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"He [Augustine] is commonly credited with bringing Christianity to the Saxons in Britain, but when he went to Wales he encouraged the Saxon army to carry out a massacre of 1200 monks and scholars at Bangor-is-y-coed near Wrexham."

That's the one I was thinking of.

Of course the Romans had started the rot by massacring the druids on Ynys Mon.

Jonathan

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At the zoo last weekend, small daughter and I watched a huge tiger demolishing a chicken and a quarter of a lamb, at close range. The enclosure had glass barriers, and we were in touching distance of the tip of the beast’s tail. Mightily impressive, and when it turned round to look in our direction, we both instinctively ducked and froze - I know how it is to be a mouse, now!

 

In earlier parts of my life I have had various close encounters with a Cape Cobra, and with some Latin American alligators. All unexpected and in the wild. And all gave me instant gooseflesh, though I was not actually in any danger. I do wonder if there is not still an instinctive part of our brains that recognises the horror of predators.

 

Paul

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Basically, we're the "In Our Time" of rmweb.

 

Good, eh?

 

Not quite I doubt any of us were born in Edwardian times, but I get your drift. The issue I have with the program is the presenter who should let the experts get on with their theories and just act as a referee rather that trying to lead things when he has little idea of where it should go. This thread would not be half so informative if Edwardian was trying to steer it. When he does lead things it is likely to be some backwater that fascinates him. 

One very slkilled modeller sadly now deceased found 'This Sceptured Isle' an ideal background to modelling. I can remember wiring his layout with that and other programs as an accompaniment.  be careful with music though rock is rather too lively (unless you give up the pretence of modelling and take up air guitar) and classical can be risky. Tapping out rivets to the Anvil chorus or waving a soldering iron around to the strains of Ride of the Valkyries may have disastrous results. The latter used to excite the parrot we had a one time he would flap his wings and squawk loudly one day he forgot to hang onto his perch and ended up in a heap on the floor. 

Don

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Historically more people have died of religion than of Cancer.

 

Dick Francis

How does that relate to “What have the Romans ever done for us”?

 

Incidentally, until the last few decades - and then only in the rich countries - most people simply didn’t live long enough to get cancer, organised religion or not, so the comparison is specious.

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... particularly after a family roast chicken dinner.

Not a problem here, chicken carcasses would be boiled up for soup stock, the same with turkey at Christmas. Thus was unbridled carnivorous gnawing averted!

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When a lad my Gradfather (we shared a house withmy maternal grandparents) kept chickens on a plot next to our house so Chicken was  not uncommon (in those days a lot of people only had chicken at christmas) but my father insisted on Turkey for Christmas to make it special. The crafty local butcher had convinced him you needed a large bird for good flavour. The result was my sandwiches taken to school were Turkey for the whole of January quite how it was kept in those pre-freezer days is unclear but I didn't die.

 

Don

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Mention of "luxury" chicken takes me back to my childhood. The ultimate meal, the one we would have offered to the Queen herself had she bothered to call, was either chicken or tinned salmon.

 

Chicken isn't even vaguely special any more. In fact it's dirt cheap.

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Chicken isn't even vaguely special any more. In fact it's dirt cheap.

Depends on what you pay for it: if it’s “dirt cheap”, it’s just fowl...

 

Edit: PS Sorry about the poultry attempt at humour.

Edited by Regularity
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We always knew when chicken was on the Sunday dinner menu, because dad would not come on the late-morning dog walk. It meant that he was busy reducing the number of birds in the run, by one.

 

The only other time he would dip out of a Sunday Walk was when it was essential that he did some plumbing work in the house, which required everyone else to be out of earshot of his ‘pipe-fitting induced Tourret’s Syndrome’. I’ve grown up to be a sufferer myself, despite never having heard his version!

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We might have a chicken on high days and holidays, such as Easter or Christmas, but I’m afraid dad didn’t do it discreetly, oh no. The poor beast would be strung up by its legs from the lower branch of the apple tree outside the back door, and it’s throat cut with his little cobblers knife, bit like they go on in furrin parts now, I suppose. It would be in its death throes flapping its wings and spraying blood over the raspberry canes, good for fertiliser maybe. Tasted very good, though.

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I’m a bit worried about the way your avatar is chopping about, Kevin. No, I suppose the thinking was you were getting white meat. Next week in Bobs cookery class, how to draw a rabbit. ( kiddies, put your pencils and papers away.)

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Ah my Grandfather had it down to a fine art he would pick the chosen one up stroke it till it settled in his arm when a switch action twist and pull and it was over much more civilised than staking them in cages on a lorry driving a good few miles to terrorise them before being strung up by their feet on some conveyor belt given an electric shock before having their throat slit.

 Later the bird would be hung in the Kitchen over the bath to drain. It all seemed a natural thing and Grandad did look after the birds. When the big flood came in 1947 he put them in cages on top of the shed and went out on chairs (two chairs keep placing one in front of the other ) to feed them. As they had to move out he arranged with a friend to row down to feed them daily (eggs were quite prized in the rationing years so the friend had his reward). I felt much more at home in that world than today's.

 

Don

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  • 2 weeks later...

Waaaaay back on page 218 of this magnum opus I offered some mineral wagons towards a Brownie Craft Badge from Brown Owl Mrs Hroth and was advised that I should provide details of how they were to be completed.  Here you will find an update.   Since these photos were taken 3-link couplings have been fitted and production of the AJ's and fixed couplings is progressing.  I will advise when they are finished, but progress will be delayed by other commitments taking up my time this week.

 

Jim

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Sounds like a fairly normal situation to me James.  Domestic and other duties frequently seem to impinge on my modelling activities and for some unknown reason seem to negatively influence my va - va - voom.

 

That North Sea Ferry is still no further than the frames, and no keel!

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Sorry, Chaps, have a lot on my plate and seem to lack my modelling mojo at present as a result.

 

I wish it was that simple in my case - my modelling mojo is lacking even when I don’t have a lot on my plate!

Hopefully normal service will resume shortly.

Nothing like a spell of wading knee-deep in sh1t to make one truly grateful for getting out of it.

 

Good luck with sorting things out.

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