century Americans to try the healing waters. Now it has fudge shops, t-shirt stores, trinket emporia, among other tourist attractions. Today also had the cacophony of open-piped Harley riders thundering up and down the traffic jammed narrow streets.
– unpacking a 1960 sled once owned by racer Buck Smith. Acquired by Ace Classics in Lewisham southeast London. You can still see the grit and dust from the Big Bear SoCal arid hinterland.
– Today saw the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States along with his Vice President Kamala Harris. Becoming the first woman in that role. After how long? She’s also the first of African and Asian descent. Thulasendrapuram, her grandfather’s village in southern India celebrated her elected success and today is certainly partying with the swearing in of one of their daughters.
.. although the legacy of The Great War is of death and pain some of ‘the lads’ did find camaraderie with the mundane tasks to keep the military machine running. Here are despatch riders from the Royal Signal Corp having a jolly old time keeping their Triumph Model H’s on the road.
– a 16th Century Catholic conspirator became the symbol of postmodern anarchism with the mask of anonymity. The individual biker is an appropriate use of the effigies face.
geordiebiker.com 