Mike Bellamy

April 3

28 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

Not often appreciated is that the number of chevrons indicate the severity of the curve, and that curve does not look overly sharp. The more chevrons, the tighter the curve.

Not always the case as the following two links show.

This is on a roundabout near home which was installed to serve the new houses on the right. I lost count of the number of times the single chevron sign was demolished by cars going straight over the kerb, across the grass and rejoining the carriageway on the other side. This is in a 70mph zone.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.9007669,-1.5563601,3a,75y,266.57h,85.15t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-Y0hBFpeGpvc1JNkb2foBA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu

Compare that with the second view showing another (larger) roundabout in an area that I regularly drive through - here the dual carriageway limit has been reduced to 40mph from 70mph (sign just behind the camera) and there are nine chevron signs - but even then I have seen evidence of drivers crashing into them !

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.8966026,-1.198558,3a,75y,58.55h,80.97t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sP45ZQr_to0TEY_BO8aLdBA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu

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April 2

On 28/03/2024 at 08:05, NHY 581 said:

Image swapped for a more menacing one.

Allow me to introduce you to an alternative image - A 25ft high "Dapper" sheep, dressed in an alternative style wool jacket. . . . . . .

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-68684297

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March 23

12 hours ago, TheQ said:

The thing that annoys me is customers spending some time getting it all through the till then seem surprised they need to have a credit card ready.

A few years ago, when our local show still offered a pensioners' discount, I was on the door selling tickets when an old guy came down the corridor saying loudly "Bus Pass - Bus Pass" and waving his pass in the air. 'Thank you Sir, that will be £x' (can't remember prices but it was a kids rate so probably £2). He then spent several minutes building up a queue while he went into every pocket looking for his cash - how strange that he knew exactly where his bus pass was but didn't have any money ready. The next year we dropped the concessions and made kids free so everyone over 18 paid the same.

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March 21

9 minutes ago, micklner said:

Perhaps his interest is totally innocent.

All he wants to really do is run his ancient Triang Train set round and round in everdecreasing circles with the Wagons full of lovely Gold Bars !! It brings back happy memories of his childhood!!. I wonder where the Gold Bars came from ????.

Or does he build Airfix kits in his spare time - or has a Scalextric set up in the loft . . . we need to keep reminding ourselves that Hornby is not just about model railways.

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March 20

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

However, the days of capital ships being able to operate on their own with impunity has long gone.

A carrier cannot operate independently, but must operate as a group of ships which provide essential mutual support and logistics.

HMS Vengeance has just returned to Faslane after 201 days at sea - in fact 201 days under the sea if news reports are to be believed - said to be the second longest underwater deployment of a nuclear submarine - presumably with no support or logistics as that could / would give away their position. Not the sort of job I could do !

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March 18

On 17/03/2024 at 19:23, Happy Hippo said:

There are two sides to Colchester Military Corrective Training Centre.

The first is for those offenders who will remain in the Army, and who are subjected to military training,

The other side are those who will be discharged after their time at MCTC .

As shown in a Channel Five programme last year. Link to Army News and TV below

https://www.army.mod.uk/news-and-events/news/2023/08/military-justice-on-the-small-screen/

https://www.channel5.com/show/court-martial-soldiers-behind-bars

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March 17

48 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Just seen our house and jungle on a gardening programme on TV.... Well they were viewing East Ruston Vicarage Gardens from above and out to the coast, and in the distance was our green blob.

What an amazing garden they have created there - so much more than you would expect from a 'Vicarage' - but even the house is so much bigger than the average rural vicarage. Must wind up the I-Player later to watch the programme Glorious Gardens from Above which was on BBC2 earlier this morning.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04t6tdz/glorious-gardens-from-above-13-norfolk

Link below to East Ruston for anyone visiting Mr Q's part of East Norfolk. Looking at the map I would therefore guess that Ben (and TheQ) live somewhere in an overgrown garden between Happisburgh and Sea Palling - perhaps near Eccles - in which case several ERs enjoy your cakes !!😃

https://eastrustonoldvicarage.co.uk/

EDIT - changed the BBC link - which also includes Bressingham and the Broads so even more reasons to watch it as we plan to be in that area sometime over the summer.

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March 14

8 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Separately, I understand from the discussion on the Nat Pres forum that the annual ticket pricing complicated things slightly by undercutting the cost of membership (which also allowed free/reduced cost repeat visits), making membership a less attractive option for some people. I’m not sure if this issue has subsequently been addressed at all.

Last year I went to a small railway/museum which had a gala with a visiting loco as well as their own stock being used. For £3 more than the gala ticket, I joined the Society and got free admission for the rest of the year, discount in the shop and a magazine each quarter.

