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I am sorry that my occasional mention of trips to clinics or exciting trips overseas to Canvey Island to have blood taken isn’t worthwhile content. I have posted on ERs in this version since the first day of this version and for quite a while on earlier versions. Bye Bye.

We haven't had any views from Spital Bridge for a while, so here are two, as Seagull snakes and lurches over the pointwork to regain the main line.

I have been working on new wagons for the layout. Pictured above is my recently completed model of a BR built (LMS design) unfitted Tube wagon. This is effectively a stratchbuild as the body is entirely plasticard and the chassis consists of various pieces of 2mm Association etches soldered to a strip of brass. For some time I had wondered how to tackle the corrugated ends but then I remembered how I used 0.3mm microstrip while building the pagoda and lamp huts for the layout. The brakegear is extended 12ft wheelbase etch. The real wagons are 17.5 ft wheelbase. The picture below shows the finished wagon before painting. I am still working on my 6V53 'clayliner train' and another eight wagons have been finished. These are 10ft wheelbase as opposed to 'clayhoods' which are 9ft wb. Many of these wagons had roller bearings. Below are two such wagons, from N gauge Society body kits with chassis from 2mm Association. I now have 20 wagons completed and am aiming for 30. They are a mixture of corrugated ends and wooden ends. Below are a few wagons during contruction. This Vanwide is also from an N gauge Society Kit and runs on a chassis from the 2mm Association. It is intended to run as part of a clay train. Perhaps I may have overdone the weathering on this wagon. Many thanks, Andrew

Newcastle today, this time on the station. Newcastle 45113 Newcastle to Liverpool June 88 J9556.jpg Newcastle 31281 parcels July 88 J9631.jpg Newcastle 20902 weedkilling train 29th June 89 C12097.jpg Newcastle 31xxx up pass 3rd Jan 90 C13902.jpg Newcastle 37354 up cement empties 11th June 91 C15915.jpg David

Tony, I beg you to reconsider. What is and is not worthwhile content is not easy to define but it must be a matter of individual taste. If we were ever all to have the same opinion it would indeed be a sad and tragic day. Speaking personally, I have good reason to be extremely grateful to ERs for having allowed me to share my thoughts and preoccupations and for the kindness and support shown by so many who post here. Tony, I know that you and Aditi feel the same. Chris

Another one from ground level, my favourite angle for pictures. After this picture I sorted out the signal droop!

RETFORD HAS BEEN SAVED! The best news of all in these most-difficult times, Roy Jackson's magnificent creation has been saved intact and is to 'stay at home'. The intention is to complete it, if nothing else but in memory of the great man. I shall be definitely offering my assistance................ I'll post progress reports as and when............................

From a BR related facebook group....

Ey up! @iL Dottore we did have an ER who was a solicitor..Horsetan. unfortunately due to a misdemeanour or two he is banned from the site.. which reminds me I will try and contact him to see how he is..i will report back later. I managed to get some bodging done yesterday and have booked two nights away at the Rose and Crown in Romaldkirk. We both felt we need a break from ourown 4 walls. Mugatea has arrived so.. Stay healthy! May your Friday be a positive one and positive thoughts for all ERs especially our missing ones.. Baz

An engineer dies and goes to Hell. He's hot and miserable, so he decides to take action. The A/C has been busted for a long time, so he fixes it. Things cool down quickly. The moving walkway motor is jammed, so he unjams it. People can get from place to place more easily. The TV was grainy and unclear, so he fixes the connection to the satellite dish, and now they get hundreds of high def channels. One day, God decides to look down on Hell to see how his grand design is working out and notices that everyone is happy and enjoying umbrella drinks. He asks the Devil what's up? The Devil says, "Things are great down here since you sent us an engineer." "What?" says God. "An engineer? I didn't send you one of those. That must have been a mistake. Send him upstairs immediately." The Devil responds, "No way. We want to keep our engineer. We like him." God demands, "If you don't send him to me immediately, I'll sue!" The Devil laughs. "Where are you going to get a lawyer?"

