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Today's photos start at Great Ponton south of Grantham and end at Dry Doddington, just south of Claypole on the line to Newark. Please note that in the first photo permission had been given for people to take photos from railway owned land. Great Ponton A3 4472 special Leeds to Kings X 20th Oct 68 J1485.jpg Grantham 254012 Leeds to Kings X July 80 J6996.jpg Peascliffe Tunnel Class 47 Kings X to York substituting for failed HST Aug 83 C6119.jpg Dry Doddington Class 254 HST down May 82 C5677.jpg Dry Doddington Class 254 up June 79 J6516.jpg David

Back to dull and cold here. Never mind, there is a poll result to look forward to when I get round to it, and the prospect of another one. For some reason Mons Meg got the portrait treatment, and I don't think it looks that bad, frankly.

Here you go.

Hello from a dull and cold North Somerset. 29.1 inches of Mercury equates to about 985 mb or hpa if you prefer SI units. This would be ok for somewhere north of Bordeaux. There is no whiteness here this morning, although the temperature is only 1C and we have had 3mm since midnight, so it might well have been sleet when it fell. Not a be lot to do today, except maybe chase up my 50l rucksack which is still in a black hole between the online shop and Hermes. However I’m not sure the shop will be open as this is technically a bank holiday. If all this fails I may just raise a not received issue with PayPal. As it is a birthday present due for mid January I still have 3 weeks in which to sort it. No more news from the care home, but my Dad seems to have been knocked back by COVID despite him insisting he had no symptoms. I gather he now finds it difficult to walk and is pushed everywhere in a wheelchair, plus has days where he is not sure of anything at all.

Storm Bella left us some presents, bless her. Two large boughs broke off of the big old Cedar tree at the front of my father-in-laws house. As well a modifying the front of the plastic radiator grill on the car, it smashed some roof tiles in various places on the edge of the roof. So back to work, and it’s going to rain, again, just for a change. Good job we only had a few.....several.....some beer last night. Beer n chainsaws can be a bit tricky.

When you are 1 window frame short of completing your latest building, but have some spare etched BR Mk.2 coach windows lying around... (Photo from Rutland Auction House Facebook page.)

A view over the Stella Gill incoming and outgoing lines sees 9F, 92097 on a loaded iron ore train waiting for its banker, which can be seen under the bridge approaching the rear of the train as 92061 coasts down the bank with an empty iron ore train on the return journey to Tyne Dock.

Anything goes with sausage and chips.

Some more morning leftovers of 5391.

Quite agree Flavio. It's one of the very few things that The Boss and I completely disagree about but she's not alone as most of her friends and neighbours had the same view about the lady as do some of their husbands. I tend to live and let live and she's never caused me any harm otherwise it would be a different story. There is something known amongst family and friends as "The GDB stare" and also the "Wrath of Bob." I'm a pussycat most of the time though.

Made a start on the next crossover. This will allow goods traffic from the back of ET station to leave and cross the incoming/outgoing main lines and exit to the down slow line directly. Without this crossover any train would need to travel around the down fast for half the layout until it reached the other end of ET station. The four main lines here start to open up with the slow lines moving away from the central fast pair. Further down this section there will be a bridge to take the loco lines up and over the main lines to ET shed, so the increased spacing was necessary to accommodate the skew piers. With C10 turnouts and wider track centres, I hadn't quite appreciated just how much space this would would entail and at 1150mm overall, I just managed to get it on my plate glass covered track workbench. Yes, I could have split it into two and built each separately, but try as hard as I may, I've never been able to replicate the curvature exactly so the lines just flowed without some form of deviation in the curve itself. At least building it in one piece, allows you to cut it in half after assembly, knowing it will look fine. My efforts in clean cutting of pcb sheet were not really 100%. Whether it was the wrong blade or feed variation, the results weren't as good as pre cut strips, so I reverted to C & L. I will have another go at it later in the year, to see if I can improve the finished product, so watch this space.... Picked up some useful info on stone sheet material on another thread on RMweb so once this track work is out of the way, I want to start thinking about the scenic elements, to try and disguise the sloping eaves etc and create something that looks a little more realistic. So many things to do..... 2021 will be so much better than 2020. Believe.....

