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Two unaccompanied (overgrown) children sneak into Hornby Visitors' Centre


Andy Y
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22 minutes ago, Andy Y said:

Not being slow to take up a golden opportunity whilst we were down in Margate Phil and I had an hour to ourselves in the Visitor Centre early one morning to wallow in nostalgia and play with the toys!

 

Excellent stuff, but there are some images in that bit of film that I'm rather glad I didn't have imprinted on my mind last thing at night.

 

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On 07/03/2019 at 13:32, Phil Parker said:

 

I'm sure I wasn't the only one whose car came off...

There used to be a scalextric place in Hove where you paid a fiver and picked a car then you could go round the different tracks basically playing Scalextric. Great fun. Closed now, sadly.

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There was a (long closed) pay-per-race track like that above an amusement arcade on Southend seafront- the curves were banked unfeasibly high, or so I thought until I was there one day when some of the local slot car enthusiasts brought their home made “specials” along. I have never seen slot cars go so fast!

 

 

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Two elderly gentlemen just having fun; the enthusiasm comes across brilliantly!  

 

The best ever Scalextric was the mid 60s type with steering and thumb plunger controls.  I will brook no argument about this; most fun ever!!!  Minic cars seems to have been overlooked, though, although Minic ships, a major feature of my childhood when a blue/green tablecloth could represent the entire Bristol Channel with towels and stuff laid out to represent the headlands, did get a look in.

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28 minutes ago, Godfrey Glyn said:

Um, not that far off - well unless a Government decides to raise the starting age - always a possibility!!

 

Over a decade if you don't mind. I'd actually like free bus travel - it would save me a fortune. However, I suspect that like a state pension, the age you can apply will simply advance slightly faster than I get old.

 

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15 hours ago, Godfrey Glyn said:

 

Um, not that far off - well unless a Government decides to raise the starting age - always a possibility!! :rolleyes:

 

Godfrey

Or do away with it completely!  We haven't bothered with 'bus passes as we have quite a good train service - almost as quick to London off-peak as it was in the 1960s but usually good connections westwards.  In any case the only 'buses I use to any extent are those in London and my (perpetually self-renewing, honest)  Oyster Card takes good care of them, including no need to wait for the overcrowded shuttle 'bus when heading up the hill to Ally Pally .  Mind you a 'bus pass would be very useful in Wales although talking to those who have done it it does take a while to go from the south coast to the north coast

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3 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

it does take a while to go from the south coast to the north coast

 

Strewth! I wonder how long that does take!

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45 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

Strewth! I wonder how long that does take!

It involved an overnight stop as it was done entirely on local 'bus services.   Yes, I thought that too ... but apparently he quite enjoyed it (?) but I think part of his enjoyment was proving it could be done.

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19 hours ago, Godfrey Glyn said:

 

Um, not that far off - well unless a Government decides to raise the starting age - always a possibility!! :rolleyes:

 

Godfrey

 

isn't it dependant on your local authority rather than the government?

 

Different areas have different terms and conditions. For example Merseyside it's universal at 60 and you can use them on trains and ferries as well as buses. Whilst other areas start at 65.

 

 

Jason

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22 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

isn't it dependant on your local authority rather than the government?

 

Different areas have different terms and conditions. For example Merseyside it's universal at 60 and you can use them on trains and ferries as well as buses. Whilst other areas start at 65.

 

 

Jason

 

Agreed but looking at Liverpool City Council website for example, it's a local scheme that covers Merseyside only. At State Pension Age you can have a pass that covers travel throughout England.

 

https://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/tickets/concessions/pages/60+.aspx

 

Copied below from Derby City

 

You are no longer automatically eligible for a Gold Card on your 60th birthday. The date you can apply has changed to bring age related benefits, like free bus travel, in line with the State Pension age increasing for women as well as men. These changes have been made across England and affect anyone born on or after 6th April 1950 to 5th April 1955. To find out when you can apply please use the State Pension age calculator. You can apply for a Gold Card two weeks before your State Pension age entitlement date. If you were born after 5th April 1955, you can apply when you are 66.

 

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The ENCTS (or Welsh equivalent) is a national scheme which central government pays local authorities to manage.. the local authorities can then choose to top up the basic entitlement by lowering the qualifying age, changing the start time to 09:00, adding trams or trains etc. The basic intitlement applies nationally, but the extras only to the area you receive it from. What extras you get depends on the political persuasion of your are and how much money they have, hence the cuts in the extras in many places.

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1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

isn't it dependant on your local authority rather than the government?

 

Different areas have different terms and conditions. For example Merseyside it's universal at 60 and you can use them on trains and ferries as well as buses. Whilst other areas start at 65.

 

 

Jason

I became eligible for my bus pass at the passing of 62.5 years - my local authority bases eligibility on a womans pension age and then applies it across the board. So it does rise as pension ages change. Mind you I don't use it as much as I might due to our poor bus services that don't go where I want to go when I want to go ...

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On 10/03/2019 at 14:06, The Johnster said:

Two elderly gentlemen just having fun...

 

 

I blame the parents!

 

Looking in the cabinet at the beginning of the Visitor Center, I used to have one of those big red pull-along Triang locos, with chuffing sound, and I still have the 3 1/2" gauge live-steam Rocket...

 

A trip around the Visitor Center might have ended up as "got one, had one, wish I'd had one"!

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