The Roger Burdett collection

I imagine most bus enthusiasts will know the name of Roger Burdett as he is one of the country's leading preservationists and has a large collection of interesting vehicles that can often be seen at events. Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting his premises in Coventry thanks to my friends in the West Midlands area of the Model Bus Federation and it was a most enjoyable evening surrounded by fascinating vintage buses that was well worth the slightly fraught 50-mile journey through roadworks and rush-hour congestion.

Gentlemen, your carriage awaits. Coventry 244 ready to give enthusiastic MBF members a trip.

Success on a plate?

Getting the right numberplates...

Today I want to vent my feelings about one of my pet hates when it comes to classic cars, a small and fairly trivial thing but one that irritates me far more than it should: so many fine cars are ruined by the wrong style of numberplates. You may think that's not important and as long as it's legal who really cares, but the numberplates are what give the vehicle its unique identity and you can find out so much of its history from the registration displayed on them so to me they are the focal point of the vehicle and can make or break its appearance. After spending thousands on a restoration, why spoil it for the sake of a few extra pounds to buy some correct-looking plates?

Nice car, shame about the plate. It's legal now but wasn't when new and a reflective one would be much better

Shitefest take two

A dirty weekend

Remember the amazing spectacle that was Shitefest about six weeks ago? We descended on Chris and Claire's field from all parts of the country, wreaked havoc and churned up their land, but far from being put off by the experience, within a week he had decided he wanted to do it again once the field had dried out as the poor weather and ground conditions meant we couldn't do a lot of things! So it was that this weekend the now bone-dry field of dreams once again hosted a small gathering of shiters and much mayhem ensued...

The Maxi that got away

I'm sure all car enthusiasts have been through it many times: the excitement of a potential purchase followed by disappointment when things don't work out and you end up leaving the seller's house without the car. Rusty Old Rubbish may be mostly about old cars but there is one important thing missing as we don't actually own one at the moment, although efforts are being made to rectify that situation. With forthcoming changes in circumstances hopefully meaning the loss of a dull modern car and me being able to drive again soon, the time has come to get another classic, but the first attempt to buy one sadly failed despite our best efforts in slightly odd circumstances. Nonetheless it was an interesting experience and not a complete waste of time like some car viewings turn out to be.

The perfect Maxi that narrowly escaped our grasp

Fixing the sharing problem

How to fix Facebook showing the wrong text and image when sharing a Blogger post...

Like most bloggers, I share my blog posts on Facebook to attract more readers, and it used to automatically pick up the right image and description. Since I added the Featured Post widget there on the right, things started to go a bit wrong and no matter what I shared, Facebook always used the text and image from the featured post instead of the one that was shared, which was really confusing for my readers. Having spent quite a bit of time researching the problem, it turns out this is a well-known and long-standing issue with the way Blogger works, and various workarounds have been proposed but the one described here definitely solves the problem. It isn't particularly advanced but does require a little use of the Blogger HTML editor.

Unsung heroes: Austin Maxi

I haven't championed an unsung hero for a very long time so a new entry is well overdue but this one may seem an odd choice: the Austin Maxi. Have I lost my mind? Surely everyone agrees the Maxi was a terrible car that epitomises everything wrong with British Leyland? Well no actually, I think that reputation is rather unfair and the poor old Maxi deserves a lot more credit than it's given. I've been seeing a few Maxis at shows recently and become quite fond of them, so let me justify myself...

The much maligned Maxi. Pile of crap or unsung hero?

Restaurant review: Nelson Street, Buckingham

Delusions of grandeur?

I don't make a habit of reviewing the places where I eat as they are generally so good, but I felt I had to write something about a rare disappointing experience I had today at the imaginatively-named Nelson Street Restaurant in Nelson Street, Buckingham. This seems a popular venue with a good reputation so I was expecting great things from my first visit but it quite frankly left me underwhelmed. I went for lunch with a group of colleagues to celebrate a birthday, and the whole experience, while not unpleasant in any way, was just a bit too average compared with the many other fine places I have eaten at in the past.