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Greetings one and all, with many thanks to Lurker, Rick and Mike Stationmaster for their kind words. I should put my woes into context. I suppose we are all in the same boat as regards suddenly losing chunks of social life. I do – or did! – many different things. I would visit model railway shows in various parts of the country and have the good fortune to enjoy sociable conversations at the vast majority of them. There were meetings of several railway societies and there were musical events, be they concerts or folk festivals, which is where many of the CDs that I play in the car would be purchased from the artiste and autographed if I asked nicely. I also take part in Pride events. Fitting it all together could involve complex planning, much of it well in advance. I had been getting quite excited at the prospect of visiting Dublin again, reserving one day for Pride and leaving plenty of time to rediscover that young and vibrant city. Then the bomb dropped. Within hours on one day in March the diary emptied. Everything that could possibly be postponed or cancelled was. Much of it went immediately but some cancellations have continued to trickle through subsequently and have spilled over into 2021. I think I have now learned not to get quite so excited about a long weekend away [Dublin] but don’t quote me. The reality that I will not now be returning from East Devon in the first week of August with backache caused by camping [Sidmouth] is quite bizarre. For a while I was able to think positively. If that’s off I could go there instead: no I couldn’t, that’s off too. Instead of driving up to 1,000 miles a month I am now doing eight miles a week and that only because I do two fodder runs instead of one. This has had a drastic effect on the amount of music I play. I suppose I could try to find a suitable CD player for the house. I would feel foolish sitting in the car for hours listening to music and the battery would not like it very much! The really ghastly prospect is that there is no end in sight, for all the bullish talk of restrictions being lifted. The chances of the 2020 events that were postponed to 2021 going ahead are diminishing rapidly. Cheerful so-and-so, aren’t I? It is no secret that I have been finding it difficult to cope with this demotivating situation. I wish I had been made of sterner stuff but I do realise that others are in an even worse place. For all good wishes, past, present and future, I offer my warmest and most heartfelt thanks. Chris

First proper day off in 12 weeks or so. (Even weekends have been partly on phone/email duty) My work colleagues had been advised that I will be "off grid" for four days (i.e don't call me or send me emails) A departure time of 0830, socially distanced north on the M6 to Junction 40. Follow the A66 west past Keswick and then a couple of miles up towards Whinlatter Forest. Unload bike, ride bike. Come home. Bath, food and evening beverage. A brilliant day for a bike ride. The weather was virtually perfect - no wind and cool under the trees, with a bit of warmth outside them. 24km with 2000 feet of ascent - what goes up, must come down - 2000 feet of fun-filled descent. There were four of us in our group. My (fellow Rmwebber) mate and then a mate of his - Lee plus 14yo son. (more of the age gap later) The trails at Whinlatter are great because there are three loops - each returning to the car park for a break and bike check. The three loops are the blue Quercus trail, and the red/black graded Altura trail, split into north and south loops. And that was the order that we did them in. My trusty EX8 has had a bit of TLC last week via a new chain, rear cassette and bottom bracket - fitted courtesy of a very good bike mechanic (Good as in Olympic and Commonwealth medals good) Although there wasn't much time for enjoying them, the views were brilliant. Keswick, with Derwentwater in the shot. This is the North Loop from the South loop (which is otherwise known as Hospital Fell). The Irish Sea is just in view on mid-left of shot The trails descending the north loop are quite visible - we were on those about 45 minutes previously at speed. At the top of the South loop - Lee tries to obscure the view of Derwentwater. This made my day - Lee's 14yo son absolutely up against "The Wall". He had got about 2/3 up the last climb of the day and then completely run out of steam. I had to give him one of my energy gels to help him up the last part of the hill. I think he was embarrased about being outdone by someone four times (and a bit) his age! (me) Recovery over and not many minutes later and we were back in the carpark, having descended 700 feet or so. I did post a picture of Lee on a previous rideout a couple of weeks ago - he lost a leg above the knee - due to a motorcycling incident. He now has an e-bike to get around the trails. Along the way today, he managed to break his leg - not his real one I hasten to add. He broke off part of the cover, revealing the innards. His new nickname is Cyborg. All in all, a very good day. Topped with a nice ebay sale of a yellow item. Some of the gain has already been "lost" on an ebay purchase. Day off #2 is planned to be some DIY with a 4pm tee time for a golf doubles knockout, but there will be no rush to open the curtains tomorrow morning. Have a good one folks. Cheers, Mick

