Engine Punk

The architect of this fine engine house is long forgotten, like so many others, but many people comment on its design, often remarking that it looks like a town hall. Finding this place was a very pleasant surprise. Not being in a Hillman Imp for the National Rally this year, I couldn't really join in the trip into the Crich Tramway Museum so poked around Matlock Bath in my own so I toured around for a bit and noticed a sign for High Peak Junction, which I already knew was where the Cromford & High Peak Railway met the Cromford Canal. There's a small museum and a very interesting shop at High Peak Junction The sewage works nearby niffed a bit but the footpath was well signposted and led me to the canal and the foot of the quaintly named Sheep Pasture railway incline. However, there was a vaguely smokey quality to the air and, picking up an air scent, I ran along the towpath, passed the trans-shipment shed and saw a chimney through the trees on the opposite ban...

Stuart runs up the SKR outfit, which is not a 4x2 or a 4x4 but a 4x3. This extraordinary device turned up at the Imp Club National Rally on the Sunday afternoon and completely distracted me form the awards ceremony. I saw this gaggle of people onbviosuly looking at something pretty low and then heard an engine start up. That roll bar thing at the front is actually the frame that goes under the car/sidecar/trike to lift the wheels and allow it to be started Imagine my surprise when I saw what they looking at. It pretty much defies description but here goes. This is how you start it It's a racing sidecar outfit with a Hillman Imp engine and transmission. Although it has four wheels the rear two are considered to be close enough to be considered as one. And of those four wheels, three are driven. From the side, you can see the upright Imp engine. Note the SU carb and intake arrangements. Underneath the zorst cowling is also an Imp gearbox. It was built by ...