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Helston Revisited


Andy Keane
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Posted (edited)
17 hours ago, Harlequin said:

Possibly silvery grey wood and fluffy green and cream visible between the slats.

 

I think I read somewhere that the Cornish called Cauliflowers "Broccoli" and the "broccoli traffic" was, in fact, cauliflowers being sent up to London... Or did I dream that?

 

Could CAD something up for printing...

 

No you didn't dream it, us Cornish did call the early spring Cauliflowers, Broccoli. The first time I was served Broccoli, east of the Tamar, I asked what the green stuff was.🙂  We also called what the rest of the Country knew as a swede, turnips and turnips, white turnips.

 

Cattle wagons were extensively used for the Broccoli and other vegetable traffic. IIRC a lot of them were stored on the sidings at Gwinear Road.

 

Another fact, now long forgotten, is that even in the 1960's, potatoes were sold by the gallon/half gallon (10lb or 5lb) in the local greengrocers. I was told that this was because at one time they were weighed out using a balance weight with a gallon or half gallon bucket filled with water on one end and a basket or bucket with the potatoes on the other. 

 

Edited by Tankerman
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1 hour ago, Tankerman said:

IIRC a lot of them were stored on the sidings at Gwinear Road.

I have often wondered about Gwinear Road and the number of sidings there: https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/gwf/S1084.htm

Given how minor the Helston branch always was, with no significant holiday traffic, the sidings seem remarkably extensive. While at St Erth, which served the much busier passenger traffic on the St Ives line they are considerably more modest. Freight has to be the answer and perhaps vegetable traffic the real reason? Not sure what else would have justified the sidings. The photos in the book by Jenkins show lots of vans, a good number of open wagons and in one photo the spare B set of carriages. But if it was vegetables, there would have been long periods when there was little to shift so perhaps the vans were just stored as you say?

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Wasn't Gwinear Road the terminus of all the mainline pick up goods to and from Penzance? Can't remember where I read that, but it would explain the number of sidings there. 

 

David C

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1 minute ago, David C said:

Wasn't Gwinear Road the terminus of all the mainline pick up goods to and from Penzance? Can't remember where I read that, but it would explain the number of sidings there. 

Ah! - that would explain things - its not that far from Penzance and the station there being on the sea-front did not have a great deal of space for sidings.

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Posted (edited)

Can anyone identify this cast iron object that is on the left hand side of Helston's station road?

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.1057063,-5.269289,3a,15.2y,31.67h,79.74t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sW1dQm5EDVxvBGxdC8VygIg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

Back in the day it was on the corner of a field where a footpath entered it from station road (Hilcrest Road is a later addition).

Edited by Andy Keane
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Posted (edited)

 

22 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

stench pipe

Oh wow! - that is a fun thing to add to a model. I can feel some more 3D printing coming on unless anyone knows of a ready made source.

Given the lie of the land there, it must be for the sewer taking waste from the station toilets - I cannot see any other reason for a sewer to be there - so an absolute must. I wonder if the GWR had their own design?

Edited by Andy Keane
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Nothing beats a modeller's enthusiasm!

 

I share it, this is a rare occurrence: You have identified a GWR object for which there is no 3-volume reference work 🙂

 

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Unfortunately it is most unlikely to be a sewer gas destructor lamp, just a vent.

 

They're another obscure rabbit hole that were once common in major towns and cities.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewer_gas_destructor_lamp

 

Something that might fit nicely into one of @Mikkel's scenes though!

 

 

 

Edited by MrWolf
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1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

Unfortunately it is most unlikely to be a sewer gas destructor lamp, just a vent.

 

They're another obscure rabbit hole that were once common in major towns and cities.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewer_gas_destructor_lamp

 

Something that might fit nicely into one of @Mikkel's scenes though!

 

 

 

There's a famous stench pipe at Brent.

 

 

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8 hours ago, David C said:

Wasn't Gwinear Road the terminus of all the mainline pick up goods to and from Penzance? Can't remember where I read that, but it would explain the number of sidings there. 

 

David C

Not as far as I'm aware. They ran to and from Penzance Goods, between Long Rock and Ponsandane.

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9 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

There's a famous stench pipe at Brent.

 

 

It’s a pity all the photos on that topic went in the great collapse. I wonder if somebody could post some here to give me some more images to work from.

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11 hours ago, MrWolf said:

They're another obscure rabbit hole that were once common in major towns and cities.