' morning all from red dragon land. Wey hey...the sun is out. It was a long day, yesterday. There was only an 8pm slot for click n collect from Tess Coe so, by the time all the items were sorted, it is was getting on a bit. Thankfully, the next few booked slots are at a more reasonable hour! OK, then. Bringing the seaside to you and all. Race you to the water's edge! Or, maybe, you would prefer a paddle in the muddy hollow in the adjacent field... or walk on them thar hills or even lament the loss of the 5-car SuperDuper to get you here - or to Dublin across the Briny. Some catching up to do on here...in the meantime... Fitt and Elfie coming along swimmingly. Take care and play safe. _________ Best wishes Polly

Just a close up of a nice clean A4.

Today I went to the orthodontist and acquired two new high tensile steel wires in my mouth, and high tension rubber bands to the keep my jaw shut, oh well. No muddling done. stay healthy, Douglas

<steps nervously into ER...> POETS everyone! Whelp... I visit ERs for the true sense of community afforded by (almost) everyone. That always and SURELY includes how folks and their families/friends are doing, physically, mentally and otherwise. Friendships, even virtual ones, don't need to be and IMHO (EMPHASIS) shouldn't be limited to hearing how wonderful life is and what you've acquired, the fabulous places you've visited and just how jolly excellent a life you have! On this one way trip of life we're going to have down moments, illnesses, unfortunate and also tragic events, that cry out for empathy, a friendly word, and assurance that "this too shall pass", even if it means you will possibly be changed forever. You can still be the person you are, and can still appreciate all that life hands you and accept (maybe grudgingly) that it's not always roses. I was absent for a couple of weeks (yeah, sorry 81C I was ailing - how annoying/inconsiderate of me!!) and couldn't manage to get to the PC for my daily fix. Not ONE day went by that I missed hearing the simplest of reports, that someone went shopping, had an ache, GDB bumped into something , fixed something, or just said hi. It'll NEVER be a waste of time for me, or something I do just because I've nothing better to do, there's not anything "better" than friendships. Thank you Baz for checking in with me on Facebook I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of ERs and wish/hope this current pandemic lessens so I can once again travel and then hopefully meet more ER friends. SPECIAL NOTE - there follows the daily mundane report - including HORRORS, a statement of my health/recovering process, please, PLEASE set me on ignore if you're not interested The Long Island client is ramping up again, no surprise as they have implemented HR/Payroll and now need to get all that carp reported in their financials! Work continues to restore our basement, the Mrs out getting paint as we speak, I'm still hobbling, but also slowly recovering best I can tell. Tonight we're looking forward to watching the first Twins game of the shortened season - we enjoy baseball, are fans but not fanatics Warm and getting warmer here with a steamy 33 expected and low 30s with thunderstorms over the weekend. Let's hear it for all our ER friends, Tony, GDB, let us know how you're doing, we're here... Summon the courage to have a good weekend all

Greetings all from Sidcup. I have been mainly busy this week but did find time to celebrate another circle of the sun on Wednesday, without having to work that day!. I have not had any chance to catch up the many pages since i last posted but I for one would rather read about "sick note" than "love sick". There is room for lots of different topics in ERs, there has always been a whimsical side to many of the posts that is the most enjoyable part of the thread, so don't leave us Tony! and wit that it's tea time!

