september salvager 2011
DESCRIPTION
September Salvager 2011 the online turn page from Rico Daniels with contribitions from readers and world wideTRANSCRIPT
Inside this issue September
The Basic Tool Kit & Where to Get
Sources of Treasure
Rico’s Garden
All The Fun of The Bull Dog With Pictures
OTHER CONTENT
SALVAGE CHALLENGE........................102
IDEAS & INSPIRATION......................104
CLASSIFIED AND SALE ITEMS............114
They call it "camping sauvage".
6
8
WHEN ALEX FARRELL SEES A SKIP 16
25
80
86
Lots of new things this month to tell you about and the Bull Dog Bash section make this a bumper edition But first some sad news, we featured the work of Craig Watson from Zakynthos last month with his plastic bottle green house and his collection point bins made from plastic bottles.
Craig unexpectedly passed away at the being of August three days after he’s 51st birthday. Our hearts and thoughts go out to his direct and extended family plus all his many friends.
He had sent me a second article on his worm farming exploits, which once cleared with Ashley and Luci his Island family I will run as a fitting epitaph to a much loved & well liked kind and gentle man who left us far to soon.
In September Rico talks about hand tools and how to source them at the right price and tells us about his passion for French markets and there content.
Alex Farrell talks about his builds and what inspires him with some examples of his work and some items you could buy to help fund his workshop build.
Then there is Rico at the Bull Dog Bash, what he and others did, the events and pictures of the bikes that are in the Bull Dog Bash dedicated pages.
Editors notes on this months issue
James
Not done much in August as I am in the UK for a lot of the month as you can see by the Bull Dog Bash pictures its normally a month you get to enjoy the fruits of your garden labours anyway.
But I will be picking my fruit and digging my vegetables as soon as I’m back.
I am expecting a good crop this year as its been rain and shine throughout the spring as it was in the UK.
As you can see from the picture opposite its the start of a bumper harvest, and this is just the first lot, Beets, spuds, red and green peppers, onions and nips’.
There is no greater pleasure in life than sitting down to a meal that you’ve grown, whether that is salad, fruit or a pile of new potatoes with a big Knob of butter on top.
You can grow in pots, beds, grow bags or your garden just go grow and enjoy the fruits of your labours and you will see exactly what I mean!
RICO’S GARDEN
6
RICO’S GARDEN
The Basic Tool Kit & Where to Get It Where do I get my hand tools? I am not talking power tools, I am talking your bog standard hand tools. When the conversation in the TV pub the Nag’s Head of Fools & Horses fame turned to “old fashion quality” and Trigger said “I’ve had the same broom for 20 years, it’s only had four handles and three heads” I strangely knew what he meant.
When replacing a handle or shaft on a tool it seems to take on the age of the item, yet still making it feel new and that is what buying old tools does for me.
8
While you are mooching about markets, boot sales, auctions and the classifieds you will often come across rusted old tools that with a little love and care still have a very useful life if you can be bothered to clean them up.
You will normally be rewarded with a well made tool that could be from the 1800’s because most hand tools have changed little in the last 200 years since the start of the industrial revo-lution and in some cases before that and all it takes is a little elbow grease and the simplest of equipment.
A bench mounted motor or drill with a wire brush attachment will make short work of heavy rust but even a hand held wire brush can get good results.
Once you have got rid of the scaly stuff I like to attack it with various grades of wet and dry paper getting progressively finer until you have brought it up to nice shine.
I always finish off with a bit of fine steel wool cleaning up wooden handles in the process. Feeding the wooden parts with a little linseed oil is a good idea
at this stage before re-storing cutting edges on an oilstone.
Before you know it, you will have a good serviceable tool that has good chances of outliving you.
As long as you have your wits about you on prices of the new hardware then you will know when you have a bargain.
If I am lucky enough to find an old tool I can use I like to think of the
I Don’t think this as a nail gun
tradesman or enthusiast that had them before.
And its not only tools but jars, bottles and bags that are pennies to buy but do the job they were made for years earlier.
