Cars

Ever since I was young I've always loved sports cars.......  sadly, I wasn't allowed to drive the first one....  A combination of my dad part-owning a motor-bodies firm; hours I spent on the flat-wagon my mum never knew about; and my passion for re-painting my small tin pedal-car, whether anyone was sitting in it at the time or not, probably hard-wired my love of cars at an early age.

As a youth I collected, bought and sold anything that had wheels, usually rusty motorbikes.  If they worked fine, if they were beyond repair I dismantled them and sold the parts, usually for more than the whole vehicle.  However, as time has passed, the allure of getting dirty in a cold garage each evening and weekend has strangely lost its appeal .

When I met Lynn, one of my friends divulged to her that I had a Lotus in the garage at home.  Sadly, he forgot to tell her that, although yes it was a Lotus, it was a collection of components which, when re-assembled, would be a working Lotus.  Some 25 years later, said car is still not re-assembled.  However, I've made up for it since as I bought one of the very last S1 Lotus  Elises made.

Motorbikes

I always loved motorbikes and a series of Yamaha RD250 and 350's, a H1 Kawasaki and several trial and trail bikes was had.  Then a sad pause in my motorcycling life, and after far too many years of not having a bike, I convinced Lynn it'd be a good idea to have some two-wheeled fun.  So, I joined the ranks of the mid-life crisis bikers and bought  a lovely, but sometimes unpredictable, red (of course) Ducati, which I ran for about three years.  the Duke gave way for the Elise, but in 2003 I returned to a mid-size Honda Hornet, and recently a new Z1000 has joined the stable.

Placeholder for Z1000 piccie

Sports

I play a bit of squash (badly) and then complain about my knees and tendons for several days afterwards. I cycle when it's not raining, which is most of the time in Lancashire.  I've done a bit of scuba-diving, but the quarries and sea in the North of England are just that bit too cold and murky.  I've also done a bit of gliding and rock climbing - although more gym climbing than real rocks, which is sacrilege living near the Lancs/Yorks border, but work, time and weather constrain.

Sailing

Lynn was getting quite keen on sailing a Dinghy, when her sailing partner Doug decided to move to France.  However, the formula : Ian + Lynn + 14' dinghy = "big argument" applied so the dinghy had to go!

Dry-stone Walling

I convinced Lynn we should go on a dry-stone walling course near Settle, and we loved it (didn't we Lynn???), so much so that I enrolled on several formal (if you can call building walls formal education) courses and now have have Merits and Distinctions in walling and dry-stone specialist structures (ends of walls and arches etc) - a useful skill when you see some of the walls around Le Tarabel.  These will be a true test of my walling skills - and my strength as some of the boulders are over a metre in diameter.  Andy Goldsworthy eat your heart out (well perhaps not!)  Incidentally, my walling instructor (Phil) is classed by Andy Goldsworthy as one of the best wallers in the UK.