Nothing. Except it wasn't required so it wasn't being done. On the Home Front the number of customers passengers through the House of Fun has risen again this week and noticeably so today but remains at around just 20-25% of normal July holiday levels. We estimate face-covering compliance is around 95%; what changed today is the requirement (previously not a requirement) to be covered when in enclosed areas of railway stations such as booking halls, bridges and subways. On open-air platforms it remains your choice though many people are wearing maskage and most of those are correctly worn. That's good enough for me. What isn't good enough for me is that my employer decided yesterday, in response to Twittered comments and photos, that the sunflower lanyard may no longer be worn at work. It may be worn by staff travelling to and from work on trains but not at work. Quite why has not been explained and neither has any explanation been forthcoming as to why an internationally-known identifier used by (among others) disabled people is now banned. I have submitted an enquiry to the relevant person under the company anti-discrimination policy. I am permitted to wear the "exempt" badge still but not the lanyard which holds it ......... In other news and knowing that logic and railways seldom sit comfortably together I was approached by a couple who alighted from the Alton train. They approached me with puzzled looks and the words "We think we got on the wrong train. We want Alton Towers but it doesn't say it stops there". "Alton Towers?" "Yeah - we're going to Alton Towers ........." I can see the reasoning. Alton train - Alton Towers. But nowhere does anything suggest Alton Towers might be in Alton, Ampsheer. I referred them to platform 17 for the Milton Keynes train and advised they change there for Stoke on Trent. And buy a new ticket first because a return to Alton won't get them where they want to be. I suspect they just went home. SWMBO is away at the tooth wrangler and has an hour booked for some angle-grinding and Milliputting. I'll be on hand when she gets back in case there's stress from being on a train and discomfort from being orally interfered with. Until then it's Muggercoffy time; after then it will be Friday Drinks time.

And then...... At which point the case for the defence rests M'Lord....... (p.s. I'm not a lawyer.... )

I Say! That's a bit harsh, dear fellow. Yes there are people who do, perhaps (and only perhaps), "overshare" some things (and there are one or two posters who do seem to be a bit, how can I put it, "tone deaf"), but overall ER is a font of erudite discussion. Just looking over the posts over the past few days, we have touched upon: Vets and social distancing Tourist Trains (or not, as the case may be) on the Settle- Carlisle Line Tables in carriages Benjamin Britten Long Term Marriage The joys of modern printers Sumo Wrestling Applied Engineering O Levels Birds in Flues The diminished seventh/augmented ninth in music Quality (and choice) of New Potatoes and so on.... Hardly a litany of ailments (and certainly I don't count things like "yesterday I spent 45 minutes holding up a 20Kg X, today my back is knackered")

If you could name a Scottish '37/0' that's been modelled too much, you could probably say 37262 Dounreay. So, here's another 37262..! 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr One of the iconic RETB-fitted 37s, popular with enthusiasts, most famed for their West Highland days, but later often found elsewhere, the loco occasionally found it's way to Didcot and a place in my model collection! The story started here... 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr ...in an unlikely place! Some years back, I bought the Bachmann Mainline blue '37' with the intent of modelling split-headcode-box 37055. It would've needed a fair amount of modification, so when Bachmann actually announced an '055, I bought that instead, and this became temporarily redundant! Instead, it was back to the spotting notes to find a new subject, and I'd settled upon 37262, modelled in early 1997 condition. Although in drab grey, it had a name with a special meaning and some weathering effects just crying out to be modelled! 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr The first tasks were stripping down the model and filling in the Bachmann moulded boiler hatches and cantrail 'trench' ready to become 37262. Undercoated in Halfords grey and then given a layer of Phoenix Railfreight grey, it soon came to life. 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Naturally for any former Departmental grey loco, the sounds of Mabel are the recommended accompaniment, and the model is matt varnished and ready for some weathering stages. 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr To start with, the body was given a coat of white paint, rubbed off to mute the grey and black down to a more muted lighter set of shades, before applying layers of browns to replicate some of the rust and dirt streaking on the bodyside, the paint being removed with cotton buds, working in a vertical motion. 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Final touches to the loco included some of the paint chips on the side, engine room doors in a lighter shade, and big chunks of paint missing on the cab roof, quite fun to do! 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Cantrail grilles were picked out in gunmetal grey after varnishing, then being rubbed with a cotton bud to bring out the shine on the tips of the grille bars. 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr 37262 had slightly faded yellow ends, and a nice touch being the old nose mounting points for the early Scottish car-headlights before the new high-intensity jobbie's came in. 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's normally fun to model different locos that aren't such celebrity types, but the Dounreay name that 37262 wears was always a bit amusing in our family! My grandparents were both scientists at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, Oxfordshire (hence the Makin family being established in Didcot!) and over many a Sunday lunch in the early 1990s, my sisters and I would be progressively brainwashed with the virtues of Nuclear power and anecdotes from their time working at Harwell and this mythical place in Scotland - Dounreay! I can almost hear my granddad's usual line now - "limitless power and all you get is a bit of warm water after, what's not to like?" 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr It's been great to bring this one to life, and nice to capture the loco in the closing stages of it's career in slightly shabbier condition than it's Scottish glory days! The loco would go on to eek out its days with EWS, withdrawal coming in 1999, heading for a brief spell at Wigan CRDC, before a fleeting ownership with DRS and a final appointment with the scrapman in 2004. 37262 by James Makin by James Makin - Account 2, on Flickr Half of me did think a drab grey '37' wouldn't be much fun to model, but I do like the character that the vulnerable old thing has! Cheers, James