There are lots of people that do this for a living, buying crappy old tools, cleaning , sharpening and reselling them at a hefty mark up. Often tools that have no usefulness are worth refurbishing simply for the collectors market which is always buoyant.
Things like planes, brass mounted spirit levels, folding rules and drill braces will find a ready market if they’re sympathetically restored,
and don’t worry about duplicating a tool as there will be someone somewhere who wants one and may have something you want.
15
Alex is originally from Scotland but has lived in Weymouth Dorset for a number years now. He is currently studying for a Degree, but prefers using his practical skills.
From a young age he has always been interested in how things work and if they broke had an enormous sense of satisfaction when he got them working again. As he says “unfortunately, we live in a throw away nation and it saddens me when I see what has been sent to landfill”.
For years I have looked in skips & frequented the local council tips to source materials I could use for my builds.
This has caused my lady some embarrassment, especially when I knocked on her friends door and asked her mum if he could have all the timber from her skip that was discarded from the roof to make way for new tiles. After running this 100 year old 2" X 1" through the
WHEN ALEX FARROR PALLET
MATERIALS FO
Elegance: This is one of Alex’sstunning....but wait for it
planer/thickeners he built so much garden trellis he didn't know what to do with it all Alex is 42 years young now but begun making furniture for the home years ago.
“It all began when I made a mirror for the hallway Friends and family who visited his home asked where they could buy such a mirror and then they were taken aback when I said I made it”.
“Pretty soon I was making quite a few of these mirrors but because it was for friends and family, I never actually seen any profit”.
I soon moved on to making book cases, blanket boxes, coffee tables mirrors, mirrors and even more mirrors with the odd print being set in one of my frames as well.
I recognised that there was potential to perhaps start a small business doing what I love so my next step was to take this hobby more seriously.
RELL SEES A SKIP T HE SEES OR A PROJECT
’s radiator covers which is quite t...It’s made from pallets.
17
He then designed and built his own little workshop and began to invest in better tools. “I felt like I was walking on air, could this dream become a realty!”
Unfortunately, life took a devastating turn for the worst and he and his partner separated.
He was effectively made homeless and lost everything except hope. he knew he would get back on his feet but the process took time.
A few years later and he is in the final year of his Degree, he has always felt that his true vocation in life is to use his practical skills and imagination.
He never lost the dream of designing and building his own furniture and still believes there is a market for what he makes.
He has began to replace a lot of the tools that I lost, however, even the long awaited table saw was a salvaged item but now looking good after some TLC. He has to do the electrics to accommodate the tools but before this can happen he has to extend,
He’s only at it again. Oh well, ifpallets then I might as well maksame stock. Believe it or not, bof timber to make this frame. Th
truly gorgeous. Like always, the gtip for 5
f I made the radiator cover from ke a mirror to go with it from the but I actually machined 12 pieces The profile needs to be seen. It is glass was salvaged from the local
50 pence.
(Probably rebuild) the garage at the bottom of the garden because space is very limited.
This all takes time and it takes cash and that is where he is falling down at present.
But he has two mirrors for sale over the page to help the funding.
If he can sell these then the cash goes into buying armoured cable and stuff to create his new work area and at least get the table saw working.
He will get there eventually but in the meantime he’s head is full of ideas and it is truly frustrating to see all this useable stock that people throw away going to waste.
So if you like the mirrors and have something to trade that will help the build why not drop him a e-mail.
Last year he dabbled with the idea of opening an e-commerce site
Fish tank & Cabinet: Alex loves his fish even more so when he salvaged the tank from the local tip for £3. The
cabinet was made to match the desk using the same salvaged wood.
A FISH TANK STAND AND A BOOKCASE
WERE NEEDED
The Pillar Bookcase: Very palatable, Yes, this was made from wooden pallets. This stands over 4½ feet tall and is again finished in an American walnut colour to keep everything matching for her indoors. It stands tall, proud and elegant but was a nightmare to build with pallets as my raw material. I accepted the challenge though. Twins would be lovely, one for CD’s and the other for DVD’s and perhaps a smoked glass door to conceal the contents or in my case, the mess.