Northumberland again today, once again on the ECML at Buston Barns. Buston Barns is south of Alnmouth and is very convenient for photography as a quiet road runs along the east side of the line, there is space to park easily on the verge. The photos are from the 80s and 90s. Buston Barns Class 37 down ICI HCN tanks Aug 86 J8652.jpg Buston Barns 47297 up freightliner Oct 87 J9324.jpg Buston Barns 43109 down 23rd June 89 C12145.jpg Buston Barns 43060 up 4th May 91 C15796.jpg Buston Barns 47833 down Manchester Executive charter 26th Nov 94 C19875.jpg David

Quiet day down at the boot and shoe factory In fact, way to quiet, need to add some life and activity.

Gone back to weathering van roofs as I was just not happy with them. Using Lifecolor rood dirt washes been revamping a selection, getting better. Slow processes doing thin washes as you have to wait for each coat to dry so you don’t reactivate it You know me... I do not want one roof the same as another. Still work in progress....

A few from the Glasgow & South Western Near Neilston Lugton with the peaks of Arran in the distance Stewarton The same location from the other side South of Stewarton Hurlford Mossgiel Tunnel

The carpet is Royal Blue. ....... of course it matches.

We have occasional sunlight for the first time for days, so I've been able to run trains again, for the first time for several days. Elevenses now, then plenty of time for more. Back to one of my favourite views now, as Kimbolton Castle stands at Platform 6 having brought in a shuttle service from East. Stock is two more of the Kirk coaches I put together back in the 80s, and I still think Kirk kits don't look at all bad when seen from this angle.

When my Dad retired from the vicarage my parents moved into a flat. I did a fitted bedroom array built from flatpack parts supplied in those days by MFI. Fortunately my 9 year old son was still small enough to fit into the tight corners with a stubby screwdriver and was an excellent DIY assistant so he negotiated a piecework rate to put all of the screws in whilst I held the parts in place and made sure they were square. When the job was finished he worked out that he had put in 308 screws.

Morning all...It's been a tough week as sadly we had to say goodbye to one of our dogs. Archie was the elder of the two at 16, which is the equivalent of 87 in human years and his systems just decided they had had enough. We had hoped to say goodbye in the garden at home, but Covid rules put a stop to that, so in the end we sat on the grass in the garden behind the vets house. My wife has taken it particularly hard as he was her mate for 16 years and they walked together every day for miles. I know they say time is a healer, but the early days are really hard... Thanks for your note Phil. It's an ongoing battle, but one I'm determined to win. The early morning forays are still happening, but thankfully fewer in number. I moved the water spray jet to attack anything that lands on the patio and the mesh netting has stopped access all down the open side. The planting and fishing wire protects the other side, so hopefully things will improve. Welcome to ET, Mogman. It's not all waffle, I assure you....Occasionally we talk about railways... The scenic side is ticking away in my head and will probably be a combination of earlier ET versions with urban scenes/retaining walls and general grot of the 60's. I still have several of Allan Downes buildings to plonk somewhere and I'm sure it will all come together eventually. I really don't want to go too far into the scenic side until I have the track running perfectly from an operational standpoint. For instance I have already realised an additional crossover would be a great help and I'd rather sort out the track issues first as it would be a pain to rip up scenic work to make later track track changes. Motivation has gone out the window right now with the loss of Archie, but it will return. I have the mimic mock up panel to complete and here I have had some ideas. I'm going to limit the main mimic panel to the four running lines and ET station itself. I will split the station into two and will set up routes in the ECoS which will be easy to use. The split will be vertically across the station right through the midway point and each side will have two incoming and two outgoing lines. In essence the main station area is simply four running lines and some platforms, so it shouldn't be difficult to set up the correct lines and allow trains to run. Each platform on each side of the split will have four route buttons corresponding to each of the main lines, so you will be able to select an incoming or outgoing route on the ECoS which will then be displayed on the mimic panel above the operator. Where more complex operation is required, such as the diesel shed, the main steam shed or the storage area, then that can be done under local control. These smaller panels can then be located centrally for one operator or locally when there are additional operators running each section. There I will have toggle switches and led's as there will be no need for route setting. 2020 is a certainly going to be a memorable year for all the wrong reasons.... Stay safe.