A small amount of progress to report on Valour. Lots of little bits made and fitted to the smokebox and footplate. Not much more to do now but as I get nearer to finishing it, I seem to go slower! I haven't forgotten the top lamp iron. I have left it until last along with the very fine lubricator pipes on the footplate. After hat, plus a good clean up, we are nearly there.

All the wagons I have been working on over that last few months.

You forgot people talking about their sex lives.

Yes, it does sound like a string trimmer; the plastic cutter isn't the problem - it's the part that the cutter clips onto that seems to fail. And judging by the Amazon reviews and the number of spares sold on Ebay it does appear to be all too common. Buy cheap, get cr@p. One of these days she might just learn to ask me "what do you think of this?" before she clicks "Buy"..... Fabricating one out of aluminium and then bolting it to the existing part would work - though keeping it all in balance could be a problem, otherwise the bearings would protest - as would the user with the vibrations. If it were mine then I'd be inclined to go this route, but as someone else would be using it the thought of bits of ally flying off puts me off a little..... I got an O-Level Grade C (i.e. ok) in Chemistry at 16; a large lump of the exam was multiple choice questions, some of which I knew the answers to. The rest of the answers were based on "I haven't had an Answer B lately - I'll try one of those". Job done. Incidentally, I asked a fairly recently retired school chemistry teacher how kids are leaving school with ten 0-Levels (in my day 5 was hard work at age 16). Seems they now teach the kids to pass the exam, and not teach the subject. There's a flaw in that plan...... "Two plus three equals?" "Five!" "Three plus two equals?" "Er, dunno...." Whatever happened to puncture repair outfits..... Did the orthodontist (aka dentist) mention just how you are to "stay healthy" when presumably eating sounds like it could be tricky?

