There's an unconfirmed quote about this road: "I'd like to see the person who'll drive this road sober!". (Lots of people did drive this road regularly and sober, including yours truly).
What is true is what the signs on both ends of the road said: "Be careful! Narrow road 20 km. Falling stones. Falling ice. Snow avalanches."
One of the bends on the road was so narrow and sharp the bus and truck drivers knew the front bumper had to touch the guard stones on the sea side. The stones looked like the rotten teeth of an old person. If the driver heard five "pings" from the bumper he knew the vehicle was near enough the cliff down to the fjord for the other side of the vehicle would be able to pass the cliff going up. Many drivers kept the window open to listen for falling stones, ice and avalanches.
Example of guard stones on another road.
In the 80s the navy fired their cannons at the cliff above the road to loosen stones in a controlled way.
In the winter there could be short sections of the road that were covered with relatively thick layers of ice. The ice sloaped towards the fjord far below. Sometimes drivers used axes to cut trenches through the ice for the wheels. If the trenches didn't work the vehicle would slide sideways and lean against the guard stones. They never knew if the stones would hold the weight, because many had already fallen into the sea below. I know people who couldn't make two trenches, so they just gathered speed before the iced section of the road and hoped the speed was high enough to carry the vehicle past the ice before it started sliding too much sideways.
Personally I remember stopping because of stones on the road, and carrying them to the side of the road and throwing them off the cliff. Once when I did this I returned later the same day and found that section of the road was GONE, taken by a stone avalanche and hurled into the sea below.
The author of the book the photos are from tried to interview the bus driver who drove this road for decades and drove me during my school days, but the man just replied that he "hadn't experienced anything out of the ordinary". This is highly unlikely. In fact his son (a friend of mine) told me a story: One winter when his father was driving on that road a snow avalanche crossed the road in front of the bus. Obviously he stopped the bus and prepared to drive "backwards forwards quickly", but before he could do anything a second avalanche crossed the road behind him. Options were few. Naturally he looked up to see if more avalanches were coming. indeed there was. An avalanche was coming straight at him and the bus! Luckily it was a smaller avalanche that didn't push the bus off the road and into the abyss. The driver didn't tell his family, but his son later heard the story from one of the passengers.
In spite of all this I sometimes miss the old road when I'm driving through safe and very boring tunnels.
Earlier today I spoke to a man who once made a "dragon's head" for a viking ship. A very small group of people has experience in this line of work. the man was old, but not as old as you might think.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
As Dragonpol, my alter-ego at another place, literally translates as "Dragon Head" I'm very interested in this post. John Gardner used a lot of symbolism in his Bond novel Never Send Flowers (1993) including flowers, dragons and dragonflies. I imagine, as you intimate, this is a skill very few people have nowadays!
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
It is a rare skill these days. From the late middle ages to the 1980's no viking ships were made in Norway at all. You can imagine the impact on the professional dragon's head makers and the Norwegian navy in general! Since then only about half a dozen viking ships of varying size has been made here. Unfortunately it will take many years to train professionals in this skill to the former level. Here is a portal from a stave church from viking times. Please note the dragon in the middle. 😀
I think it's interesting too. Here's a photo of the ship the man made the head and tail of. This was the standard size of a longship on the south-west coast. The largest ships were the "flagships" of the kings, and those were 50% larger!
Phenomenally intricate work. Given this guy is the last of his kind, what exactly makes his work different to or more difficult than normal wood carving? Is it the wood used, a sense of history, a religious or cultural aspect, or is it the process and tools used? One feels an indivudual would be able to learn and apply themselves to this task, although I guess the market is almost zero. Is he the last of the traditional ship carvers or is he the last of all carvers?
He isn't the last of his kind. No-one has made viking ships or dragon heads for them since the middle ages, so any new ones are based on ships found in grave mounds and surviving art. There are a limited number of skilled wood-carvers in Norway (as is the case in Britain too, I assume) and he is one of them. The real critical resource is skilled ship-builders able too make wood ships of these kind. There are half a dozen ship-builders in a nearby valley who's made several viking ships, but most of those men are old. There are people in other places with the right skills, but they are few.
