JeffP

J2170, the chimneys of John Lysaght's or Normanby Park steelworks in the background. Long gone. In those days Scunthorpe had three large steelworks and one or two smaller, employing around 24,000 men. Town was booming, if a little dirty. Calls for the council to attract other industries were treated with derision. Now we have one medium sized works employing around 6000 men, we no longer make our own coke for iron making, so the "four queens", the blast furnaces that make virgin iron, are also under threat.😒 Still, we can make poor quality steel from scrap, and it'll improve our net zero standing...

Have you looked at MMP? I'm pretty sure David does some.

That's very impressive. What was in the rooms on the ground floor?

Class 37?

Looks like Spell check has got you: NormanBy Park, not NormanDy.

Sounds like they were very much like the real ones?

Ferrero Rocher?

Not heard a skylark in years. We used to find their nests by watching the adult bird hovering. Farmland in north Lincolnshire that had been bought for housing, but stayed undeveloped for 4-5 years. Yellow hammer another I've not heard in years🙁 "A little bit of bread and no cheese".

J5627. Another one that looks like the photographer was standing IN the Murky Trent. Scary river....

Fibre? That'll be France Telecom-Orange, then? Best of luck.🤫

"Aire des Bles d'Or". Motorway rest area of the Golden Wheat. All French motorway rest areas are named, many, being far from a local village, are given fanciful names like the above. Sorry to those who didn't understand, I've done so much driving in France I assume others have too. As the years have accumulated on my age, and driving in the UK is now so unpleasant, I probably do more miles over there than in the UK. But with the SNCF freight yards mostly lying idle and overgrown, the unpleasant experience is growing over there too. Sorry...back on topic.

Aire des Bles d'Or, north of Chateauroux, A20

Interesting, John. I'm sure you know what rivet counters are? Now you'll meet feather verifiers. "I'm sorry, bird x would never sing at this time of day." "Do you realise that birds y and z are rarely, if ever, found together?" "Your birdsong seems to be on repeat. Those birds don't repeat phrases..." And on it goes. Birders are more picky than railway modellers, trust me😄

Road accidents rarely get explained.

I too have used Audacity when I put my vinyl collection onto CD. Time consuming when you have to remove a scratch which repeats, of course, but surprisingly easy to use. I also have several CD's of birdsong, one of which features the dawn chorus and runs to an hour. I used to listen to it in my kitchen while preparing evening meals. Looking out of a dark, rain-lashed window, I was transported to a forest in France.🙂 You learn from it, too. I was once sat on a motorway rest area near to Chateauroux in central France, listening to a nightingale. No-one else knew what they were hearing.

But tha But that's the current British way. If it's not affecting YOU personally, its not happening. And ET or ES don't need to be re-elected in a year, either.

Might be an idea to edit your title, you might get more replies?

Right...so if the pictured spare boiler is now in use on FS, is the original still around? And useable?

Sorry if this has been asked before: does Flying Scotsman's spare boiler still exist?

Unless you already have some, ask for some STRONG painkillers. My eldest's hurt badly for days after the op, which was done at the National Hand Unit at Derby.

J0883, with a "Prestwin" in the consist. I built a couple of Airfix ones in 4mm, and was just about to buy the MM1 model in 7mm when Laurie had his accident. 😒

Are you having it pinned? My eldest has had to have both done...trials bike.

Great Peak photos. Lucky you got so many namers. Did the TCE reverse at Nottingham?

The Pug at Goole I do remember, and have seen pics.

Is the first photo really 2000? Was it some sort of preservation photo opportunity?