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March 11

3 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

He is on a secret mission with his dear wife to investigate the Northern Lights.

If he's with Hurtigruten, then the most northerly port is Kirkenes where you can get an excursion to the Russian border. Interesting to see that Germany posted 100,000 troops there, and that after Malta it was the most bombed town during WW2 with 320 raids from USSR. We will be there mid April celebrating my "Three Score Years and Ten" but I'll keep well away from the border.

https://www.hurtigruten.co.uk/ports/kirkenes/

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March 11

9 hours ago, OwenTheSignal said:

Yes a wagon! D1409 LSWR van, Mike Williams kit in Gauge 3. Excellent kit, as ever from Mike. Solid resin body but with very fine detail, as seen from the Real Thing just a mile from me. For scale, the drawing I'm referring to for the build, scaled from the book, - just - fits on to a page of A4

5 hours ago, OwenTheSignal said:

Humble grovellings, was following a chat relating to Missenden. Have now caught up with this thread rules, awl painfully accepted, won't happen again.
Apologies Awl!

I don't want to get you (or me) into more trouble by talking about unmentionables but I can't help but wonder about your comment "solid resin body" - is that really correct ? If it's a big as an A4 sheet, why not make it hollow and save the cost of an unnecessary amount of material ?

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March 6

10 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Not quite. In 2005 the Jenners business (not the building) was sold to House of Fraser by the Douglas-Miller family, who continued to own the lease on the building until 2017. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenners.

Thanks - I blame the BBC as it's obvious that they got the info from Wikipedia and seem to have missed the fact that the private investor (Moorcroft Capital) was actually owned by another of the Douglas-Miller family and so still a descendant of Charles Jenner . . . . . . .

BBC

The new building opened in 1895 and was extended in 1903. Further extensions were added in the 1950s and 1960s.

The building was sold to private investors in 2005 after House of Fraser bought the Jenners brand and property.

It was then bought by Anders Holch Povlsen in 2017 for a reported £53m.

WIKIPEDIA

The lease of the building remained with the Jenners holding company JPSE Ltd, owned by the Douglas-Miller family. In August 2005 it was sold to Moorcroft Capital Management, owned by Jenners' former chief executive Robbie Douglas-Miller. In 2017 the building was bought by Danish billionaire fashion retailer and landowner in Scotland Anders Holch Povlsen, reportedly for £53 million.

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March 6

15 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I have several similar scars on my left index finger from when I was about 10 or so. The one on my right hand was from accidentally hitting someone's glasses in a fight at school.

In my case, it's a right angle scar on the tip of the left index finger - caused by the corner of a corned-beef tin I was trying to open at a scout camp 55 years ago. I can still feel it tingling at times.

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March 5

6 minutes ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

You never got any money out of me, Mike... I'm sure your holiday will be a bit different from Skeggy.

40 years later (or thereabouts) I'm still Treasurer collecting cash - and we're going to Mablethorpe at Easter to visit No 1 son !!

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March 5

On 03/03/2024 at 13:41, Peter Kazmierczak said:

Too many trying to manipulate others. Good job I've got a good British name, so I'll be OK...

I always remember that we knew you as "Cash-me-a-Cheque" . . . . . . . . .

22 hours ago, DaveF said:

I too would not like to go on a cruise, too many people and I hate crowds.

That's how I feel as well . . . . . but as I will be "Three Score Years and Ten" next month, Mrs B insisted that we must have a special holiday and so we are going on the "Coastal Express" with Hurtigruten up and down the coast of Norway - stopping at 34 ports on the way up to beyond North Cape, and then all the way back again. This is a regular service and 24 hours ahead of you is another ship doing the same journey and one 24 hours behind you. Some of the stops are just for 20 minutes in the middle of the night but you might see the same port in daylight on the way back. Not a formal cruise as some passengers are just hopping from one fiord to another for work or family visits. Maximum number of passengers around 600 and during longer stops at larger ports such as Tromso and Trondheim there are excursions available as extras.

I must admit that we were very lucky to see a "Black Friday" promotion and so got the actual cruise for half price . . . . . . . and despite my initial reservations, I'm now looking forward to the trip.

https://www.hurtigruten.co.uk/destinations/norway/classic-round-voyage-bergen-kirkenes-bergen/#key-info

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March 1

21 hours ago, AY Mod said:

He moved to somewhere not too far from here and used one of the same butchers we do.

@AY Mod he lived at Rangemore, near Burton upon Trent.

@New Haven Neil he bought a Royal Enfield at the local bike shop in Burton

Info from local news report in link below.

