Roadholder 364 - April 2018

7 heads etc. are easy to count but the myriad of smaller parts, like washers, bolts, piston rings etc., are rather more of a challenge. This year, Neil decided to ask his Branch members for some help and eight hardy souls volunteered! We all gathered at the industrial unit where the spares are stored, on what turned out to be the coldest day of the year. There was no snow, but the winds on top of that particular Dorset hill were absolutely arctic and although the unit is heated, it was still very cold sitting around counting all the bits and pieces. Space in the unit is quite limited and with nine of us in there, it was quite a cosy fit as we all needed chairs and tables to work on. We had all taken the precaution of wrapping up warmly with hats, scarves etc. but thick gloves just don't work when trying to count washers and carburettor jets, so our fingers got pretty cold. We were well supplied with tea, coffee and cake and our usual Branch banter kept us all going as we worked methodically through all the stock. In all, it took us just short of seven hours to complete everything and we were all relieved to dive for the luxury of our warm cars to return home to toast our freezing feet in front of the log burner. All that remains now is for Neil to upload all of the data on to the computer to complete the stock-take. Neil and his team are to be congratulated for their continued dedication to the NOC Spares Scheme and your patience in waiting for responses to your parts requests is appreciated. As I have said, they all work full time and Internet access in deepest Dorset leaves a lot to be desired - fast and reliable it most certainly isn't. Ally, Gerry, Jim and Geoff deep in to counting One spring morning, during a tea break at the little motorcycle shop where I worked, I received a call from Jenny, my pal's sister. She had just passed Harold Daniell's shop and seen an ad in the window 'Mechanic Required'. At one o'clock, I jumped on my RGS and shot off to Forest Hill; two weeks later, I started work in the workshop at the back of Harold Daniell's famous Norton shop. I had a lot to learn. I say 'famous' because I had grown up in Forest Hill and Harold was a local hero; winning the TT three times was a big thing back in the day. As kids, we often passed the shop on the way to the local swimming pool, sometimes there was a new Manx on display. Often we pressed our noses on the window to see if we could get a glimpse of the great man; he was the 'Rossi' of our day. working with Harold Daniell Frank Kately