“The Degree is almost over (Whoopeee!) one more year to go and it feels like it will be a long one. It does consume a lot of my time and I find myself always yearning for each academic year to be over so as I can get into the garage and build but I have came this far so it must be completed. I am still learning lots, I don't know everything
about woodworking and I do make numerous mistakes but I believe I learn better from the mistakes I make.
I can't draw to save myself and when I have an idea in my head I feel compelled to built it. I feel as though I have to see my ideas complete and standing in front of me”.
The Desk: three raised panels at the front and a raised panel at either side. Finished in an American Walnut colour then a few coats of Danish oil. This is a heavy piece that was made
primarily from salvaged wood.
MIRRORS FOR SA
To compliment the carving, reproduction church hinge bolts have been added which enhances the sense of age. Additionally, the glass was salvaged and has been stressed in certain areas which offer a further sense of history to this piece. Overall size is: 46” high X 20 ½” wide X 1 ¾” deep. Can be hung landscape or portrait. Price to sell £100
‘ON THE BEACH’‐ This stunning mirror
evolved from salvaged 3” X 2” construction timber. After much preparation and once the main frame has been put together, the edges have been carved giving a truly aged and perhaps a drift wood effect.
The gorgeous mirror below has been built using 5” wide timber salvaged from a 1920’s property. The original nail holes have been left in and enhance the characteristics of this piece. The glass has also been reclaimed because using new unblemished glass with wood of this age would have been the wrong choice. This is a large mirror that would compliment any room in the home. Overall size is: 35” high X 34” wide X 1 ¾” thick. Price to sell £80
ALE
25
BULL DOG BASHWell here I am at the Bull Dog Bash, Had an eventful journey, trieto avoid the traffic and ended up avoiding the route and got totallylost, but after a phone call and little RAF navigation (Identify the big towns) arrived in one piece, but more of that later lets look at the pictures and a few of the stories and winners, plus I had the honour to present the prizes at the custom tent, I’m just glad I didn’t have to pick the winner.
Rico
H ed y
And the winner’s are!
All the bike’s, trike's and scooters were of a standard that could grace any American show and win, I’m just
glad it was a public vote on the winner and all three were worthy
winners, you can see I was distractedby the workmanship !!
56
60
Images from the drag race pits
Glorious weather in Warwickshire allowed the army charity display team, Freefall for Heroes, to perform a death defying 3000ft descent over the sun baked crowds at Bulldog 25.
The display incorporated high performance swoops while flying the Union Jack flag.
Freefall for Heroes help to provide respite care for servicemen and women.
A team of injured army personnel will be training to compete against able bodied skydivers in the 2012 army skydiving, and national, championships.
You can support the charity by visiting Freefall for Heroes on Facebook/Twitter and pledging to donate or take action yourself by tandem skydiving with the team to raise funds.
Visitors to the Bulldog Bash’s legendary Custom Show, in association with Victory Motorcycles, were wowed by the quality of entries once again this year.
TV star The Salvager, AKA Rico Daniels, made the prize presentations to class winners, adding colour to proceedings with his unique style and humour.
Among the custom show win-ners was Rob from Kings Lynn in the best paint category, sponsored by Nefarious Pin Striping, with his wildcard entry - a Lambretta scooter! Rob said, “I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for, bringing a scooter to a bike show, but I was amazed that I won such a great Bulldog prize”.
Best in show went to Paul from Bognor Regis with his futuristic matt black and chrome Yamaha chop.
All home built. It’s been featured in several major custom bike magazines so the Bulldog prize was the icing on the cake, he said.
Custom show winnArmy drop int
Former custom show stalwart Gerry Tobin is remembered every year with a memorial prize for the best HAMC bike – this year it went to Glen from HAMC Tyne and Wear with his stretched, hardtail Harley low-rider.
The entertainment continues all night long, with attractions including a headline set from the Damned, who are celebrating 35 years in the business at Bulldog 25.
