Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts

Thursday, February 16, 2023

On To Ludlow

 


All too soon it was time to leave the rain washed, windswept streets of the Athens of the North and the comfort of the Royal Scots and head to Ludlow. I rode the rails to this charming market town, once home to the Council of the Marches and a key defensive point against savage Welsh raiders.

Today the town's less about beating back the ferocious Welsh and recalcitrant nobility and more about butchers, bakers, fishmongers, green grocers, outstanding late Medieval and Georgian architecture and... pubs. We liked the Blue Boar, with its fire and mostly peaceful ambiance.




And walking too. If you go to this gem of a border town, take time to stroll around the castle, the river and, if you're feeling adventurous, climb up into the hills above the town. I asked my friends if there were bears in the woods, apparently there aren't, but we did see a large buzzard which reminded me of home. As did a view of the Malverns, which I used to be able to see from my bedroom window as teenager in Cheltenham. Memories.




Speaking of which, on the last day there, my old boss MCP drove over to visit at the Blue Boar. Onetime poacher turned gamekeeper in the IT world of the '90s and '00s, he's become an author and published a book to critical acclaim in Dublin. It's called Long Lost Log and details his adventures sailing across the Atlantic as crew in an eccentric "thoroughbred" of a boat in 1974. What a lot of fun to meet up.




So well done MCP and big thanks to S&K for great Shropshire hospitality. And now? Back to London for a few days before heading home to Texas.

Cheers,

LSP

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Infest-ival, A Guest Post By Jules Smith



Here at the Compound we're delighted to bring you this guest post by Jules Smith, on a three day assignment at a hippy festival, a freak fayre, somewhere in England.


Duty found me knee-deep in the English countryside at a hippy festival. Despite not wanting to catch any germs, I felt it was in the interest of the farming community to find out what’s infecting the crops and destroying the greenbelt. 

I went armed with notebook, pen, camera and a vat of hand sanitiser. And here I am, thankfully still alive but not without the help of aspirin and bottles of home-brewed cider to erase the alarming visuals. 

I’m only one day into this three day event but here’s what I’ve uncovered so far. Brace yourself.




Disco cutie. Wouldn’t you just want to take him home to meet your mama... 




The King. Actually introduced himself this way. I kid you not. He told me he was trying to take over the world and sort out American and English politics. Because naturally, a fruit loop with clothes pegs clipped to his crown is what we’ve all been missing. I don’t know about you, but I’m won over. God. Help. Us.




Bride of Dracula - Trying to eat someone's baby.




Fashion takes itself to a whole new level. Even Primark are slamming their doors. (WTF is he wearing?) Even the guitarist is stumped and he's wearing to sunglasses to shield the intensity. 




Get your frikkin hair cut and take that stupid hat off.




Look! A sheep! Shoot it! (Although in this neck of the woods he might be coming a cropper in another way when a loved-up hippy on magic mushrooms spots a sitting duck or "sheep.") 




Quick! A bear! Shoot it! Don’t pay any attention to the red, military coat on the left. This person has absolutely no comprehension  of “fighting warrior.”



I can do two hula hoops at once but …errr… I can’t brush my hair.




The infested, tantra, hippy love nest. (throws up in mouth)




And looky do. I can carry my drink around in an inflatable unicorn! It’s a five pound deposit in case you don’t bring it back. I keep setting them off down river with puncture wounds. Worth a fiver of anybody's money. 

I want to see how badly they cry when they run out of unicorns and I replace them with MAGA mugs. Heh.

SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF HERE.

Jules

Sunday, May 24, 2015

It's Pentecost, Install A New Trigger


I get it it,  every Sunday's a Feast Day, but some Feasts stand out, like Pentecost. Some celebrate the descent of the Spirit upon the Apostles by BBQing Porterhouse steaks, and I like that. But for me, celebrating the Feast means installing a new trigger in an AR 15, a Hipertouch EDT (Enhanced Duty Trigger).



It isn't hard. Unscrew the deadly pistol grip, making sure that you don't lose the fire control detent, remove the safety selector and grip. Tap out the pins that hold the old, rubbish, clunky, creepy trigger in place and remove it.



Look at the lower receiver and give it a quick clean with an oily rag; remember, a clean gun is a happy gun. Then look at the Hipertouch instructions and see if all the parts that are supposed to come with the kit actually do. 

Satisfied, put trigger, disconnector spring, and disconnector together, aligning the holes in the receiver, the trigger, and the disconnector so that you can drive a supplied pin through all and hold the mechanism in place. Hipertouch supplies a drift pin, which comes in very handy.



Trigger in place, install the hammer, first fitting a 4.5 lb or a 5.5 lb spring to it; I opted for the lighter pull. Then simply position the hammer in the receiver and pin it in place. 

And that's it, congratulations, you have a new trigger in your deadly assault rifle, making it that much more deadlier. But seriously, does the Hipertouch EDT work? 



Yes it does, as described, "Single Stage Pull is Smooth, Flat, Fast & Precise." Does it have "Lightning Quick Reset"? Fast enough and a big improvement over the stock CMMG trigger that used to live in the receiver. Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes I would, the Hipertouch EDT is what it claims to be, an enhanced duty trigger, which is light and crisp without being a dangerous liability. Is it tactical? Sure it is, all the way to the nearest range and beyond. Cost effective, too, at around $90.

Long story short. If you're fixing to celebrate Pentecost by upgrading your stock AR 15 trigger, you could do a whole lot worse than the Hipertouch EDT. LL, who has forgotten more about shooting than I will ever know, vouches for it.



So get one, if you like, and watch your groups improve. All this is banned in places like England and Connecticut, where the Rainbow Nanny rules and ISIS laughs.

Your Pal,

LSP