Leaderboard

A bit of Ladmanlow in winter sunshine Al.

Morning all. Not much to report this morning. Off to work shortly and that will be me done until about 8 this evening. However, I managed to weather the windows and fit them to the station building. Notice boards to sort out and fit. Other sticky out stuff can wait until I'm ready to plonk on the layout. And thats it just about done for now. I will write up a start to notice board stage by stage.....ish....probably tomorrow. Rob.

From the upstairs window of the shoe factory I stare mindlessly across the station to the engine shed. I see the crane is out and about?

I've been taking another look through the photos taken up on the moors in November last year, and by a bit of judicious cropping, have got some new pictures from some which at first didn't look very inspiring. See what you think: Thanks for looking, Al.

The A1 has gone on its way, which allowed B1 61023 the bring the stock for the 3.00pm to Grimsby up from Nene sidings, and reverse it into the bay.

Morning, another chilly but splendid one here. NHS no shows - just had a conversation with a friend yesterday evening, he has a man-problem, hydrocele, and is in a lot of pain with a testicle several sizes too big currently. Oooch. he was absolutely furious and needed to vent. He got a letter yesterday for his emergency appointment with the man-bits Consultant, however the appointment was for.....the previous day. So he phones the department, to be told he was a no-show, and they started to give him a bollo....err...tell him off, big time, for wasting NHS resources etc. He isn't too pleased at this point as you might imagine, and demands to have the no-show taken off his record and an emergency appointment early next week as he knows they have them. The admin then is telling him there is no such thing etc etc, until the point he tells them his role in the same hospital. Clinical Complaints and Claims Manager. There are emergency slots, he can see them in the system.....he's working (uncomfortably) at home and is logged in to the same screen as Ms Unhelpful! He has a Monday appointment. While on NHS, out of the blue Mrs NHN was asked to speak to the Deputy CEO yesterday, and when she went to the ivory tower, the DCEO asked her to be honest and open about why she was leaving! An hour later, the DCEO has made a LOT of notes and declared herself appalled at what has gone on. Just maybe, some changes may be happening slightly higher up the food chain. What goes around.....

Three succesive days of sunshine have allowed me to take a lot of photos, so here is a bonus WD.

A little over the top answer if you do not mind me saying considering the fact my comment was made with tongue firmly in cheek. Mind you - I live in Derby so why travel the length of the A52 to the City Ground when there is bound to be an appointment much closer to home??? Anyway - I bid everybody a good morning. The sun is out, the sky is blue and there is beginning to be a little warmth in the air after the morning frost which resulted in the need to scrape the car windscreen this morning. I have completed my trip to Derby Arena and had my first jab. I am pleased to report a much more positive experience than the one we had two weeks ago for Sarah's first attempt. The staff were welcoming and helpful. Yes they checked my paperwork, and yes they needed to see my foster carer i.d card to prove I was a "frontline social care worker". Other than that there were no issues. As someone who admits to having a bit of a phobia when it comes to needles, all the people there were pleasant and helped to put my mind at ease. Only a short wait, then jabbed. I was required to wait the 15 minutes after the deed in case of any immediate side effects, but this was allowed to be spent in the car with my copy of Hornby Magazine. Unlike @Mike Bellamy there was no sticker with time etc. As an ex-teacher who spent many times handing out reward stickers, I almost feel left out!!!!! At present I report no ill effects other than a slight pin prick pain in the relevant arm. Fingers crossed I can avoid the sort of effects that Sarah suffered. Returning to football for a second. The exit route out of the Derby Arena car park took me around the back of Pride Park stadium and passed the turnstile which I always enter the ground through. Although last night's game was by no means a classic, I still feel a little disappointed to not have been there. It's almost a year since we were last permitted to attend a game (a fantastic 3-0 demolition of Blackburn Rovers incidentally). Some people clearly do not understand the game and the importance it has in some people's lives. Yes, there are many who take things to far. However, for me it is the social element, the meeting with my uncle and cousins before the game - a couple of pints consumed along with the pie and a pre-match chat. The chat throughout the game and yes the rivalry and emotions that then develop as the game progresses. A great goal, a great result can make you forget other problems for a short while and can make you feel better. (A bad result can make you feel worse of course - but only for a short time). I miss it just as much as I miss the relaxing days out on a steam train or the social element of the model clubs or exhibitions and the chance to catch up with friends and acquaintances. Returning to ID's comment once more - Derby V Forest. United V City, Liverpool V Everton - they may invoke similar rivalries to those railway enthusiasts who prefer LMS V LNER or Steam V diesel, GWR v anything else and some comments are made with firmly with tongue in cheek. Have a great day. Stay safe. At 12.00 noon I am going to raise a glass to Sir Tom Moore whose funeral is today. A man whose whole outlook on life can be an inspiration to use all.

