21 replies to this topic

[Richard Neale]

Can anyone help with identifying Markings on a FWB?
Below the engine number there is a crown with 'E' & 'R' either side. Was this a Queen's Award to Industry or for Exports?

[Doug Nye]

Ah-hah! Sounds like the block at least is from a Home Office fire pump engine...do Pugh, Hugh, Barney McGrew, Tuffitt, Dibble and Grubb know about this????*

DCN
(* An unashamed Trumpton fan unsure of spellings)

[Richard Neale]

Hi Doug ~ Oh Dear! Do you think that's the explanation? The whole marking is 'Serial No FWB 400/8 6875' with the the Crown and ER below.

I have a pic but haven't managed to unravel the method of posting them yet.

The engine ~ believed original to the car is in the ex Joe Lubin Bobtail.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Ah-hah! Sounds like the block at least is from a Home Office fire pump engine...do Pugh, Hugh, Barney McGrew, Tuffitt, Dibble and Grubb know about this????*

DCN
(* An unashamed Trumpton fan unsure of spellings)

It was Cuthbert, not Tuffitt - or did Tuffitt man the mighty Climax engine in one of the non-championship fires?;)

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Ah-hah! Sounds like the block at least is from a Home Office fire pump engine...do Pugh, Hugh, Barney McGrew, Tuffitt, Dibble and Grubb know about this????*

DCN
(* An unashamed Trumpton fan unsure of spellings)

Ah, a subject my favourite popular beat combo have explored in depth:

The Trumpton Riots (From the Half Man Half Biscuit Trumpton Riots EP, 1985.

Unemployment's rising
In the Chigley end of town.
And it's speading like pneumonia;
Doesn't look like going down.
There's trouble at the fire station;
Someone's got the sack.
And the lads at home have launched a scheme to
Get rid of Captain Flack.

Chorus:
Someone get a message through
To Captain Snort
That they better start assembling
The boys from the fort
Keep Mrs. Honeyman right out of sight,
'Cause there's gonna be riot
Down in Trumpton Tonight.

Tell PC McGarry to get himself a mate
And arm themselves with CS Gas
They're gonna be out late
We've had Cant conformism since 1966
And now subversion's in the air
In the shape of flying bricks

Chorus

All this aristocracy has really got to stop
We could overthrow the surgery
And kidnap Dr Mopp
And Chippy Minton's socialists
Could storm the market square
And make plans to assassinate
Our autocratic mayor

Chorus

Windy Militant leads his Basque-like
corngrinders to war
With windmill sails and bombs with nails
They smash the town hall door
But Snorty and his boys arrive with one big erstwhile crew
Whereupon they bring about a military coup!

Chorus

Lyrics N. Blackwell, music N. Blackwell/N. Crossley.

[ian senior]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Ah-hah! Sounds like the block at least is from a Home Office fire pump engine...do Pugh, Hugh, Barney McGrew, Tuffitt, Dibble and Grubb know about this????*

DCN
(* An unashamed Trumpton fan unsure of spellings)

Wasn't it Pugh, Pugh - twin brothers? Oh, we don't half go off topic on here sometimes.

[Doug Nye]

- I think I prefer 'Tuffitt' to 'Cuthbert'. Not that I have anything against Cuthbert of course...

DCN

[David Birchall]

For those of us too ignorant to know (And I raced Coventry Climax engined cars for years) would someone please tell us what all this means?

[Ray Bell]

What? FWB?

Or all this stuff about engines going out the back door of the military supplies depot?

[David Birchall]

Hi Ray, long time no speak, I know what an FWB is!! Its the "Tuffit, Cuthbert and Pugh" stuff I'm having trouble with

I promised myself and my wife I would give up TNF since we are on an island with a very slow connection and the cost in time and money was getting silly, but I seem to have relapsed...

