MOTORING

a rapport and you become kindred spirits. By chatting to strangers in this way the conversation quickly turns to the activities we enjoy within the motorcycle clubs and often the other persons interest is kindled enough to get them to come along to club meetings. We all have to start somewhere and this is just how I got started in club life some 47 years ago. The fellowship of being a motorcyclist.

I still miss going to the motorcycle shows and autojumbles. We always meet loads of friends and I stock up on all those consumables that we all need. The two Stafford Shows are going ahead with the first on the 3rd and 4th of July. I will be there as I promised to help on the VMCC club stand. I still get to have a look around but that show is so vast that I never see everything there is on display. There is always a huge array of machines for sale and a variety to suit all tastes and pockets. Club eligible machines can be purchased for little money especially if you are not afraid to put a bit of work in. It does mean that for a small outlay you can join this peculiar world of motorcycling and I guarantee you will make many new friends and have a lot of fun in the process.

Also at Stafford will be the usual auction of machines put on by the Bonham's company. A good selection of machines will be offered and this time there are several private collections coming up for disposal. One collection contains five Vincent's so this will certainly be much sought after. As with everything else you pay's your money and takes your choice. I know one spectator who will be firmly keeping his hands in his pockets.

After the dreariness and problems of the last 17 months we surely deserve a summer of sunshine and blue skies when we can all get out and enjoy using our old vehicles. It would be nice to once again enjoy the unrestricted company of fellow enthusiasts and the comradeship that goes with it. I know the restrictions will have been lifted but we should all be aware that Covid is still with us and so we should still take care for ourselves in the hope that we avoid another spike of infections.

Easy Rider motorcycle comes to auction with no reserve

The world’s most iconic motorcycle is going on the auction block in Midland, Texas on June 5th … Captain America from the counterculture classic film, Easy Rider, part of the Gordon Granger Collection, is being offered without reserve by Dan Kruse Classics.

It is estimated by the auction house to sell for $300,000 to $500,000. The ‘Captain America’ bike was named for its distinctive American flag colour scheme and known for its sharply-angled long front end.

Easy Rider showcased the hippie movement and gave America an insight into the lives of those individuals who wander the highways on the back of a motorcycle and hence the motorcycles themselves became characters in the 1969 film. Designed and built by Cliff Vaughs and Ben Hardy, four former police Harley-Davidson motorcycles were purchased at auction for $500 and rebuilt into two Captain Americas and two Billy Bikes.

Easy Rider is a 1969 American road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American South West carrying the proceeds of a drugs deal. The success of Easy Rider helped to spark a new Hollywood era of filmmaking during the early 1970s.

In 1996 the former owner of this bike, renowned celebrity vehicle collector, Gary Graham, sold the Captain American motorcycle at the Dan Kruse Classic Car Productions auction to Gordon Granger. Dan

The Easy Rider motorcycle is going to auction on 5 June in Texas, USA. Haggerty was on site with Graham, his partner in the rebuild and restoration of the motorcycle, to authenticate, as it was, he that received the crashed pieces from Fonda and Hopper after the wrap of the film. Since then the motorcycle has resided in Austin, Texas where it survived a fire in December 2010.

Easy Rider was released by Columbia Pictures on July 14, 1969, grossing $60 million worldwide from a filming budget of no more than $400,000. Critics praised the performances, directing, writing, soundtrack, and visuals. Hopper, Fonda and Southern were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Win an electric car every month with Auto Trader

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The first prize to be handed to one lucky winner is a Tesla Model 3 worth over £42,000.

The Electric Car Giveaway launched its first monthly prize draw on Saturday 1st May which will close on 31st May. Following that, each prize draw will last a full month, with the winner randomly selected at the end of the month.

Each month will offer a different car as its prize to show the range and variety of electric cars on the market, including a Mustang Mach-E, MINI Electric and a Renault Twizy.

All you need to do is submit your name and email address to enter the prize draw. And remember, it isn’t a rollover, so you need to re-enter each month for a chance to win each month’s car.

Visit the page to enter: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/cars /electric/giveaway.

The first prize up for grabs is a Tesla Model 3, whilst other cars will include a Mustang Mach-E, MINI Electric and even a Renault Twizy.

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The Pub

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BEER & SKITTLES

P. A. BAXTER

IT'S ALWAYS GOOD to be able to report on something positive in the licensed trade and particularly if it's a pub that has been threatened but now has a future that appears more secure. We reported in these columns a few months back that ‘The Butt of Sherry’ in Mere was under threat and that there was hope that it could become a community-based establishment. The large Pubcos move in mysterious ways their wonders to perform, and they had sold the pub to a developer for it to become apartments.

As I understand it, the community were able to block the planning permission, fortunately, and now the freehold has been purchased from the developer by Karen Harman and it's set to become a much-loved local once again. So in due course it's back to the quiz nights, ukulele lessons, darts, cards and general convivial nights out. Karen has already refurbished and updated the pub to create what a locals pub with a garden should be; clean and welcoming. I'm sure you all join me in congratulating Karen on her enterprise and wish her well on her venture (I'm tuning up my uke right away!)

