6th Jan 2012

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This exquisite door is visible from the road through the open portal in the obscuring buildings. The potted plant suggests it is no longer the main entrance to the thatched farmhouse. Only politeness forbid further exploration into the privacy of the immaculate, enclosed yard.

Such farmhouses usually had two widely separated entrances. One for the farmer and his family. The other for the staff. Many Danes still wear traditional clogs. Though dealing with the mud from the fields must have been a formidable problem in the past. One must assume that the clogs were left at the door when entering the house.

The wavy glass and wonderfully fine glazing bars are a sign of quality and originality. They must be almost impossible to reproduce today with modern knotty pine. The clear timber of the past used heartwood to last for centuries. Pine boards could be as wide as desired and still completely free of knots.

Today's trees are harvested too young to avoid knots. Discounted windows made from this trashy stuff may not even last a decade. Particularly under modern, non-breathable, plastic paints.

Secondary glazing can easily raise the thermal qualities of these early, single glazed windows. Offering no excuse to replace the windows with the coarse modern things. Or worse, with hideous, white PVC!

An old water mill. The wheels are housed in the low building on the right.

6th 31-34, 0C-1, a steady breeze, sunny, overnight frost. The blinding sun came up at 9 o'clock precisely into a clear blue sky. Lots of water ice on the roads. Even a couple of inches of slush where cars had repeatedly splashed through a big puddle. Went with the wind and came back against it. I'm fairly sure that's the wrong way round. Chest still bunged up but legs going quite well otherwise. 20 miles.

  
7th 42F, 6C, light winds increasing, heavily overcast, drizzling, rain forecast until 3pm. Might go out after morning coffee. I hoped my route would be at an angle to the wind but it felt more like a headwind.

The mill owner's house with decorative timber framed façade.

The mill pond. There are two outlet streams. 

The major one being a rushing bypass.

7th continued: I arrived at my goal to find it was early closing. Quicker on the way back with the wind over my shoulder most of the time. It rained lightly but not enough to be a nuisance. 30 grey and breezy miles.

8th 41F, 5C, breezy, overcast. Surprising amount of traffic. A rather tiring 18 mile shopping trip. Even going down a long hill with the wind I wasn't moving very quickly.

The grill at lower left filters out unwanted debris before it reaches the wheels. The pond and sluice are just beyond the right of the picture. The head race is beneath slabs below the picture. I was concentrating on capturing the old building.

 The gentle outlet run. 
(tail race)

9th 35-42F, 2-6C, almost still, overcast with light rain forecast to continue all day. Possible window at 3pm? I left at 3.00 when it stopped raining for a while. Thick, patchy mist had me put my lights on. It rained on the way back but the Ventour jacket kept me comfortable. It was almost dark by the time I arrived home again. Only 11 miles.

It has been reported that 32 cyclists lost their lives in Denmark last year. Against 26 the previous year. Half of those killed were over 60. It has been suggested by the Danish cycling association that older cyclists refuse to wear helmets. Also, that they are not so skilled in heavy traffic as younger cyclists.

It was suggested that speed limits in towns should be reduced to 40kph from the present 50. (25mph down from 30mph) Statistically, this would greatly reduce the number of fatalities. As drivers in Denmark do not recognise speed limits (at all) this is a completely pointless suggestion. I speak from 15 years experience of Danish driving conditions.

Rogers trike conversion, trike forks and wheels on eBay:

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace rogers conversion

An interesting "squared" form for the reinforcing loops.
Might it suggest room for a rear hub brake?

The forks are already fitted with bosses for a pair of cantilevers and a forward front brake to taste.

The Ken Rogers logo.

The conversion sold for £92.






A Longstaff trike rack from the same vendor.

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace longstaff rack   

WYSIWYG

Needs a rub down and some paint. Probably some brazed-on fixing bosses too.


You could carry a load of bricks or a sack of coal on that thing!  ;-)

The rack did not attract a single bid.

Click on any image for an enlargement