My first two posts were a little bit humorous at times and I'm sorry if that caused some confusion. There are some wood-carvers in the country, especially working on traditional decorative carvings. My own father is a gifted amateur. Making the dragon's head isn't particularly difficult I think, but he must be one of two, maybe three, people who's had the chance to make one in modern times. Making something like the church portal must be much harder.
After a glass of small white wine - that one with the fishes on sold in Sainbury's - and a good few Hendrick's gin, plus loads of 1980s vinyl singles plus some 60s ones to finsish= with I know I will have nightmares after reading that post.
Unfortunately not. It was happening at around midday and it was scorching hot (38C) and the sun was so bright I didn’t want to risk looking at it through sunglasses. Apparently was due to cover about a quarter of the surface but I didn’t notice any difference in light variance. Spent a nice leisurely hour in the shaded parts of the swimming pool instead. 😁
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
and yeh proper eye protection is a big concern. There are custom glasses apparently that are safe to wear, and theyre expensive and hard to find at the moment as a whole continent is trying to get a pair.
if I burned my eyes out squinting at the earths corona, not only could I longer do my job, I couldnt read Barbel's Imaginary Conversations or look at CoolHand's naughty Book Covers!
In other news the Swedes launched a space rocket from Lapland, but missed and hit Norway instead. The rocket was supposed to help research on weightlessnes ...
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
Comments
Yard signs is an American tradition I like. also, I have too much time on my hands ...... 😁
Here are some nice old photos of the road from here to the nearest town (taken from a book).
From the net:
The road is closed of normal car traffic now, and the sign says: "All travel here is your personal responsibility".
There may be a reason for this:
There's an unconfirmed quote about this road: "I'd like to see the person who'll drive this road sober!". (Lots of people did drive this road regularly and sober, including yours truly).
What is true is what the signs on both ends of the road said: "Be careful! Narrow road 20 km. Falling stones. Falling ice. Snow avalanches."
One of the bends on the road was so narrow and sharp the bus and truck drivers knew the front bumper had to touch the guard stones on the sea side. The stones looked like the rotten teeth of an old person. If the driver heard five "pings" from the bumper he knew the vehicle was near enough the cliff down to the fjord for the other side of the vehicle would be able to pass the cliff going up. Many drivers kept the window open to listen for falling stones, ice and avalanches.
Example of guard stones on another road.
In the 80s the navy fired their cannons at the cliff above the road to loosen stones in a controlled way.
In the winter there could be short sections of the road that were covered with relatively thick layers of ice. The ice sloaped towards the fjord far below. Sometimes drivers used axes to cut trenches through the ice for the wheels. If the trenches didn't work the vehicle would slide sideways and lean against the guard stones. They never knew if the stones would hold the weight, because many had already fallen into the sea below. I know people who couldn't make two trenches, so they just gathered speed before the iced section of the road and hoped the speed was high enough to carry the vehicle past the ice before it started sliding too much sideways.
Personally I remember stopping because of stones on the road, and carrying them to the side of the road and throwing them off the cliff. Once when I did this I returned later the same day and found that section of the road was GONE, taken by a stone avalanche and hurled into the sea below.
The author of the book the photos are from tried to interview the bus driver who drove this road for decades and drove me during my school days, but the man just replied that he "hadn't experienced anything out of the ordinary". This is highly unlikely. In fact his son (a friend of mine) told me a story: One winter when his father was driving on that road a snow avalanche crossed the road in front of the bus. Obviously he stopped the bus and prepared to drive "backwards forwards quickly", but before he could do anything a second avalanche crossed the road behind him. Options were few. Naturally he looked up to see if more avalanches were coming. indeed there was. An avalanche was coming straight at him and the bus! Luckily it was a smaller avalanche that didn't push the bus off the road and into the abyss. The driver didn't tell his family, but his son later heard the story from one of the passengers.
In spite of all this I sometimes miss the old road when I'm driving through safe and very boring tunnels.
Earlier today I spoke to a man who once made a "dragon's head" for a viking ship. A very small group of people has experience in this line of work. the man was old, but not as old as you might think.
As Dragonpol, my alter-ego at another place, literally translates as "Dragon Head" I'm very interested in this post. John Gardner used a lot of symbolism in his Bond novel Never Send Flowers (1993) including flowers, dragons and dragonflies. I imagine, as you intimate, this is a skill very few people have nowadays!