Last month we started on an optimistic note regarding the opening of our fine English hostelries and although it was ‘outside’ only, the weather was decent. Clearly I put the mockers on it as things have become more than a little on the moist side since. Hopefully, however, by the time you read this we will be cosily inside again. Nevertheless I thought it worthwhile to dwell on a few pub games that can be played outside, including one we

Aunt Sally in action! Image: games2hire.co.uk. have failed to cover on these pages. Having certain similarities to what we understand as a coconut shy, various differing games appear to have come together to form what is now known as ‘Aunt Sally’. Some might say that it is a game first played around the time of Cromwell where Royalist troops hurled sticks at whatever took their fancy. In his book Played at the Pub, Arthur Taylor quotes games historian James Strutt in the nineteenth century who reports how a cockerel was tied to a post by one leg, and sticks hurled at the poor beast until it succumbed. The ‘winner’ was whoever delivered the fatal blow, and would claim the unfortunate fowl as his prize for dinner. Is the game of today a direct descendant of that rather cruel activity? Who can say for sure? The term ‘Aunt Sally’ did not arrive from the States until 1850 where it was played as a fairground game.

These days a ‘doll’ is placed on a metal stake fitted with a swivel (the ‘iron’) at which each participant delivers six fairly hefty wooden sticks of about 2” diameter by 18” long from a distance of 10 yards, the aim being to take the ‘doll’ cleanly off the top. Ash, being a wood that takes punishment, is the timber of choice for these items, each player closely guarding their lovingly cared-for sticks. The sticker-up or doll-boy adjudges each shot and if the doll is not removed as it should, would cry loudly ‘iron!’ or ‘blob!’, and the strike would not count (although the sound of contact or the action of the right-angled swivel atop the iron would doubtless be a big clue).

The first league appeared in 1938 and whilst being centred in Oxfordshire, has spread to half a dozen neighbouring counties where it is played with great enthusiasm. The Oxford and District League alone has 1,400 registered players and is enjoys sponsorship by Greene King. I have to admit to not witnessing this other than on YouTube where needless to say there are a few videos of the action from across the years. However, at the ‘Oxford Finals’ night of 2018 found on YouTube one only needs to see the amount of silverware on offer to realise just how much enthusiasm goes into the game –which in this particular case, was played inside! It's certainly something I endeavor to have a go at, although whether my skills would be good enough to make it to the ‘World Championship’ (held since 2011) I have some doubt. Cricket it is not! However, the pitch is 21 yards in length so does that suggest some parallel between the two games? Yes; Bat and Trap continues to thrive in the county of Kent and has even spread to neighbouring Surrey. Once again I would heartily recommend a trip to YouTube to see some of the videos on offer where one can witness the BBC Countryfile team participating in the game, as well as Charlie Rosko and Stefanie Connell from the Antiques Road Trip. I also recommend a visit to the Canterbury league site, ably

Keep your eye on the ball! 12-yearold Ivo Williams of Stalbridge takes a break from cricket to try his hand at Bat and Trap. Image: Author. managed by Keith ‘Jakey’ Janes who is not only an enthusiastic player but also a keen historian of the game, and has found significant photos of the game past.

Interestingly, in 2001 a ‘trap’ of 18th Century vintage appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow where it was given the value of £300. Remember also that this game was the first to have it written into the laws of the game that every pitch should be floodlit, thus predating football by several years. Age and ability do not prevent participation as one does not need to be particularly athletic, no-one has to ‘run’ anywhere (although one scores by ‘runs’) which all adds up to something your writer is very grateful for!

18th Century ‘trap’ from the Antiques Roadshow. Image: BBC.

Another game which I would dearly like to participate in at an advanced level is quoits. I'm sure we all know the game in at least some of its many variations. The one I am only slightly familiar with is the version where a heavy metal hoop is delivered toward a peg (‘hob’). I say slightly familiar as I am the present custodian of the remaining four quoits from the Bradford Abbas men's club (long since morphed into the fantastic facility of the local Sports and Social Club.) However, the history of the game here is somewhat shrouded in mystery. Even in the concise history of the village by the late Eric Garrett there is no clear evidence as to exactly where and when the game was played here. However in his book, Arthur Taylor utilises a great deal of space to go into great detail of the history of the game in other parts of the country. One of the many photographs shows the pitches at Egton Bridge in the Esk Valley, North Yorkshire, where in the background, the Postgate Inn can be seen, best known to viewers of the television series Heartbeat as The Black Dog. Whilst there is a concentration of the game in the mining areas, it was also played within the West Country and Home counties, although it is difficult to say exactly where the game is now played in the dozen or so years since Mr Taylor's book was published. To read this