Morning all, It’s amazing the amount of erudite knowledge available on ER to the casual browser. I think the only thing that has not been discussed with any degree of detail or professional insight on this thread is the law. I would’ve thought, given the broad spectrum of humanity that ends up doing railway modelling, that we would’ve had at least one “legal eagle“ in our midst. The absence of representatives of said profession on ER could mean, possibly, one of two things: firstly, practitioners of the law have no interest in model railways or, secondly, they are here amongst us but keeping a low profile (although I don’t know why they would want to keep a low profile, any legal type that does do railway modelling and also follows ER is obviously a good egg and a top notch chap/chappess unlike many of their fellow professionals). I look with envy on the posts of Mr Stein and others on the subject of engineering, although I can pontificate at length about Crispr technology, attenuated viruses, platinum-based chemotherapy doublets and the like, my knowledge of engineering is limited to “hit it with a hammer“ and my knowledge of applied engineering is limited to “hit it with a hammer – hard“. Mrs iD and the Wolfpack are back from the Holiday Hovel but are planning to head over the border to Germany for the August 1st weekend (with me in tow). August 1st is the Swiss National Day, usually marked by big fireworks displays run by each Gemeinde. However, due to the restrictions on large assemblies due to the pandemic, the public fireworks displays have been cancelled. THIS has resulted in an unprecedented increase of firework purchases by Joe Public, which in turns means that the August 1st weekend will be a nightmare - what with the local cockwombles setting off firecrackers every 2 minutes or so (as an aside, why do cockwombles always buy firecrackers and the like, and I wonder what you’d call a cockwomble in Swiss German [apart from the obvious Arschloch]?). Even the normally tranquil “Holiday Hovel” will be surrounded by explosive pyromaniacs this year. As you can imagine, all these explosions are most distressing to the dogs and this year, in absence of public fireworks, things will be even more mental than usual. So an excursion to the Black Forest to a dog friendly and firework free hotel beckons. But first, to work. The daily commute (from sitting room to home office) awaits, as does a heated discussion with the Managing Director (me) about the justification for buying a Dyson Ventilator for the Science Division (also me) Enjoy POETS day iD

Greetings one and all As some will know, I have posted an instalment of the 116 saga after far too long an interval. Researching and writing it were both most enjoyable and made me feel much better after feeling low for more than a few days. I must try not to leave it so long before the next one. It has been four months since I bought petrol. Before the world locked down, I would regularly drive up to 1,000 miles a month because I had places to go, things to do and people to see. Now I notch up eight miles a week and that only because I do two fodder runs instead of the recommended one. One day soon I will make a long journey, but not before calling at a petrol station first. Where and when? Wait and see! Today is the day when I print out a statement from the self-service machine in the bank, take it home and juggle with figures. Somewhere in the system should be a transaction in dollars. I will not be unduly worried if it does not show because the T shirt that I have bought has not yet arrived. If it does show I will start wondering what on earth has happened to the shirt. This is called “can’t win”. Best wishes to all Chris

Today was Dayle's birthday. As she didn't fancy going to a restaurant, we went to the next city for a walk in the park to see the swans. They were just sitting on the bank preening themselves. On the drive back we went through bits of sprinkle then for about 2 miles I had to put the wipers on full. The TV weather said that there was no significant rain. We have a case of CoVid in the Village, so all the little get-togethers have been cancelled. They are not saying who it is; while this respects privacy, it makes contact tracing tricky.

Good evening everyone Well I’ve was surprised when I got to the butchers this morning, as there wasn’t a queue, I was able to just walk straight in, something I’ve not been able to do that for well over 4 months! The Trafford Centre was pretty much back to normal, busy but not yet mad busy. There are however, lots of people who just don’t know how to wear a mask, or how to walk down the one-way system that’s currently in place! In both cases I was home a lot sooner than both Sheila and I expected! After dinner I began to write up an article that I intend to submit to the MERG journal sometime in the very near future. So far I’ve drawn up the 3 diagrams and drafted out the main text, I just need to take some photos of the finished item, which hopefully I’ll be able to do sometime over the weekend. Goodnight all

Morning all, The pain has set in overnight. To give one an idea, its like having a set of pliers twisting on every single one of your teeth for around 3 days. So now all I can eat is what we in the states call "apple sauce", which is ground up apples, cinnamon, and a few other things like sugar. The bands are a bit of a novelty, I can play what sounds to me like a "C" note on the left had one . One good thing is I get to have quite a few milkshakes as a result of inability to eat solid food for 56 hours. Moan finished. Went down to the new High School about two days ago for a tour, which was interesting but as it was only the outside areas, I already new most of what they said. The interior one should be much more helpful, whenever said tour is. As always, stay healthy, Douglas

Morning - dry and sunny for old farts bike club day - yay! Run out to Laxey for brunch planned. Then we'll talk the sort of stuff we do on here. We have today for the run out, (all retired or ish, bar the TV guy who is a young fart) a marine engineer, a TV producer, an import/export company owner, a senior policeman, a road traffic manager, a campervan manufacturer and an airport firefighter. But no lawyer. The other 20 members won't actually come on bikes (it is a breakfast club, bike ownership not necessary but are the 'core business') so will stay in the big cafe where we meet up! An talk....crepe, like us.