Afternoon All Again, due to volume of content here, and also the "need" to use the laptop for other more "legitimate" purposes, much skipping has again ensued. So it is just the usual generic greetings, and a very quick look in. On the good news front, it appears that it is now cold enough for the 13 tog goose down duvet to be brought from its resting place, and deployed on the bed in place of the 9 tog one which is normally regarded as sufficient - I wonder for how long?? As there is a prosepct of a few inches of snow causing paralysis of the road system, 30747 decreed that a supplementary fodder run would happen this morning - and indeed it did and we now seem to have fodder coming out of our ear 'oles. Still, it's better in our cupboards and freezer than in the shop. Just seen out of the corner of my eye 30747 disappearing downstairs with some wrapping paper of the C"r"s"m"s variety, and it sounds as though she's going through the present box - that means that she is starting to wrap the presents for 2021, and when we go the the sales tomorrow, she'll probably start to buy the presents for 2022. I must now go and start the preparation of today's dinner, whatever that may be. Regards to All Stewart

TUNNEL VISIONS (6) Now we see 2819 about to disappear into the tunnel with its train of empty PO wagons returning to the South Wales coalfields. But keep your pencils at the ready - the down home signal has just dropped again! And it's 5000 Launceston Castle on a down Plymouth express. The second vehicle is an E73 55 foot clerestory compo. John C.

TUNNEL VISIONS (5) The parcels is followed by a down local to Plymouth headed by 5975 Winslow Hall, slowing for its scheduled stop at Stoke C. One or two equine passengers on board today perhaps. As it moves out of vision a Penzance - Wolves express appears from behind it heading for the tunnel, with 4018 Knight of the Grand Cross in charge. John C.

The baddest of the bad, my dear Bear. To consult the popular media, it would seem that we (i.e. us railway modellers) are social misfits, asocial or antisocial, live with our mothers/can’t form normal relationships with women, have questionable bodily hygiene, dress in polyester (food stained, dirty and smelly), have psychoses and psychiatric disorders of various sorts (up to and including being psychopathic murderers). Oh, and all modellers have Asperger’s Syndrome and an obsession with trivial detail. With this sort of portrayal, why don’t we just go the whole hog and really be very, very bad Indeed and really give them something to talk about at their North London Media-Luvvie dinner parties. I can just imagine it.... ”It was terrible” sobbed petite blonde 28 year old Traci, “my Darren accidentally bumped into a leather clad, tattooed fella and spilt his pint of CAMRA approved real ale, next thing I know my Darren is down on the ground being kicked and whipped with lengths of P4 flat bottom rail flexitrack” Traci wiped her eyes, “I screamed for help, but nobody did anything, cos they’re all afraid of the Finescale Brotherhood” From “Hornby Hooligans” a new BBC2 - C4 - Guardian videocast documentary... How so? Because she wasn’t a nice person or because of her profession??? Actually Barry, loose the bread and the black pudding, bacon and mushrooms makes for a good and healthy breakfast. Fat is NOT your enemy, as recent research shows, but rather carbohydrates - especially the empty ones from high fructose corn syrup frequently found in breakfast cereals and other processed foods. It’s no coincidence that the rise in Western obesity coincided with imposition of high carbohydrate (bread, rice, pasta, potato) low fat “healthy diet” advice (and food manufacturers, after taking out the fat, replacing it with salt and sugar). Of course too much fat (and protein) can help pile on the pounds, but a little does go a long way and what’s more high fat food satiates quicker and takes longer to be metabolised in the body (try eating 100g of pasta [with minimal sauce] and note how long it takes before you start feeling hungry again, then repeat the experiment with 100g of slow roast pork belly - I think you’ll be surprised at the outcome) Bin the cornflakes and bring back the black pud.....

Morning all. I could get into this "not going to work lark" that so many of you espouse. Still another 6 days of holiday to go. Today's plan is simple. A couple of domestic chores followed by a bit of muddling. I may measure up the ground floor of the house as its overdue a new carpet. One consequence of the new working from home regime is that the fuel savings can go on improving the house.