Best Ladies Sponsored by
Maxxis Tyres and Brilliant Polish
Jill from Sheffield with a hardtail Harley Chop.
Best Classic Sponsored by Maxxis Tyres
and Brilliant Polish Nick Gale from London Harley 45.
Best American Sponsored by Maxxis Tyres and Brilliant
Polish Ben from Staffordshire Harley
Chop.
Best Chop Sponsored by
Sickboyz customs Rocky the Stickboy from
Sheffield. Home built hardtail Harley
Sportster Chop.
Best Street Fighter Sponsored by
Carol Nash Insurance Steve Yamaha Turbo.
Best Engineering Sponsored by Harrison Billet
Don from Ireland Moto Morini.
Best in Show Sponsored by Victory,
Maxxis Tyres and Brilliant Polish.
Paul from Bogna Regis. Home built matt black and chrome
XJ1300R chop.
Best HAMC Bike Patrick from Zurich Harley
Chop.
Gerry Tobin Memorial Trophy
Glen from Tyne on Wear. Harley Chop.
ners announced as to Bulldog 25
The Damned joined revellers at Bulldog 25 to celebrate their own 35th anniversary entertaining thousand of music lovers on Saturday night (13th August), Vanian,
Captain Sensible and the crew had the Bulldogs huge crowd jumping well into the night, with well-loved tracks Eloise, Smash-it-up, and many more.
As the smoke cleared on the Main Stage, a huge battery of fireworks marked the Bulldogs landmark Silver Jubilee
culminating in a huge starburst array that left onlookers cheering for more.
Continued fine weather on Sunday gave the all clear for more RWYB action on the drag strip, which has seen non-stop activity over the weekend.
Stunt ace Craig Jones had wowed the crowds with an inch perfect display of motorcycle control on Friday,
The Bulldog Bash Silon a hig
74
lver Jubilee goes out gh note
including his trademark two man stoppie; although a new record was not to be, Craig suffered a damaged shoulder and broken collarbone in an accident whilst making a practice run on Friday evening.
Craig’s fellow stunt rider Wing suffered damaged ribs in the accident, yet he was back at the strip on Saturday to give fans an update on Craig, who is doing well, Craig vows to return and the Bulldog team
look forward to seeing him back at the event to try again. As the visitors left the site, or-ganiser Bilbo commented that he was very pleased with the event.
“The weather was with us for the 25th and the headline acts certainly made the crowds happy;
I have just come from an event safety meeting with the Police and local authorities and am happy to report that Bulldog 25 had no incidents what-so-ever on site and no arrests.
We thank the Police for working with us this year and look forward to a continued good relationship. I thank all the people that have supported Bulldog 25, it’s been a great event, and we are looking forward to the 26th Bash next year.”
The Bulldog Bash Silver Jubilee commemorative DVD, featuring all the highlights of the show will be on-sale very soon, priced at £12.99, via the website, in the meantime log-on to www.bulldogbash.eu and see the sample footage on-line.
What can I tell you about markets in France! All through the long winter months there is very little that happens here but the moment spring rolls round "vide greniers" or empty granaries, the French equivalent of boot fairs, seem to pop up all over the territory.
Life and Livi
ing in France
They range from small affairs in the tiniest of hamlets right up to huge sprawling markets full of bottom end antique dealers in the larger towns such as Remiremont and Vittel, Personally I prefer the smaller markets.
They are normally patronised by genuine amateurs out to get rid of a few unwanted bits.
Once the "antique "dealers get involved the price spirals upwards and prices of several hundred Euros are not uncommon .
It’s not unlike a war where one side wants the bargains and the other side wants to maximise profits, It is still a fascinating glimpse into the real history of a place even if outrageous prices mean there are few treasures to be picked up.
Its always worth trying to negotiate and a cheeky bid sometimes wins out, French markets don’t start as early as English boot fairs. High end French dealers seem to have a professional reluctance to buy at vide greniers, 81
I have no idea why that is but none of the professional antique dealers I know will show their faces at a boot fair. It seems to be a matter of pride.
