Castle Combe Racing

The 2011 season of racing has started at Castle Combe Circuit just outside Chippenham in Wiltshire. The new season has welcomed some new buildings at the former RAF base. A new drivers area, shop and rooftop viewing platform has been added. A few spruce ups here and there in time for the first televised race at Combe for over 50 years. Motors TV an internet TV streaming site have been covering some of the races and what races they've been! There is no shortage of entertainment in the Formula Ford class. The pressure is already on reigning FF champion Marcus Allen as he failed to finish in the first race. One driver that's hoping to beat him in the championship is Steven Jensen from Bristol. I caught up with Steven on the final pre season testing day.


Castle Combe by bribriwilliam

It seems practice has paid of for this West Country Boy. After an appalling start just after Easter, Jensen has managed to bring his title race under control by winning 2 races on May 2nd. Marcus Allen finished very closely behind but the battle has only just begun. There is a lot more to come and I'm sure the boys will be fighting it out for the rest of the season....

I've also been keeping up to date with this years Formula One Grand Prix and noting down my thoughts on a F1 internet site. Check out my articles on Vital F1.

Auto Jumble

The shape and set up of cars are changing all the time. These days you have to be more of an electrician to fix a car than a mechanic. But there are still those that appreciate the wonderful lines of classic cars, how they rock and how they roll.

But alas there are still those who would rather spend thousands tinkering with an old car rather than buying a modern one. Yes they exist and yes they are enthusiasts and yes they have to do strange things to get the right parts to fix their cars. At Egham and District Social Club the first Tuesday of each month the Auto Jumble Auction takes place. That’s what I said-the Auto Jumble Auction.

With my Dad I walked into what I can only describe as the hall of a Working Men’s club. Two red and white striped plastic sheets were on the ground. Gradually as more people came into the hall the plastics sheets began to get covered with old cars parts, boxes of car books, car photos, tools and other car related objects. All the items were to be auctioned off.

As I sat on the dusty blue sofa that lined the edge of the room, I wondered what everyone was waiting for. The goods were laid out, the auction forms filled in, why wasn’t anything happening? The Auctioneer hadn’t arrived. Wow, I thought. We’re in the back room of a bar, there’s about 15 people here drinking cider and guiness and we are waiting for the professional Auto Jumble Auctioneer to arrive. But he did, carrying his own PA system he jumped up onto a small stage and so the auction began. It’s amazing what can happen in a room full of middle age men, alcohol and boxes of old junk. Bidding wars. Bidding starts at £2 and sometimes it got fierce. A box of old car books went up to £22! It was the most surreal thing I’ve witnessed in a long time. Not put off by my Auto Jumble inexperience I put in a bid for an old wooden toolbox. Three pounds; I got it! Only then did I fully understand why these things take place.