DaveF

This morning I went to church as usual and ended up being asked to do another couple of small jobs - just making sure some things are in the right place for services. Of course that assumes I both know where they should be and that I can actually find them when they are put away in the wrong place. I had a cup of coffee and remembered to pay for my afternoon tea outing which is one day next week. On the way home afterwards I stopped at the beach and had a walk. The sun was shining brightly but the wind was bitterly cold. Back home I had a look at the remains of the heather and took out a few nearby weeds and a plant which was in the wrong place - a self seeded honesty, then while I cooked lunch I arranged for someone to come and measure the kitchen and living room windows as I am thinking of having new curtains. After lunch I just tidied the greenhouse plants and then cleared bits of heather that had fallen in the pond along with some blanket weed. I spent the rest of the afternoon scanning the old photos. The next two albums will be some of Dad's railway photos, I have digital copies of some but not all of them so will probably do them all to make sure none are missed. There's nothing else today, this evening should be a bit of reading or similar as I feel a bit sore from the gardening. A couple of photos of the usual beach this morning. It could be summer apart from the wind. Just snapshots using my phone. David

Some black and white photos taken around Trent on the Midland for this afternoon. Trent 2P 40458 up pass c1950 JVol7309 Trent 4F 43850 down coal photo taken from train c1951 JVol2262 South ofTrent crossing bridge over River Trent LMS Garratt c1949 JVol1028 Trent Fairburn 4MTT 42184 up pass c1950 JVol7311 Trent Lane Junction East Midlands Gas Board shunter c1950 JVol7335 David

Happy birthday Dave. David

A couple more from the family albums as scanning continues. The steam locos may be at Cambridge, it would have been taken 1948/9. Mum is in the cab of the loco on the left. Jimg355Apr People waiting at a bus stop on Derby Road Nottingham, about 1952. It may be useful for the clothing, also you don't often see people reading newspapers on model railways. Jimg378Apr David

I am now very careful in coffee shops and now almost always just have black coffee in case they have anything almond in the place - having found out that one place I go to sometimes uses almond milk. I have a (so far) fairly mild allergy to nuts, but over the years it has gradually become worse so now I avoid them. David

Church Lane crossing on the Great Eastern just to the north east of Ingatestone on the way to Chelmsford. The first 4 photos are Dad's, he and Mum must have been spending a weekend with me. In the 70s when I ived in Essex it was a very pleasant spot to spend part of a Saturday taking photos. Church Lane Crossing 309608 Clacton to Liverpool St Apr 75 J4262 Church Lane Crossing 306019 down Apr 75 J4264 Church Lane Crossing Class 37 down Apr 75 J4265 Church Lane Crossing Class 47 Norwich to Liverpol St Apr 75 J4266 Church Lane crosing Class 309 Clacton to Liverpool St 5th May 80 C5053

It is definitely 1970 as explained below. It is very confusing to anyone who doesn't know the complex history of some Ffestiniog locos. . The 1886 double Fairlie engine originally named Livingston Thompson, subsequently named Taliesin, was renamed Earl of Merioneth in 1961. It reverted to its original name after 1979, when it was saved for static display at the NRM. The new Earl of Merioneth entered service, as you correctly say, in 1979. David

I've just looked at an e mail from a bank I use. They are going to change my credit card from a Visa Gold to a Visa card as they no longer issue Gold cards. That means they will change the account number so anything that keeps my details will have to have them reentered. At least the direct debit I use to pay it each month will be redone by the bank to take account of the new number. However I will check that actually happens. Also the credit limit, interest rate, PIN number etc is unchanged. So why change it? I can't see any savings for them. Apparently it is to give an "even better customer experience". David

I spent much of the morning scanning more family photos, all taken by Mum and Dad. I've realised they took family photos like Dad took railway photos - lots of them. Quite a few are people they knew about 70 years ago, I've no idea who they are so haven't bothered scanning them - I can recognise alll the relatives who were alive then so those photos have been scanned. While lunch cooked I went in the garden and cut down the rest of the giant heather, it has almost filled the wheelie bin again. The rest of the tidying up will have to wait until I am able to kneel down more easily - and get up again! It already looks better and I can see other plants more easily, I can do things to the pond too and in due course put new plants in it. After lunch I went to look at the roadworks where the level crossing is being rebuilt, to get there I had to negotiate the water company's traffic lights and the holes made by the company putting in new fibre optic broadband cabling. That even made parking dificult as their vans were where I park when I go to the crossing to take photos. At the crossing not much was happening but I took a few photos and went a different way to my next destination, the beach. I had forgotten that road is full of speed humps. The beach was bitterly cold so I didn't stay long, came home and did more scanning. David

