fatharris Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 This or a flat? No contest really Glad to see you're throwing yourself into it! eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted May 24, 2022 Author Share Posted May 24, 2022 I'll use this thread for any circus shite as my rig will be involved. The Puddlethumper tour Ft, Circus Vegas will feature* in the following high end places in the Brexit British Isles, although no islands will be visited. NEC 20 May to 5 June. Huddersfield 8 to 12. Greenock 15 to 19. Edinburger 22 to 28. Stirling 30 to July 3. Livingston 5 to 7. Ayr 9 to 12. Noocastle way aye man. 15 to 24. Halifax 27 to 31. Paignton Green 5 to 30 August. Four weeks near Torquay I believe. 2 to 18 Plymouth. There are some choice places in that lot, still, square sausage and haggis looks on the menu. loserone, Heikin Matsuda, scruff and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bell Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 If you're round the toon I'd like to buy you a pint of vodka/have a look at your Fantastic mobile house. If you're up for a meet up like. puddlethumper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted May 24, 2022 Author Share Posted May 24, 2022 I was going to say that anywhere I am, I'm sure a visit could be arranged. eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Tidybeard Posted May 24, 2022 Share Posted May 24, 2022 where are you stopping in relation to NEC? so i can throw stones and poke fun🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted May 25, 2022 Author Share Posted May 25, 2022 10 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said: where are you stopping in relation to NEC? so i can throw stones and poke fun🤣 Car park N11. 😆 scruff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernMonkey Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 35 minutes ago, puddlethumper said: Car park N11. 😆 And possibly a bit of N12 too scruff, The Moog and HarmonicCheeseburger 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted May 29, 2022 Author Share Posted May 29, 2022 I haz arrived. Asimo, 320touring, Heikin Matsuda and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted May 29, 2022 Author Share Posted May 29, 2022 I'll try and get some better pics later. Dyslexic Viking, jon.k, Saabnut and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon.k Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Now this all looks pretty exciting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 3, 2022 Author Share Posted June 3, 2022 Here's a couple of pics to whet your appetite. Going to be busy over the next couple of days moving to Uddersfield. Semi-C, Dave_Q, Saabnut and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon.k Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 Is your RV and pug combo in this convoy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 4, 2022 Author Share Posted June 4, 2022 On 6/3/2022 at 8:43 PM, jon.k said: Is your RV and pug combo in this convoy? It most definitely is. I'm sure it will make an appearance in some future photos. jon.k, loserone, Matty and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted June 5, 2022 Share Posted June 5, 2022 Have you packed a rope to tow the Iveco when it breaks down? [/Cavcraft] puddlethumper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 6, 2022 Author Share Posted June 6, 2022 Well, that was a long weekend. 9 till 9 Sat, 9.30 till 2 am. Busy today getting water supplies to everybody. Will try and do a bit of a write up later. Max Thunder, Dyslexic Viking and Dan302 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 Saturday we started moving accommodations up to the field of udders as the shows x2 went on. 2 trips, 2 hours there and 2 back. First with an LDV Maxus minibus with a couple of crew and a rather large box trailer. Fuck me, that was shite. Second trip I took my Rig up. Ivor, boss bloke drove a Scania with two trailers. Me and another bod then hopped in the Scanny tractor unit for the trip back which was quite, erm, interesting. Wheel spins galore, obviously easy with no trailer, and power slides on a fair few roundabouts. On the motor way we were overtaking trucks with ease, no tacho innit. Next morning it was off back up with the LDV with a shower trailer and a couple more bods. Back down by about 2ish and then back up again with, I can't remember what now. Then a trip with a Daf LF with a drawbar trailer. Hills? Down to 35/40. Gruesome. Oh, by the way 2 shows still going on while the move is on. Last show finished about 4 and dismantling stuff started at 3. The whole lot was down by about 7/8ish. Everything in Hudders by 2am. It's a pretty slick operation. The crew are nearly all Romanians because us Brits don't want to do it and the rest are Irish. Haven't met them all yet so probably other nationalities. I haven't met all the performers yet but there is a family from Finland who have driven a truck, a 4x4 and a caravan from there. There's a road trip. They do a crossbow act which is impressive. There are 3 young Brazilians that do the bike stunts . and they were a little surprised when I spoke Portuguese so had a chat about Brazil. They said my Brazilian Portuguese was shite, which it is. There a a fair number of acrobatic and dancing ladies whose nationality I have yet to establish, They are very fit young ladies as you can imagine, I hope. It's at this point I was going to put some pics up, coz we all love them, don't we. Sorry, aint appenin coz I was a dick and they are all upside down and although @Talbotwas kind enough to tell me how to sort it it was right over my head to be honest. It's all still a bit of a mystery to me. The next move is to Greenock this weekend and I have been informed it will all be there, at the latest, Monday morning. I looked on maps and in a car it's four and a half hours, so in a truck it's got to be 6 to 7 hours. Move all this by Monday morning? Blimey. I think that's about it for the moment. I'll be back when I can. Busy. Heikin Matsuda, The Moog, Sheefag and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 I found one the right way up, yay me, of the drifting Scanny. I'll see if there are any more. 320touring, Coprolalia, The Moog and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bezzabsa Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 as a resident of Brierley Bonk, I commend you on 11 years in dugleeeeeee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 1 hour ago, bezzabsa said: as a resident of Brierley Bonk, I commend you on 11 years in dugleeeeeee Thanks. It was a struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 A little bit about living in a flat on wheels on the road. It's not all about views and beaches. I've parked up on a small industrial site, for example, when I was sorting the van out. It was a dead end, so no through traffic, very little traffic and after 6 was quiet. It also had good aspect for the solar which is important off grid