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/shopkeepers-who-knew-bbc-hairy-9132815

I was rather surprised to learn of his former life as a make-up artist at the BBC for 23 years and that's where he met Si who was a director

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March 1

8 hours ago, Erichill16 said:

We used to have little or no contact with HMRC until we acquired our own premises.Now we make a tax return each year. Sometimes the amount due was so small the payment letter said we would not be perused if we didn’t pay it. I always did pay.

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

We are set up as a limited company, therefore legally required to put in returns to HMRC.

Technically if a club is NOT set up as such, all club members at the time of the incident, are held liable for unlimited costs should there be some sort of unfortunate disaster, such as someone sueing the MRC, or your insurance for an accident not being as good as you hoped and as we all know solicitors / lawyers bills can get very expensive.

Limited companies are " Limited by Guaranteed" our club is limited by guarantee to £1 which means that is all we each are liable for should the club go bust.

52 minutes ago, Barry O said:

set ourselves up as a CIO (Charity incorporated Organisation. Why? It Cost less to run (qe submit accounts and a wrirebup on what we do for the community each year, we can get gift aid from all donations and gives access to other fund raising opportunities. It also limits our liabilities as Trustees. Well worth looking at!

Thank you all for your responses to my query. We do own our building but that didn't seem to come with any requirement to report anything to HMRC.

We have considered both Limited Company and Charitable Incorporated Organisation for the same reasons and in fact a few years ago went to see Paul Jones at Warley who went through all the paperwork etc with us. However disputes between members related to lockdown and reopening the clubroom, plus a lot of insulting comments on social media caused the Chairman and Secretary to resign and leave the club (as did the main complainant). As a result no progress has been made as the main driving forces on the committee are no longer with us. Perhaps it's time to revisit those proposals.

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February 29

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

Another month of the clubs accounts updated, amazingly it worked out first time. Next month the big one, the HMRC return.

Hope you don't mind me asking, but why do you need to do a return to HMRC. I'm treasurer of our muddling group and haven't had any contact with HMRC for about 30 years - that was when they asked our exhibition manager how much he got paid for organising the show that had been featured in the local paper !

Thanks

February 27

9 hours ago, SM42 said:

Mrs SM42 has to fill in a monthly time sheet detailing extra hours over and above contract, in decimal time, allowing for breaks etc.

When I worked in the Partnership office at the University, we had very flexible working hours, with most staff coming in early as our overseas partners were ahead of us by several hours. As this meant an earlier finish, a couple of staff found it better to come in later due to child care commitments so that the office was always manned (am I allowed to say that ?) during normal office hours. All worked well until the manager went on maternity leave and after complications with her pregnancy, didn't return.

Eventually a new manager was appointed who wanted to understand and record the start and finish time for us all, rather than the flexibility and trust we had enjoyed in the past. After entering everything into a spreadsheet, she made one member of staff alter her finish time to 5.01pm rather than 5.00pm as the spreadsheet proved that she was working 5 minutes less than everyone else - of course this wasn't true as she was one of the hardest working staff in the office, almost always in early and staying later. A prime example of how to get staff on your side - or not ! Caused a lot of resentment amongst the staff including me. We never worked well together and eventually she complained to HR about me. A senior member of another area investigated and was very much on my side - so much so that as soon as the manager went on holiday, I was moved to another department and she lost one of her most experienced staff !

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February 27

Going back to the original announcement . . . . . . .

1. I had no idea that Game was part of Frasers

2. I had no idea that Game stores were stockists of Hornby products - their website only lists four items !!

https://www.game.co.uk/en/brands/Hornby/

EDIT to add that Scalextric have 13 products, Corgi 7 and although they have an Airfix page, they don't stock any of their products.

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February 26

36 minutes ago, Coombe Barton said:

I Googled 'What is Wigan famous for"?" and got, among others, this

https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/facts.php?opt=facts

Thanks John - interesting as, like Tony, it's part of the country I know nothing about and have never visited apart from one day at their exhibition many years ago when I was helping a friend with a layout - I can't remember anything about that visit except for seeing tourist information signs to Wigan Pier.

The website linked to is, however, a bit out of date as I saw the quote below . . . . . . !!

Quote

Local MP Ian McCartney is currently a high flier in Tony Blair's New Labour government as Trade Minister.

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February 25

You have to prove that you have 'Charitable Aims' and that you are not just a group of friends with a model railway. How do you benefit others?

Quote

Your charity must have ‘charitable purposes’ that help the public (known as being ‘for public benefit’).

Charitable purposes include things that contribute to:

relieving poverty

education

religion

health

saving lives

citizenship or community development

the arts

amateur sport

human rights

religious or racial harmony

the protection of the environment

animal welfare

the efficiency of the armed forces, police, fire or ambulance services

What do you hope to gain from becoming a Charity?

