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Skitters Wood Ashton-in-Makerfield

33 Comments

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.
Photo: . Ozymandias .
Views: 3,160
Item #: 29161
A group of non sporty, sickly, pale type stupid children make adjustments to their bikes on Danny Towey's pen in Skitters wood. April 5th 1964. L to R. Robert Sankey, Tom Heyes and Terry Heyes work on a bike of unknown marque, whilst Danny Towey, ( extreme right ) tinkers with a 500cc Triumph speed twin. The Morris 10 in the meantime, waits patiently in the wings, or in this case, without wings. RBG archive.

Comment by: Howard P on 10th March 2017 at 21:11

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

Comment by: GW. on 11th March 2017 at 00:01

Thanks Ozy. One for the annuls . As evocative a shot as any for the petrol heads of the world. Rockers rule.

Comment by: GW. on 11th March 2017 at 00:08

Ha' and there's that bigger hammer!

Comment by: Howard P on 11th March 2017 at 10:17

I think you'll find that's a Sledgehammer GW.
You wouldn't want these fellows turning up to repair my car/bike. In the trade, these chaps would be called Cowboys. Make do and mend..Botchers.

Comment by: Bill on 11th March 2017 at 10:35

They certainly will be pale wearing leathers all year round. I would say they are the equivalent to today's boy car racers, I would agree with your description Ozymandias, silly name.

Comment by: GW, on 11th March 2017 at 10:38

Or perhaps young tinkerers and future Zen masters Howard.

Comment by: Garry on 11th March 2017 at 10:48

These look off-road bikes anyway, Owt will do!

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 11th March 2017 at 11:10

If by chance I should fail to respond to your inane comments Howard, please don't think me ignorant, it's just that my empathy with dumb animals doesn't quite extend to engaging them in dialogue.

Comment by: AP on 11th March 2017 at 13:14

Bob would have been fourteen or fifteen years old when this photo was taken.

Comment by: Mick on 11th March 2017 at 13:29

Sledge hammer? I think not!

Comment by: DTease on 11th March 2017 at 13:48

Ozy, your reply to Howard really made me chuckle. Howard should remember that the Wright Brothers started out as 'Bodgers' but ended up with the first practical flying machine.

Comment by: Alan on 11th March 2017 at 14:25

Pale type stupid children make adjustments to their bikes!!! Oh but that's ok, because ozymandias says it.

Comment by: jack on 11th March 2017 at 15:11

People can express an opinion if they believe it reflects an appropriate comment. Comments is for everyone.

Comment by: atlas on 11th March 2017 at 15:30

ozy is that tom and terry heyes from landgate

Comment by: Julie on 11th March 2017 at 15:37

If Ozy ( perhaps you know) the said stupid children , were able to get both bikes functioning, in whatever manner, then this does not suggest stupidity to me. I personally have great admiration for anyone who can restore, fix,
mend , in whatever form this might be, to make it work once more.

Comment by: AP on 11th March 2017 at 17:45

I think some readers are missing the irony/satire in Ozzy's words, perhaps not seeing their relationship to comments elsewhere on here.

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 11th March 2017 at 18:47

Hi Julie, these lads were good friends of mine and my description of them in the heading was merely a sarcastic reference to a previous post. At least three of the lads pictured went on to carve out successful careers as top rate mechanics. Danny, on the extreme right, who was 13 years old at the time this photo was taken, ended up in Toronto, managing a service garage for the Kenworth truck company, not too bad for a bodger by my reckoning. Bob on the extreme left ended up owning his own plant hire company in Pembrokeshire. Neither of these lads now move amongst us sadly. But the facts speak for themself, none of them were stupid, far from it. Rest assured Julie, your admiration for the capabilities of these guys would pale into insignificance alongside my admiration for them. I may possibly have misunderstood your comment, forgive me if that's the case, but quite frankly, I'm astounded at the amount of people who comment on this site that don't appear to appreciate irony. Maybe I need to dumb down my posts..... atlas, Tom and Terry may well have originated from Landgate, I don't know, but when I knew them in the early 60's they lived at the bottom of Old road, just a few houses up from the chippy. Terry used to drive a Vauxhall Velox, Tom used to drive me up the wall.

