Hi all. I’m back. 
The lockdown was good for making, mending and modifying things but because the van was hardly used my insurance cost me nearly one pound a mile that year. Then, when things got back to normal at the beginning of last year my new project was installing 200w of solar on the roof and a 1000w inverter. I was looking forward to complete off grid independence. In May '22 I was back photographing a cycle race at Hillingdon, near Heathrow. Got all the usual action during the race, including the hands in air money shot after the frantic, eyeballs out bunch sprint for the chequered flag. I then woke up, as if from a dream, as I was being lifted into an ambulance. One of the riders had come off the track and hit me at full tilt. A video shows me going down like a felled tree as the handlebars hit my ribs at the same time as his helmet hit my face. So I was probably unconscious before my head hit the ground. Anyway, thankfully I’m still here but concussion is a funny thing. It was about a month or so before some lights came on behind the eyes and I appeared normal but maybe another six weeks or so before I dared drive the van and then only local familiar trips. I couldn’t face the idea of driving on motorways and the amount of awareness and concentration needed. It was maybe six months or so before I drove on a motorway. Scary. Finally though, I was starting to feel 99% of the old Mick Hodges (slocumjoseph) again but that little bit of me still missing seemed to be motivation and energy. I was getting lazy. I’d planned a trip up to Orkney for the archaeology before the pandemic but of course that was all cancelled. However back in July this year I read that the newly discovered site at the Ness of Brodgar was closing down for the winter on 16th August and would close down permanently next year. That was my motivation. It was now or never. So..that’s how I done it. Via a number of bucket list places like a relatives sheep farm on the Welsh borders, Liverpool and Anthony Gormleys statues on the beach at Crosby. Then Dundee for Shackletons HMS Discovery that used to be moored here on the Embankment on the way North. On the way back I stopped at Loch Garten in the highlands for the ospreys but they weren't there. Then on down to Hartlepool to see a restored ship from Nelsons time that I remember as a hulk in Portsmouth Harbour in the sixties. A preserved mill town near Blackburn called Saltaire and finally Blatchley Park to see how the code breakers won the war for us. I’m now back home in London after a thorough testing of the newly solarized and independent van, nearly 2000miles on the clock and thousands of photos to process. Last year I was lucky to see another birthday but I made 77 this year and hopefully there’s a few more miles/years left. Have T6 will travel.
PS for Dellmassive... Sam, Lina and me are digging out some old forties gear as we're off to Goodwood for the Revival. Chocks Away..Pip Pip.
The lockdown was good for making, mending and modifying things but because the van was hardly used my insurance cost me nearly one pound a mile that year. Then, when things got back to normal at the beginning of last year my new project was installing 200w of solar on the roof and a 1000w inverter. I was looking forward to complete off grid independence. In May '22 I was back photographing a cycle race at Hillingdon, near Heathrow. Got all the usual action during the race, including the hands in air money shot after the frantic, eyeballs out bunch sprint for the chequered flag. I then woke up, as if from a dream, as I was being lifted into an ambulance. One of the riders had come off the track and hit me at full tilt. A video shows me going down like a felled tree as the handlebars hit my ribs at the same time as his helmet hit my face. So I was probably unconscious before my head hit the ground. Anyway, thankfully I’m still here but concussion is a funny thing. It was about a month or so before some lights came on behind the eyes and I appeared normal but maybe another six weeks or so before I dared drive the van and then only local familiar trips. I couldn’t face the idea of driving on motorways and the amount of awareness and concentration needed. It was maybe six months or so before I drove on a motorway. Scary. Finally though, I was starting to feel 99% of the old Mick Hodges (slocumjoseph) again but that little bit of me still missing seemed to be motivation and energy. I was getting lazy. I’d planned a trip up to Orkney for the archaeology before the pandemic but of course that was all cancelled. However back in July this year I read that the newly discovered site at the Ness of Brodgar was closing down for the winter on 16th August and would close down permanently next year. That was my motivation. It was now or never. So..that’s how I done it. Via a number of bucket list places like a relatives sheep farm on the Welsh borders, Liverpool and Anthony Gormleys statues on the beach at Crosby. Then Dundee for Shackletons HMS Discovery that used to be moored here on the Embankment on the way North. On the way back I stopped at Loch Garten in the highlands for the ospreys but they weren't there. Then on down to Hartlepool to see a restored ship from Nelsons time that I remember as a hulk in Portsmouth Harbour in the sixties. A preserved mill town near Blackburn called Saltaire and finally Blatchley Park to see how the code breakers won the war for us. I’m now back home in London after a thorough testing of the newly solarized and independent van, nearly 2000miles on the clock and thousands of photos to process. Last year I was lucky to see another birthday but I made 77 this year and hopefully there’s a few more miles/years left. Have T6 will travel. PS for Dellmassive... Sam, Lina and me are digging out some old forties gear as we're off to Goodwood for the Revival. Chocks Away..Pip Pip.
