Castle Aching

[Nearholmer]

Or, by the time the train reached its destination, early September.

 

Fascinating stuff, though.

 

K

[runs as required]

The train was the 07:00 from Perth to Inverness on 7th August 1888.  It comprised 37 vehicles from 9 railway companies, made up of 4 LBSCR, 8 LNWR, 1 NER, 5 MR, 4 NBR, 1 ECJS, 1 GNR, 2 WCJS AND 11 HR.  Among these were 12 horse boxes, 2 carriage trucks, 6 luggage vans, 1 ECJS sleeping car, 1 HR postal van and an HR brake van.  It left Perth 20 minutes late headed by 2 locos and a banker came on the rear at Blair Athol.  It left Kingussie 72 minutes late!  So, if you want an eclectic mix of coaching stock, model the HR main line in early August!  

 

Mm...could be a train crash waiting to happen

 

dh

[Nearholmer]

Nasty!

 

The bit that got me was this: "The front portion of the train continued to Scotland 90 minutes later."

 

The past truly is another country.

 

And, might we enquire as to the wellbeing of the host of this thread?

 

Kevin

[Edwardian]

And, might we enquire as to the wellbeing of the host of this thread?

 

 

 

Surprisingly calm, all things considered.  Thank you

 

I take it that was your excellent letter in July's RM.  Well said.  The organ could do worse than feature Birlstone, or a Gentleman's Light Sporting Train Set.

Edited June 25, 2016 by Edwardian

[Edwardian]

In bed thanks to suspected Norovirus.  B*gger.

[Nearholmer]

You wouldn't get that sort of helpful hint from NHS on-line.

 

Hope you are feeling better soon Edwardian.

 

Kevin

[Donw]

Not the most pleasant of infections. Get well soon.

Don

[ChrisN]

In bed thanks to suspected Norovirus.  B*gger.

 

Not pleasant.  Keep on taking fluids and hope you feel better soon.

[Edwardian]

Well, glad that's over.  The Mem came down with it 24 hours later.  I blame the children, they're like brown rats for spreading disease.

 

Now I have to tackle the latest crisis in our family's protracted and painful Decline & Fall.  Hopefully matters will have stabilised enough by mid-July for me to concentrate on the more important things in life, i.e. Castle Aching!

[Caley Jim]

Well, glad that's over. The Mem came down with it 24 hours later. I blame the children, they're like brown rats for spreading disease.

 

Children are just little packages of germs looking for somewhere to spread! My wife was a teacher and always came down with something as soon as the school started back from holidays (fortunately usually just a cold). We always thought we were doing well if one bug was through the family before the next one was brought in!

Hope your other issues get sorted out soon.

Jim

Edited June 30, 2016 by Caley Jim

[Mrkirtley800]

Well, glad that's over.  The Mem came down with it 24 hours later.  I blame the children, they're like brown rats for spreading disease.

 

Now I have to tackle the latest crisis in our family's protracted and painful Decline & Fall.  Hopefully matters will have stabilised enough by mid-July for me to concentrate on the more important things in life, i.e. Castle Aching!

Couldn't agree more. Whenever we go to stay with our grandchildren, especially the younger ones, we always come home with some bug. The annoying thing is that they recover quickly while we are down with it for weeks.

Derek

[Donw]

Sorry you have been unwell and have another crisis to handle. Life doesn't seem to be kind to you. Still mid July more on Castle Aching 

Don

[Edwardian]

I reflect that our reversal of fortune was the result of the credit crunch.  8 years on, we have still not recovered, and, in fact, our situation has become increasingly desperate.  I mean, really, we secured the ultimate defeat of Nazi Germany in less time than it's so far taken me to try to balance the books.

 

So, imagine how thrilled I am that Brexit seems likely to herald another recession.

 

Mind you, things looked grimmer still at the Boris HQ on the morning of 24 June: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a6HNXtdvVQ

 

Unlike Boris, however, we're not defeated yet!

[Nearholmer]

I put it down to confusion caused by the Churchill complex, but I don't think his inspiration sought to have everyone else share The Wilderness Years with him.

 

BTW, didn't the wilderness years involve having to eat locusts? Long time since school bible lessons, so I may have mis-remembered that.

 

Sincerely hope that you and your tribe are out of the dessert soon, Kevin

[Donw]

Finances always seem to be as much luck as judgement as far as I can see. No one knew when or if the credit crunch was going to happen. I can remember changing jobs for one which involved more travelling just before the oil crisis. There was a house price boom the year before we married.  We moved from Shropshire to Somerset at a time when prices in Shropshire were lagging behind those in the south. All three events were where my focus was on other matters. 