Rabbit holes? I've gained the impression that you have the 'full warren' going on (he writes enviously). Only mention it as the other day I was wondering how the rabbits sent from Helston (to Sheffield?) were obtained - farmed, wild caught or traditional warrens maintained by warreners ? Thought the latter would make an interesting (to me) lineside feature.

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54 minutes ago, Pete Haitch said:

Rabbit holes? I've gained the impression that you have the 'full warren' going on (he writes enviously). Only mention it as the other day I was wondering how the rabbits sent from Helston (to Sheffield?) were obtained - farmed, wild caught or traditional warrens maintained by warreners ? Thought the latter would make an interesting (to me) lineside feature.

The nice things about the stench pipe are:

1) there really was one

2) not often seen on models (I don't ever recall seeing one but then maybe I have not noticed them before)

3) tiny foot-print so easy to add

 

I have no idea what a traditional farmed warren might even look like, but I do have a field above the station which current plans are just to be plain grass with a few cows. Do you have a photo?

happy new year!

Andy

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1 minute ago, Andy Keane said:

The nice things about the stench pipe are:

1) there really was one

2) not often seen on models (I don't ever recall seeing one but then maybe I have not noticed them before)

3) tiny foot-print so easy to add

 

I have no idea what a traditional farmed warren might even look like, but I do have a field above the station which current plans are just to be plain grass with a few cows. Do you have a photo?

happy new year!

Andy

 

You're going to need a DCC Stink Generator under the baseboard...

 

😆

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4 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

 

You're going to need a DCC Stink Generator under the baseboard...

 

😆

A stale kipper would do the trick, as it did on an N scale model of Mallaig back in the 1970s.

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On 01/01/2024 at 18:13, Andy Keane said:

Lovely photo - do you know what time of the day this was?

 

Judging (crudely) by the shadows, it seem like early morning. Incidentally, that is Stratton, not Highworth.

 

For Helston milk traffic, my guess is that bogie siphons are too large for the amount of milk traffic. A 6-wheel siphon would probably be adequate, and many churns would probably be carried in the brake compartments of passenger trains.

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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, Andy Keane said:

I have no idea what a traditional farmed warren might even look like, but I do have a field above the station...

This link is to a page which shows remnants of a Dartmoor warren.  https://www.amusingplanet.com/2020/08/medieval-rabbit-warrens.html The Plym Valley and NE Cornwall had concentrations of warrens. A number of academic papers refer to warren remains of a warren on the coast a little to the north and west of Helston.  I was thinking of a couple of pillow mounds,  lots of rabbits, a poacher with nets and ferret, and a drunken warrener asleep behind a tree.  As rampant rabbits damage Cornish hedges, I like the idea of a couple of malcontent bucks displacing stones in order to escape. One of the makers of white-metal figures used to have a warrener figure available.

Edited by Pete Haitch
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9 hours ago, Andy Keane said:

It’s a pity all the photos on that topic went in the great collapse. I wonder if somebody could post some here to give me some more images to work from.

 

Give Sierd @Trains&armour a pm Andy, mention me and see if he can help.

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5 hours ago, Pete Haitch said:

This link is to a page which shows remnants of a Dartmoor warren.  https://www.amusingplanet.com/2020/08/medieval-rabbit-warrens.html The Plym Valley and NE Cornwall had concentrations of warrens. A number of academic papers refer to warren remains of a warren on the coast a little to the north and west of Helston.  I was thinking of a couple of pillow mounds,  lots of rabbits, a poacher with nets and ferret, and a drunken warrener asleep behind a tree.  As rampant rabbits damage Cornish hedges, I like the idea of a couple of malcontent bucks displacing stones in order to escape. One of the makers of white-metal figures used to have a warrener figure available.

http://www.warrenhouseinn.co.uk/history.html

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

They usually have rabbit pie on the menu complete with a warning that it may include a shot pellet. Last time I had it the stuffing that they put in the pie completely masked any rabbit flavour.

6 hours ago, Andy Keane said:

I had no idea - the range of stuff that RMweb spans continues to amaze me!

I think the previously mentioned warren near Helston must be at Godolphin. I don't know if there are any physical remains but the NT website states:

"A deer park and rabbit warren
The hill and many fields were given over to a deer park and rabbit warren. These rabbit breeding grounds were a source of high-status meat and fur.

The deer park was used to farm for venison, but also would have been used for hunting as a leisure activity."  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/godolphin/history-of-godolphin#rt-a-world-heritage-site

 

Unfortunately the warrener figure I referred to is O scale of090.jpg

Edited by Pete Haitch
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