G'day to all Wright's Writers, I have just completed this model from a 3D print. Details here: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/162692-lms-2p-044t-from-a-3d-print/ Whilst not perfect it does show how this particular technology is improving. Cheers from Oz, Peter C.

A belated happy birthday to Simon. This evening I've managed to move around fairly easily without my back howling - just a gentle whimper from time to time so an improvement there. Another fillip to my mood has been the beautiful clarity of the sky with lots of lovely bright stars and a full moon; just what the doctor ordered. G'night all. Dave

I have further cropped the photo previously posted, I still think this looks good: Al.

Found another one: Al.

Disaster, Chimney /sewer rods broke down the hole with scraper attached, I've just had to order a new 30 ft set to Push it through, then use a line and grapple to go fishing at the deep end.. Order on 24 hour or less send it NOW!

Morning all. My mother was from a large family. They were fairly evenly divided between supporting “the Blues” and “Villa”. It must have been complicated as they were also quite divided politically but not along the same lines as the football. A couple of my uncles took me to see a football match, Aston Villa v Fulham but it didn’t appeal much so never really supported anyone. Aditi gets very enthusiastic about the England team during international competitions. It was frosty overnight but is sunny now. I had an early morning phone call asking me not to attend a dermatology clinic on Monday. I only remembered this yesterday anyway when I had a look at the March page on the calendar. I had sent an email and left a message on their phone enquiring if it was still happening (booked a year ago). They have asked for it to be a telephone appointment. I would have gone but I am relieved I don’t have to. Tony

OO9 Locos So I have Skarloey already and many moons ago bought a Bachmann 'Rheneas' to tart up. I gradually became keener on deviating away from the SR in the books having an (almost) identical loco fleet to the real-life Talyllyn, so thoughts turned to Rheneas. This is my interpretation of it as the 'missing link' between the identical Talyllyn/Skarloey and Dolgoch, built 2 years later. The idea is this Rheneas is built in 1865 not 1866 as with its Welsh brother. Therefore it shares the wheel and eccentric arrangement of Dolgoch but without the well and back tank, instead having the saddle tank and boiler of Talyllyn. This was possible as I had a spare Skarloey body from the Bachmann parts store. The smokeboxes were sawn off and swapped around to enable easier running board fitment. The nasty chimney was removed and replaced with a printed one. Linny suggested building out the sandboxes Terrier-style to clear the saddle tank, which was done with styrene strip and filler. Handrails added, a coat of Ford Venetian Red, and of course some decals. Next I am waiting for some appropriate batteries and a new receiver to plumb in the RC. The motor actually forms the bottom part of the boiler. Thanks to Alex I now have this delightful Kerr Stuart 'Wren' to build into a quayside shunter, which fits on a teeny tiny Japanese chassis. This chassis is for 4v so should be perfect for my 3.7v RC system. Now I just need to work out how to cram it all in....

