The Night Mail

[Happy Hippo]

10 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

Agree. I believe it would have been better if Charles had opted to pass it on to William.

Looking at it from another angle, look at the pretty miserable life Charles had when he was young, because of his mother's early accession to the throne.  I don't think KCIII would have imposed such on his son, who still has has a young family.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Happy Hippo

[AndyID]

5 hours ago, DenysW said:

Possible, although as an ex-chemist I'm a little surprised. What does corrode copper (and strips the zinc out of brass) is very soft water - say below 30 mg/L (as CaCo3) alkalinity. I believe the LNER had this problem with their Garratt.

 

Go plastic.

 

IIRC there was a period in the US where a lot of bursts were caused by inferior (or maybe just too thin) copper pipe, most of which had to be replaced.

 

Another possibility is some sort of electrolytic action between fittings made from dissimilar metals.

[Gwiwer]

6 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

the naughty soldier in me thought, typical RAF, cancelling the majority of the fly past as they don't work weekends.

 

However, I suspect that there are a lot of very frustrated air and ground crews as it wasn't cancelled until the very last minute, so a lot of aircraft may already have been in the air

Already formed up over the North Sea, I understand, and as you say the decision was taken at very short notice.  The weather was poor and closing in.  Cloud base and visibility lowering across London.  I was surprised, but pleased, that the entire fly-past wasn't cancelled. 

[Gwiwer]

8 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

A thought on the packing of suitcases.

And another.  

 

Since many who travel do so for business or holidays and cannot always get all their clothing laundered before returning home then something like a half of all the world's airline luggage is dirty laundry in transit.  

[AndyID]

2 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Looking at it from another angle, look at the pretty miserable life Charles had when he was young, because of his mother's early accession to the throne.  I don't think KCIII would have imposed such on his son, who still has has a young family.

 

True, but life's a beatch.....and I seem to remember he did get some nice railway stuff.

 

I think the reason QE2 was so well liked was to a great extent a function of her youth.

 

I'm the same age as Chuck and I could not imagine putting up with the crepe he's going to have to deal with now. Half the time I go downstairs to get something but can't remember what it was when I get there 😄

[polybear]

23 minutes ago, AndyID said:

 

IIRC there was a period in the US where a lot of bursts were caused by inferior (or maybe just too thin) copper pipe, most of which had to be replaced.

 

That happened to my Boss's top-end new-build new Aberdeen about five years ago - he sent me a video, the (hot) water was absolutely p1ssin' out and had been for some time; he kept telling the developers he could hear water running and the place was steaming up everywhere but they said he was talkin' b0llox.  Of course the leaky pipework was all buried behind plasterboard (and took some finding) and in the process the leak trashed an oak staircase.

The Developers got the Tab for the repair.....

[Adam88]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

2. No mention was made of the significance of  a certain balcony on Whitehall to a previous King Charles. They passed it twice. 

 

 

There was on the Radio 4 coverage.

[PhilJ W]

Its quite possible the King will make his silver jubilee. His parents were long lived as was his grandmother.

[Adam88]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

And another.  

 

Since many who travel do so for business or holidays and cannot always get all their clothing laundered before returning home then something like a half of all the world's airline luggage is dirty laundry in transit.  

 

That's certainly been the case with my luggage.  Whenever I get one of those little leaflets saying that my bag has been stopped for further examination then momentarily I have sympathy for whoever chose to do the deed, but only momentarily.

[PhilJ W]

What a pity.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/uk-world-news/royal-fans-screaming-conspiracy-prince-26859970?int_source=nba

[Adam88]

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

With those white gloves on you can see the way the RAF march using their arms.

 

Well I'm sorry, but anyone who has any knowledge on the subject will say that marching is most definitely done with the feet.  The arms are swung!

 

There seem to be at least two traditions for marching.  As you say the arms are swung back and forth but I knew an ex-PoW (no, not HM) who had been captured at Dunkirk and he told me of a couple of his fellow inmates who were picked up as they were trying to escape because they were swinging their arms in the British and not the Germans style.  Goose stepping or not, German soldiers were drilled to swing their arms from side to side in front of their bodies.  I remembered this years later when I saw some Polish soldiers marching in this style.

[Happy Hippo]

16 minutes ago, Adam88 said:

 

There seem to be at least two traditions for marching.  As you say the arms are swung back and forth but I knew an ex-PoW (no, not HM) who had been captured at Dunkirk and he told me of a couple of his fellow inmates who were picked up as they were trying to escape because they were swinging their arms in the British and not the Germans style.  Goose stepping or not, German soldiers were drilled to swing their arms from side to side in front of their bodies.  I remembered this years later when I saw some Polish soldiers marching in this style.

Even within the British Armed Forces there are variations to how things are done.

[New Haven Neil]

2 hours ago, AndyID said:

and I seem to remember he did get some nice railway stuff.

 

So did a certain branch of younger Royals, more recently.  That we were graced with their business was a little bit of a surprise, but it was nice to deal with the folk that look after them.  Possibly the most polite customers we ever had!  Not something we would mention at the time, but plenty water has passed under the Metcalfe bridge since then.  We didn't get a 'By Royal Appointment' thing though!

[Hroth]

47 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

What a pity.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/uk-world-news/royal-fans-screaming-conspiracy-prince-26859970?int_source=nba

 

Yes, the hat and plume wasn't big enough....

 

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

Its quite possible the King will make his silver jubilee. His parents were long lived as was his grandmother.

It might depend upon his choice of tipple.   His Grandmother was allegedly very find of her Gordon's.  