There is a lot on the Charity Commission website

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charitable-purposes/charitable-purposes

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-supplementary-public-benefit-guidance

On a related topic, our club at one time had discretionary relief from business rates from the local authority. We had to reapply every five years and after the last submission of the paperwork (before Covid and cuts in local authority spending) our application was rejected on two counts.

1. We showed no evidence of financial need (as we had money in the bank)

2. We did not provide any benefit to the wider community (the benefit was only to our own members)

However we still don't pay business rates on the clubroom as there is a central government scheme for small business rate relief which covers the cost of business rates for small and low value buildings. We still get a rate demand each year from the local council (£1,800 last year) but that is offset by the same amount from the government - so it's a way for Derby City to get money from Westminster . . . . . . . . .

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February 24

12 hours ago, Matt said:

What they need to do is convert some of those empty HOF stores into model shops- Jenners in Edinburgh would be a good start. I’m sure it would work……

Jenners is undergoing a major renovation and most of the building is to become a luxury hotel - owned by a Danish billionaire. Although the shop was part of the original House of Fraser group long before Ashley took over, the building was actually sold back in 2005. Detailed BBC report in link below

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-68153251

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February 23

Full text copied below . . . . . . . . .

Christine Hatton: "My 26 years of full time work here have been an absolute blast. I will have fond memories of Hattons, the people I've worked alongside and the community we have served. I am now looking forward to a happy retirement including plenty of travel, golf and tennis - as well as some part time voluntary work.

I would like to thank all of our customers and everyone associated with Hattons over the last 77 years."

Richard Davies: "I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has worked & shopped with Hattons over the 25 years I've had the privilege to work here. Since 1999 the internet has transformed the world and invigorated our wonderful hobby. Hattons have sold over £225 million of model railways to over 425,000 different people in more than 150 countries - it's been an incredible journey and experience.

After Hattons I'll be:

Doing some consultancy work in the UK model railway industry.

Consultancy work with companies outside of model railways - feel free to enquire by connecting on LinkedIn. I'm particularly interested in working with firms in Chester & North Wales on an ongoing basis, but more than happy to use Zoom to speak to anyone around the world

Potentially visiting model railway clubs around the world and telling the story of Hattons - feel free to invite me!

Spending time with family in Flint, North Wales

Contactable at davieshq@gmail.com

I would like to say thank you to Christine Hatton for asking me to help run Hattons, after her brother Keith died in 2008. Keith was an such incredible & unique person, that it was understandable many assumed his passing would lead to our closing - we surprised many by achieving a huge amount between 2008 & 2023. I wish Christine, and all the dedicated colleagues of Hattons, all the very best for the future. I am very sorry my best wasn't good enough to maintain Hattons success."

Connect with Richard on Linkedin →

Contact Richard via Email →

Hattons Staff move on to new pastures...

We are pleased to announce that several of our staff members are continuing to work in the model railway industry. You may be familiar with Dave, Jack, Christov & Tom:

Dave - Commercial Projects Manager

Dave has been with Hattons for many years working in practically all areas of the business! Dave is moving on to Rapido Trains UK to assist with their forthcoming projects.

Jack - Chief Content Officer

You may recognise Jack from our popular Platform 1 livestreams and at exhibitions. He started in 2017, managing our marketing campaigns and content. He is moving on to work with Rails of Sheffield.

Christov & Tom - Helpdesk Assistants

If you've ever called or emailed us, you have likely spoken to Christov or Tom - who were two of our extremely knowledgeable helpdesk remote workers. Both have now moved to The Model Centre.

Seeking staff for your organisation? We are more than happy to circulate any opportunities you may have to our highly capable former members of staff.

February 22

7 hours ago, it's-er said:

I don’t think this question has been answered. And does anyone know what has happened at DJH? DJH has been on the go for a long time. Is it a case that the current owners/proprietors, whoever they may be, are retiring? Or is there no longer a decent business to be made in it? Or whatever?

DJH is (was ?) a lot more than just model railways (such as 'Knobs and Knockers' and all sorts of tourist souvenirs) - see link below listing six companies in the group - if we assume Squires have bought the loco side of the business, what about everything else ?

https://www.djhgroup.co.uk/our-brands

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February 20

10 hours ago, Tony_S said:

I have a friend who lives in Norfolk. As odd bits of land come up for sale adjoining his house he has bought them. Each plot seems to come with a few rickety sheds. Some don’t need much of a push to dispose of but one plot has brick stables. My friend who is older than I am, is going retile its roof himself this year and restore the stables. I am fairly certain he won’t be getting a horse though.

We all have a friend in Norfolk - it's Ben (and his master @TheQ ) - in fact that sounds very much like his estate near Sea Palling (if memory is correct). We hear a lot about several sheds needing repair and new discoveries in the undergrowth which always seems to grow faster than he can clear it.

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