I must differentiate here between the sophisticated dealers that trade in fine paintings, empire candelabras and art nouveau and the wannabees that simply clean off the rust and quadruple the price.
Far better to find it rusty and clean it yourself and the stuff is still out there, it’s not as common as it was 15 years ago but it’s still there if you look, believe me there’s still a lot of fun to be had in a
French boot fair, from having a bit of a punt to hard bargaining.
A lot of the stuff to be found here has real age and much of it is of the quality you'd only find back home in a London gallery.
This is still the place to find a fantastic bronze for a couple of
Life and Livi
ing in France hundred quid as opposed to a couple of grand. Fine china is thick on the ground and a country that’s been invaded so often has more than its fair share of militaria to tempt a collector.
You will find old French uniforms in " Horizon Bleu" complete with
"Adrian" helmets and old "Lebel" rifles. There is plenty to interest the Nazi collector too though its mostly varied helmets.
There are the occasionally vehicles too, I have seen Jeeps, Ambulances and Trucks for sale in good condition.
If you wanted a couple of chickens or rabbits you'll find those too lined up for appraisal in tiny cages. There'll be the usual breeds but also many fancy types including quail and guinea fowl. I saw a mule for sale recently, beautifully turned out with saddle bags and polished harness.
These markets are never in the same place twice, If
you want to find one
check the classified ads in the local paper on a Saturday or a website such as Vide-greniers.org which lists them by region. If you do go along to one you are bound to find many curiosities and mail us some images and stories of your finds, Good Luck.
Life and Livi
84
ing in France
It used to be called “A working holiday” a long summer break finding work were you could to fund the next part of the trip.
Some found the love of their life, be it physical or geographic now its know as; No-budget travel, last month we read about Anita and Martin in France and the build they were due to visit and help on.
Due to a unforeseen problem that didn’t take place so they decided to take to the road or as Anita put it, No-budget travel in the Cote D'Azur, Buskin, bin-raiding and bum camping.
Forget Ryanair or even couch surfing, there's a new style of low budget, or rather "no-budget" travel.
In France they call it "camping sauvage". Back-packers and festival-goers have been doing it for years, but now it seems to be reaching a new level of popularity, and Internet users have given it a new name - "bum camping".
For those who don't know, it basically just means pitching up your tent wherever you can find a flat piece of ground (but not in an official camp site – that would be cheating), whether it be in a city or a beach, in a random field or even in someone's garden. It's a bit of a challenge, as it can be tricky to find a place where you won't be moved on or disturbed, at least until early in the morning.
In France they call it "camping sauvage".
86
It depends how isolated the place is, but some-times your tent will stick out like a sore thumb.
Usually it's best to scout for your spot while it is still light, so you can see what's around you, but then to go back and pitch your tent when it's dark. It's all about being a bit cheeky and not being afraid to explore places that might seem out of bounds.
camping all around Europe and camp spots have varied widely. Sometimes we find the most amazing places, like a disused actual camp site right next to Lac de Vassiviere, or next to the river in a village by Limoges, or up a mountain in a national park in Granada, Spain. Sometimes they're a bit more random, like someone's back garden in Sintra (near Lisbon), or on an empty boat in a fishing port.
Cities are much trickier than the country, because there are more dangers around, as well as more of a police presence (who tend to move you on), so it's harder to find a spot and you might not get a very good night's sleep. But often you only have to look just outside a city (a couple of train stops away) to find somewhere a bit more rural filled with ideal, secluded camping spots.
Having done a few successful bum-camping trips before, we decided to put it to the test and take a holiday in some of the most expensive, sophisticated parts of Europe - the Cote D'Azur, around Antibes, Cannes, Nice, Monaco and Menton.
We bought our first tent at a vide grenier (French car boot sale) for 2 euros, and it was a vintage 1973,
cotton, carry-on-camping style A-shaped tent, in pristine condition, until our dog ripped it one night.
So then we found one of these fancy pop-up tents in a skip outside a big sports shop.
