Who is Oldmansomerset?

[Jigger72]

His history seems to consist entirely of welcoming people to the forum 😄

[Breezy_Pete]

A hero?

[KenONeill]

A Ciderman (from Doctor Who)?

[MikeTheThinker]

1 hour ago, Jigger72 said:

His history seems to consist entirely of welcoming people to the forum 😄

 

And what is wrong with that?

[punyXpress]

Head Flunkey ?

 

[mac11irl]

well, why dont we ask him?

 

@Oldmansomerset, 

some people would like to know more about you, and some would like to pass on their praise for your kindly welcoming manner

[Ttaskmaster]

He's an old man from Somerset... Retired chap, married, ex-forces (sounds like RAF), has dogs, drives a MkIII Octy and has also had a MkI, GT86, Peugeots and Land Rovers, but is not a fan of Lexus.

Sounds like a jolly decent fellow, to me...

[Aspman]

[KenONeill]

@Aspman - Are you suggesting that at weekend his name is Sue Tup?

[Aspman]

8 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@Aspman - Are you suggesting that at weekend his name is Sue Tup?

 

What a man does at the weekend is her own business.

 

[Oldmansomerset]

Hang on hang on!  I'm putting it all together for you who are interested.  Back in a mo😷

[Oldmansomerset]

I have been requested to give some background which may or may not interest members of BRISKODA.

 

I am probably one of the oldest on the Forum being a wartime child and started my motoring career in 1958.  On bikes, I passed my test on a 49cc Berini moped which was built in Holland and marketed by Halfords. I graduated to an Ariel Arrow, 250cc 2 stroke twin following which, I rode an Ariel VB 600cc SV single with a chair on the side.   Not much speed but great fun and very useful in the atrocious winter of 1962/63 when the roads in the west were snowbound.  Next bike was a BSA A10 650cc Rocket Gold Star, now a collectors item.  In between, I also rode a number of smaller BSAs, C15, Bantam, Triumph speed twin 500s, Royal Enfield Constellation 700cc and Royal Enfield Bullet.  There was also a Velocette LE water cooled that I have mentioned in other posts.  The last one I rode was a Norton Commander 650cc and since then have never ridden any Japanese or left hand change bikes.

 

My own cars started with passing my test on a Ford Prefect and then owing prewar Austins - a 12 and a 20.  Back to a Ford Prefect also driving Ford Zephyrs Mk2, various commercials and a Dellow.  Also had a go on a friends BMW Isetta bubble car which had all the grip of a bar of soap in the bath but still quite fun.  A period of driving Land Rovers followed, all belonging to the government of the day.  I managed to get hold of a 3.4 Mk2 Jaguar, lovely car, bit iffy in the roadholding stakes but a great engine.  Sadly the body rotted faster than compost so I sold it on.  Then came my first brand new car, a German Mk1 Ford Capri 1700GT.  I enjoyed this one immensely , good performance and road holding and better than the UK 1600 equivalent.  A few friends had the 1600 and all agreed the 1700 was a better build.  Travels in the job forced me to sell and I drove company cars but did own an Austin/Morris 1100 for a while,  Moving on, I had a Peugeot 305SR which was followed by a Peugeot 205GRD my first experience of diesel.  My wife, being a lover of the Mercedes marque persuaded me to get Mercedes 250D which, being in Germany was left hand drive same as the Capri.  This was the W124 series and almost unbustable, requiring only one clutch overhaul, various bearings and a new cylinderhead over a life of 20 years and 300,000 miles.  Still miss it.  While there I drove a fun car, Reliant Kitten, the 4 wheel version of the Robin 3 wheeler.   Moving on, I had a Toyota GT86 which was great fun and another one I miss.  At the same time, I did a bit in the classic field having a Morris 10/4 from 1934 and a Morris Oxford from 1930.  Great fun but needed keeping an eye on and not for the dirty weather.  Coming up to date, it is my very reliable and comfortable 2017 Octavia 1.5 TSI which may not be as sparkling as the 86 but still a good drive and very practical.  There is a shed load of stuff I have not mentioned, lorries and coaches which are a wee bit different.

 

I did quite a lot of driving tests over the years, either for different countries while I worked around the world and included the IAM.  I am now retired but still enjoy driving and having a go when the road is clear which is not often these days with stacks of traffic and poor road maintenance.  I still visit the continent, France and Germany, their roads having been a bit ropey in the sixties are now marvellous and if you find a clear autobahn in Deutschland can press on a bit.

 

Other hobbies, rifle and pistol shooting until they took my pistol away, private flying and gliding of which I do very little at present as I am carer for my wife.  Also do a bit of church bell ringing and fiddle with railways mainly models in gauge 1.

 

So there you have it, just an old geezer living quietly in rural Somerset. and although some of you may know me, I was Harry G on the GT86 forum, I was definitely not in the RAF but flew with them.  If some of you think I don’t post enough, that is because I am not as good at dealing with the intricacies and faults on the modern cars.  I grew up with carbs, coils and distributors which could be fixed without plugging in for a diagnosis.  Any further questions I will be delighted to help.

 

Huh - just got a letter saying we must start paying for the TV licence again  - what a state and the price of fish

[KenONeill]

4 minutes ago, Oldmansomerset said:

I grew up with carbs, coils and distributors which could be fixed without plugging in for a diagnosis

You might appreciate the "Classic Skoda" fora, which don't do anything newer than the Skoda Felicia.

[mac11irl]

thanks Mr Somerset

you definitely have a wider and varied driving history

 

[shyVRS245]

2 hours ago, Aspman said:

Thanks for choosing one of my male modelling shots. You can see why I'm so shy.

[shyVRS245]

On ‎04‎/‎03‎/‎2020 at 14:37, Jigger72 said:

His history seems to consist entirely of welcoming people to the forum 😄

Think it would be a tad rude not to welcome him officially to Briskoda although a member longer than me.

[Breezy_Pete]

Wow; post of the year from Mr Somerset, and not a bad word about anyone. A lesson to us all, myself included. 👍

[Aspman]

[Oldmansomerset]

Thank you very much for all your kind words.  Now where did I put that ruddy wheelchair ?🍺

[Jigger72]

31 minutes ago, Oldmansomerset said:

Thank you very much for all your kind words.  Now where did I put that ruddy wheelchair ?🍺

 

Good to hear you're OK. 👍

 

The only reason I asked is that yesterday the whole Unread Content list was dominated by you welcoming newbies, which is no bad thing, but I was intrigued.

[Oldmansomerset]

Yes - if I go away from the site for a while I tend to do them in batches but will try and remember to spread them out a bit in future.  Mind you, I think people tend to join in batches or at last over a short time frame or something like that.  Looks like you read them in batches?

[VWD]

From one old bloke to another-great read. I particularly liked the comment on coils/distributors etc.

Please don't go away in batches ( no 3 on here ,as what we  call a breadroll in this part of the world )

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/batch

.😃

[Oldmansomerset]

Yes - my baker always refers to baking as batches.  Another trade I know next to nothing about😃