Morning all, I have not posted here for a couple of days, simply because I have been assembling my new shed. When I ordered it as self assembly, I didn’t realise just how much assembly there would be! My old shed was assembled with about 16 to 20 quite large bolts and screws. When I checked the hardware for the new one, there were other 250 wood screws! I started on Wednesday morning and made steady progress until about 4pm, when I started putting roof panels on. Having got the first one on, the rain started (not as per forecast). As the roof panels are a compressed board and don’t want to get wet, I stopped and used the old roof felt, some plastic and even a couple of slates to keep the water off. At the end of all this, I was totally knackered! I restarted yesterday morning and got the second panel on, but then the last two wouldn’t fit properly as the shed clearly wasn’t sufficiently square. Cue a lot of swearing and then thinking! In the end I managed to loosen the main roof truss and push the shed into being square, then held it square with some pieces of wood against a nearby wall. The two roof panels then went on OK. Just as I started the roof felting, the wind got up, so that was delayed a bit, but finally the job was done. It would have been a lot easier with two people doing it, but I was relieved to have finished it before more rain came in the evening. Today, I will have to start moving all the contents from the garage to the shed. I then have a lot of accumulated firewood to be cut up and stored in the shed as well, so plenty of work still. Now I am off for a brief walk before breakfast. The walk may result in more seaweed being collected from the beach!

Good evening everyone Well I’ve had a busy day here in the northwest of England. This morning I gave a second coat of paint to the bench parts that received its first coat yesterday. I also gave the new shelves 2 more coats, a final coat on the top of the shelves and a first coat on the underside, these will get another 2 coats over the next day or so. Once I’d done that, I then went outside and took advantage of the dry weather fact that it wasn’t raining and finally got round to putting a large hydrangea in the ground. It’s been in a large plant pot/tub for several years now, but the heavy rain we’ve had recently has made the soil it was in turn to mud, (something that it’s never done before) and the plant looked like is was suffering. I’ve not been able to get it exactly where I wanted to put it, but it’s near enough, I also trimmed some of the ivy on the back garden fence. I then went to the front and cleared away the weeds from the block paving of the drive, I’d just finished when Sheila called me in for dinner. After dinner I loaded up the car with 6 large bags and a box of recycling items and then set off to the local tip. I’d expected to be gone well over an hour, but I was back within 35 minutes of leaving home. It was busy, but well organised, so things moved along quickly. I forgot to mention that all these bags bags were stored in the cellar and now that they’ve gone, I’ve got a lot more room in there. Slowly, but surely it’s getting clearer and I’ll soon be able to make a start on the BIG JOB, pulling the ceiling down and sorting the walls. Goodnight all

Evening All, All this talk of bacon makes think I may have a bacon sarnie for breakfast. Food run this morning and then a real surprise, a hair cut! I rang the barbers up to see if they were open but found they were working by appointment only. Fortunately they’d a cancellation for the afternoon so I took it! On a less cheery note I then took a look at my book keeping. I’ve been having issues balancing/reconciling the bank statement. It’s out by 4p. I thought I’d realised what the issue was and this afternoon I’ve been through the ledger changing balances brought forward etc and then to my horror I’ve found that the reworking of the books has lead to a 8p error now! I’ve probably wasted 4hours on this now and it’s not helping me. I gave up at tea time and will have another go tomorrow. When I’m behind or not on top of things related to work I find it difficult to justify doing some modelling etc so end up just moaping around. I’ve learnt that sometimes it’s better to come back to a problem after a nights sleep and then the answer just stares you in the face. I hope that’s what happens tomorrow . Sorry for that moan but I do feel a bit better now. To cheer me up Syd has been sent for a sleepover, but I think he’s only been sent because he’s farting like a seaside donkey. (As Mil would say). He’s sleeping on the bed so if I don’t make it through the night you’ll know what’s happened. Anyway,Goodnight Robert

A bright but windy day here, went out fora bike ride with the old farts motorcycle club, first venue was closed so we ended up going further than intended, but a good breakfast was had - no fried bread though. Off to tidy the garden railway as we're having a guest for a steam-up tomorrow, you will have to imagine the images.....

