Castle Aching

[Hroth]

Hence (supposedly) the expression "Bob's your Uncle"

Nepotism ain't what it used to be!

[Compound2632]

Nepotism ain't what it used to be!

 

It helps if your Uncle Bob happens to be a Cecil - with an ancestor first holding the post of (effectively) Prime Minister in 1558.

Edited October 9, 2018 by Compound2632

[Nearholmer]

Hroth

 

The agricultural TU movement effectively died-out between 1895 and 1905 because of depression in the trade, but revived in about 1905. Whether that was because the trade revived, or because attempting to subsist on what would now be called an 'un-livable' wage simply made people angry, or because a few far-sighted individuals were bicycling round the county pointing out that the established order wasn't the only possible order, I'm not sure, probably a bit of each. What is for sure is that Labour candidates wouldn't have been elected to Norfolk County Council if everyone had been happy with their forelock-tugging lot.

 

Kevin

 

PS: I've even found a railway-relevant photo of an Independent Labour Party campaigner in action in Norfolk at what looks about the right period. G H Roberts at Great Yarmouth. Notice the coal wagons.

Edited October 9, 2018 by Nearholmer

[Edwardian]

Well, at the time the layout is set, we are in the latter days of Balfour's Conservative government, giving way to a long period of Liberal administrations that included both parliamentary and social reform; the beginnings of the welfare state. These were important Ministries that effected some lasting changes and introduced many things built upon since.

 

Of course, it all goes rather wrong in the years immediately prior to the Great War, with widespread labour unrest in 1911 (including the first national railway strike), the increasing violence of the Sufragettes, though it's not fashionable to talk of them as nail-bombers these days, being on the right side of history and all, and Ireland forming rival armed camps and with the British Army prepared to mutiny rather than countenance Home Rule.  The Great War effectively avoided a number of disasters, at the cost of one great one, though Ireland still suffered the 1916 Easter Rising, the post-war fight for independence, and civil war.

 

The sense of dislocation, uncertainty and tumult following the death of the King, of turning and turning in the widening gyre, is all there in Elgar's Second Symphony, which seems a foreshadowing of events to come and, perhaps, the realisation that we have reached both the apogee of Empire and the point at which it all starts to fall apart.  

 

But, yeah, happy to talk Edwardian politics!

[webbcompound]

Whilst reminding myself of past research, and pondering on the insane phantasies of our current government, and the possible reasons for them, I thought of an interesting piece of rolling stock that might have visited Castle Acre. During the late 19thC the use of Laudanum was so endemic in the Fens and East Anglia that the pharmacy at Wisbech dispensed 400 gallons a week from a specially constructed tank. When the law controlling opium use except on prescription was introduced (and here my memory fails me, but I think after 1900) an exception was made for this area. If it turns out that this had gone past by the time of Castle Aching then perhaps an old Laudenum tanker could be in use by the Engineers or others as departmental stock. No doubt the erudite researchers hereabouts of exotic railway structures and the like will be able to find an etching or photograph of such a wagon.

Edited October 9, 2018 by webbcompound

[Nearholmer]

I couldn't believe that quantity, so I did a bit of Googling.

 

The Magazine of Science of 1847, drawing its report form the Lincoln Mercury, contains a rather lurid account of the opiate guzzling habits of the Fenlanders, and it cites 400 Gallons each year for Wisbech, which is still an absolutely huge amount, but only 1/52 of that suggested. The article also bangs on about alcohol and tobacco consumption, and despite the title of the journal it reads more like a "shock, horror" piece of journalism than genuine science. It must have been a syndicated piece, because it turns up, word for word, in several publications.

 

Apparently, two teaspoons of Laudanum can be fatal to an adult who isn't habituated to the stuff!

 

So, maybe it should be delivered to CA by carboy, rather than the wagon-load.

Edited October 9, 2018 by Nearholmer

[Edwardian]

I couldn't believe that quantity,

 

Clearly you've not spent time in Wisbech!

[Regularity]

Clearly you've not spent time in Wisbech!

I may have done, but the laudanum may have removed my memory of the event...

 

(Also in Wisbech, supposedly, the original Crown Jewels as lost by John Lackland.)

[Edwardian]

I may have done, but the laudanum may have removed my memory of the event...