A trip down the road for me to Morpeth, the newest photo is only about 30 years old. Morpeth USP5000 March 81 C5304 Morpeth ex grain wagons for Alcan traffic Nov 83 C6307 Morpeth 37015 up coal to Blyth and Tyne 18th April 85 C6819 This view is now obscured by trees. Morpeth 56133 shunting 9th April 86 C7454 Morpeth LMS Class 5 44767 Santa Special 18th Dec 94 C19895 Coming into Morpeth from the Blyth and Tyne so it can return to Newcastle on the ECML. David

Jamie, I hope Beth's operation and recovery go well. I woke this morning to the sound of rain, fortunately it was only another passing shower. As I was eating my breakfast I saw a jackdaw fly very fast across the garden through the rose arch - no mean feat as it is very close to the greenhouse. There was a female sparrow hawk in hot pursuit, she ended up crashing to the ground under the arch. Then she sorted herself out and flew to the top of the arch and spent a few minutes getting her feathers sorted out and looking round. Suddenly she took off and headed very quickly away, as she went the jackdaw was chasing her. I wonder what happened next? Apart from that the garden bin has been emptied so I can now cut down the rest of the heather. The next job is to scan more old photos, today's seem to be mainly photos of me up to the age of about 7 or so. David

The Ffestiniog Railway for this morning. Tan y Bwlch Earl of Merioneth 22nd Aug 70 C243 Tan y Bwlch Hunslet Linda Dduallt to Porthmadog Aug 72 J3034 Tan y Grisiau Hibberd Upnor Castle 6th Aug 79 C4680 Tan y Grisiau Hunslet Blanche Porthmadog to Tan y Grisiau 6th Aug 79 C4693 Tan y Grisiau Hunslet Blanche Porthmadog to Tan y Grisiau 6th Aug 79 C4694 David

Another day is quietly passing. I've spent most of it scanning the family photos - as it happens the albums I am doing first becasue they were in front of others were mainly taken by Dad and Mum from about 1947 onwards, like the black and white railway photos I put in my thread here. I recognise most of the relatives and one or two of the family friends. However there are a lot of photos of me about 2-5 years old on holidays. A number of other children appear in them, like me they gradually go from about 2 years old up to 6 or so. I wonder who they are? I suspect people we met each year on holiday, the photos show me in Scarborough, Brighton and at Sandilands on the Lincolnshire coast - which was just about destroyed in the 1953 floods. Some may be of a family who had a food business in Nottingham. I've just looked at a print, it has "Parr" written on the back so perhaps that is the family name. I am enjoying looking at them but I don't think anyone else will want them. I had a trip into town to take two bags of books to a charity shop, while I was there I called at the pharmacy and came home via the Quayside but there were no ships to see so I had a walk in the park instead where I met a couple I haven't seen for some time. He has dementia but today must have been a good one as he recognised me. It's been sunny at times with a few light showers but cold in the wind, it feels like late March. David

Back to railways now to visit the Stray at Harrogate in 1965 and 1966. The photos were taken with Dad's half frame camera so some are not quite as good as usual in terms of detail. Harrogate Class 104 Bradford to Harogate July 65 J211 Harrogate Class 101 Darlington to Leeds Aug 65 J274 Harrogate B1 61319 Harrogate to Kings X Feb 66 J444 Harrogate Class 46 D171 up White Rose April 66 J472 Harrogate LMS Class 5 45061 Harrogate to Kings X July 66 J569 David

I'm scanning old family photos at the moment, this one might be of interest for those who have rivers or harbours on their layout. Pride of the Yare on River Trent at Nottingham circa 1950. Jscan23Apr David

The Met Office says it will be dry so it is raining - hopefully only a shower coming in on the cold NNE wind from the North Sea. I am tempted to stay indoors today. The groceries have come, and a batch of e mails deleted, some actually got read. Next job is to scan some more of the family photos - it looks like the next batch are the weddings of an Uncle and an Aunt. David

Another batch from Switzerland, this time taken at Rapperswil where the line from Zürich crosses the Südostbahn line from Arth Goldau to the north east of the country. Rapperswil Südostbahn ABe4/4 14 Pfaffikon to Rapperswil 31st July 88 C9812 Rapperswil RABDe12/12 1118 31st July 88 C9816 Rapperswil Südostbahn Re4/4iii 42 Konstanz Rigi Express 31st July 88 C9824 Rapperswil RABDe8/16 Zurich to Rapperswil 31st July 88 C9826 Rapperswil Südostbahn BDe4/4 85 Rapperswil to Einsiedeln 1st Aug 88 C09965 David