I was glad that I had purchased a cordless drill from Aldi a couple of years ago. It is a 20 volt one and has more than enough power for the shed screws. What really impressed me was that it lasted a full day of shed assembly on a single battery charge. The battery finally gave out early yesterday morning and the spare was installed and completed the job. As I have suffered from tennis elbow, the use of the drill as a screwdriver has saved me time and a lot of discomfort. Seaweed was collected on the morning walk, then Mrs G told me that there was a lot of horse manure for collection the other side of the village, so I went a collected a large boot full of bags. These have been emptied into my dumpy bag, which is now full, so if I get any more I will employ the second dumpy bag. This afternoon will involve our Asda delivery, then some lawn mowing, blackcurrant picking, planting out of cabbage and broccoli plants, then hopefully a rest sitting in the sun!

Lockdown I'll have plenty of time, I thought. I planned, I started some, I have not finished any. The caravan is now on the drive and is demanding my attention The washing is being done, but still damply in the kitchen and there's a previously unforecast shower now forecast. Should be gone by 3, though. So what's got in the way? In a word, work. Apparently i have that rare set of technological skills that allows me to do things for the rest of the Business School. However the systems don't allow me to do that very fast. Can't blame everything on that' though, had a few weeks extending into months when the sleep patterns were against me.

I have been known to have two helpings of Dennys hash browns, one thing that I will be missing due to our cancelled flights across the pond. Today would have been the outbound flight and tomorrow highly likely to have been a Dennys in Aurora IL, our normal stopover location with beers in two Brothers brewhouse and a day at Rochelle watching trains. Instead I will be disturbing my other half (shes had a lie ins since mid March due to working from home) for an early drive to avoid any hold ups around the Stones by the A303. We were hoping to visit Peco but they are shut this year to visitors.

Yesterday we were told a new cleaning lady would be arriving. Instantly, hopefully, I had visions of traditional French maids but it was not to be. But she cleaned house better than the old one! Brian.

Quite successful... only a couple of extra bodily orifices created.

Something hot this way comes, or will, shortly as SWMBO, is cooking a something in the kitchen. To be followed by home made rhubarb crumble with rhubarb from the garden. I stopped off at TES and Co, absolutely chaos, crowded back to normal lost grockle filling mode, plus the locals can't find anything either. Temporary freezers and chillers all over the place. Few wearing masks. One way system gone, but 2metre spacing tapes have reappeared to the new layout. The road is still closed,, though I can see they've replaced a drain cover, it just needs the tarmac round the edges. Cars driving all over the place confused by the signage, there's one outside at the moment, trying to do a multi point turn..

Sounds a bit stronger than the face mask instructions we followed....

Afternoon all Hope all are well. Good to see Robert posting. And now - chicken wire, a pair of snips and a heavy duty staple/nail gun. What could possibly go wrong.....

Damn. I was concentrating really well on my work this morning until your post beckoned me out to the kitchen again for a full-on meat fat hit. One of our shops down the town does the most spectacular home-made pork scratchings (the sort that render you deaf within half a dozen crunches). I bought some yesterday to last me the week and I've just this minute cleared out the last, small, really salty, really crunchy bits from the bottom of the tub. My Pam's brilliant at hiding temptations from herself at the back of kitchen cupboards to help her maintain her self discipline. I can hide things in the kitchen - like the pork scratchings - but unlike Pam I always seem to find them again a short time later. I have no idea where I'm going wrong. However I do remember one day, with tears of laughter running down my cheeks, watching Pam spending ages picking all the sellotape off a bag of fruit and nuts so she could polish off the contents, a couple of hours after binding the bag up with the best part of a roll of the stuff to try to discourage herself from doing just that. We all have our weak spots, just some more than others. Pete T.

