I blame it on the wall

[Paul Drawmer]

At the back end of last year, the stone wall alongside our drive gave way and part of it collapsed onto the drive. It’s normal with dry stone walls, since the actions of weather on the stone and the infilling will gradually break them down, and helped by the vibration from passing traffic (one day I’ll photograph those over 7.5ton lawbreakers) any dry stone wall will eventually crumble. I was wondering who to get to fix this, since I certainly don’t have the skills or the back to do it myself, and I had asked around for some recommendations for a dry stone waller. Now, if I’d spelt it as dry stonewaller, then the redoubtable Boycott would probably have done that as well as anyone; however what I needed was someone to rebuild the wall. I had moved most of the offending rubble to one side, but it was a nuisance, and the remaining wall wasn’t going to get any better.

Fortunately for me, there was a Guy in the village who had recently completed a dry stone walling course; and who was eager to get some experience so that he could add walling to his CV along with tree work and traditional hedge laying. Guy Robbins rang the door bell one morning and asked if he could give me price for fixing the wall. On examination we agreed that a fair length of wall needed rebuilding rather than just replacing the fallen stones. So we agreed a price, and I ordered some replacement walling stone from the Great Tew estate.

Now, seeing that the garage is up the drive, and the Libra is in the garage, and that shortly a couple of ton of stone would be tipped on the drive; I decided to take the car out for a blast, since it was going to be shut in the garage for a couple of weeks whilst Guy built the wall. Sort of getting a drive in before the drive was blocked, if you see what I mean.

So in mid October Guy started to disassemble the wall. In order to see just what he had to work with, he laid all the stones out in the drive arranged so that as he rebuilt, he would be able to pick the right size stone without having to keep turning them all over to see what he had. Guy is a very neat worker. The inside of the wall should be small stones, but poor building probably some 50 years ago, and the actions of the weather, meant that the inside of this wall was mostly topsoil(!) and gravel rubbish. Rebuilding the wall did take longer than expected, so it was longer than I anticipated before I was able to get my Libra out of the garage again.

However, it didn’t take 4 months! Yesterday was the first time I took my car out of the garage since October. I can’t explain what kept me away from driving for pleasure; maybe working in Milton Keynes destroyed the fun gene for a few months, maybe acting as taxi driver for the family over Christmas, maybe…Oh anyway I can’t think of an excuse, I just didn’t get the car out from mid October until yesterday!

I’d kept the car hooked up to a battery conditioner, so after clearing away all the junk that somehow had been placed in the way, can’t think how that happened, I pushed the car out of the garage, checked the oil and water and fired it up. Actually, I’d forgotten how good it sounds. I let it idle for a few minutes, whilst I checked the tyre pressures – very low, must be the cold temps since I last checked them, did a visual check on all the fixings, checked the thermostat operation, bolted down the covers, wiped off months of garage dust, and cleaned the screen. Where does all that muck come from when all it does is sit in the garage?

I squeezed myself in, tested the pedal pressures, and scrambled behind me for the seat belt. I’d forgotten most of the sensations; the offset pedals, the fall away of the bonnet, the stretch to find the seat belt etc. I did remember to give a quick twist to the roof knobs, then I had to undo the belt to stretch across the wind the other side window down to adjust the mirror which had got knocked out of alignment. Well it would have after four months of being in the way, in the garage, wouldn’t it?

I let the car roll down the drive, and braked at the end. No, harder than that. The combination of a good coating of surface rust and the GTM brake pedal effort caught me out first time. I adjusted the seat again, checked it was all clear and eased out on to the B4031. I was expecting the tapping of the suspension joints, I was surprised by the steering writhing in my hands. My Libra has a just acceptable amount of bump steer, and the wheel tends to ‘squirm’ a bit as the wheels patter up and down. What I had forgotten however, was the immediacy of the steering, how if you steer from the shoulders, you will veer all over the road until you relax and just think it back on course.

We pottered down the road watching temp and pressure, listening for any strange sounds. After a couple of miles, I was back in the groove, letting the car do the work, enjoying the sounds and feeling of the suspension working over the less than perfect Oxfordshire roads. After ten miles the car was flying, there is a particular sort of BLAAAAAH the inlet makes over 6000 rpm; if you press hard enough on the brakes, you can make the front tyres yelp without locking. Not many cars have the brake feel to allow that, and the initial understeer into corners can be negated by a judicious lift of the throttle and re-application of power as the rear end becomes unsettled.

Great fun, I drove to Witney, Burford, Chipping Norton, Shipston-on-Stour and Banbury just for fun. I’d forgotten what driving for fun was all about, and why I built the car; but I’ve remembered now, and it looks like another cold sunny day today. So I’m going to do it again. Get out and enjoy your car, because it’s worth it.

[CorseChris]

I wouldn't call this O/T at all. Surely you have highlighted the exact reasons why we build & drive our cars.

Funny enough, having a similar conversation today. No doubt it's safer, more practical and often faster to drive a eurobox but is isn't any fun.

Nicely said.