Another shot down the Yard, beneath the Bridge is 40007, with 33012 on No 2 Fuel Road, whilst 56047 runs through the Yard from Seven Up Junction to Dore End and will then go to West Shed for Servicing.

Straight down!

Evening all. Thanks for the comments and messages. I mentioned getting a new phone a few days ago. It arrived and all has been transferred to it now. Really easy. The number exchange onto the new sim took about a minute. Now watching Sleeping Beauty ballet from Covent Garden on YouTube. I actually recognise quite a few of the tunes. I don’t think I have been subject to so much culture ever before. I mentioned to Aditi that pre Covid I didn’t even really like musicals and I have watched about a dozen operas online with her recently. Tony

Some people in this day and age seem to think they are more important than they are, some seem to think their opinion is the only one that needs to be heard, I ignore those people and continue on my own way, it irritates the hell out of them usually. Long live the ER's irrational look into peoples lives, long may people continue to post what they think is part of their day they like to share, some times a burden shared is a burden lessened, I think of this place as a virtual listening ear, even if no-one is actually listening.

Rick something similar happens at Leeds Railway Station.. it goes "how do we get to the Castle?" " try going back to London go towards Kent" Baz

I have been busy being a grandad for the past week with little to show on the modelling front. I did make the early lamp irons this morning. I am not sure if I have posted about these before ( memory not good after running around chasing little boys all week ) but if not I will post again. They are very simple to make from rectangle brass tube and flat strip with Scale Hardware bolts. The body of the van looks a little rough but once it is cleaned and painted I think it will be fine.

Morning all, It didn't rain yesterday evening when it was supposed to and it isn't supposed to rain today but it wouldn't surprise me if it does as I walk to/from the chiropractor. I wonder if today he'll require me to wear a mask too? Now to fireworks and sorry to say Andy that if your bit of the south is anything like our bit of the south welcome to a fusillade which puts the start of the Battle of El Alamein in the shade for noise. Good old British made fireworks seem to have been superseded by far noisier Chinese made ones and if the bloke up the road carries on letting them off in his garden which is far too small for such things it will be fun watching the fire engine, especially if - as usual - some clown who doesn't even live in this road has parked on top of the nearest fire hydrant. When we had two stone deaf cats it didn't matter but now we're back to cats with fully working hearing the panic the bangs lead to is not nice to see. Not only time to finally ban private sale of fireworks but to properly enforce the law about when they can be let off - we get them for up to 2 weeks around 5 November, occasionally at Duwali (although at least they obey the law), not unusually at Christmas, and inevitably at New Year (which apparently lasts several days in some folks' diaries). Retire from rant mode, I think. Some of us are familiar with some parts of the law because of past work involvement but 'elf & safety isn't everybody's cup of tea, nor are Railway Byelaws, although employment law might occasionally be useful as might the question of repeater signs/lack of on roads where the national speed limit does not apply But all that apart we do seem to manage a pretty useful mix of experience and knowledge from our past and present areas of employment or original extra mural research. (although again I suspect the development of Signalling Regulations on the GWR/BR is a long way from being the top of everybody's list?). So yes - where we can contribute direct original knowledge and experience it's great to have the opportunity to share it and read about it. And while some things might not be everybody's muggatea it can get very interesting and it's part of what makes ERs fun. But if I want (horror of horrors) to look up something on Wikiwhatsit I'll do it for myself thank you, as part of a more general trawl through books and the 'net. Currently the lad's WFH room, aka the dining room, is in use as the sewing room but will later be converted to the test track room (if I can get away awl free by mentioning such a parallel strips of metal equipped item?). Enjoy the rest of your day one and all

In your dreams! Flying pig territory if she is anything like my ex.