That may be of no comfort to you at the moment but I am sure the situation will resolve.

 

Don

[runs as required]

Basic coup survival drill from our Africa years:

Keep vehicle fuel tank(s) topped up, some cash safely concealed, basic foodstuffs in house, (these days) comms devices charged up.

Reckoned to last a couple of weeks or get you safely over the border avoiding road blocks (to Deadwater, NB Border Counties line)

dh

[Donw]

Basic coup survival drill from our Africa years:

Keep vehicle fuel tank(s) topped up, some cash safely concealed, basic foodstuffs in house, (these days) comms devices charged up.

Reckoned to last a couple of weeks or get you safely over the border avoiding road blocks (to Deadwater, NB Border Counties line)

dh

 

I didn't know it was that grim up north

Don

[Edwardian]

I didn't know it was that grim up north

Don

 

You never know when you might need to flee the country pursued by your creditors

[martinT]

Sincerely hope that you and your tribe are out of the dessert soon, Kevin

Oh I don't know - when times are tough I find a double helping of sticky toffee pudding (other desserts are available) to be a great solace.

 

All the very best wishes James - I hope your troubles are resolved soon.

 

Martin

[The Stationmaster]

You never know when you might need to flee the country pursued by your creditors

 

Hmm - that's what happened to our solicitor  (mind you he fled with clients' money so it was slightly different - nice bloke tho').

[Edwardian]

Hmm - that's what happened to our solicitor  (mind you he fled with clients' money so it was slightly different - nice bloke tho').

 

I may be poor, but I'm honest!

[Donw]

Hmm - that's what happened to our solicitor  (mind you he fled with clients' money so it was slightly different - nice bloke tho').

 

That's a strange definition of Nice running off with other peoples money. The only case I am aware about left peoples lives in ruins.

 

I presume he seemed nice perhaps true of most con artists.

Don

[runs as required]

I may be poor, but I'm honest!

Unless I'm completely mistaken, isn't that a classic Edwardian music hall song?

With a refrain that goes "...and they're all the bl00dy same!"

 

dh

[Edwardian]

A long time ago, when I was a snotty 20-something barrister, I was instructed by a rather gaunt, old-fashioned looking middle-aged solicitor; cadaverous and dressed like an undertaker.  Imagine a benign and avuncular version of Enoch Powell. His one fault appeared to be that he was unctuously polite; to my intense embarrassment, he insisted on calling me "Sir" (so did the clerks, but you knew they didn't mean it).   

 

I was told by a member of chambers that I was alright dealing with him, as he was the honest one in the practice; his partner was under investigation for having run off with client funds.  Some time later, I learnt that my instructing solicitor, the "honest one", had been sent to prison.  Apparently, the stress of his partner's misdemeanours and the impact on his firm had caused him so much stress that he had decided he was in need of a holiday, which he decided to fund out of the firm's client account!

Unless I'm completely mistaken, isn't that a classic Edwardian music hall song?

With a refrain that goes "...and they're all the bl00dy same!"

 

dh

 

"It's the same the whole world over ..."

 

EDIT: Might be later that Edwardian, however, the link to the lyrics suggests Billy Bennett, 1930: http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/s/shewaspoorbutshewashonest.shtml

 

Almost brings us back to Have Some Madeira, M'dear...

 

EDIT: David, you are quite right.  According to the font of all knowledge, Wiki:

 

It's the same the whole world over:
It's the poor what gets the blame.
It's the rich what gets the pleasure;
Ain't it all a bloomin' shame.

 

Is the chorus of "She Was Poor but She Was Honest", an anonymous street ballad of the late 19th century; cited from Eric Partridge (ed. Paul Beale) A Dictionary of Catch Phrases (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986) p. 267.

 

Hence Flanders & Swann's Edwardian parody

Edited July 3, 2016 by Edwardian

[The Stationmaster]

That's a strange definition of Nice running off with other peoples money. The only case I am aware about left peoples lives in ruins.

 

I presume he seemed nice perhaps true of most con artists.

Don

 

Much more complicated than that Don.  He was, I think, basically a decent bloke but his wife was what I would politely describe as an inveterate consumer of as much money as she could get her hands on.  I suspect that in reality he was busily trying to keep the family's head above the financial waterline and what happened was that monies in the personal accounts and client accounts became intermingled without any particular criminal intent, more a case of mismanagement and misjudgement rather than out & out criminality.  It certainly seemed that in at least some instances deliberate theft, and actual amounts (as opposed to alleged amounts) could not be proved.

 

Interestingly no criminal charges were ever brought against him although he was struck off by his professional body