It had been used as a demonstration tent in the shop, so it's a bit damaged, and a tiny bit too small for comfort, but it means we can pitch it anywhere in seconds.
So the camping covers your accommodation, but what about all your other expenses? There is food, drink, petrol and some of the other holiday costs,
like entrance fees to tourist sights (the offer of half a days free labour usually works pretty well).
To make our trip completely self-sustainable, money-wise, we took along our whole collection of steel AM Drums (which we make ourselves and sell at markets). But we found we couldn't work at most of the markets (the South of France being much more strict about insurance), so all we could do was busk.
While we needed to earn money from busking, we never like to focus on that too much, as it feels wrong (and usually has the opposite effect anyway). We like to play for pleasure, to surprise people by spreading the soothing sound of our AM Drums into unexpected places. Someone might be in their kitchen making a cup of tea, and the sound wafts in through the window. They stop and listen, and peer out to see where it's coming from, but we are nowhere to be seen, hidden in the shadows around the next corner.
Anyway, busking is a give and take situation, giving pleasure to listeners and creating a good atmos-phere. Most of the time buskers do this for free, as the majority pass by and enjoy it without giving,
For us, and most buskers I think, the most important thing is to be heard and for your efforts to be somehow appreciated a little.
We love it when people come and talk to us, or want to try playing on the drums. That's what it's all about really,
but out of sheer necessity we also appreciate it when those that can afford it give us a little contribution to help us on our way.
But back to the traveling experience. As soon as we arrived at our first destina-tion in Cannes, we stuck out like a sore thumb.
Our little white Renault Clio "van" (basically the same size as the car version) was jam-packed with our AM Drums, our day-to-day living stuff and our dog (Maj).
The bright shiny jeeps (which had obviously never been in a muddy field) and various other brand new sports cars seemed afraid to get near us, as our little banger had obviously suffered a few knocks in it's time. Strolling along the shopping promenade in Cannes, alongside Paris Hilton
wannabees with their skeletal frames, perfect tans and hand-bag sized dogs, I felt proud to be messy and different. One shop, displaying a gold-plated mobile phone for 20,000 euros highlighted that difference even more.
As well as the famous film festival, Cannes is also known for its beach promenade, where lots of artists, buskers and other randoms compete for the attention and the euros of the watching tourists.
Some of them are very talented, but others are just trying their luck, like us.
On the first day, we busked in the daytime. We found a corner next to Gerard Depardieu's hand print, where we could get a little shade from the scorching sun and started playing.
We had unknowingly taken the favourite spot of some African hair-braiders, who seemed a little agitated, but we figured a more
prominent position might help us anyway, so we edged forward a little, making everyone happy.
Soon we were getting on fine with the braiding bunch, and let their cute little boy play drums with us, until he started
jumping up and down on them, and we had to ask mammy to intervene.
Overall people in Cannes were not as generous as we had hoped.
In the whole day, we made 20 euros (and 10 euros all came from 1 English man who we chatted to for a while). While not exactly a fortune, normally it would be good enough, except that the whole amount went straight into the parking machine. Yup, we should have found free parking.
That night in Cannes there was a fantastic fireworks display for Bastille Day.
People came from miles around to watch it from the beach, and the town was completely jammed.
Finding a rough camping spot around Cannes was difficult. We couldn't find anywhere close to the city, because it's either public parks (which the council gardener told us was
dangerous) or big private houses (with air-tight secu-rity) which hogged all the space along the coast and anywhere vaguely green.
So we drove up to Antibes for the night. Not knowing the place at all, and trying to find a spot in the dark, we ended up pitching our tent outside a half-built house down a cul-de-sac, with other houses all around. We got away with it though, until the morning when a neighbour came to ask us to move - though they were very kind, and even printed off a list of all the official camp sites around the local area.
Antibes is much nicer than Cannes, not at all seedy, with a slightly more down to earth mix of people. Having said that, there was still plenty of big money around, judging by the luxury boats (many
seemed to be English) and the sports cars zooming at break-neck
speed along the tiny streets, but somehow we could mingle without feeling too conspicuous.
