A Wheelchair on a Steam Car?

Rotary teams up with WheelPower to transport a wheelchair to all the Spinal Units in the UK, but various methods of transport


Save the date: Monday 24 April

This murderball wheelchair, see top left, is travelling by whatever eccentric means of transport the local Rotary Clubs can devise, visiting all the Spinal Units in the UK and Ireland. It leaves Manchester on Sunday 9 April and will be delivered by Steam Car from RAF Halton Airfield (it will arrive by glider) to the Spinal Unit within Stoke Mandeville Hospital on Monday 24 April. It will pass as many as possible of the local Schools and Pre-schools, as well as several hostelries, as shown on the route map below and the table at the bottom of page 19.

Members of the public are very welcome to line the route and enjoy the spectacle of a convoy of 5 vintage vehicles carrying this wheelchair (illustrated) to the Spinal Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital on the day that the Inter Spinal Unit Games begin.

The murderball wheelchair will be transported to RAF Halton Airfield in a glider owned by London Gliding Club, see top right. It is a glass reinforced plastic (GRP) two seater glider, used by the London Gliding Club and many others for instruction, but also suitable for cross country and aerobatic instruction. It has been in production since 1979, and has a top speed in excess of 150 mph, but in normal use would cruise at around 50 mph.

  • Lead Car: Vauxhall, owned by Ian Cheese, restored, in the late 1980s by the late Mike Quartermaine of Frithsden, Berkhamsted.
  • Wheelchair carrier: Steam Car, see middle right, owned by Jim Gregory and David Furnell. It is 6.25hp, twin cylinder, tiller steering, single chain drive between the engine and the live rear axle, mechanical differential brake with transverse semi elliptical front springs and full elliptical rear springs. Boiler fuel is petrol with a water capacity of seven gallons. The large water tank is over 25 gallons. The steam running pressure is 200psi and it has a range of 35 miles. Its top speed is over 40mph.
  • Convoy car: 1904 Ford, The Model A was the first car built by the Ford Motor Company, which produced approximately 1750 Model A’s between July 1903 and December 1904. This car was available in both 2 seat and 4 seat versions. The detachable rear tonneau with its 2 seats was a $100 option. This car came to England in mid 1980s and has been in the present ownership since 1996.
  • Convoy car: 1934 Wolseley. They were produced as rolling chassis' by Wolseley Motors and you could have a variety of bodies fitted by any number of coachbuilders of the time.

If any of these vehicles becomes unavailable, it will be substituted by a car of similar vintage.

he convoy will pass by as many schools and pre-schools as possible en route so that infants and young children have the chance to see it. It will also pass by five hostelries and the customers will probably want to come out to cheer it on its way.

Sunday 9 April was chosen as the start of the wheelchair relay, because it is the end of the Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland Conference in Manchester. The wheelchair was provided by Wheelpower, a charity which encourages wheelchair sport, based at the Guttmann Centre in Stoke Mandeville, birthplace of the Paralympic Games. Wheelpower is a Rotary supported charity. Details about Wheelpower can be found at www.wheelpower.org.uk/WPower.

Wheelpower has a Spinal Unit Project this year to provide an appropriate Sports Bag of equipment for each Spinal Unit in the project. The Rotary Club of Wendover & District organised a fund raising dinner at The Raj Restaurant, hosted by owner Rotarian Ricky Ahmed to raise money towards a Sports Bag of equipment.


Instruction

Activity

Time

Leave

RAF Halton Airfield

11:45

Turn left

Left into Halton Village, bear left into Chestnut Lane, turn right onto B4009, Tring Road

 

Schools

Cherry Trees Nursery, Halton Pre-school and Primary School

11:50

Ahead

Along B4009, turn right into Manor Road

 

Schools

Wendover Preschools and Primary

12:00

Ahead

Into Wharf Road towards Mini-roundabout onto Aylesbury Rd

 

Hostelry

Village Gate 01296 623884

12:05

Turn right

Into World's End Lane then right into Church Lane

 

Hostelry

Chequers Inn 01296 613298 ALWAYS CLOSED ON MONDAYS

12:10

Turn left

Into Bates Lane, then left into Main Street

 

Schools

Weston Turville Pre-school and Primary

12:15

Ahead

Along Main street towards The Five Bells

 

Hostelry

Five Bells 01296 613131

12:20

Ahead

Along Main Street towards the Chandos Arms

 

Hostelry

Chandos Arms 01296 613532

12:25

Ahead

Along Marroway then right into Aylesbury Road, A413; Left into Station Road A4010; right onto Lower Road B4443

 

Schools

Stoke Mandeville Pre-school and Primary

12:35

Ahead

Continue along Lower Road

 

Hostelry

The Bell 01296 612434

12:40

Ahead

Along Lower Road towards Stoke Mandeville Hospital

 

Turn right

Into Stoke Mandeville Spinal Unit

12:45

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