Comment by: Howard P on 11th March 2017 at 19:25

How right you are Julie.

Comment by: Phil on 11th March 2017 at 19:51

Ozy, I think you need to dumb down your comments for the likes of Julie

Comment by: jack on 11th March 2017 at 19:53

This is getting more like facebook Ozy, yes tone it down a bit, you give too much information out!!

Comment by: GW. on 11th March 2017 at 20:29

Goes to show Zen master Ozy. Can't please all the people all the time . But keep trying, just like your young mates in Skitters Wood.

Comment by: Julie on 11th March 2017 at 21:07

Thanks Ozy, I knew that, totally folllow . Yours is a re read! Wonderful!
Now gone!

Comment by: Julie on 11th March 2017 at 21:22

Phil, try me! I donate to the forum respectfully. What have you got?

Comment by: . Ozymandias . on 11th March 2017 at 21:40

I wouldn't know about that jack, as, unlike yourself it would appear, I know nothing at all about Facebook. I'm sorry if you find my comments contain too much information, but whenever I'm asked a question, I try to answer the question as accurately as possible, which can often entail a lengthy explanation, but that's just the way that it is. What would you suggest jack ? Giving answers to questions in monosyllables ?

Comment by: jack on 12th March 2017 at 00:11

Too much information in the Caption and trying to make corny jokes about the subjects.

Comment by: Joe Maplin on 12th March 2017 at 08:35

Great photos these Oz,of a lost pre computer era.When people would feckle and fix stuff.Very enjoyable

Comment by: A.W. on 12th March 2017 at 08:59

I know the "previous post" you mentioned in your reply to Julie. That post referred to a contributor who thought that sport was the be all and end all of everything and inferred that anybody who enjoyed anything more constructive or creative was a sad case. I am delighted to categorise myself as a sad case!

Comment by: Veronica B on 12th March 2017 at 10:18

I can definitely see sarcasm in the caption but not anything like 'corny jokes'! Perhaps Jack needs to go back to another contribution by Ozy to understand better the reason he has made this caption so clear. It makes life a lot easier for some folks who are interested in what is going on in the photograph from over 50 years ago. If anything- instead of complaining about the caption - why not try being grateful for the said photograph!!! Or better still jack send a photo in yourself with the barest minimum of details!
Clearly there is a need to 'keep up' by reading previous comments in other sources - or is that too much trouble for the odd few who clearly don't!!!

Comment by: John G on 12th March 2017 at 10:32

Ozy: It just goes to show how much reaction your post's invoke Ozy, it's the usual story of people who assume something they see and read. In this Photo I see four young lads enjoying each other's company tinkering about with motor bikes, once upon a time that was called normal, at this moment in time that was captured they are not mechanics but just four young lads with a common passion. As someone who used to do cross country running and (other things) in that area, I for one will say to you Ozy keep sending your post's in your own words and in your own time.

Comment by: GW. on 12th March 2017 at 11:00

Good on ya' A.W. And i'm an even sadder case co's i like sport to. Ironically you started all this Howard P, As the bishop said to the nun "It's all very ZEN on Wigan World!!" Keep up the good work OZZY. And a happy full moon to you all.

Comment by: DTease on 12th March 2017 at 12:56

It was not uncommon for boys of my generation to make things for themselves. Indeed if I had not bodged together a bike for myself I would never have had one because there was not the money to buy such things.
When I first bought a very old second-hand car I knew absolutely nothing about the workings of the internal combustion engine but I quickly learned that if I had to pay experts to fix it I would very soon end up with empty pockets. As a result, I never took my car to a Garage unless I had tried my best to fix it myself. Fortunately, I had friends and relations who were willing to pass on the knowledge that they had gained from doing the same jobs themselves and these lads are doing exactly the same thing.

Comment by: Alan on 12th March 2017 at 13:49

What has cross country running got to do with this post.
It shows younguns playing mechanics, what's the connection??

Comment by: AP on 17th March 2017 at 11:34

Just the other side of that fence was the route used for the school cross country.

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