There is also a really nice market, with lots of colourful and tasty food
samples on offer.
At night a very organised
German brass band busked
around the bars and restaurants, clearly with an 'official permit' as a blonde girl made a big show of taking a hat around the tables at the end milking the wealthy crowd
for all they were willing to give. Fair play to them, they were great musicians and gave the place a really vibrant and happy atmosphere.
With our less squeaky clean image, we decided we should be a bit more low-key. First we played our AM Drums in a pretty little courtyard away from the hustle and bustle, to get into our groove, and then we moved up to near the waterfront.
Couples strolled hand in hand along the path, looking out at the twinkling lights in the harbour.
Many of them paused and stood for a little while, lis-tening to our music, and we hope that we added some romance to their night, creating extra special memories.
That night we camped on a tiny beach close to Cap D'Antibes, and cooked our dinner on a little camp fire.
It was secluded, peaceful and almost the perfect location, but not quite. We decided to sleep under the stars, without the tent, but we hadn't thought about the swarms of mosquitoes and the little sea creatures, which spent the whole night crawling all over us, inside the blankets and inside our clothes.
The next couple of nights in Antibes we spent in a park, just behind an official campsite.
This was a pretty good spot, quiet, green and fairly secluded, until the joggers come out at 8 in the morn-ing. But on the second morning, we slept in till about 10 and the campsite owner clocked us and said we had to leave.
At this stage we felt it was time to move on from Antibes.
We were feeling a bit
disappointed and drained from the city life, from rich people turning up their noses at us, and because now we had no good place to camp.
As an alternative option to the bum camping, we had arranged a work-exchange visit with some locals for a few days, near Monaco.
We had literally just put up a personal ad suggesting a work exchange and luckily someone had replied.
While its not bum camping, it is another form of cheap, self sustainable travel, and its a break when you're ex-hausted from rough camp-ing.
We had to get on the Inter-net to try and contact our potential hosts, so we went to the local commercial centre, where there was a
big Carrefour supermarket and a Maccie D's, with free wifi (the only thing the place is good for).
While we were sat in the car using the wifi, we no-ticed some staff putting boxes of food out the back of the shops.
It wasn't a delivery, and they weren't putting it in the bin, so were a bit baffled at first. But then we saw someone rummaging through the boxes and realised it was waste food that they were giving away!!
Wow there was so much great food there, you could hardly believe it was being thrown out. Boxes full of all kinds of fruit, sandwiches, croissants.
When we went over to look, at first the staff said no, but then they looked us up and down and gave us a box.
When you think of all the food that goes to waste from supermarkets and restaurants, it’s sad. Apart from all the people that could benefit from it, there is all the wasted packaging and just the sheer volume of stuff that usually gets stuffed into a landfill site.
It really makes you think about the level of consumerism and greed in our society - which is encouraged and actively planned for by the big supermarkets and corporations, who only
think about profits.
Chatting to people later, we found out that this was one of the very rare occasions when the waste was going to good use.
A French charity (Secours Populaire?) was collecting the food to give to the poor. But this is a very rare situation here in France, as our research has found, is it not?
most supermarkets simply throw the food into a bin, and refuse to or are not allowed to give any of it away. Others go further and com-press the wasted food, to ensure that it can never find it's way into anyone else's hands, or mouth.
But that day we ate well, partly of free food and partly some that was bought.
Unfortunately the check-out lady in Carrefour refused our payment of 5 Euros from small change earnt by busking, and we had to use the bigger pieces. I guess they are more used to credit cards these days, but even small change is still hard currency, is it not?
After our breakfast we headed for Menton, passing through Nice and Monaco along the way. Luckily we managed to get in touch with our 'work ex-change' hosts, and were able to go there that evening. We ended up in the most beautiful place you can imagine a totally secluded mountain,
shrouded in mist, with no other signs of civlisation to be seen.
The views were truly jaw dropping. We were camping again, but at least we could use electricity, water and cooking facilities.