Evening All, (even though it is actually morning) First congratulations to Andy and I hope the new member of the family brings much joy. Been for a walk today, as we did on Boxing Day, not that many people about really, mostly people happily out with their dogs or parents pushing pushchairs. Unfortunately we hadn’t a pushchair or a dog. Happily Sydney has come for a sleepover and has lightened the atmosphere and after taking him for his evening walk I decided I couldn’t wait any longer so decided to have an early night and nodded off straight away. A bit more beer than usual may have helped in that respect but now I’m awake and making my daily report. Somebody may have noticed my ‘thanks’ to Flávios earlier post on his prospects for the coming year. It was done sarcastically, as though I totally agree with his prediction, I don’t want reminding of it. SWMBO and myself haven’t had a great festive period and that has topped of Not a great year and to tell the truth I’m not sure it’s related too much to the ‘bl00dy virus’. Next year and it’s Christmas had better be a better one. I will go and change may rating to a more appropriate one. i think I’ve moaned on enough to I’ll bid you all a goodnight. Robert

Evening all and congratulations to my namesake on the new arrival. The wind eased by this morning although it remained cold and there is a suggestion of snow in the forecast tonight. Hopefully it will not be too bad because I am back at the shop tomorrow. Today was the first day reopen after the Christmas period. It was quite busy too and nice to see some familiar faces coming through the door. It is well over two years since I took the plunge and opened the shop. There have been plenty of challenges (with Covid being the latest) but I am pleased to see how things are progressing and I hope it continues to grow during 2021 lockdowns or no lockdowns. Jamie thank you for the reminder. I do remember the conversation now you mention it. I am pretty sure we stood viewing a developing O gauge layout at the time. Such a shame that so many shows have, understandably, fell foul of the pandemic. I certainly hate the virus and the impact it has had on so many people, and how it has impacted on our lives. There are rumours that the Oxford vaccine could be approved tomorrow. If it has been thoroughly checked I hope it will help to a return to normality by Easter. Stay safe. Andy

Afternoon to most. I think I am old enough to eecide what I can eat..so tonight it will be ham and leak pie with sprouts.. a great combination.. Not done a lot today.. i need to get some new glasses methinks following my eye laseing. My dad used to get a hamper from work every year. It always included tinned ham and a tinned chicken which we had on Boxing Day. The item my mum liked best was the box of dates. Baz

We seem to have got to the age where we get food hampers as presents. So some of the items have “use by” dates. We did get a present from our nephew that was from a vineyard near where he lives. I think we may save that until he and and his fiancée are able to visit. I hope that is going to be in 2021 rather than 2022.

When I first read the post about your former neighbour I wondered what the husky had done to be so unpopular with the ladies of your neighbourhood. Then I read it again...

Oh no Robert. That's my peace & goodwill unto all men (and women) look. I can be considerably more frightening than that!

Morning/G'day all, Heavy overnight frost but not much mist (the oligarch's palace is clearly visible across the valley). Some of Mr Green's excellent pork pie has just been consumed along with muggatea No.5 (of today). As a regular consumer of mushrooms with bacon I quite agree with Flavio's views on that matter and I have recently reduced the toast content from a slice of bread to a reduced slice, sometimes only half a slice, of bread but such lunches have not occurred over the festive period when there have been other things to eat up. Further apologies for forgettery having failed to mention 45156 Stewart and BSW01 Brian amongst those ERs I have met and I too can add Phil Hardng and El Davo to the list. On similar further reflection it is possible that I might at one time have been the boss of an occasional ER but I'm not entirely sure if we were both at the same place at the same time in our respective railway careers. There is a non-ER who I didn't give a job to when I interviewed him back in the 1990s and I had a long chat with him after the interview to explain why and to try to give him what I hoped was some helpful advice about future career choice. He not only followed my advice, albeit in an unexpected way, but once he realised who it was hiding behind my RMweb s/n took the trouble to PM me to thank me for that advice; seems I can get it right sometimes. We don't have peas with Christmas Dinner although I do like them and am very partial to mushy peas with fish & chips. But those parched pea things sound distinctly unattractive. Talking of sausages one thing I fortunately missed ths year was the town's Christmas Fayre (cancelled) and the various sellers of comestibles who seem not to understand how to cook wurst but persist in grilling it like a British sausage but still offering it with faux (and sometimes real) Germanic mustard - that really is weird. Enjoy the rest of today - Boxing Day Bank Holiday in the UK - and stay safe.

I've just finished converting my van to electric, swapped the diesel engine for the motor from a tumble dryer, it wouldn't start at first, then I realised I hadn't shut the door properly. Going to take it for a spin now.