[polybear]

2 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

So did a certain branch of younger Royals, more recently.  That we were graced with their business was a little bit of a surprise, but it was nice to deal with the folk that look after them.  Possibly the most polite customers we ever had!  Not something we would mention at the time, but plenty water has passed under the Metcalfe bridge since then.  We didn't get a 'By Royal Appointment' thing though!

 

Bear hopes you didn't unload that dusty ol' GW cra...er stuff you'd been trying to shift for years but couldn't.....

 

 

[New Haven Neil]

4 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear hopes you didn't unload that dusty ol' GW cra...er stuff you'd been trying to shift for years but couldn't.....

 

 

 

Afraid I'm not at liberty to disclose their modelling interests.  The Tower can be a cold place.

[rockershovel]

5 hours ago, Willie Whizz said:

I presume you would object to a model locomotive you knew to be inaccurate, and so point out the error; and not dismiss any material discrepancy that was pointed out as mere ”pedantic guff”?

 

Well in constitutional terms, this is just like that. 

Exactly. The Monarch is a great deal more than a gloriously gilded ornament of State; they are an integral part of how our system of governance functions. 

 

The Monarch, by virtue of the legitimacy bestowed upon them by the Established Church, is the repository of political legitimacy. This legitimacy is then bestowed upon Parliament by Royal delegation, specifically by the Summoning, Opening and eventual Dissolution of Parliament. 

 

This didn't come about by accident. It was the result of a century of internal strife, from the Tudors (who ended the dynastic strife which had lasted since Norman times, and essentially invented the modern nation state) to Cromwell, the Commonwealth and its successors. 

 

It has stood the test of time. It defines exactly who is, and more importantly is not the source of political authority. Between governments, or in the event of an inconclusive General Election, they summon the representstives and bestow authority upon the apparent victor; if a Parliament outstays its mandate, they dissolve it, whether it wills it or not. 

 

It is hence of great importance that Camilla is not the Monarch, nor part of the Succession, and this is generally understood. She is styled Queen for reasons of protocol and courtesy, but she is not the Monarch and her children outside the Royal marriage are not part of the Succession. 

 

Another key role is that the Monarch is head of the Armed Forces. This isn't a Ruritanian fiction, but literal truth. It meant that Maragaret Thatcher could not deploy the Army against striking Miners. It meant that in the murky events of the Harold Wilson era, the Army took no active role (note that the Spanish revived their Monarchy after Franco, and an attempted coup was averted by the King). 

 

[Northmoor]

5 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

Another key role is that the Monarch is head of the Armed Forces. This isn't a Ruritanian fiction, but literal truth. It meant that Maragaret Thatcher could not deploy the Army against striking Miners. It meant that in the murky events of the Harold Wilson era, the Army took no active role (note that the Spanish revived their Monarchy after Franco, and an attempted coup was averted by the King). 

A point often overlooked by many Republicans - is that the sort of Nation they'd like?  I respect the Republican PoV even if I disagree with it and today reminded me why, when the King said he was here, "To Serve".  I would much, much prefer someone who had no choice to take a role but did it out of a sense of duty, than be led by someone elected who really, really wanted to be in charge of everyone else.

[Compound2632]

15 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

The Monarch, by virtue of the legitimacy bestowed upon them by the Established Church, is the repository of political legitimacy.

 

 

Since Parliament, exercising its power under the royal delegation, established the Established Church, that's in danger of being circular.

 

It was simpler in the Middle Ages, when the argument was whether the Monarch's authority came from God via the Church - hence the religious rite of Coronation - or directly from God. Hence Pope Leo III's ambush of Charlemagne at mass on Christmas Day 800, crowning him Emperor. Napoleon Bonaparte understood this perfectly well; at his coronation as Emperor in 1804, he made sure he took the crown from Pope Pius VII and put it on his head himself.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Compound2632

[rockershovel]

2 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Since Parliament, exercising its power under the royal delegation, established the Established Church, that's in danger of being circular.

 

It was simpler in the Middle Ages, when the argument was whether the Monarch's authority came from God via the Church - hence the religious rite of Coronation - or directly from God. Hence Pope Leo III's ambush of Charlemagne at mass on Christmas Day 800, crowning him Emperor. Napoleon Bonaparte understood this perfectly well; at his coronation as Emperor in 1804, he made sure he took the crown from Pope Pius VII and put it on his head himself.

Parliament didn't establish the Church of England. Henry VIII did that. 

 

The complex process of Restoration created the Established Church as we now know it. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 determined that Parliament can make or break Monarchs individually, but only in the name of the Institution itself. 

[Compound2632]

2 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

Parliament didn't establish the Church of England. Henry VIII did that. 

 

By the Act of Supremacy of 1534 - an Act of Parliament.

 

The Church of England was restored by the Act of Uniformity, 1662, again, an Act of Parliament.

[polybear]

37 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

Another key role is that the Monarch is head of the Armed Forces. This isn't a Ruritanian fiction, but literal truth. It meant that Maragaret Thatcher could not deploy the Army against striking Miners. 

 

There is pretty good evidence that she did, though they were dressed up as Police Officers.  Eye Witnesses report they had "PC" on their Uniforms, rather than "PC99" etc.  Interviews with ex-Army Soldiers that were dressed as such were instructed "Ferchrissakes don't go arresting anyone...."

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[BR60103]

Interesting reports in Toronto papers. The Ontario government is building a new underground streetcar line. It's nearly done. The other week they were bashing up one of the platforms because the concrete wasn't level enough.  Now it's been reported that the rolling stock is EM gauge while the track is P4. 

(Really, they reported that the track was a couple of millimeters out, giving running problems.)

They are also having problems right in the middle where the tunnel goes under the original subway but why is a state secret.