Good moaning from a village that is still a long way from Ikea. For newer members of this augudtvand erudite community, I used to live in a village very close to a branch of the Swedish store and hated the place. Anyway itbis bright and sunny here. My first task will be tontake the ancient Volvo to the garage to get it's headlights polished and aligned to get the car through it's CT (MOT in the UK). Then a call at the vineyard/distillery that I will pass en route for essential supplies. Like The Windmill theatre, it never closed. A phone call yesterday informed me that the replacement pool liner has arrived, so my next journey will be to Angouleme to pick it up. All being well it will be installed on Saturday. Not a lot else to report so I wish you all well. Jamie

Isn't enginering applied everything? The degree over here is Bachelor of Applied Science.

Tonight we see Great Central arriving from the North with the 5.15 Hull. The name plates have fallen orf for some reason, and I just tacked them back on until they can be refixed properly. As often happens, tacky wax isn't tacky enough. Seagull then leaves on its 29 mile trip to Grantham.

Interview process for delivery drivers. "Did you play 'Postman's Knock' as a kid? "Yes" "Ok, you've got the job."

And the NCU plate is now is the correct place......as far as my book goes!

Think I'll take a stance. If I meet a conspiracy theorist, flat earther or anti-vaxxer from now on I'll ask to take their photo. If they ask why, so that I can say "I want to record what a complete idiot looks like".

My thought is that if this gent dont like what he is reading in ER he dos'nt have to come in. As far as I know there is no rule that you have to visit ER. Dont like to rant but he gets on my nerves

My Wife and our Greyhounds were always petrified of the over excessively loud BANGS from todays Fireworks, I would imagine they are more like real live Ammunition's than just a pretty scene in the sky. Consequently we have gone to Bala in Snowdonia for 10 days for many years to get away from the Guy Fawkes celebrations over here. Where we lived in South Derbyshire, they would start early October and generally go on until mid to end of November. We have signed many petitions to try and get the sale of them banned from sale to Mr and Mrs Public, but to no avail. Ex Service Personnel with PTSD must be affected, as are a lot of old people, and their pets, like Cats and Dogs that are outside, especially when your sitting at home, nice and quiet, and suddenly some moron lets off a device or Rocket close to home. We don't have a problem with organized displays as we can get away in the car for an hour or two, and they are at least advertised in advance. It will be interesting to see how bad it is, now that were back in the Souf, I would imagine it will be no different. RANT OVER, for now at least. Have a good weekend, stay safe and well.

Having owned a dog that does not get on at all with fireworks (a complete quivering wreck), I can only sympathise with you having problem neighbours. I would have expected a well-regulated country like Switzerland to have banned the sale of fireworks to the general public.

Another PC item that is bothersome these days; the use of 'nicer' descriptions. On a railway, they are of course passengers, have been for ages. Not customers, they belong in shops and they are certainly not 'guests' as is the current term. Hotels may have guests as that is their business. Similar to the railway/train station; if it works, don't fix it! Brian.

That's the thing about ER's there is alwats someone listening.

belated Happy Birthday wishes Lurker. As it happens we may not see a post from said person for a while on here.. fell foul of the mods.. and we don't upset them do we? Feels very close here - thunder storm could be coming along. If it rains the way it says it will I could be in for a very squelchy game tomorrow..Frabjoy!! err not! Glad to hear you are feeling better Ian A. I must be going daft.. I can now tell Jet2s Boing 737-8s from their other earlier Boings from the engine sounds...I need to regain my senses... Baz

Just got back from Sainsbury's Everyone was wearing a mask. Just a question ... What was so difficult about doing it last week?