Good morning all, I may have been dreaming of chasing something in the night like Ben. I wasn't barking in my sleep but apparently I was growling. No snow here, yellow or otherwise but it is frosty and according to my weather app -1°C and foggy with the chance of snow and ice. No fog either so I think I'll stop believing forecasts and apps. Flavio, we did have one husky living a few doors away until last year belonging to a "glamour model"/porn star but she moved out. Not missed by anyone much, particularly the ladies. Warren's earlier post reminded me that I too have met El Davo and Phil Harding several times at shows over the years. Wonder how many more I've gerfotten. We may be going for a walk later but apparently there are domestic tasks to be undertaken first as the "house is a tip." Quite how this is true puzzles me as we are both tidy people so I think she's just trying to find something to do. As we're nearing the end of the month I also need to balance the books and move some money around. Have a good one, Bob.

Still plucking up courage to remove the logos and lettering and replace with GWR roundel, lamp bracket would need relocating lower......hmmm EDIT I would also have to remove the step platforms as well, that is what is stopping me at the moment...

Good moaning from Crabtree land. No new bon mots today but at least Bella seems to have headed off to party elsewhere. The glass appears to be rising. It says 29.1 this morning. Last night it said 28.9. Quite whether or not it iscan accurate reading I know not. It is however a proper mercury jobby that I inherited from an ancient aunt. It travelled home from Bristol, held upright in the passenger seat of Rattletrap, my old T reg Ford Fiesta. When it came to France. I corked the mercury tube and again strapped it upright, but this time in the middle of a pallet. WhatvI need to do is actually measure the mercury column then adjust the cord that winds round the spindle. However any other advice would be welcomed. I did get some shed time yesterday and will try to progress the project today. Firstly the builder is due in 20 minutes so it's almost time to unlock doirs and lsy the dust sheets. I hope that you all stay safe. Jamie

Ey up! Yes @Tony_S it is , indeed a bank holiday. In answer to @newbryford..yes you are!! Her indoors is off volunteering today. Me, I intend to do some muddling, drinking copiuos amounts of tea and coffee and letting life continue around me. I shall be constructing a leak and ham pie for tea, after which a social gathering on zoom must be attended. BYO is the order of the day. I managed to get one or two things done yesterday. It did me well as I was sleeping like a log until we had a power cut at 05:30 this morning.. or rather that is when the power came back on..followed by someones someone's burglar alarm going off. Mugatea to drink so... Have a good day everyone. My attitude to life and the co ids at the moment is.. s0d it! Lets enjoy ourselves in a safe way! Baz

Greetings one and all Purely by chance, I caught sight of two people yesterday. They were passing the house as I happened to glance out of the window. This may not sound much but it is a distinct improvement on the previous day. Later today I look forward to encountering more humans as I head for the supermarket. I need something from which to make a batch of hot meals while pondering the fate of the remains of the ham. The latter goes well, cold, with the plum chutney that I discovered whilst laying in supplies for the siege. Two other things that need doing are investing in the week's lottery tickets, which I now regard as a donation to charity, and grappling with Stalag Surgery's webshite to requisition the next supplies of medication for collection next week. This provides a golden, if chilly, opportunity to get out of the house, stride purposefully into town and exchange pleasantries with the staff in the pharmacy. I've had another idea for a holiday which I can evaluate rather than plan. It comes from a couple of Portaloo's Great Railway Journeys and has the working title of "The Italian Jobbie". Such is the state of play that I have no idea when or indeed whether any of these trips will ever come to fruition but it costs nothing to dream. Best wishes to all Chris

Morning all . It is pleasantly warm in the house but I suspect it is cold out. I think it is a Bank Holiday today but unlike the summer ones I suspect people won’t be lounging on the local beaches. I don’t think we have any plans today for anything, I suspect a walk will take place. Tony

My name seems to pop up quite regularly in the "which ER's I've met" lists. Does that make me some some sort of floozy/gadabout?

Good evening everyone Thankfully it didn’t rain today, we had mostly sunshine, but it stayed cold all day, I don’t think it got above 4C all day. Quite a bit of progress has been made with the turntable control panel, today I’ve managed to get all the LED wiring in and soldered up, I’ve just got to do the switches, that’ll get done next time I go to the workshop. Once I’d done that I came back inside and finished making the spiced fruit tea loaf I’d left soaking overnight. I’ve made a slight change to the recipe, as a change I thought I’d substitute freshly ground cardamom instead of nutmeg. The aroma was rather nice, I can’t wait to try a piece. This evening I spent an hour talking to my brother in Canada, the topic of conversation was mainly about this bloody awful C-19, apparently as of one minute past midnight on Boxing Day, the whole of Ontario went into lockdown again. They also had 4” of snow fall on Christmas Eve/Christmas day. Tomorrow’s big job will be to take down the Christmas tree and put and all the decorations back into storage for the next 11 months.

