Memory lane + stewed fruit.

I could not believe what I was looking at. They were like a trigger, a mental one, now pulled. What came erupting out from the barrelled depths of my mind were forty six year old files spilling out their megabytes of memory. 

"Gosh." I said, as I was transported down through seven sets of watertight doors, all having to be individually and manually closed above me as I descended into cold metallic depths. My descent took me to the deepest bowels of the twenty seven thousand ton aircraft carrier HMS Eagle. Destination? The explosives locker right on the ships hull and just forward of the armour plating. This in case the lockers content should, for whatever reason, explode. The idea being to limit blast damage to a neat hole in the hull allowing ingress of water only to the locker itself as of course all watertight doors above were tightly shut. I remember it as a spooky, creaky and tomblike place. I used to briefly place my hands on the cold and grey painted thick steel hull plates. Standing quietly in the creaking silence  I would, for a few seconds, visualise the freezing ocean depths flowing by only centimetres away. The quicker I deposited my load of 'out of date' explosive Martin Baker ejection seat cartridges and re loaded with the new ones the better. Reaching once again the workshops of the upper aircraft servicing decks was always a relief.

Now here I was in Steve's engineering workshop on Richard and Lesley's farm near Cheltenham staring at the familiar sight of a set of these bulky shiny brass cartridges as they noisily jostled in the palm of my hand. Thankfully these were not filled with explosive but nevertheless, they were a powerful dredger of old, deeply submerged memories.

It seems the rise in popularity of flyable vintage jets complete with Martin Baker ejection seats is now prompting enthusiasts to seek out engineering capacity to manufacture these cartridge casings. As I handed the casings back to Steve he explained how, because of his workshops particular set of skills, he had been requested to look into the feasability of manufacturing such items.

More chat and further memories were chugged through before the broken arm of Sadies passenger seat was handed over to Steve for a minor repair. This of course was my original intention upon entering his workshop but I left with mind still whirring from the regurgitated memories prompted by sight and feel of those bulky round brass shell casings. Explosive shells, I may add, designed and successfully used on many occasions to save aviators lives.

This visit to old friends in the Cheltenham / Gloucester area was turning out to be productive in respect of minor mechanical ailments afflicting Sadie. Poor Tanya for several days now has not been able to enjoy her frequent visits to the open passenger door window for a blast of travelling air as we roll along. The electrically operated window has been reluctant to close and when, a few days previously, I had managed with some difficulty to get it closed I decided it had best remain so until further investigation.

A visit to the local Mercedes dealer revealed that the door plus window mechanism were not Mercedes parts.
"Oh dear" I muttered as I summoned my helpless and pleading voice to request any ideas as to what to attempt next.
"Have you tried lubricating the cables and window runners?"
"Well no I hav'nt." I replied and the gloomy bubble of ultra expensive and difficult to locate spare parts receded just a little.
He was dead right too. I now have a happy Tanya able to request a briskly opening and closing passenger door window. She can now once again allow the wind to lay back her ears and stream her beard rearward as she thrusts her head out of a happily trundling Sadie.

The fridge and freezer have also been working overtime too. Our walks over the last few days have yielded bulging doggy bags (always in my pocket.) of delicious blackberries. Combined with Richard and Lesleys Bramley and Worcester Permayne windfall apples plus a little heat and hey presto! Enough delicious stewed fruit for pies and deserts a plenty. Yummy yummy!