The ECML between Darlington and Newcastle again with photos from Sunderland Bridge to as far north as Tyne Yard. Sunderland Bridge 43155 up 16th Oct 93 C19112.jpg Croxdale Class 91 down 16th Oct 93 C19136.jpg Deerness Valley Junction Reilly Mill view south 22nd April 89 C12087.jpg Chester le Street 37683 up cement Oct 92 J13549.jpg Tyne Yard 47217 l e 17th July 90 C14561.jpg David

Ey up! I fear today may involve a bit of the "G" word.. pah! Very quiet this morning .. apart from our resident Blackbird which was singing away quite merrily outside our bedroom window about 6 am this morning. Speing is hurling towards us..great! Dr Eldest Herbert got his jab last night..a Pfizer one hence the phone call to come asap. But, her indoors not happy..he got... a sticker.... as ifbit makes any difference. I would support charging for no shows at NHS appointments and also a charge for calling an abulance when it isn't needed. In New Zealand if you call an ambulance for no good reason you have to pay.. number of calls received dropped dramatically. Saw our next door neighbour yesterday. They have a 4 month old American Akita pup. He is already large but neighbour reckoned that he will stay small..yeh! Right! Time to finish my tea and see what else is happening in the world. Have a great Saturday! Baz

Aditi once was very cross with me about a cake. I woke her up one morning bringing a nice cup of tea. She was really grumpy and wouldn’t at first admit why. She had been dreaming and had spent a considerable time baking a perfect cake. She was just about to taste it when I woke her.

This link explains it as well as any other source. You won’t find too many club rivalries with their own Wikipedia entry either. https://outsidewrite.co.uk/palace-v-brighton-enduring-m23-derby/ Good morning all. A beautiful one has arrived Upon the Hill of Strawberries though the grass was crisp and white until quite recently. Today marks a turning point in our determined avoidance of the nastivirus. SWMBO was provided with a government-sponsored jab in the arm a couplevof hours ago. She described it as “very efficient and well run” at a local centre and was pleased to receive the Oxford vaccine as she “trusts British scientists”. It’s my turn on Cheeseday. We biked / triked to the venue as that was the easiest option. She arrived 20 minutes early and was seen immediately. I hadn’t even had a chance to review ERs when she emerged minutes later all done and dusted. On with the day. Domestic Engineering is required and Sir Pawsworthy Catalot is protesting that he hasn’t been allowed out yet.

Thanks. DCEO is a 'new broom' and from 'outside', so you never know! We both have spent enough time in the civil service to know how things work (or don't), NHS admin here is civil service, oddly, not NHS directly as in the UK. It was helpful for her to know that someone has 'noticed' something not right in the department, and to be able to talk it through without it becoming a slagging act. There are BIG changes under way here, with the splitting apart of the 'Department' of health and social care from the delivery side, which is to become 'Manx Care'. The new CEO and DCEO have been brought in to 'sort it out' so the opportunity is there like never before - whether it results in anything actually happening, as you say, remains to be seen!

On a very cold but sunny Saturday morning, 47199 arrives into the Bridge End Sidings at Seven Mills, with some Railfreight OAA's and VAA's

Oh I don’t know. It depends what is meant by “ordinary”. If it is simply bog-standard commercial soss and Danish bacon going for a tenner or so, then I’d definitely be unimpressed; but if it was high quality soss and bacon from a great local butcher, then I’d be happy. I think people get the wrong idea about what it means to be a “Gastronaut” - it doesn’t mean “expensive” (‘though good ingredients can be) nor does it mean “complicated” (‘though some dishes can be), it’s all about quality ingredients prepared with skill and passion. I’d rather have a simple supper of a piece of a good quality mature Cheddar, some homemade bread, unsalted butter and a really good pickled onion than a mediocre meal from a restaurant who - how can I put it - sings from the right hymn book, but doesn’t know the words or music. So named after potatoes or potato dishes? What was the nickname of your school sports team “the tubers” perchance? Happy Birthday, Simon. But given your age, are you really old enough to play with the big boys on ER? We are, undoubtedly, a bunch of crusties (average age: crumbling), but we are good natured and tolerate the enthusiastic exuberance of yoof with good humour. You’re having a larf, aren’t you? Surely even the most partisan of supporters has the brains to put aside petty sporting rivalries and look after his/her well-being and that of his/her neighbours? If not, the words “foolish” and “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face” jump, unbidden, to mind. I’ve now been rumbled by Mrs iD about the Telecaster (OK, which one of you barstewards grassed me up?) and I have just been subjected to a “Mrs iD Questioning” (like a Gestapo interrogation, but rougher) over my planned Fender Telecaster purchase. Several fingernails and broken teeth later, Mrs iD has accepted that the purchase is both necessary nor too excessive. Later today, I’ll be calling the store that is offering the exact guitar I want to find out more about it (it’s a demo model) and reserve it - if it meets my needs.. And on that note, I shall limp - broken but unbowed - into the weekend. iD

Found one from Ladmanlow not seen before: Al.