Morning, Christmas, Boxing Day, and days after that all came and went with little fanfare. We continued our exile self-isolation, but managed a very enjoyable Zoom with the kids opening presents. Almost all "funny" gifts given the unusual times, besides none of us "need" anything, thankfully. We managed to dodge our Christmas dinner a couple of times, opting instead to raid the fridge and snack on anything that took our fancy, whilst reading, puzzling and watching various TV movies and shows. Zoomed over the weekend with our friends in Arizona, all of us lamenting the lack of ability to be together. Lemme see - ah yes, sh!t-for-brains finally signed the bill that would otherwise have led to a government shutdown and millions of unemployed and underemployed without any funds, as always, his pattern of handling things has confused the entire population of the US, gladly we've less than 24 days to put up with this !@$!@%$!@#!@#$ - hooray!! Nothing else to report really. Had a couple of inches of snow overnight, -15 first thing, a balmy -6 the expected high Tally ho... EDIT: Note for @New Haven Neil baro here is 1030 hPa

TUNNEL VISIONS (7) We don't have to wait too long after that to see another pannier, this time 3603 of the 8750 class, with an up goods consisting mainly of open wagons. The one behind the loco is a steel-sided type, dia. O30. John C.

Hi all, This year has certainly seen an increase in modelling time – whilst I don’t think my free time has increased much, the lack of being able to do much else has seen an increase in output. Whilst it’s been nice to finally cross things off me ‘To-Etch’, ‘To-Remotor’, ‘To-Repaint’, ‘To-...’ list, I have had an increased feeling of ‘Well, what now?’ as each model is completed. I’ve also done a very good job of starting a whole load of new models, so my net outstanding workload has certainly hasn’t decreased at all. The vast majority of models I’ve been building don’t fit into either Parkend or JAPlank, but are purely things that I’ve enjoyed researching, working out how to build and then putting together. The only real common factor is they’re from the early 1970s, with a distinct Western Region bias. This is mainly as where my interests in the real railways lie; I’m not wholly sure of what the appeal is but I think it’s probably due to my uncle taking a lot of photographs of the railway during this time. I do enjoy putting these models together, but it does usually end up with the aforementioned feeling of ‘That was fun, what now?’ as the model gets put into a stock box. Whilst I do harbour long-term desires of building a large 2mm layout based around somewhere on the GWML, the short-term practicalities of living in a relatively small two bedroom house does scupper these plans. Pragmatically, it’s at least a couple of decades until I’m likely to be in a position to have the space to build the layout-room--Cavalier-Restoration-Centre I dream of, by which time the models I’m building will probably be due for replacement. With all this in mind, I’ve decided to build a few photo-dioramas. Metre-long sections of various bits of GWML that will allow be to get the trains out and take some photographs of them in a correct setting. Based around the IKEA LACK shelves, it will allow neat wall-mounting and easy changeover between JAPlank and whichever one I fancy putting up. The first I plan is a simple rendition of Milley Bridge, on Brunel’s Billiard Table, between Twyford and Maidenhead. A simple piece of 4 track mainline, with an overbridge and passing loop. It’s a spot that harbours a close personal connection for me – Dad took me there in our orange Cavalier in the 1990s to watch Swallow HSTs whizz past before retiring to The Bell at Waltham St Lawrence for pint. A tradition that friends and I maintain to this day, outside of Covid. I’ve spent the Christmas break as a change to mock the model up with a LACK, a few Templot print outs and a lot of foamboard. I think it’ll work in principle; I do need to lift the trackbed up by half-an-inch or so towards the left hand side to get some lower angle photographs. Once built, I’d like to use as a place to take photographs of models to allow me to starting putting some articles together – I’m not sure if these will be for a magazine, blog, here or if they’ll even happen, but it’s