 

(Also in Wisbech, supposedly, the original Crown Jewels as lost by John Lackland.)

 

Not sure exactly where the coast was in those days, but Wisbech is an inland port; not even a chemically-aided Russian athlete could have chucked them into the Wash from there!

 

I have spent time in Wisbech.  It's an architecturally rich town that has certainly seen more prosperous times. 

[uax6]

Wisbech is a funny old place. Not really having any access from anything but the east-west axis (ie the A47), it has somewhat avoided becoming commuterville, but instead has become a little part of the far east (of the EU at least!), being known locally as Wisbeckistan. If the rail link to March ever re-opens I guess it may see something of a second coming, but at the minute to only reason that we visit is to use the cinema....

 

Andy G

[Regularity]

Back in the twelfth century, the Wash came in a lot further, right up to Wisbech, but the coast line was not as clear cut as nowadays. The whole area was basically salt marsh which flooded either at all high tides, or just at the big ones, with ever changing channels cutting through it, with the Rivers Ouse and Nene (spelt Nenn in those days and thus correctly pronounced by everyone, not just Northamtonians) being the main route in and out. Reclamation, drainage, etc, over the centuries has moved the coast north and east, and also better defined it.

 

Edit: 1,500 years ago, it was even worse:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_East_Anglia#/media/File%3AWilliamson_p16_3.svg

Edited October 10, 2018 by Regularity

[Nearholmer]

"Clearly you've not spent time in Wisbech!"

 

Only a very little time, and, to be honest, I was taken aback by how deeply not-prosperous it seemed. Somehow, I'd expected it to be a thriving place, but I'm not sure why.

[uax6]

"Clearly you've not spent time in Wisbech!"

 

Only a very little time, and, to be honest, I was taken aback by how deeply not-prosperous it seemed. Somehow, I'd expected it to be a thriving place, but I'm not sure why.

I think its down to its remoteness.

Interestingly there is still quite a bit of industry in Wisbech, but you do need to hunt it out!

 

Andy G

[St Enodoc]

Back in the twelfth century, the Wash came in a lot further, right up to Wisbech, but the coast line was not as clear cut as nowadays. The whole area was basically salt marsh which flooded either at all high tides, or just at the big ones, with ever changing channels cutting through it, with the River Nene (spelt Nenn in those days and thus correctly pronounced by everyone, not just Northamtonians) being the main route in and out. Reclamation, drainage, etc, over the centuries has moved the coast north and east, and also better defined it.

 

Edit: 1,500 years ago, it was even worse:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_East_Anglia#/media/File%3AWilliamson_p16_3.svg

I think I need to build a layout with a station named Cnobheresburg...

[jcm@gwr]

I think I might be more interested in Beodericsworth!

(as in 'what is')

[TheQ]

Back in the twelfth century, the Wash came in a lot further, right up to Wisbech, but the coast line was not as clear cut as nowadays. The whole area was basically salt marsh which flooded either at all high tides, or just at the big ones, with ever changing channels cutting through it, with the River Nene (spelt Nenn in those days and thus correctly pronounced by everyone, not just Northamtonians) being the main route in and out. Reclamation, drainage, etc, over the centuries has moved the coast north and east, and also better defined it.

 

Edit: 1,500 years ago, it was even worse:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_East_Anglia#/media/File%3AWilliamson_p16_3.svg

I guess the nearest station  to Cnobheresburg (Burgh Castle) would be GY Southtown.

It shows where my house is is on very much a headland..

[Nearholmer]

These chaps operate a layout named after a now drowned bit of eastern England, as opposed to a now drained bit. http://www.vintage-layouts.org.uk/ravensrodd_central.html

[Regularity]

I think I need to build a layout with a station named Cnobheresburg...

The “C” is a hard consonant, as in the K of modern German. This seems to be an Anglian thing, whereas in Saxon areas (such as Wessex) they would have written it as “Cernob…”

I know this as in Somerset (and, somewhat oddly, Lancashire) my surname usually exists as a three syllable word, with a “ker” in the middle. So, in Somerset they say it right, and in the East Midlands we spell it “correctly” from a historic-linguistic point of view, but have forgotten how to say it. Thus does language evolve over time...