Good afternoon Tony, A few weeks ago, we were discussing eBay rescues. Well here is my latest. It’s an ex LNER F1 (of MSLR origin). I believe it’s the Cotswold or Sutherland kit. It was glued together but quite well constructed. The paint job was described as average but that is putting it kindly! The chassis was a basic brass version with an X04 and poor pick ups so it didn’t run well. While V2 and A1 kits go very cheaply on eBay, locos where there is no RTR equivalent tend to go for much more and I’ve previously watched these go for well over £100, so was pleased to get this for £60. I wanted an F2 which is very similar to an F1. I think the bunker on the early F1s was shorter but this one seemed to be the right length. the F2s had the wheel type smokebox door lock and there were lots of detail differences between locos - safety valves, chimneys, coal rails, wiggly pipes etc. The F2s were converted to push pull and I wanted E7111 which saw out its last years on the Ally Pally shuttle. There’s a good picture of it in the relevant Yeadon. I had previously tried to convert the Bachmann lanky tank to an F2 but given up for reasons I can’t now quite remember. But I still had the dismembered model with some bits of an SE Finecast N5 kit which I was using to ‘GCR’ise it. I decided to re-use that Bachmann chassis (which gives a smooth mechanism with three wheel pick up each side) and bits like the chimney, open safety valves and smokebox door fastening. I stripped the paint off my purchase and changed certain bits over. I then added some push pull gear from bits of a spare Westinghouse pump and some wiggly pipes on the front of the tank. I then painted it with Halfords gloss black and numbered it with Modelmaster water slide transfers (no film you will note when applied to gloss black). I then got stalled because my last can of Testors Dullcote ran out and I couldn’t find any more - it seems to be sold out everywhere. But a search online came up with a car matt lacquer (autotek professional) and that worked very well and seems better value. It now just needs glazing and weathering when the weather warms up. Andy

Aditi had a similar problem. Her family moved from Huddersfield to Heanor, the City of Derby, the City of Nottingham and then the County of Nottingham all in a year. She had passed the 11+ in Yorkshire but somehow was put straight into the second year (Year 8 nowadays) in the County Grammar School. This meant she had great gaps in her knowledge of maths and science. Her family just assumed she was dim as she didn’t have the mathematical abilities of everyone else in the family.

Very wise - you're not a Bear by any chance are you? Rule 1 often gets overlooked: If it ain't broken, don't fix it. If Bear had a cake for everyone who'd spent £££ moving, only to regret it afterwards, then he'd be a very happy Bear with oodles of cake. Some hope - at the last stock-take (yesterday) it appears that I'm down to my last two Mr. K's Lemon Bakewells, with possibly some Jaffa Cakes "somewhere" (down to the joys of having no kitchen, everything that belongs there is now "somewhere", with that being defined as in the area between the front and back garden gates). At least the bikky tin is in no imminent danger of expiring. A replenishment exercise from the SCR is in order I think. Bear shares iD's confusion. Is not such an event the equivalent of an "Away Win"? Bear thought that was rather desirable? Bear suggests a system whereby all those on a certain minimum income are charged (how about twenty quid?) when making an appointment with a GP (maybe fifty quid for a hospital visit?); a "show" prevents the charge being actioned - a "no-show" and you've lost your money. Momma Bear was prescribed some form of energy drink (I forget the name, very common though & often prescribed for those unable to eat normally, for example; available in all sorts of flavours - Vanilla, Coffee, Strawberry, Banana etc etc). When Momma Bear had no further use for them I had maybe 30 or more unopened; no way was I going to bin them (they're expensive, and it would be a real waste) - the district nurses had a few (they were limited on storage apparently). The rest went on Ebay, of all places, and made a decent price. All the money went to the Isobel Hospice at WGC. (Incidentally, Bear does suspect that there are those - without good reason - who sell on prescribed items via the 'bay (not drugs) as a profit making exercise. I'm sure that blood testing strips is one such item, from past memory.)