Two more shots showing Silver Link's progress through the station this morning. Surely there should also be one which shows some of those opulent Pullman cars? I shall take up the suggestion from our friend down under, and so shortly we shall consider stations. First though, I think we are looking at one of the most disgraceful decisions ever made when it came to deciding which locomotives should be preserved. Surely Silver Link fitted all the criteria, and should not have been cut up? You may well think there were even worse instances though, so today let's look for the most glaring example of a locomotive, or a class, that should have been preserved for posterity.

Hi Chris, Move house as I did, that keeps the Brain, body and Soul more than occupied, haha. I do feel for you, and that is probably why my wife says I have far to many hobbies, like the Railways, real and model, Art and Music, plus I developed a handy knack of Eyelid inspection after lunch these days as well. Keep well, both bodily and mentally and stay safe.

Deep Fried Onion Rings or raw seal blubber for brekkies? Not a difficult decision for this Bear.....

Morning all. Not a lot happening so far today. We watched a play on YouTube last night streamed by the National Theatre. The interval of just over a minute was long enough to run to the freezer and get an ice cream. We continue to not go anywhere unless summoned for medical purposes. My nephew had his PhD viva yesterday. Given 3 months to make minor corrections. He seemed pleased. Tony

Botanically, You are correct. However.... Or a fruit salad for that matter. But you do refer to an interesting point, and one that I’ve made before, which is the divergence between “received wisdom” and scientific knowledge. We dismiss the latter at our peril. You must be eating in all the wrong places, Brian. Places that only offer mashed potatoes and fries are clearly just opening packets (mash) and reaching into the deep freeze (fries). Understandable in a cheap eatery, as ready-made products save on cost and manpower. But not to be able to even properly prepare instant mash potato is pretty abysmal. As I have mentioned elsewhere, due to the fact that I have my own consulting business I have access to a supermarket that caters “to the trade“ and it is utterly appalling to see how many items can be purchased in 10, 15 or 25 kg amounts ready to be thrown into the deep fat fryer and resold at a huge markup (Case in point: Samosas. At the place I go to, you can buy 25 kg boxes of ready-made samosas which work out at about 25 rappen per Samosa. They are usually sold in restaurants, with a little bit of salad on the side, at SFr7 to SFr.9 for a plate of three). On the rare occasion that I do go to a restaurant (given that generally I can cook better than most middle of the road restaurants here) I go to places where the chef has a modicum of competence and doesn’t reach for the ready-made food stuffs Indeed. I would certainly agree with your basic premise: that good quality ingredients required minimum intervention (and to my mind you can’t go wrong with a good piece of artisan, not industrial, cheese, bread that comes from a baker who knows what he/she is doing and some fresh, unsalted, butter for the bread. Oh, and a pint of CAMRA approvable microbrewery beer). Where we do disagree, is on whether or not certain additions - like butter and salt on a baked potato - enhance the ingredients. I think anywhere in the world that uses bread (as opposed to rice) as the basic food stuff and uses a cooking fat such as butter, lard, dripping or similar will have its own version of fried leftover bread. Where “bread” is a flour based baked or griddled product - such as chapattis, tortillas (no, not the Spanish egg dish, the flat breads made from corn meal), baguettes, soda bread and the like... Whilst my “alternative timeline” diary is pretty empty for today, back in the here and now I have to walk the dogs, read a few briefing papers, take part in a teleconference for work, practice guitar and make some soda bread! I’m actually quite envious of the “alternative timeline” me, skiving off and generally being a lazy s*d. Enjoy POETS day iD

Donk and Noel have pinched Debs' bronze archery medal. Donk is looking very pleased with himself, he's proud of his human.

From now on until the end of this project I’ll be updating on a Friday. Apart from anything else it gives me motivation to crack on. This week I’ve been working on 3 areas. Mostly one handed I might add as the circular saw kicked back last week and badly gashed my hand. Oops. A load of stitches and cursing later I’m back on it. However the Doctor in A&E follows this thread (as it turns out) so if he’s reading this cheers for patching me up. First up is the Dive Under. Situated on the final frame I’m working on this is the best part of 3 metres long and consists of two separate single tunnels (the construction of the portals of which I’ve covered earlier). Given the tunnels length I needed to construct a removable roof and make these tunnels completely ‘light proof’ - as I want to see the trains appearing out of the gloom. All this and the lining of the tunnels, ballasting for the first meter, and laying & super elevating the track even tho it’s out of sight has been a ton of work - especially since I’ve had to work from underneath the two tracks running above. One handed Plugging the gaps which let light in with foam board, clay and card is now complete and the roof now fits like a glove. Here’s some pics..Aluminium bar cut & hot glued in to support the floor.Heck of a lot of foam board, ply and card goes in before the tunnel lining is installed Foam board sides supported by ply. The only ply I had to hand was too thick to bend so this worked wellRoof cut from foam board to form a template. I’ll carry this over to the friendly circular saw which will cut the ply to the same shape.Out with the foam board and on with the ply. The edges have slices of card here and there to plug the light gaps.A gloomy interior beckons.. just what I’m after

