Martyn, Micky, Bashful, fred the duck, and the city of Lincoln

[RichardT10829]

Well I will not try and steal too much of Martyns thunder here so will sum this up as short as I can.... WHAT A FANTASTIC DAY !!!

Martyn and Micky had managed to get the carrier pretty much button'd up for the show and a lot of effort has gone into his rebuild, the photo's you see below are the culmination of 18 months of seriously hard work (along with holding down a full time job + commitments to other carrier owners like moi....)

the Carrier litterally had the last bits of tinwork added midnight prior to the event ! and if you find Martyns carrier thread and see what he started with........

........to what he has now you will no doubt say the same as the many people who read his portfolio "Bloody Hell"


The morning started off as you would expect, people arriving in various forms of Mv's to Martyns place, we loaded up "Bill" who was in his officers regalia and got him comfortable. once clear of Martyns driveway we all hopped in and off we went to Lincoln for the armed forces celebrations....

what an awesome ride through the town it was too..... upon arrival we set up and Martyn / Paul parked the carrier without tearing kerbstones out which was a bonus.



I have made many friends through the MV fraternity, but it is the first time i have been befriended by a duck ! needless to say "Fred" was a real treat and suprised me by showing he had a penchant for sausage sarnies ! yes Lincoln produces a breed of Hyper-Carnivorus Ducks !






The day went over fantastically, we were parked at the entrance to the airborne memorial gardens, I was dressed in period Para kit with dennison jacket which Martyn kindly borrowed me. The amout of Veterans that came over was overwhelming and it was this alone that reminded me that all the hard work which i am putting into my own build is worth it + dividends........ infact i would say the carrier stole the show and i enjoyed the many stories of op's and misshaps in carriers, along with a plethera of tips on the do's and dont do's like "All turns are made in first or second gear...regardless" I was so enthrawled with speaking to these guys that I forgot to take photo's..... in Future I must remember to get details of these people and a photo of them with a carrier..........

at the end of the day circa 5pm we were given the green light to retreat from the city before it got too bad with traffic, I noticed that there had been a number of profesional photographers who had been waiting with us which I had presumed were perhaps waiting for someone to come out the castle......it transpired they were waiting for some action shots of Martyns carrier. After Paul, Micky and I marshalled Martyn through the busy pedestrianised bits of town we all jumped aboard and we drove off.

The carrier ran perfectly and I am envious of Martyns work, the engine was perfect too, for something which by figures sound slow it fealt like a rocket on the road.



after this event it has really hit home that with the many ego's that are present in various MV comunities it just goes to show that No one is bigger than the machine they use and in a sense we are not owners of these beasts but curators who have the privilage of being carried in the history we care for....

So many thanks again to Martyn and Micky for letting me come along and for their hospitality.....