This is a memorial I stumbled across outside a church in Nottinghamshire a year ago. There’s not a great deal of information on the memorial itself but thanks to the efforts of a number of people who have been diligently researching the loss of Lancaster W4270 with...
Two electric driverless buses started working on the streets of Lyon this week at the beginning of a year long trial. The keyword is “working”, though… not “earning”! The buses, manufactured by a Lyon-based company, Navya, have been road tested in other French cities but until now,...
If you are anywhere near the city of Chartres (SW of Paris) on 17 September, you should see the Festival of Lights (Fête de la Lumière) that night. It marks the climax of the 2016 season (16 Apr – 08 Oct) which sees many (27) of Chartres...
The Australians are celebrating a maritime milestone. To commemorate the landing in Western Australia of the Dutch Explorer Dirk Hartog, the Duyfken Replica – a reproduction of a typical 16th century Dutch trading vessel – has begun a ten-week, 1000-kilometre journey along the Western Australian coast. Dutchman...
For some nationalities, like us Brits, it’s a little hard to understand the role of France’s customs force, les Douanes. We have customs officers standing around at airports & ports, checking bags, opening shipping containers, and so on, but they are viewed as bureaucrats or government officials....
I’ve been trying to work out what this slightly rusty Self Propelled Gun (SPG) is, parked up at the back of the Musee de Blindes in Saumur, awaiting a little love and attention from their restoration teams. Now, thanks to TankNutDave.com, and some time I spent trawling...
These are pattern/template boots for the Swedish army. The one on the left was an approved design for a cavalry boot in the 1690s, when Sweden was still an autocracy, so the final approval comes from the king who puts his seal on it. The letters CRS...
The Fairburn steam crane, named after its designer William Fairbairn, is a masterpiece of engineering. It was built in Bristol docks in 1878 to lift heavy loads (up to 35 tons), which it did for 95 years. It has now been restored and is a Scheduled Ancient...
Ever wondered what a wind turbine looks like inside? And important questions like: How do you climb to the top? How much space is there up there? Why don’t the cables twist as it turns around? Here are the answers, and delivered in a really chirpy, no-nonsense...
With innovative companies like Saab, Bofors, Volvo and Scania, the Swedes have come at engineering & design from a different angle to everybody else.
I love this quirky little French 6-wheeler from 1939. It’s a Laffly V15T with 4-wheel drive, plus an extra two wheels to get it over lumps & bumps! It had a top speed of 58 kph and was used primary by the French cavalry as an artillery...
What's not to like about the pure application of turbines, gears and cogs?
Armémuseum , the Swedish Army Museum, is a traditional capital city style museum in an impressive historic building in the centre of Stockholm, but although there’s lots of interesting exhibits & displays, I found it a little disappointing. It’s a shame, because they really have gone to some...
With over 200 armoured vehicles on permanent display, and another 680 in its inventory, the Musée des Blindés Saumur, has the largest collection of armoured vehicles in the world*. It’s been on my list of museums to visit for some time and I wasn’t disappointed. Its roots...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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