 

Looking at the map, it is astounding how much land was reclaimed by the act of draining the fens and marshes, thanks to people like Kornelius Vermuyden. More bl**dy foreigners coming over here and changing the country! (He was knighted for his work in Hatfield Chase - Isle of Axholme, and became a naturalised Englishman. Only joking.)

[corneliuslundie]

It struck me after my last post that while we do need to be aware of, and indeed stick as far as possible to, history, we all bend it to our own ends, along with geography. CA is in "a fold in the map", Nantcwmdu is in an extra valley I "found" near Quakers Yard etc etc.

But in a way we need more, not less, awareness of history when constructing such layouts if they are to be convincing. If we model a real place all we need is photos, maps etc. If we model an imaginary one we need far more background information. Hence the need to discuss Edwardian, as opposed to current, politics along with technology, railway history, geology, agriculture . . . . ..

Anyway, on with the show. But I think I shall keep clear of laudenum, by either the tanker or the carbuoy, or I may forget the little history I have managed to imbibe.

Jonathan

[Adams442T]

Yes, Spalding had a Port! Though it went west, quite literally, when the Port dried up!

[Regularity]

Jonathan,

 

I have already ticked “agree”, but you highlight one of the great things about our hobby. Sure, other modelling disciplines also involve technical history, artistry, etc, but by placing our models within the context of a layout we must needs be aware of the economic and social history of the times: it helps frame the layout.

 

A classic example was the plausibility if the changes to the real town of Buckingham made by the late Reverend Denny: he elevated it to the status of a cathedral city, justifying the service he ran. But he did this by creating scenes such as the region in front of the station (market, surrounding buildings, etc) reflecting the impact of growth and subsequent wealth in the Victorian era, rather than simply putting the station into the existing town centre. That, I think, was far more a tour de force than anything else he achieved - which is not to deny the considerable impact and success of his lifetime of modelling.

[RedGemAlchemist]

Ah, I was one, but I do remember wearing out my VHS of Thomas The Tank Engine, Rugrats, Angelina Ballerina, Labryinth, various Disney films...

All things I'm very familiar with. Wow, and I thought I was a young 'un...

[Guy Rixon]

Concerning the laudanum, was it taken as cure or easement for malaria? East Anglia was notoriously malarial until modern times. (Yes, I know that laudanum will do nothing to cure malaria, but that doesn't mean that it was so misused.) 

[Edwardian]

Looking at the map, it is astounding how much land was reclaimed by the act of draining the fens and marshes, thanks to people like Kornelius Vermuyden. More bl**dy foreigners coming over here and changing the country! (He was knighted for his work in Hatfield Chase - Isle of Axholme, and became a naturalised Englishman. Only joking.)

 

Vermuyden's landscape:

[webbcompound]

I couldn't believe that quantity, so I did a bit of Googling.

 

The Magazine of Science of 1847, drawing its report form the Lincoln Mercury, contains a rather lurid account of the opiate guzzling habits of the Fenlanders, and it cites 400 Gallons each year for Wisbech, which is still an absolutely huge amount, but only 1/52 of that suggested. The article also bangs on about alcohol and tobacco consumption, and despite the title of the journal it reads more like a "shock, horror" piece of journalism than genuine science. It must have been a syndicated piece, because it turns up, word for word, in several publications.

 

Apparently, two teaspoons of Laudanum can be fatal to an adult who isn't habituated to the stuff!

 

So, maybe it should be delivered to CA by carboy, rather than the wagon-load.

Well that was in 1847. There is a booklet I got from Wisbech museum, but I can't find it now which goes into more detail. They have (or had) the contents of the pharmacy in the museum. (I think the tank was empty by then). The Laudanum was supposed to counteract the effects of hard physical labour, and of living in a malarial swamp. 

 

As for the poisonous qualities of Laudanum, I think they are a little overstated. A child aged one year was recommended to be given a spoonful every couple of hours. The preparation was from whole opium so included some nasty alkaloids which meant that if you had too much at one go you threw up. Despite the popularity of poisoning relatives in the 19th century this probably partly explains why Laudanum was not in use as a poison of choice. The other reason is down to its strength. Morphine is a refined form of opium, and the LD50 (lethal dose in 50% of cases) seems to be 200-300mg per kg. So to kill a grown man might need 20-30 grams or an Edwardian ounce of pure Morphine. Laudanum appears to be equivalent to 1% Morphine, so the LD50 would be 2-3 kilos.