There were some vegetables in the garden to eat.
In return we would do a few hours of work each day, and then be free to do our own thing in our spare time.
For company we had a ferocious, enormous guard dog called Eliot (who was soon rolling over to have his tummy tickled), goats, donkeys, geese, chickens, cats and a Rastafarian shepherd.
The nearest village, St Agnes, is the highest coastal village in Europe,
practically perched right on the top of the mountain, and literally amongst the clouds. But Menton was also just a short drive away, which meant we could still go and do some busking for tourists in the evening, to earn a few much-needed pennies for our journey onwards.
The place was such an Eden that we spent around 10 days here, exploring this magical mountain,
scattered with 200-year old ruins which used to be the hiding places for Protes-tants escaping from Italy.
In exchange we harvested potatoes, built a chicken house, cleaned farm machinery and created a communal kitchen area.
We also had a market stall at St Agnes' Fete de La-vande, a village festival where they distilled wild Lavender picked from the
mountains nearby.
Luckily we did manage to sell a couple of our drums to some visiting Canadians,
which paid for our petrol home. If we hadn't had any reason to return home, we could have stayed here for much longer,
but our feet were itching a little and we wanted to pass by a few more places on our way home.
So we set off, crossed the border into Italy, made our way up to Venice, and then passed through Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva
before returning to our base in Creuse. But that's another story...
All in all, we had a fantastic trip, we saw some truly beautiful places and met some amazing people. The Cote D'Azur is a stunningly beautiful place, with the cleanest, bluest sea I have ever seen. It is a place full of wealthy people, and un-der normal circumstances we probably couldn't afford to stay there, if it wasn't for our low budget style of travel.
Busking and bum camping gave us varied and interest-ing experiences which your average tourist would never get from staying in a hotel. We loved it and we would-n't do it any other way :-)
Anita Chaplin and Martin McGrath (aka AM Rustic) https://sites.google.com/site/amrustic Email: [email protected]
Salvager CWe are in pre-production of
Salvage Challenge three Teams of three people have two weeks
and £50 to produce as much saleable inventory as possible from reclaimed,
salvaged and scavenged items.
They use their own workshop area and the location they live to find items. they will
have a video link to me for advice on salvage if they run out of ideas but it’s like a wild card only so much time on line with me
to get answers. At the end of the two weeks the teams will take all their inventory to market the team
that nets the most money win the day. So if you think you can take up the
challenge send us a mail and tell us what you have salvaged of late.
Challenge Do you have
what it takes to be a salvager!
If you want to be in a team or you can muster a team of three and
want to be considered for the show send a e-mail by the link below. You need to be available for two weeks over 18 and at least one of your team needs to have a valid
driving licence.
Clam Clox
Here is something entirely new, never before have I seen a clock like this, please tell me if you have, Two Large Clam shells (hinged at the back to make battery changing easy).
The clock mechanism is set in to clear glue and tiny pebbles (collected from St Nicholas beach on Zakynthos) poured on the glue and stuck, then they are sat on a Driftwood base, I have made several, but order promptly to avoid disappointment, A very popular seller.
£8.00 +P&P
Clam Clox
Clam Clox
£8.00 +P&P
£8.00 +P&P
Oil Filled Lantern These beautiful lanterns are made form old hand made roof tiles, some nearing 80 yrs old ! The tube is filled with Lamp Oil and the wick can be adjusted to suit ! the lantern will burn for up to 10 hours on a full tube of oil. £12.00 +P&P
Olive Wood Clocks Now here are the prettiest clocks we make ! Solid Olive Wood base and clock face, cut and sanded so smooth they are like glass, we have added a clear varnish to bring out the fantastic grain that the Olive wood has. Our clock mechanisms are from
Germany and carry a full 2 yr full replacement guarantee( battery not included )
£7.50
SEPTEMBER LANE CHOICE THE ONLY ONLINE TURN PAGE FREE US DRAG RACING MAGAZINE
READ IT NOW FOR FREE.