an idea I’ve been playing with for some time. There’s two types of article I’d really like to write - firstly I’d like to write a few pieces on the real-railway history of the time, covering topics such Motorail, Red Star Parcels, the Resurrection of Steam with 6000 and the BulmersCider Train, etc and then how to present this in model form. The modelling would be backed up with neat presentation of posters, leaflets, artworks and relics from the time to give an overall feel of the topic, rather than just how to build the model. Secondly, I fancy doing some pieces just called ‘Trainspotting - June 1971’ or something similar. Essentially, a series of photographs of the model from a nominated date that accurately represents what would have been seen had you spent a few hour trainspotting at Milley Bridge one evening. This could extend into the covering the resources that are out there, both official (Working Time Tables, Carriage Working Documents, Crewe’s rolling stock registers, Marshalling of Freight Trains, Signal Box Records) and unofficial (Personal records, sighting, photographs, etc). I guess it’s all trying to create a bit of an illusion of time and place. That’s the plan anyway – I think it’d be something a bit different. Besides, I’ll enjoy creating it even if no one reads it! Anyway, a few photographs of the testing I’ve been doing. I do ask you to use your full imagination to pretend that there’s less-foamboard and a lot more scenic work. I should also add that I’ve made a complete arse of getting the slow and fast lines utterly confused, as well which way London is on a couple of occasions. I blame it on Christmas cheer. Above: One of the three 8-car WR Blue Pullman sets storms through on its way to Swansea on the 1C27 ‘South Wales Pullman’, off Paddington at 09:00 sharp. At this point it’s around 25 minutes into its journey as it approaches Twyford. Above: An unrecorded working, but the ENPARTS vehicle does hint that it’s ultimately headed for Old Oak Common. 1733 did enjoy the limelight as the XP64 liveried loco, until its December 1969 repaint into more standard BR blue. At this time, it was a Birmingham Division loco. Above: Bristol Bath Road’s 5826 trundles towards the capital with a rake of ballast wagons. Above: D861 was the last active Warship to carry maroon with small yellow panels, seen here on a Parcel trains headed west. Carrying the livery until its February 1971 repaint, it also stood out from most of the other NBL Warships in having a Swindon style fan grille, making it a relatively simple modelling project. D833 also shared this feature. Conversely, D832 was a Swindon machine with an NBL roof grille – a feature it retains to this day in preservation. Above: Coup of the day! Despite deep research and trawling of various records; I have never been able to what brought York-based Derby Lightweight car DB975010 to the GWML. From what I understand, it had become the Eastern Regions route learning vehicle in 1967 but it appears to be a very long way from home at this point. Not long after this photograph was taken, it would receive full yellow ends. Above: 822 ‘Hercules’ is spotted on a mixed, fitted freight bound for South Wales... Above: …whilst a few minutes later 1605 is seen with a rake of minerals for Action. This locomotive would be infamous at this spot on 13th November 1973; whilst working the 10:20 Radyr to Acton (similarly formed of mineral traffic) it would derail at this very bridge whilst failing to stop at the signal in the loop. Above: Another rarity. Derby RTC-based D5901 is seen with its Tribology Train, headed for the West Country. Whilst I don’t believe that the Baby Deltic ever made it to Western metals in reality, the Tribology train certainly did work between Newton Abbot and Plymouth in November 1976 with the RTC’s 24 in charge. In non-2mm news, I’ve been working on a reading corner in my office/man room where I write this post from. The seat, table and magazine pocket are all recovered from an FGW Mk.3; the cushion is made from ‘Barbie’ livery FGW moquette. The table needs a bit of work to reinstate the mains plugs and USB sockets, but that can wait for the summer. It’s not quite the full Jason Shron-style Train-in-the-Basement but it’s my little corner of serenity. Hope you’re all well. Season’s Greetings, Steve

