Well, this barometer set into an outside wall in Skudeneshavn had a bit of catching up to do; it was definitely fine and dry (and what a difference that made!). I noticed two things. Firstly, although the instrument was made in Stavanger, Norway, the language is a mix of Norwegian and Danish. Secondly, there's a curious inverted circumflex on the 'o' of Tort which I couldn't find any reference to and made me a bit unsure of my translation. It could be a stylised tilde or a local variation on the umlaut. In Danish, diacritic marks can alter completely the meaning of a sentence: jeg stód op ('I was standing'), jeg stod óp ('I got out of bed'). Tricky.

Winter is the time to come to this little port on the southernmost tip of Karmøy because there's no one about and photographs are happily devoid of distraction.

Skudeneshavn has a strange feel to it; 225 wooden houses and a population of just over 3000. If there was a Norwegian version of 'The Prisoner', this is where it would be set. The Skudefestivalen - a gathering of around 600 boats, especially vintage types, is an annual event, as is the Skudeneshavn International Literature and Culture Festival. Unfortunately, I missed that by only 2 weeks.

Back in Haugesund, I paid a visit to the Billedgalleri.

It was quite small, unpretentious (the one Munch print was not given special wall space but displayed in amongst other less well-known artists' work) and represented artists from only Norway. An exhibition of Norwegian paintings and prints dating from the early 1800's to the present day made up the gallery's permanent collection.

Naturally, seascapes figured prominently, and interiors were also strongly represented.

This austere group was painted in 1904 by Ola Frøvig; 1 year after the Wright Brother's first flight. It hardly seems possible that these two events belong to the same century, never mind decade!

Much cosier was 'Red Interior' by Fredrik Kolstø, painted around 1912. There was also an exhibition of contemporary local artists' work, most notable of which were the woodcuts carved straight into the floor of the lower gallery...

... and from which prints were subsequently taken.

Thomas Kilpper was the man responsible for this novel idea.

As the moon rose over Vestre Bokn on the last day of November, I watched the Havila Phoenix sail up the Karmsundet; that was my cue to pack up the kit and make my way home.

An early flight the following morning from Haugesund to Oslo in a Scandinavian Airlines Bombardier CRJ 900 was a real treat. Not only did I have 2 seats to myself, but the weather was perfect and we flew along just underneath the inversion - the greyish  line in the picture above - which gave us a really clear view of the landscape.

And, back in the workshop the following morning, I made good progress with the mock-up of the Hillman disc brake arrangement. What I propose to do next is to get the laser cutting people to make up a dummy disc, a hub plate (the green bit) and a number of rings 10mm wide and in various thicknesses so I can build up an accurate pattern using the rings as shims. I'll also get them to cut a couple of the caliper mounting brackets in 1.5mm mild steel so I can bend them to shape and fabricate the pattern for the final dimensions.

There's no stopping me (so to speak).