devonseasider

I'll bet the sheep back in the valleys aren't saying that!

That's putting it mildly. Over here, literally just a hop, skip & jump along the lane from the real SJ it's been absolutely effin' scorching. Cooked some chicken thighs & stuff on the BBQ this evening & didn't even need to light it first!

Yes, but do you know what vet bills are like these days? Charged a phenomenal amount just for giving it a couple of injections - at least I think that's what he said. Mrs DS said that if it's going to go lame like that, then we'll have to be cruel to be kind & put it out to grass. Consequently, poorly donkey is going off to stud (coincidentally there's a donkey sanctuary just outside Sidmouth) to be replaced by a fresh young stallion which is currently being made harness-ready. Hopefully the future will be kind to all involved. Thank you for your concern.

Oi, you! I asked you really nicely not to post that photo of me . . . . Why weren't you in Whimple/a wimple this afternoon? I waited expectantly all day for you to show up. O. M. Elette

What a place that is. Spent a week there one afternoon earlier in the year. Only saving grace - almost! - is the butcher on the main street who's got a permit to prepare & sell "proper" fresh venison.

Ooooo . . . . that sounds interesting. Another week's pocket money blown on a magazine!

You're almost spot-on at that. Finally got there about 15 minutes before the end! Having spent almost 4 hours sitting on the A303 waiting for a recovery horsebox, I eventually got back home some 6 hours after I had left. Lame donkey is now at the vet's awaiting assessment. Wallet is in the corner of the room, shivering in anticipation of the consequences! Sunday early afternoon situation : I'm a little way southwest of Axminster, the layout, stock etc. is in Doulting, a little way east of Shepton Mallet, it's 2 hours to closing time & a one hour-plus journey to get there. Throw into the mix that I have no alternative vehicle to bring everything back. Enter stage left - our dentist, who's son is into model railways & who has helped me in the past at a couple of exhibitions, offering her car & her time (but not her body, before some of you lot get the wrong idea!). With her car & my wife's glorified pram we were fairly sure we'd be able to get everything back home (which we did). I met her in a layby on the A30 - it's the modern-day equivalent of Brief Encounter - and we hoofed it through the holiday traffic into sunny Somerset. Quite an eventful journey one way or another - I won't go into details about the elderly - *very* elderly - lady riding her mobility scooter down the middle of the carriageway on the A37 between Yeovil & Bath (perhaps she'd escaped from somewhere), or the flashy white (drug dealer's?) BMW hot hatch that nearly took both of us off the road, but we did make it there, dismantle the layout, pack it away and, eventually, get back here in one piece. Apologies to any visitors who were forced to look at the carnage we left on Saturday afternoon when we put all of the stock into the middle of the layout before covering it over. Apologies also to the Shepton club. They know I feel badly about letting them down for 50% of the show. Conversely, thanks to everyone concerned for the help & support you were able to offer. It really brought home the attitude & camaraderie that exists within the model railway community.

Hmmmm - parts of it are, other parts certainly are not! Another brief history lesson follows: Back in Roman days, Axmouth was, apparently, second only to London in importance as a port. For those who know Axmouth / Seaton, the Axe estuary stretched west from its present narrow little entrance right along what is now Seaton seafront as far as the ice cream van & public loos at what is now Fisherman's Gap. Tesco, the tramway terminus and even the former Woolworths building didn't exist back in those days, it was all water. Until relatively recent times (just a few hundred years ago) the river was navigable as far upstream as Colyton and the church's unusual octagonal lantern tower was used as a lighthouse / guiding beacon. That's what I've been told, although I've not come across anything to substantiate that claim so I'm a bit sceptical - make up your own minds!

Colyton proudly promotes itself as "the most rebellious town in Devon" following the part it played in the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685. Many of the local populace joined with the Duke of Monmouth's force, which had landed just a few miles away at Lyme Regis, in a bid to overthrow James II & take the throne. They had early success, overcoming the local militia in Axminster (Seaton Junction hadn't been built then!) & headed north via Taunton for Bristol. The M5 hadn't been built back then so the journey took much longer than it does now (except for Fridays & weekends, especially in the holiday season!). They were eventually defeated a month or so later by the King's forces at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Those not killed were later tried for treason & executed - Judge Jeffreys, the Bloody Assizes & all that. Here endeth today's history lesson. Current events don't quite match up to this, but it does give the opportunity of driving through Colyton & shouting "eh up, missus, show us your knickers", or words to that effect, without being locked away! It has been suggested that the flying of underwear from flagpoles, windows etc. might become an annual event . . . .

