Castle Aching

[wagonman]

14 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

Which is one of the most ineffably wonderful things that keeps us from falling down a ruddy great rabbit hole.  It means that we aren't beholden to a "leader" who has to be elected at huge expense every four years or so, costs at least as much as an entire Monarchy to maintain and has so much political power that they can do incalculable damage to the country if they go off the rails.

 

Of course, we also have a political system that has lead us to the precipice, which we're all going to leap off in a few days time...

 

If its not one thing, its another!

 

 

btw the Stick Dancers.  Now there's a historical document, not only performing in blackface, but also outside a Woolies!

 

 

A President can be a figurehead only – take the Irish system, or indeed the German one. No vast expense involved in electing or maintaining the Head of State, and when you get bored with them you elect someone else. Less messy than chopping their heads off...

 

 

[Donw]

34 minutes ago, wagonman said:

 

A President can be a figurehead only – take the Irish system, or indeed the German one. No vast expense involved in electing or maintaining the Head of State, and when you get bored with them you elect someone else. Less messy than chopping their heads off...

 

 

 

At least with chopping heads off you know they cannot be re-elected later.

 

Don

[Regularity]

18 minutes ago, Donw said:

 

At least with chopping heads off you know they cannot be re-elected later.

 

Don

A shame, really: we might get more sense, or at least a lack of nonsense, out of them.

[Edwardian]

RIP Nicholas Parsons

 

 

Eulogies should last a full 60 seconds and be without any hesitation, repetition or deviation.

[Northroader]

That will never do on this thread...

[Hroth]

5 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Eulogies should last a full 60 seconds and be without any hesitation, repetition or deviation.

 

As my 60 second silence will be. 

[Mrkirtley800]

10 hours ago, wagonman said:

 

A President can be a figurehead only – take the Irish system, or indeed the German one. No vast expense involved in electing or maintaining the Head of State, and when you get bored with them you elect someone else. Less messy than chopping their heads off...

 

 

Not as much fun though

 

[brianusa]

10 hours ago, wagonman said:

 

A President can be a figurehead only – take the Irish system, or indeed the German one. No vast expense involved in electing or maintaining the Head of State, and when you get bored with them you elect someone else. Less messy than chopping their heads off...

 

 

Were that ever so!  A glance at what the US is going through, has been going through, these last few years should demonstrate that its not that simple these days to elect a new 'figurehead'.

     Brian.

[Nearholmer]

Ah, but the problem with the US Constitution (in common with some others) is that it gives far too many executive powers to the president ............ a useful head of state is one who has next door to no powers, except to uphold and embody the constitution, so then the role doesn't attract megalomaniacs, it attracts people who see the constitution as the end in itself (and who get a buzz out of 'hob-nobbing').

 

Surely heads of state shouldn't "do", they should "be".

 

There should be someone else to run the place.

 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Regularity]

9 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Surely heads of state shouldn't "do", they should "be".

I believe what you are looking for is the distinction between “presiding” and “governing”, and the original Founding Fathers tried to make the Executive the least powerful branch of national government, which has been gradually eroded.

[runs as required]

11 hours ago, Edwardian said:

RIP Nicholas Parsons

Wey Aye!

Where exactly did his father send him to do his famous Glasgow Engineering Apprenticeship ?

In ability to switch into the lingo, there seems little difference between him and (apprentice welder) Billy Connolly, though I imagine NP must have been a Premium Apprentice of the Churchward/Ivatts/Bulleid variety.

dh

Sorry,

i've just returned to copy this enquiry across to a thread I subsequently noted was wholly dedicated to RIP NP

Edited January 29, 2020 by runs as required

[Anotheran]

On 26/01/2020 at 20:49, Compound2632 said:

That was only after we'd had to borrow some Scots. Inbetween whiles, a Dutchman imposed himself on us and before that, various Welsh, French, Normans, Danes, Saxons, Italians, and Celts. I'm looking out for the lineal descendant of Old King Cole, the last truly British monarch.

 

There seems to be some confusion between English and British here. Coel Hen (Old King Cole), my 44 x great grandfather (through a number of distaff lines, I'm not claiming any rights to a throne here!) was indeed British, that is Brythonic Celt. Welsh was the term given to the Brythons by the incoming English with the meaning of foreigner. But Coel wasn't the last British monarch, many of his descendants were British monarchs, right down to Hywel Dda, Llewellyn the Great and later. Having Welsh in the list of those imposed on the British is also a little strange (as they are the same thing). Having English in the list is more accurate as they were imposed on the British.