of course. There are quite a few laybys that are an old curve of the road around the west midlands. I've sat in one really good one for 3 weeks and nobody has said anything apart from a couple of ladies from some charidee asking if I was alright. Not sure why they thought I wasn't. At the moment I have two 260w panels and two 130 amp leisure batteries which I am going to upgrade to a Lithium set up. Cost about 2.5/ 3 grand max. 460amp battery 1500, invertor charger 500, controller etc another 5 ish. Lithium has the advantage of being able to use at least 80% of the charge. Also looking into a wind turbine as well which would be good in the winter on a pole on the side. Not the aeroplane styley but a vertical one. I've got an on board 4kw genny which I try not to use as it's Lpg and running off to get it at 10 mpg is something to do as little as possible as some Lpg stations I can't get in with the trailer on so have to ditch it somewhere. I'll chuck a bit more up about life on the road if anyone is interested in this stuff. mk2_craig, Matty, Jim Bell and 26 others 29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan302 Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 6 hours ago, puddlethumper said: I'll chuck a bit more up about life on the road if anyone is interested in this stuff. Yes please 🙂 Dyslexic Viking and Low Horatio gearbox 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanH Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 Interesting to see you on here, followed you up Wakefield Road this week. eddyramrod and puddlethumper 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 Indeed. Please carry on 👍 puddlethumper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bezzabsa Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 ah goo on then...gizzus summat to do!! puddlethumper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 As I am on an easy day I'll babble a bit more about life as an itinerant circus worker, and maybe a bit about layby life. I think I'll start with a bit about living on the road. I think it was @Jim Bell who wanted to know about tank capacity. Fresh water is 60 gals. Whether that is US or Brit measure I don't know. Grey holding tank is 45 gals. Black tank the same. Getting water. There are a few ways of doing this but it depends where you are. When I go to a petrol station to get fuel for example, I ask if I can top the water tank up and that can work but not always. As I was based in the Stourbridge, Hagley, Bromsgrove area I was able to take a couple of 25ltr containers to a friend to fill up and with a 12v pump I could leave them in the back and pump into the tank. I was in a layby near Bromsgrove and quite a few people would walk past with dogs and if I was outside I'd say hello. This often turned into a chat about how I was living and one couple asked if I needed anything and I said a bit of water would go down well and they told me where their house was, not far, and to help myself to their outside tap. I've also heard of using church outside taps and leaving a donation. Never tried it. Public bogs are another possibility. If you are filling a container then a variety of connectors maybe needed to get on the variety of taps. The old style push on the bath taps shower type are generally pretty good although a plastic bottle cut a certain way can be useful. Another way is to book in to a campsite for a night and fill up and empty grey and black tanks which is ok although in the season is not cheap but I'm a tight bugger so I don't do that. You have to learn to use as little water as you can because you have to go and get it. With my grey shower/ sink water I either let it into the gutter or catch it in a bucket and chuck it in the hedge as it doesn't have anything bad in it. I keep the washing up liquid and bleach to a minimum. Black water. If you can find a sewerage manhole and can park near enough with the pipe that's on board to reach it then that's one way, but a bit tricky to find. Industrial sites are the best possibility but then you'd have to find a fairly quiet one and go late at night. I decided to go the compost route and made my own out of the big rubber paint container that the roof paint came in. Buying one can range from £10, primitive single use, to £400 or so for a posh job. The paint tub is not far off the height of a normal bog so I added a seat and cut a funnel into the front for peeing into a separate container. If you mix the two it will stink and be dreadful to get rid of. Lined with a bin bag and a layer of Tesco fine wood shavings rat bedding over the bottom you are ready to start. When finished put paper in a separate bag and cover the dump with said shavings. This absorbs any moisture and stops any smell and I can assure you it does not smell at all. With the size and way of doing it I can go 10 days or so before I have to get rid. The getting rid. What I do is hop into the edge of a field, or other convenient place, dig a hole, empty bin bag and bury. Bag in rubbish bin. Right, I've done power, water and waste so I'll leave it there for now. Any questions on a stamped address ten pound note to wherever I am. wuvvum, Stevebrookman, Asimo and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 10, 2022 Author Share Posted June 10, 2022 I had to cut up some chequer plate today. Will this make me want to buy a Landrover and become a One Life Lost It type ? I'm slightly worried. Dan_ZTT, LightBulbFun, Coprolalia and 4 others 2 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted June 10, 2022 Author Share Posted June 10, 2022 First pic is my view out the front and one of the empty ring. + some random shite. Dyslexic Viking, Asimo, jon.k and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 2 hours ago, puddlethumper said: I had to cut up some chequer plate today. Will this make me want to buy a Landrover and become a One Life Lost It type ? I'm slightly worried. Only when you start riveting strips of it down the leading edges of the vans wings. Till then, just chill its only work 😄 puddlethumper and Low Horatio gearbox 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 On 6/9/2022 at 12:04 AM, puddlethumper said: I've got an on board 4kw genny which I try not to use as it's Lpg and running off to get it at 10 mpg is something to do as little as possible as some Lpg stations I can't get in with the trailer on so have to ditch it somewhere. It's obviously been a long week - my immediate thought was "why don't you go in the 305 with a jerry can?" 🤦♂️ Matty, AnnoyingPentium, Dan_ZTT and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightBulbFun Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 14 minutes ago, wuvvum said: It's obviously been a long week - my immediate thought was "why don't you go in the 305 with a jerry can?" 🤦♂️ I bet you someone probably has shown up to an LPG pump asking to have their Jerry can filled and its probably somewhere in America LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now