Our normal duvet is 4.5 tog. If it is too warm in summer we just use the duvet cover. Estuarial South Essex doesn’t have a particularly harsh climate though. Though I have been informed by some neighbours that we will be having a “hard winter”, something to do with berries on trees. There are loads of crab apples on one of our trees. A young squirrel was eating one this morning. I think it wasn’t too sure about it, as it took ages tuning it and taking tiny tastes. Our hamsters and rats did that too with unfamiliar food.

Purely a gift. Yes such things are just a meaningless title but in this case that title comes with a square metre of land though by what legal process I am unsure. As Australians I doubt they could lay any claim to the UK House of Lords in any case not that they would even wish to. Lord and Lady P. of Wantirna are not likely to have any more right of abode nor favours in the UK than any other Aussie visitor. Remember visitors? We used to have those. On the other hand perhaps Lord and Lady Greybeard* of the Hill of Strawberries might be favourably disposed to invite them to the Member's Dining Room at Westminster once such things are possible again. That has been one of our favourite spots for dinner in recent years - not least because obtaining a public reservation is rarer than rocking-horse manure. The service, food and drink are all also outstanding. You do know I have a great appetite and appreciation for goat vindaloo, beef chilli and other potentially risky dishes? A chip is as substantial as the meal it is a part of. Definitely not "shoestring" or "bootlace" thin, nor an American-style "French fry". It is a chunky item with some crunch outside, evenly cooked throughout, possibly triple-cooked but that strays into the territory of pretentious-w****r cheffing and served on a plate or in a bag of some sort. Once upon a time it could be served in a sheet of newspaper but those days went out when Elfin Safety arrived. Or was it to prevent kids accidentally getting a handful - literally - of yesterday's Page 3 model? If they are served in stacks or wire baskets so be it - we knew restauranteurs once who insisted on presenting everything as "tall food" but still gained a Michelin star. They also gained a UK tax debt of some magnitude and their location is no longer known to us but that's another story. Nothing whatsoever. Which is why our local chippy advertises not "Battered sausage" but "Sausage in batter" * Not used for illegal nor fraudulent purposes. Except possibly getting a table for dinner now and again!

That’s rather sad, Bob. One would have thought that nowadays who a person is as opposed to what a person does would be the primary consideration in evaluating a person. With Mrs iD I’ve been watching a lot of Victoria Wood over Christmas and two things I’ve noted from this viewing extravaganza are 1) VW was an incredibly insightful observer of life - writing comic characters that whilst slightly exaggerated for comic effect accurately represented real people - especially women: and 2) how incredibly nasty women can be (and are) towards other women perceived as not meeting or flouting certain arbitrary standards (as demonstrated in many VW sketches where one woman rips to shreds another - often by casual, throw away remarks). If men can be guilty of “Character Assassination” then many (too many?) women could be accused of “Character Genocide”

What is needed is Level 5: House Arrest. Just heard on the radio: 200 Britons do a runner from Verbiers Ski Resort in Switzerland after being told to self-isolate for 2 weeks in their Hotels following the discovery in the UK of the new variant C-19. Seems the hotels were doing their best to keep 'em happy as possible (eg freebie champers on chrimbo day) but it wasn't enough. In Bear's book, half the blame is down to the gov not acting quickly enough; the other half is down to cockwombles not playing by the rules. It certainly means you mix with some bad company.....

Morning folks, well at least the clock says it is, both yer actual one and the body one. SWMBO and Doggo seem to disagree, both snoring as I drink tea for the second time. I have to brave the local supermarket today, odd that both Associated Dairies and Tess and Co are observing Boxing day when they could've done it on the actual day. #confused. BBC Weather suggests some snow, hopefully not much, and it's gonna be cold. Won't stop me from doing some work on mi C*vid garden project that is a summershed; might have to wear trousers (as opposed to shorts) though. Stay safe, stay well and keep warm and dry. Laterz Perhaps @newbryford or any other Lancastrian can explain parched peas please?

Mooring Awl, inner Temple hare, 4 hours sleep so far in two pieces, Parched peas never 'erd of 'em, I had to look them up... I'm quite 'appy not to 'ear of 'em again.. I suspect parched is a corruption of poached..ie. boiled to death.. It's still Christmas till 5th January, as that is 12th night, if we'd put one up that's when it would come down.. I think Ben the dreaming Collie is chasing something, there are little woofs coming from his bed. I appear to have to sign for the next delivery from Amazon as it's an age restricted delivery.. various boxes of stainless steel screws....!? The calibration of barometers is dependant at lot on how often you calibrate the meter against a known figure. Our local BBC tv 19:00 pm weather on a Thursday used to give the barometer level, sadly they no longer do that. I have to go online to get ours now. This low air pressure will add to the flooding on the Norfolk Broads, as we have had lots of rainfall, and now we have a rising level of water in the north sea. The wind direction isn't going to help with northerlies. Hopefully the above will reduce before the next spring tide on 10th of January, or we'll be in real trouble . Although our politicians appear not to have jumped the queue over vaccinations, it seems many other countries politicians have jumped the queues, Israel, Greece, Hungary and no doubt others. Time I think to try to sleep part 3.

A'noon, late call. The barometric pressure of 965mb was confirmed in two official places here last night, so ours wasn't too far off. The odd bit was that today has been really still and sunny, if somewhat chilly, around 3 or 4c all day. It was otherwise ruined by shopping, but a nice lunch on Laxey prom was enjoyed, and I met one of the Groudle lads there which was nice, he is someone I have a lot of time for. They had the busiest Santa trains ever, too busy in fact as they had to run much, much later than scheduled to get everyone Santa'd and back to the home station, which is very hard on the train crew who still have the locos to dispose and the train to put away etc. and they have been there since before 6. Baz, I didn't think anyone EVER ate those dates!