 

It was not long after the time of Coel Hen that the North Folk (a bunch of Angles) came to be recognised as a separate community from the South Folk, and both very distinct from the Saxons who'd settled further South and West. But it was a long time later that they founded the settlement of Castle Aching necessitating the building of a railway. Not sure that makes this post on-topic as it's often hard to know what on-topic actually is. But it's always an illuminating read!

[RedGemAlchemist]

2 hours ago, Anotheran said:

North Folk (a bunch of Angles)

No wonder I've been feeling very left of centre recently. 

[Edwardian]

4 minutes ago, RedGemAlchemist said:

No wonder I've been feeling very left of centre recently. 

 

Whereas, in the village of Castle Aching, we only have a short bailey. 

 

[Nearholmer]

Ah, the beautiful village of Castle Aching!

 

I remember Castle Aching, but only just.

[CKPR]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Whereas, in the village of Castle Aching, we only have a short bailey. 

 

Castle Aching - Twinned with Madderport (Eng.) and Craig (Scot.). Actually, where 'is' Madderport ? CJF used to think that it could be reached by getting the slowest train from Liverpool Street and then changing twice onto progressively slower trains,  but others have cast doubt on that suggestion (primarily on the grounds of the existence of the Madderhorn !).

Edited January 29, 2020 by CKPR

[Skinnylinny]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Whereas, in the village of Castle Aching, we only have a short bailey. 

 

My goodness, that's veering dangerously into "on-topic" territory! 

Seriously, though, that's some absolutely gorgeous modelling on display there, James. Please, sir, may we have some more?

[Regularity]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Whereas, in the village of Castle Aching, we only have a short bailey. 

Is that some form of euphemism, about which we would rather not know?

Edited January 29, 2020 by Regularity
Doing my bit to keep us safely off-topic.

[wagonman]

2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

 

Whereas, in the village of Castle Aching, we only have a short bailey. 

 

 

But clearly a very Old Bailey...

 

 

[CKPR]

37 minutes ago, CKPR said:

... it could be reached by getting the slowest train from Liverpool Street and then changing twice onto progressively slower trains

 

Actually, that probably is how you get to Castle Aching !

[Hroth]

3 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Whereas, in the village of Castle Aching, we only have a short bailey. 

 

Not Bill Bailey?

 

He's still not come home.....

[Edwardian]

The layout is off limits while it is this cold. 

 

The last time I ventured into the shed was to retrieve my old Nellie (Simon, FYI that's not a euphemism).  Despite two winters in the cold and damp, there is only minor damage to the village as a result.  The paper slates have lifted on one building and a couple of patches of cobbles have bubbled, but I think the cobbled area is too extensive anyway.

 

I decide to concentrate on CA's locos, but have found myself a Nellie instead (also not a euphemism).

 

If I can get somewhere with locos and rolling stock in time, Spring should see a further assault upon the buildings needed to complete the village.  

[Regularity]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

Not Bill Bailey?

You mean a 1400 class (LNWR beat the GWR to it!)?

 

Or maybe just the hairy multi-talented musical comedian who has nothing to do with the hairy bikers?

 

But hopefully not this one, who unexpectedly turned up on a search (if you have under 18s about, please be careful)?

 

 

[Hroth]

3 minutes ago, Regularity said:

You mean a 1400 class (LNWR beat the GWR to it!)?

 

Thats the closest, nicknamed in reference to the song.  One assumes they were a temperamental class of loco...

 

57 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

I decide to concentrate on CA's locos, but have found myself a Nellie

 

A wet one?

http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/wetnelly.htm

 

Excellent comfort food for the time of year!

 

 

 

[Compound2632]

8 hours ago, Anotheran said:

 

There seems to be some confusion between English and British here. Coel Hen (Old King Cole), my 44 x great grandfather (through a number of distaff lines, I'm not claiming any rights to a throne here!) was indeed British, that is Brythonic Celt.

 

Fair enough. I wasn't aiming so much for ethnographical as geographical accuracy, for the area in which I grew up. Old King Cole ruled from his seat at Coleshill. By analogy with the later Danelaw, the region over which he held his merry sway is known as the Coleslaw.