If I've got the right place, there are some "interesting" bars / eating places in downttown Denver although I think the topless Scottish place on the main drag (16th Street?), where the waitresses wore kilts & little else, has closed since we were there. A shame really although, if I'm honest, Mrs DS wouldn't let me inside & I was only allowed to view things from the other side of the road ('cos it was bad for my blood pressure apparently) . . . . Au contraire, I thought it was quite good for my willy . . . . (I'll bet that gets beeped out!)

Set off for home about 8:45 having set up Tormouth Quay ready for the morning,(cheese & biscuits for tea when I got home about 10). Ray headed for his caravan at the same time with Feltham Road ready to go (I swear that if I hear his spamcan whistle one more time over the weekend I'll throw a brick at it!) while Steve & Phil had put Tipham together & cleared off to the pub hours earlier. Another couple of layouts I'm not familiar with also up & running, so looking OK for the weekend. Hopefully the bacon butties will be ready by the time I get back there in the morning . . . . If you're going, please come & say hello. Even better, come & play trains for half an hour or two & give us a break. It's a nice, cosy, friendly little show & the East Somerset Railway at Cranmore is only a couple of minutes down the road. There you go John & co. - that must be worth an extra meal voucher!

See you there Ray. I'm taking Tormouth Quay, so people can come & say hello to me as well!

And a wet towel to wipe your hands on afterwards, I hope.

Nah, that can't be right. Just think about it - as well as merely playing the mellotron, Mike Pinder worked for the firm wot was building them so he had a real insight into what they could do and how to make them do it. You could say that he was instrumental in the development of electronic keyboards. See what I did there? Play on words entirely intended! John Paul Jones, on the other hand, was really little more than an up-market pirate, switching allegiance at will & as it suited him. He may have commanded lots of ships but I don't think that any of them would have been equipped with a mellotron that he could play in his spare time.

Almost, but not quite. Should have another eye on the end of his chin. Which reminds me of a Mike Harding story although the "extra eye" in question wasn't on the end of the chin but somewhere else altogether & could be manipulated through railings etc. as necessary . . . .

I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but what can I say? Moody Blues - effin' brilliant! First saw them live at the Festival Hall, 1971 - October? November? - while Mike "Mr Mellotron" Pinder was still active. Support act, I remember, was Hotlegs & Friends. Hotlegs had recently had chart success with Neanderthal Man - a very much out-of-character song - & later morphed into 10cc. Fantastic night all round! That was the first of a number of concerts over a number of years in various venues, each as good as the others. Last live contact of any sort was about 10 years ago with a trip over to Bournemouth to see Justin Hayward reprise his role as the journalist in the stage version of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. No Julie Covington, David Essex or Phil Lynnot but it did have Chris Thompson, Chris Spedding, and Herbie Flowers on base driving the whole show on from start to finish - in many ways, the real unsung star of the show. As above, effin' brilliant.

At this rate it's going to be a bit like an old school reunion! Anyone else popping up out of the woodwork? Steve - you're going to end up spending the day on the naughty step if you carry on like that . . . .

I'll be there, God willing, with Tormouth Quay - as featured in Model Rail #246, April 2018. Come along & say "hello". If you want to play trains for a little while you're very welcome. If you want to join "the team" for future exhibitions you'll be even more welcome! photo courtesy Chris Nevard / Model Rail

I understand "workbench" and "chassis", but could you put the rest of the post into simple English, please?

Right, back to the canopy steelwork. It's taken longer than I expected to post these, but here goes. Hope they're of use/interest. Just to clarify, access to the platform was gained with permission - no breaking & entering involved. First, a couple of shots of the inside of the extreme western end of the canopy. Platform footbridge immediately behind, long bridge carrying public footpath across site beyond that. Moving east about 6 metres to the first of the intermediate vertical supports. Not the clearest of photos, but shows how the longitudinal & transverse beams are joined & braced. Note also the central channel/gully/valley (or whatever you want to call it) to take the water run-off from the canopy showing attachment of transverse girder to deep "fascia" steel running parallel to platform edge. attachment of transverse beams to wall of station building - looks as though they're just chopped in to the brickwork. Extreme eastern edge of canopy, from the outside, showing attachment to wall of station building. and the same thing viewed from inside the canopy. Took a while to get there, but all done now.

He was sent to the naughty step earlier today

Is that the models or the modelers?

Presumably that should read "They don't allow much rear operating space and table!" Shades of "Send three & fourpence, an elephant's dancing on a wet plank". Perhaps a little more water with it next time? Either that or turn off predictive text . . . .