Afternoon all, Pizza was not had for lunch, instead some horrible burgers were had. Currently it’s very dark inside my house as it’s raining. My living room and dining room, which makes up 2/3 of the downstairs, don’t have any (nobody knows why) lights in them, so I’ve spent most of the day in the sunroom. Currently I await the arrival United Parcels Service van, and it’s contents. stay healthy, Douglas

Tea time picture again. Shabby 61073 in number 5 bay, and about to leave for Grantham.

I had toast. But it was homemade (with bread machine) and made with whatever wholemeal flour we have this week, probably organic super strong free range that has been talked to by some royal personage as it grows. Butter was English, slightly salted. We use very little salt (never add it to potatoes) but I like slightly salted butter on toast. To be honest my favourite toasted bread is white bread but that is homemade too. When I was young the toast that my parents called French Toast was bread only toasted on one side. Not sure if this was a regional thing or just a family name. Our toaster is French. It has an audible tone when the the toast pops. I told Aditi before she first used it that it played the first few bars of the Marseillaise. She was disappointed when it just went “ping”. Tony

Good afternoon from a cloudy and cooler Charente. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth went on yesterday. Beth and I had spent much of a very hot day sorting out the pool liner and getting it wrinkle free on the base. I filled it to 6cm and then some friends joined us for Fish and chips from the van. However when I got back from the chippy two leaks had appeared onto the concrete base. We are not happy bunnies. Photos were taken and I am off to Angouleme shortly (40 miles) to complain bitterly and see how good they are about warranties. As to surviving lockdown. For the first two weeks it was non stop gardening and we now appreciate the results. then I found my modelling mojo and several projects were completed. The I got into scanning my old photos and that has been a sheer transport of delight a it has brought back so many good memories. In many ways our life has not been affected too much. However we have really missed seeing young Emily growing up though video calls are now a regular part of Saturday mornings and we have watched with fascination her learning to walk. Regards to all. Jamie

Mooring awl , Inner Temple Hare, A bit later this morning as I've been setting up a 120 Amp test system, which I've just turned on. the unit under test is a 10 to 120 Amp DC Current transformer unit, It's going to get warm, 120 A in front of me and 2 ft behind is the system that will need it's , 50 and 100 Amp Shunts calibrated with the CT Unit . meanwhile that unit behind me is also testing a 100 Amp Shunt... Dull damp and drizzly this Morning as was Ben the Unsure Collie, he seemed to need lots of encouragement to walk down the garden and he kept close to my side... Cockwombles, The council have closed off the road to the two villages including the one I live in. The alternatives.. One is a potholed untarred mud and sand track, the other is officially a green lane, it is tarmac'd but very bumpy often completely covered in Sand and grass down the middle of the single track in places. It's extremely narrow with house end walls on the edge of the road and there is a 90 bend round a house.. Why? they are digging a hole in the road.. not this road, but one off on a junction.. So they've closed our road so they can park their vans on it.... Then when I get to my house last night I find two road signs in MY drive way, because the roads so narrow, they can't put them in the single track road.., Did they ask permission NO, Did they even tell us about the road works going to happen NO... And if the works is on tonight / tomorrow it will be absolute chaos as all the second homers and holiday makers try to get to their houses / caravan sites.. Cockwomble 2 more normal, 4th vehicle ahead at 06:20 ish turns into Garage , garage is closed, it doen't open till 06:30, cockwomble realises just as he starts turning, slams on the brakes as he's half onto the forecourt and reverses back out into the traffic . Some very smart braking from the cars in front and a loud blaring of horns.. If I'd been immediately behind he'd have had a sharp shove up the back side, old landrovers don't have fabulous brakes with ABS. 120 Amps measured A set of Large sash clamps are now in the landrover, the biggest is 8ft almost the smallest about 4ft but with extensions. All made in the days when tools were British and good quality. They just need a clean up and re-oiling .. All this talk of food is making me hungry, Some sort of full english will happen tomorrow for breakfast, maybe with a potato cake. 100Amps measured.. Another sand down of the little Barons Plinth was carried out last night, it will be interesting tonight to see if it's at all shiny.. Sailing, it looks with the latest announcements from HMG, that sailing can recommence. I think the RYA sailing clubs are being left to their own devices on how to run the rescue boats, no guidance from HMG. Not this weekend but the following one my club will start some sailing racing going. That will give them two weeks practice before Regatta week. Wroxham Sailing club's regatta week, which normally would be the week before ours, was cancelled some months ago, will they resurrect it? 80 Amps measured. Time to .. start measuring 60 Amps..