It is a rare skill these days. From the late middle ages to the 1980's no viking ships were made in Norway at all. You can imagine the impact on the professional dragon's head makers and the Norwegian navy in general! Since then only about half a dozen viking ships of varying size has been made here. Unfortunately it will take many years to train professionals in this skill to the former level. Here is a portal from a stave church from viking times. Please note the dragon in the middle. 😀
Interesting
I think it's interesting too. Here's a photo of the ship the man made the head and tail of. This was the standard size of a longship on the south-west coast. The largest ships were the "flagships" of the kings, and those were 50% larger!
Phenomenally intricate work. Given this guy is the last of his kind, what exactly makes his work different to or more difficult than normal wood carving? Is it the wood used, a sense of history, a religious or cultural aspect, or is it the process and tools used? One feels an indivudual would be able to learn and apply themselves to this task, although I guess the market is almost zero. Is he the last of the traditional ship carvers or is he the last of all carvers?
He isn't the last of his kind. No-one has made viking ships or dragon heads for them since the middle ages, so any new ones are based on ships found in grave mounds and surviving art. There are a limited number of skilled wood-carvers in Norway (as is the case in Britain too, I assume) and he is one of them. The real critical resource is skilled ship-builders able too make wood ships of these kind. There are half a dozen ship-builders in a nearby valley who's made several viking ships, but most of those men are old. There are people in other places with the right skills, but they are few.
My first two posts were a little bit humorous at times and I'm sorry if that caused some confusion. There are some wood-carvers in the country, especially working on traditional decorative carvings. My own father is a gifted amateur. Making the dragon's head isn't particularly difficult I think, but he must be one of two, maybe three, people who's had the chance to make one in modern times. Making something like the church portal must be much harder.
Thanks for that clarification
Sometimes falling out of a high-rise window is preferable:
Vladimir Kara-Murza: Russian opposition figure jailed for 25 years - BBC News
I came across this ad for the very next film David Niven made after CR67- check out his pose. Look familiar?
Of course it isn't a spy film (anything but). His CR67 co-star Deborah Kerr is there too, but they did do a number of films together.
After a glass of small white wine - that one with the fishes on sold in Sainbury's - and a good few Hendrick's gin, plus loads of 1980s vinyl singles plus some 60s ones to finsish= with I know I will have nightmares after reading that post.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
What the f is this? This will also give men nightmares.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
There is a partial eclipse of the sun here in the Philippines today, we are looking forward to it.
@Napoleon Plural was that wine Silver Moki ? I think it is French. A sauvignon blanc. Rather pleasant. We had it over Christmas with the cold turkey.
Did someone mention sauvignon blanc? ... It's like the bat signal to me 😁
The sun? What's that?
Did you get a good look at it, CHB?
Unfortunately not. It was happening at around midday and it was scorching hot (38C) and the sun was so bright I didn’t want to risk looking at it through sunglasses. Apparently was due to cover about a quarter of the surface but I didn’t notice any difference in light variance. Spent a nice leisurely hour in the shaded parts of the swimming pool instead. 😁
It reminds me of this advert:
we're supposed to be getting a total eclipse in these parts in a years time.
and yeh proper eye protection is a big concern. There are custom glasses apparently that are safe to wear, and theyre expensive and hard to find at the moment as a whole continent is trying to get a pair.
if I burned my eyes out squinting at the earths corona, not only could I longer do my job, I couldnt read Barbel's Imaginary Conversations or look at CoolHand's naughty Book Covers!
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Yes, probably, I can imagine it would go well with turkey. These days I prefer the Wairi Cove (sp) Sav Blanc from Tesco, about £8.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Happy St George's Day !
Is it too early for a drop of this?
Haha!!! I’ve just posted a London Pride pic on the pub thread - great minds etc etc 😆
From the TV news right now: "There was no disagreement, but there were discussions ..." 🤔
In other news the Swedes launched a space rocket from Lapland, but missed and hit Norway instead. The rocket was supposed to help research on weightlessnes ...
That was Hugo Drax's story in Moonraker too. It was meant to hit the sea, not London. 😉