Greetings one and all, with belated birthday greetings to Simon The custard hunt yesterday was successful. Four drums of the own brand product cost me a little more than half the price of the well known brand. It can be worth shopping around. I do this for petrol when I can. Before yesterday the last time the Polo's tank was topped up was early December. Unleaded is now 14p a litre more than it was then. As one of my alter egos, Mr Growser, might have said, "Disgrrraceful!" School houses: At Derwentwater County Primary School, Acton, they were Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. At Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, there were no houses. Whether there are now I couldn't tell you. At Huntingdon Grammar School, now Hinchingbrooke, there were Cromwell [after Oliver, naturally], Montagu [after the Earls of Sandwich], Pepys [after Samuel] and Vesey [after an obscure archdeacon]. In the outside world there are stirrings, and, let it be whispered, dates to put in diaries. What could possibly go wrong with that bit of forward planning? Plenty! What would life be without diary clashes? Empty! I am now wondering where else I should be on Saturday 11th September apart from marching through central London with 30,000 other people at Pride in London - which is normally in June or July, but that's a bit of a dodgy prospect this year. I'll know soon enough. Best wishes to all Chris

Evening all, Happy birthday Simon. I can remember a few things about being 44 the main one being that the Western Region came to an end and I became redundant, The better part of that memory was that instead of getting a redundancy notice I was promoted. But it was not a very clever promotion in one respect because due to loss of an allowance my income was gong to drop so I told them I wanted a bigger salary (not that you did that sort of thing on BR at my level!). But I duly ended up with a real salary increase so I wasn't too unhappy with the result and I was also able to plan my new office to give me a view of the railway.

I think this is part of the issue here. There is no incentive not to have what is on offer for ‘free’. This may seem a little harsh but ‘customers’ can make/accept appointments and not turn up without any sort of admonishment. I’m sick of going to clinics and seeing signs to the effect ‘X number of patients have missed appointments this month’. I wonder how many missed appointments there are in the US and Switzerland. On a similar note it’s disgusting what ‘customers’ bring back to the pharmacy as waste medication. I’ve mentioned it before on here or The Night Mail regarding the woman who brought back 10 Seretide inhalers at approximately £70 each. Her attitude was, it doesn’t matter it didn’t cost me a thing. There was over £1k worth of medication from her that went to the incinerator. If she had to pay just £1 for each item she may not have taken them in the first instance if she didn’t want them. Though this is an extreme example, the amount of waste we have to deal with is ............... I could go on but I may bore you, I may upset someone , I may get into trouble,I may say something unprofessional and more importantly it’s getting late. So goodnight again. Robert

A very late good evening and also birthday wishes to Simon. I hope you had a good day. I note Rick's comments about refusing to attend a vaccine centre at Selhurst Park due to footballing loyalties. I understand it only too well. There is no way I would attend any such appointment at the City Ground. Very pertinent point tonight considering a certain Derby V Forest game at Pride Park this evening. Always a tense game, especially having to watch it at home in the same room as my Forest supporting wife. A 1-1 draw was probably more than we deserved but it was good for marital harmony. I wonder if Rick can clear up a confusion I have always had. I can understand that many footballing rivalries can develop from close proximity as tonight's game Man Utd V Man City, Liverpool V Everton etc. But London based Crystal Palace V Brighton?? Please explain? The recent conversation about "houses" in school has been interesting. During my childhood school experience I never encountered the house system. It is something which is gradually coming back into the education system. The notorious headteacher, who forced me out the profession, introduced it at my old school. The courses were named after local parks including Calke, Kedleston, Chatsworth and Rosliston. Amber's school adopted the house system last year with houses named after famous Britains including Shackleton, Nightingale and Lenny Henry of all people. Tomorrow it will be an early start. I have date with the needle at 8.40am. Stay safe. Andy