Something for the weekend.... Taken about 10 years ago from Riverford Bridge.

Ey up! Still very cool for this time of year. Chris, you are not alone. I could restart some cricket activities but the advice from the ECB and ECB ACO (Association of Cricket Officials) is not helping me make my mind up. A quick chat with a family member who is retired GP hasn't helped. I have missed a few exhibitions, several gatherings of friends and realatives and my annual pilgrimage to Robin Hoods Bay for walking, drinking and eating activities. Until recently I have been fine but its all getting a bit stupid coming out of lockdown. I shall put wome extra music on..if you had lived in Leeds I could have supplied a cd player..two will go to the Charity Shop when that reopens. Time for a pick me up..a nice mugatea! Stay safe, make the best use of the day and... TTFN! Baz

End of another day of dismal weather. Surely it must improve soon? Along with my memory, hopefully. I still can't think of another poll or something else to amuse us. Featured train is the Tees Tyne Pullman, and the loco is Silver Link. We have views from opposite sides as she approaches Crescent Bridge.

Good Daft-a-noon all. Welcome to POETS Day. That which cannot be celebrated in my line of work. However it is preciously close to Beer o'clock and as soon as Dr. SWMBO is awake from her afternoon snooze we shall adjourn with suitable refreshments. Crisps (potato and corn styles), pork scratchings and honey-roast cashews are available as mop-ups for the liquid refreshments. It hasn't felt like a July day at all. Distinctly cold first thing with an icy chill though it warmed slightly when the large glowing orb appeared above. Ocado is due within the hour and must now be added to my list of "Unexpected Modelling Material Sources". They haven't started selling the rolling stock (though they can offer paneer ) but have become a handy source of superglue which the corner shop doesn't stock and which avoids the need for a special trip to somewhere bigger for a single item. Friend in Australia has vented her feelings on matters Melburnian. Her eldest turns 21 tomorrow (or is 21 today for those reading this south of the Equator) and they had a huge "do" arranged secretly. Food and drink was to be fully catered, the marquee was hired, the band was booked and all the suits and dresses arranged. Then along comes a second lockdown and everything is off. Poor girl can't even meet anyone from outside her own home, never mind have a "big day" for her 21st. We think her boyfriend might have had another surprise too - involving a circular piece of metal with glittery bits attached ....... Aussie antisocial media posts are blaming the unauthorised extra-curricular activities of guards on duty at a quarantine location. In truth this might in fact be not the second wave they are speaking of but a previously-suppressed first round of infection. Either way the numbers are still very small. I should probably seek inspiration from the freezer if we are to eat later. All the best. Stay well.

Cats are the rulers of the universe; or would be if they had opposable thumbs. Besides, friend Douglas, I have a bone to pick with you; when shopping this morning, I ended up buying some potatoes to smash (something that I have not done in years). I will have to consider what I want in them besides being lumpy. Anyway, thanks a lot!! Oh, and the other problem is what to do with the turnip; smash it and mix it with the taters or slice and eat it raw. Decisions, decisions. Edit: the taters might just not make to the smasher, I also like raw potato. Most veggies are good raw.

