Thankfully last weekend the van sold, even after the couple who bought it pulled a good sized section of the lefthand sill off. They came to collect it on Sunday and I was told; sat there for around 15 mins trying to find 1st gear (Not an easy task when the gearstick is joined to the gearbox with a 14ft cable). This then allowed Natalie and I to head down to South London to have a look at a nice beetle we had seen. I made sure to check the underside first and all of the structural points before getting too excited about the engine. We bought it. Its an absoloute bargain for what it is, sure the paint works isn't the best and the alloys are scratched, but its pushing 50 years old has no major rust issues and goes like stink. We garaged it at Nat's parents place and headed back to Sheffield for some uni work and a physio apointment.
The physio session went well, I was told that they couldn't really do any more for me given how much movement and flexibility I had and that this was effectively the last session I needed unless I want some after they take the frame off. This is good news in terms of progress but its nice to have something leg oreintated to focus on rather than the removal date which still seems a long way off (given the extra 6 week period afterwards where you're not allowed to do anything).
On Wed night I got an email from Nic which was a forwarded message from Keith Hayman, one of the artists from Heeley Bank School, basically everyone has been told to leave by Nov 07, this is seriously bad news. Personally I would want to re-build the boards somewhere else. I accept that theyre far from perfect and falling to bits but in my mind they are a major piece of climbing history, many hard problems and feats of climbing strength have been carried out on those boards/in that room and it was the footage in the real thing video that inspired me to train when I was younger. Even now after I've had a chance to test myself on those very problems I would still be unhappy to see them go.
Natalie and I headed to the climbing works on thursday for her first visit back since my incident. She did well, ticking the first 15 or so of the green circuit. Talk was of the boards being rehomed to the works but I don't think they could stand up to an hour in that place. Hopefully a new venue is found, and soon.
Right now i'm back down south to bring the hotrod back up on Sunday...In order to drive it you need to keep your eyes peeled for even a slight dip in the road or a twig as the oil cooler is mounted on the underside of the front beam and it is seriously low.
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