My infant school had no male teachers.. a lot of fairly elderly ladies who put up with no nonsense. Junior School - all male teachers some of whom had fought in WW2. With 50 lads in each of the two class groups in my year discipline was strict.. Fail to get 20 out of 20 in Friday Algebra.. the cane.. failure to get 20 out of 20 in the spelling test (held after the algebra test) more cane. I complained once to my father (he had been at school with my teacher).. 49 lads all lined up for the cane.. despite the fact that the teacher had managed to provide an incorrect answer in the spelling test (the other pupil was off sick that day). The response from Dad "yes he always made errors in English at school" . Grammar School was co-ed. Everything was ok for most of the year (very few smokers in our school for some reason) but.. in December "PE lessons" became "dancing lessons".. this equated to a war.. the Girls (who seemed to be a lot bigger than the lads seeing it only fit to try to propel the lads into the wall bars of the gymnasium as a matter of delight. The "highland Fling" was interpreted literally by some of the girls. However, every year group had a disco at Christmas. Despite the Teachers and Prefects keeping an "eye" on things one or two pairs of lads and lasses would disappear into hidey holes in our school..in some cases the lads were "dragged" into the hidey holes. Great times! Baz

At an all-boys grammar school and with the girls school some miles away any activity “behind the bike sheds” usually involved nothing more than smoking. Usually. In the late 60s / early 70s any form of intimacy with a member of the same sex was usually frowned upon atvthe very least. There was one case of two lads being “caught in the act” which resulted in both receiving six of the best before being expelled. Then there was the Games Master. Having unrestricted access to the sight of younger lads changing and showering might have had something to do with his ways. BiL called him out once. Offered him outside. As in behind the bike sheds. He declined. The bike sheds were right in front of the main entrance so anything taking place would have been in full view. On the rare event of school dances the janitor patrolled the secluded area behind the gym but was easily “bought” with a couple of Woodbines. One couple known to me made use of that space on such an occasion which resulted in an unexpected addition to the population.

Back again, Once hosed off it was not broken but the rod had pulled out of the brass coupling. A new pack of 30ft of rodding has been ordered with another scraper as that will be needed to push the other assembly through. Just as I heard the gurgle and the sludge level dropped, is when I tried to pull the old assembly back and it failed Before the disaster, I weighed the trailer and representative pieces of the commercial kit. I was surprised how light the trailer chassis was, to my previous lifts, it felt heavier I must be getting old.. 16.2 kg at each wheel assembly, 59.9kg at the coupling. So roughly, about 92kg. Add that to the loose and commercial bits and it's about 130kg, much less than I expected, I've got around 170kg spare for additional items, like guides for the Keel and hull so they go into place easily. After that, Shelf assembly didn't go well, , lots of adjustment needed, but two are up, just the top dust prevention shelf to be fitted on that section tomorrow. After that walk Ben time, we'd only gone about 1/3 of the way, when the artillery opened up not far away , Ben the scaredy Collie really wanted home, so we did. After that, metal bashing, the bigger piece was fettled, tested for fit ok, wire brushed off, then both pieces were zinc coated. Also various bits of commercial fittings such as adjustable boat supports were also coated, other commercial bits are buried in another shed, and will have to wait for their paint. I've ordered and received plastic plugs for the ends of the tubes i've cut off, I don't want water collecting inside. Tried and fit ok. 'If tomorrow is my last day, it'll be a good one... I'll see everyone I've ever loved': Captain Sir Tom Moore. https://youtu.be/vUfoJhgbOMw