Ham and leek pie with Brussel sprouts? You don’t happen to have shares in a methane producing company, do you? (I assume that ham and leak was a typo, otherwise the mind begins to boggle when contemplating what the possible contents of the pie could be). The mention of a Christmas box/hamper brings back memories. I had just joined the industry in the December of 1983 when, only 2 1/2 weeks into the job, we had our Christmas celebrations and everyone - including myself - got a very generous hamper. The alcohol ration was quite generous: a bottle each of gin, rum, port and whiskey; The savouries included cheeses, biscuits and tinned meat (definitely ham, possibly chicken or something else) plus a panoply of sweetmeats including a decent sized Christmas pudding. Moving to Switzerland put paid to the yearly Christmas hamper. Instead, we got the so-called 13th salary (a double salary in December). Now, of course, it was your yearly salary cut into 13 instalments with two being paid out in December, but because you budgeted each month on a 13th of your yearly salary, The double December salary was like getting a months income as a gift (although many people set the 13th payment aside to pay taxes, given that PAYE doesn’t exist in Switzerland). Bonuses (based on achievement, performance, goals reached and company profitability) were handed out at a different time of year (I forget which). In some companies (alas not in the companies I worked for), the calculations and the allocations of bonus payments were made to such complicated and arcane formulae, that being hired at the right time and being placed in the right bonus program meant that you could get a years salary or more as a bonus (or so one former colleague of mine boasted to me about his previous place of employment). Of course, now that I have my own little consulting company I can not only set my own bonus & renumeration scheme, but I can also choose -should I wish - to give myself a luxury Christmas hamper. Difficult “Executive” decisions await (Incidentally, all renumeration, bonuses and special awards have to be approved by the board of directors, which currently consist of myself, Mrs iD and the Wolfpack – so there is no guarantee that any remuneration package will be approved at all )

I got two hampers for Christmas, gluten free of course. I can choose my own food thank you very much. Some of the GF products are terrible so just a waste of money. I’m allergic to nuts but that doesn’t seem to effect of the contents of the hamper. At least I got a case of GF Pironi from bil. I used to get my grandparents a hamper as they couldn’t get out to see what was available. They were in their 90s, I’m 55. Rant over, Robert

My former boss lived very near Suzi Quatro. I think he just recognised her.

A couple of pics of 501's shortly before their demise. 501.160 at Watford showing that no LT units had passed this way for some time, the centre rail being rusty. 501.163 approaches Willesden Junction, LT units still continued to harrow and Wealdstone. Both March 1985.

Mmmmm Black Pudding. I was given an omelette making device (they always turn out a scrambled mess when I attempt them in a pan) as part of a healthier eating suggestion; I seem to have acquired an addiction to toasted sandwiches during lockdown. What does that have to do with black pudding you might ask...... Simples, black pudding omelette (as noted earlier I have to go food shopping today) - s@d the healthy eating

Deep and crisp and even, Frost that is, Ben the I want out Collie, has taken me for his morning patrol, the moon is to the North, North, West, very low almost to a moon set position . it's lighting fluffy white clouds most oddly.. Excuse me while I warm up again.

TUNNEL VISIONS (4) We don't have to wait too long for another express to appear, this time heading for Paddington, ex-Plymouth, with 5041 Tiverton Castle in charge, and a Siphon G attached. Not long after it disappears out of sight the down home goes 'off' again, and 6801 Aylburton Grange emerges from the tunnel with a down parcels service. Beneath the grime we can see that the Grange has recently received its copper-capped chimney, in place of the cast iron job with which it was originally outshopped. John C.

We don't have such a beast but I seem to recall much the same reading being shown on Fish Night. Fish Night? The one where Michael Fish assured us all that there wasn't a hurricane coming ......... In other news no falling-down waters tonight but access to the kitchen has been restored as has permission to handle items (including edible ones) therein. Entirely unrelated to all previous comments a new mattress has been ordered. I have been waiting for some months - not in urgent need - to see what sort of deals might be offered today. Sure enough a very highly-rated titanium-sprung one has turned up at near half-price and will be delivered free in ten days' time. 200-night money-back guarantee and 10-year product guarantee. It should beat the steadily-powdering IKEA foam offering which arrived vac-packed in a tube almost four years ago and is now contributing an unnecessary amount of dust to the room these days. G'night all.