[Tim Murray]

It's all to do with a UK TV show called Trumpton, originally made in the '60s for small children which acquired cult status amongst grown-up children. The following is taken from the website www.televisionheaven.co.uk



"This is the clock, the Trumpton clock, telling the time, never too quickly, never too slowly..." These are the words that introduced Gordon Murray's stop-motion puppet series sequel to Camberwick Green. Set in the larger town of Trumpton the series mainly featured Captain Flack and his intrepid crew of fire-fighters, Hugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb. Shown as part of Watch With Mother, Trumpton survived for 13 episodes before moving on to tales of the next town in Trumptonshire, Chigley.
13 episodes of 15 minute duration. BBC. 1967

[Ray Bell]

Hi David... nice to see you slacken off on the internet budget...

But as for the answers to your question, I think they're still a bit hard to understand. Some day, someone will ask, "Who let Doug Nye in here?"

[Richard Neale]

I'm far to old to have watched Trumpton as a child, so this is all of rather academic interest ~ still it would be nice to get back to the original subject before someone deviates again to 'Magic Roundabout' or 'The Wombles' !!!!

[Allen Brown]

This is TNF. We never get back to the original subject.

[Doug Nye]

And I'm on my way back to Trumpton - in search of a decent book binder for my pals...

DCN

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
And I'm on my way back to Trumpton - in search of a decent book binder for my pals...

DCN

Which reminds me of the following Nigel Blackwell classic..... even (vaguely) racing related ;)

ALL I WANT FOR XMAS IS A DUKLA PRAGUE AWAY KIT

There was one in the gang who had a Scalextric
And because of that he thought he was better than you
Everyday after school you would go round there to play it
Hoping to compete for some kind of championship
But it always took about fifteen billion hours to set the track up
And even when you did the thing never seemed to work

It was a dodgy transformer again and again
A dodgy transformer again and again
It was a dodgy transformer again and again
A dodgy transformer that cost three pound ten

So he'd send his doting mother up the stairs with the stepladder
To fetch the Subbuteo down from the loft
He had all the accessories required for that big match atmosphere
The crowd and the dugout and the floodlights too
But you'd always get palmed off with a headless centre forward
And a goalkeeper with no arms and a face like his

And he'd managed to get hold of a Dukla Prague away kit
'cause his uncle owned a sports shop and he'd kept it to one side
And after only five minutes you'd be down to ten men
'cause he'd sent off your right back for taking the base from under his left winger
And come to half time you were losing four-nil
Each and every goal a hotly disputed penalty
So you'd smash up the floodlights and the match was abandoned
And the dog would bark and you'd be banned from his house
And your travelling army of synthetic supporters
Would be taken away from you and thrown in the bin

Now he's working in a job with a future
He hands me my giro every two weeks
And me I'm on the lookout for a proper transformer .....

[FredF1]

No mention of Jacques Laffite's loins then Pete?

Was just listening to HMHB's 'On finding the studio banjo' too.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by FredF1
No mention of Jacques Laffite's loins then Pete?

Was just listening to HMHB's 'On finding the studio banjo' too.

I assume Nigel used Jacques Laffite because he couldn't find anything that rhymed with Paddy McNally

("Heard a palace spokesman mention Sarah/said she'd known the groin of Jacques Laffite/well equipped to be a standard bearer/pure as unproverbial driven sleet").

Mind you he also refers to "The wonderful dexterity of Hannu Mikkola", and mentions "Spares for Silverstone". Possibly a bit of a motorsport fan is our Nige ;)

[Ruairidh]

Originally posted by Tim Murray
13 episodes of 15 minute duration. BBC. 1967

Were there really only 13 episodes made? Things really do seem so much bigger when you are younger!

[Ray Bell]

Similar with Fawlty Towers, wasn't it?

Shame the same can't be said for Coronation Street, Neighbours, Home and Away etc...

[conjohn]

Trying to drag this back to at least close to the subject at hand...

What, if any, is the significance of the second group in a Climax engine number, e.g. FWA/400/6/6812, FWB/400/8/6875, FPF/430/3/1036, and the FWMW being the 499?

[Doug Nye]

The second number I believe indicated block configuration and the third number - again, I believe - indicated its 'kitting' with or without dynamo etc (i.e. sports or Formula) - while the final four-digit serial provided the individual assembled unit identification.

Tony Mantle has the full listing I believe at Climax Engine Services????

DCN