Morning, glorious sunshine, if a tad cold though, a lot of interesting topics on the go on here:- school- I seem to remember someone saying they were the best years of their life....................nope. I was part of a bizarre experiment, in 1960 the 11 plus was abandoned and I was "chosen" to go to the high school a year early, missing my last years education, first lesson was maths, "Excuse me Sir, I haven't done this before" I remarked, "yes you have, you did it in your last year at junior school"........................."but I didn't do my last year at school"..................."Well you'll just have to catch up then" was the helpful and caring reply. That was my academic part of my life trashed, add to that not only was I the youngest kid in the school, but I was also the tallest, so my boxing career came on in leaps and bounds with all the fights in the play ground, so at least I did learn something useful in life. There were houses, but for the life of me I don't remember what they were , I did come second in the who could pee highest up the toilet wall competition(it helped being tall you see). Off to cut the grass if it's dried enough take care all.

As promised an update on the magnetic coupler/un-coupler for 3 link couplings. Firstly I must thank Tim (Captain Kernow) for the idea. The magnets, actually that is a bit of 1mm iron I had already made the couplers but that is the length of 4 yes FOUR magnets, 2 were the broken off and super glued into a 1mm internal diameter piece of brass tube, flush with the end. The other end of of the tube had a length of 1mm brass wire super glued into it. Finally the wire was attached to the pen torch. As I had three I made two magnetic couplers (gold) and one wire one (silver) for use with the coach. And finally in action. It works a treat.

School houses; Toilet block, Bike Shed, Back of the Bike Shed. My School wasn't that posh.

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The sun has burned off the frost this morning and its warming up nicely. Its Captain Tom's funeral today and I'm reflecting on the connection with my friend who died on Thursday and my late father. All three served in the XIV Army and held the Burma Star. What we owe that generation is uncalculatable, as one of the next generation who benefitted the most from their sacrifices we should honour and respect them.

The sticker I got after my jab had the time written on it so that they knew what time I was allowed to leave after the mandatory 15 min wait in case of immediate side effects. .

Mooring Awl, inner temple hare, 6 hours solid sleep, a large Highland Park certainly helped. Age 44, the year I came back from Saudi, and therefore got to permanently live in this house, which we'd bought several years before. This was early planning for retirement, we knew roughly where we wanted and what type of house was required. It also gave us the chance to get established long before actual retirement, so getting organised for living out in the countryside. It's allowed us to join clubs,get settled. So having a life that won't have the twin challenges of retiring and moving at the same time. Forepaws are happier than they have been for a few days, today's planned insults to them are. Clearing a blockage in the pipe to the cess pit, followed by rubber gloves to bin, overalls to washer. Weigh trailer, prop up trailer on blocks. Fettle trailer flatbed section, paint two pieces with zinc Build a section of shelving, this one is more complicated as it's the bridging unit over the TV, so has a longer span, therefore it needs reinforcement and assembly before installation. Time to try for sleep part 2

Newton based 94xx class 9440 heads west on an all stations stopper to Plymouth. This comprises of a five coach train with a mixture of Hornby and a couple of Comet kit built.

Poetic justice https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-56224144

I was at an all boys school and it sounds very much like Gwiwers in many ways. One or two of the staff were certainly gay, Russell Harty was a house master (Carr) but as far as I was aware nothing untoward happened between staff and boys. There were a couple of housemasters daughters, who were allegedly fairly 'enthusiastic'. We did have an annual dance with Casterton, the girls boarding school about 20 miles away. That was fairly rigourously chaperoned but it was very easy to arrange rendevous' for the folowing Sunday, or so I am told. Smoking was definitely banned and at least one contemporary was expelled. Corporal punishment was a normal part of life though I escaped that by the skin of my teeth. Since it has gone coed the atmosphere has changed for the better. I presume that each house no longer has to line up in the gym naked to be weighed and measured once more and that swimming costumes are now allowed in the swimming bath. They were banned when I was there as many lads wore them under their rugby shorts and they got very muddy. Jamie