I didn't have anything worth saying this morning. It's been a dull damp drizzly day. Lousie came and cleaned this morning instead of Leonie, the house is looking good again. After my efforts in the garden in the last few days I felt very achy and sore so decided to have a quiet day. The main achievement has been to get the Epson scanner out for the first time in ages, check it worked and then put scanning software on a laptop so I can still use my PC at the same time. The software just manages to work, the Epson scanner dates back to 2009 so it is slightly surprising. It scans a little better than my Canon printer/scanner. Fortunately as I am only scanning old family photos and documents I can use it set to auto. After a few hiccups I got started on Volume 1 of the albums. It has taken all day to do half of it, there are many more albums to do. Some photos were easy to sort out - Mum, Dad, me, grandparents etc. Others, like great grandparents are taking a lot of thought to identify. I've also found one of my school reports from primary school, various 19th century birth certificates, letters sent to Mum and Dad when I was born and so on. I even found my identity card - they must still have been issued in 1949 when I was born, it was valid until 1965. My address had been correctly updated and stamped by the relvant authority in 1951 when we moved but not afterwards. A few of the original items will be kept as "treasures", the majority will be binned, especially letters to Mum and Dad from people I've never heard of. When I finish the job copies will be sent to those relatives (cousins) who have asked for them - they are the ones doing family trees. I already have both sides of my family tree back to around the mid 19th century (and parts earlier), including a number of Australian relatives. In theory there are also Dutch and French ancestors but no one has managed to sort that out fully yet. The French ones probably came to England at the time of the French Revolution, the Dutch connection is more problematic, one ancestor was apparently born on a Dutch ship. This evening will be some tea and later an old Vera to see if I can identify the places. Tomorrow may be spent much as today but it will depend a bit on the weather. David

Near Nottingham now, at Sneinton junction, just east of Nottingham Midland and Radcliffe on Trent on the line to Grantham. Sneinton Junction Class 120 Crewe to Lincoln June 78 C3893 Sneinton Junction 25211 westbound freight June 78 C3894 Sneinton Junction Class 114 Nottingham to Grantham and Class 25 shunting June 78 C3895 Radcliffe on Trent Class 120 Nottingham to Skegness June 75 J4383 Radcliffe on Trent Class 47 Parkeston Quay to Manchester Feb78 J5920 47011 David

Some more photos on the London Tilbury and Southend at Laindon in the 1970s. Laindon Class 302 302306 Fenchurch St to Shoeburyness May 76 J5173 Laindon Class 302 down July 77 J5721 Laindon Class 302 302247 Shoeburyness to Fenchurch St Jan 78 C3652 Laindon 12th March 78 C3715 Laindon Class 302 238 down April 78 J5999 David

Thanks, I've corrected it. I've no idea how I got it wrong, in Dad's notes it is correct. It is probably just clumsy fingers. David

If you lived in Nottingham as I did as a child then Skegness is where you went to for days out by the sea or often for holidays. I always wondered if this is because it was the easiest seaside to get to by train. David

A fairly normal Sunday starting with the usual e mails and phone calls followed by church. I came home, had coffee and cooked lunch. I haven't cooked a proper Sunday lunch with a cooked dessert for ages so it was something of a shock to see how much there was to eat compared to "ready meals". The extra though was mainly more vegetables and a larger helping of cooked plums for afters. I managed to eat it all and then decided there was nothing urgent so had a rest ending up by falling asleep. Later I went outside and cut down some of the heather which is to be removed, it was a lot easier than I had thought but my muscles haven't seen much use recently, the first time most of them had been used much was in the greenhouse yesterday. About half of the heathers have gone now. According to my neighbours the rats have come back, probably because several of them are feeding the birds, unlike me. I thought I saw one yesterday, removing the heather will mean they have one less place to hide. I think one the neighbours is going to ring the pest control people at the council tomorrow. I had just come in and made a cup of tea when I saw and heard 2 fire engines and a fire car go along to the far end of the road in a hurry. They quickly got a hose out and in through the front door of one of the houses and men with breathing gear went in. After a couple of minutes they came out again, there was no smoke but a distinct burnt smell when I went outside. The hose was left for some time with men in their ordinary clothes going in and out. They were there for about an hour and have just left. Doubtless I will hear more in due course. Hopefully the normal peace and quiet of a Sunday will now resume. I looked at the offerings on TV this evening, fortunately I have a book I want to read. If I get bored I'll find something to steam. David

5 photos of Class 20s on trains to Skegness taken at Bottesford on the Nottingham - Grantham - Skegness line. Bottesford 20081 and ano Derby to Skegness July 81 C5467 Bottesford 2 Class 20 to Skegness Aug 82 C5855 Bottesford 20180 and ano to Skegness Aug 82 C5858 Bottesford 20188 and ano Derby to Skegness June 83 C6059 Bottesford 20172 and ano Leicester to Skegness Aug 83 C6155 David

Photos of electric locos this morning along the WCML. Elmhurst 84004 down freight Jan 76 J5036 Elmhurst Class 86 up Jan 76 J5037 Hincaster Junction 87033 up June 76 J5263 Hincaster Junction 86207 down June 76 J5264 Sandon Trent and Mersey canal Class 86 down June 76 J5331 David