Another busy week at the Scotwaste Arena and I am happy to report that we have at last upgraded our pits telephone system from something that was probably used by General Montgomery at El Alamein to a much more modern system. Aside from that our major task was (a) getting a pump to run properly and (b) draining the swamp at the side of the pits.
The pump problem was eventually traced to the priming filler cap on the pump chamber - stripped thread and was partially solved by thread tape and using a rubber band as a temporary seal. John Thomson and I finished off the job using buckets and by digging through the old tarmac surface under all the shale to allow some drainage. As the result the normally large puddle in the tanker parking area was absent.
Other pre-meeting preparations were quickly completed but there was to be a surprise in store. During her inspection walk round referee Barbara Horley noticed some sprinkler heads on the inside of the greyhound track which had no protection, As these had been there since we moved to Armadale and had never previously been raised as a problem there was a minor panic until I scrounged around and found some spare kart tyres which fitted over the sprinklers. Subsequently we learned from stadium manager Robert Tod that the sprinklers were not used and could be removed, which will be a job for next Wednesday.
Following all this the meeting against the Berwick Bandits was mostly processional apart from a rather frightening incident when Max Dilger's machine disassembled itself going into the third bend, the handlebars and forks breaking away from the rest of the frame. Fortunately Max only suffered a broken bone in his right hand which caused him to miss the rest of the meeting.
Craig Branney was also involved but both rode on the Saturday at Berwick. Paul Clews also had a heavy fall on the second bend, causing some fence damage including a mildly bent fence post and severely straining the wires -.Another repair job for Wednesday.
I also include some details of the local wildlife which is too slow/stupid to vanish when I appear with my trusty camera.
Regards
Ian
"It's nice to pass on best wishes - To Ian and all the team at Armadale, Thomas H Jonnason sends his very best wishes - he remembers his time there fondly!"