Morning all, Nice and sunny after overnight frost once again with the same promised for tomorrow so no doubt we'll see a pretty good imitation of National Lemming Weekend as the Covidiots come out in force. My day is already settled(ish) with the W word top of the list once my mind is in gear to read back yesterday's amendments and see if they make as much sense now as they did when I wrote them, fingers crossed. The G word has been mentioned but without including my name while the V word has been very firmly mentioned in connection with my name but I can always play (or try to play) the W word deadline card if needed. And of course Flavio obviously set out to ruin my day by striking terror in my heart with a mention, invariably accompanied by condemnation, of the frightening words 'Danish Bacon'. Nowadays I understand it is something like 75% water held together by a sort of indoor bred version of pig flesh; it is not allowed in this house under any circumstances as we already have a mains water supply and prefer bacon which tastes like bacon and doesn't shrink to the size of a postage stamp when introduced to heat. I can remember the Houses I was in at both junior and grammar schools but I can't really remember the names of the others. Coincidentally at both junior and grammar school the colour for my house was red, on a small badge at junior school (Curie) and a red blazer badge at grammar school (Hambeldon). There were three houses at the latter school and one of the others was Periam - easy to remember as it was named after the lady who in 1609 founded one the original schools which subsequently merged with the one founded in 1604 under a charter granted by James I. can't think what the name of the other one was. And the houses meant not very much except in/on the field of various sports where inter-house events took place all found the year except in rowing where there weren't enough of us involved to crew more than one four with a few reserves. However latterly, after we'd restored it, we did manage to crew an eight but not at all well so we never rowed it competitively.. Which is less than can be said for one old boy who won a Gold Medal for rowing in the 1948 Olympics (Bert Bushnell). Have a good day a one and all and try to stay safe as the lemmings launch themselves forth upon the land. PS No activity beyond occasional smoking behind the bike shed and bys and girls were segregated during free time outdoors. But one couple in my year reputedly managed to 'go all the way' on the lawn in front of the main building one dark evening on the occasion of a school dance - a story I can quite believe knowing both of them.

Final details painted. Any better? It'll have to do . . . . . I doubt I can do any better and they might not even be very noticeable when in place. And they are pretty small.

Ah, the back of the bike shed - AKA smokers' corner. A lovely spring morning here in North Hipposhire. Not sure whether my back is yet up to walking any distance but a spell in the workshop is a distinct possibility before rugby is watched in the PM. Have a a good weekend everyone. Dave

Good morning Gordon, Some more Wood Green memory joggers....................... I wonder why the GN arranged so many of its main line stations with three roads going through the centre, meaning that either the Up fast or the Down fast were platform faces? Harringay, Hornsey, Hatfield, Essendine and Retford, as well as Wood Green, spring to mind. This J1 was withdrawn at the beginning of 1953, which (given its condition) suggests these shots were taken in 1952. Another begrimed V2. I've shown this shot before, and the carriage-pickers had a fine time! During its time shedded at 35A, the unique K5 heads an express freight northwards. It was because (at one time) Thompson's rebuilt K3 was on the GN that prompted me to make a model of it (about 25 years ago now). It's an old Wills K3 kit, with a part scratch-built front end, scratch-built chassis (with Nu-Cast B1 cylinders and Jamieson motion) and a scratch-built tender. Strictly speaking, it's out of time for Little Bytham's period, but it usually acts as a conversation piece (or has done) when guests visit. Regards, Tony.

On a very cold but sunny Saturday morning, 47199 arrives into the Bridge End Sidings at Seven Mills, with some Railfreight OAA's and VAA's

Evening, after a beautiful day. Buqqer - two covid cases in the community found this afternoon, no known links found (yet) to the 'steam packet' group. There is a controlled batch of them who all got it via a member of the ferry crew, but that has been isolated well up until now. It may be a link is found, in which case it'll be contract-traced and should be OK. If not, we're heading for another circuit breaker. Pants. A bobby I used to work with was a really straight guy, good copper, nothing daft, really level headed - until it came to football. He was a Manchester City supporter, season ticket holder (left the island every chance for home games), and should anyone so much as mention a team with a red strip would erupt! He described it as a religion, not a sport, obviously he was a fundamentalist! His wife, a sergeant, was exactly the same! What a pair - it all goes ten feet over my motorsport-only head.