I have now weathered down to match the other NSR wagons. I think it is better toned down rather than being ex-works.

It is fortunate I wasn’t going anywhere. Aditi’s gardening supplies delivery has arrived. I found our sack trolley so she has trucked it all round to the back garden. The dark clouds that looked like rain clouds didn’t deposit any rain here

I can appreciate your feelings there Chris. So far I have missed or future cancellations of nine shows, swapmeets, club open days etc, four trips to photograph main line steam, an MTB holiday in Yorkshire, three planned visits to heritage rail sites, three exhibitions at museums (non-railway) and some sporting events. I need to get back to swimming as that seems to have the most beneficial effect for body flexibility, I can't do the Joe Wicks stuff these days as I end up needing too much recovery time between programmes. Anne has probably found it harder than me as she goes swimming several times each week and would normally be in the tennis league season at the moment with two matches most weeks. She is also carrying an injury at the moment but can't get a face to face physio appointment. Up side is I have done a bit of catch-up on the muddling side finishing off incomplete projects. Two more programmed for later today as the postie has just delivered my order from Wizard for the bits I had run out of. We have got back into walking around the countryside more than we have for the last few years. In addition the backlog of cycle maintenance is no more, the allotment is the tidiest it has been for about three years and I know where all of my tools are in the garage.

Greetings all from Sidcup where the air is cold but the sun is out. The rain seems to have departed for a few days. Today has been a frustrating day dealing with colleagues from Spain - but will hopefully be dealt with in a call in 10 minutes' time. Younger Lurker has been to see his new school today but I don't know how they went as they immediately set off for a walk. and my dentist has just called so i have now rearranged my checkup/hygienist visit! and now, coffee await before the call!

Good morning everyone Well we’ve had some rain this morning, I heard it hitting the bedroom window a short while ago, but it seems to have stopped now. It’s cooler than usual for this time of year, once again the heating came on this morning so the overnight temperature must have dropped quite low. Breakfast has now been consumed and I’ll shortly walk to the butchers to collect the weekly meat rations and hopefully a pastie for my dinner. Once back home I’ll make my a muggertea before heading off to the Trafford Centre to get the few items that we can’t get from Sainsbury’s, whilst there I’ll call at WHSmiths and pick up the latest RM. There are no plans for the afternoon, apart from reading the above mentioned magazine, but that could well change. Stay safe, stay sane, enjoy whatever you have planned for the day, back later.

Just had to stop myself dribbling into the keyboard at the thought of that one. But hey, what about the very ancient favourite, Gypsy Bread? Bread soaked in a beaten egg, then fried and served with HP sauce... or, just as nice but very different, served with Branston Pickle! Now, after all that, I might just have to graze from the fridge before turning in. Pete T.

Thank you for those kind comments. The lockdown hasn't been kind to my health and the recent weather here in the east has stopped me getting enough exercise. One of the things which is happening because of lock-down (I'm 73 and vulnerable so I'm on my 16th week now) is that stuff happens in fits and starts. We had nothing to review, then I receive Bachmann's DMU (direct to my home from Bachmann) and since T4U opened again, I've been able to get hold of a Hornby Prairie and a Dapol 29 to review, and support our local retailer, too. I know other members of the team have locos to review, too. I read recently that 1.5million people have listed model-making as one of the things that has got them through lock-down. At least some of those will be railway modellers, no doubt, so it should be seen as encouraging news for all our magazines. We are rivals but we'll all have been facing similar problems. (CJL)

I keep my old EX8 with it 26" wheels and 3x9 in running order as I find it better than my Whyte with a 1x11 on some rides. Nice area, we did one there a few years ago but it was winter at the time so not quite the same. The previous day we had to abanbon due to a blizzard.

Morning All, It is rather a muggy morning today. The temperature is due to get up to around 30°C this afternoon, which will match yesterday. Strange however, is that on Wednesday the temperature was down to 10°C and it was decidedly chilly! Thankfully, the forecast has been revised since yesterday. There was talk of a former tropical storm coming up from the South and causing super cell activity over much of Southern Germany. That is still going to happen, but if the forecast is correct it will be further south than we are. If you ask me, we should just cancel 2020! Have a good day everyone...