Early Risers.

[BoD]

*site of the Battle of Newburn 1640 where the Protestant Scots beat the Newcastle Royalists using a cannon hauled up onto the top of Newburn's Saxon church tower!

A pity they didn't take their nickname from supporting the King then rather than a later one.

We could call them Charlies rather than Geordies.

[brianthesnail96]

Not sure if that should be "funny" or "friendly" Nidge... given that I have the pleasures of building a kitchen over Christmas (just units thankfully), I should probably have gone for friendly instead!

Thanks for the welcomes all. Good to see we're not the only one with a moose, although ours is a perennial occupant of the living room. He has gained a suitably festive hat and tinsel though- yesterday was tree day, tradition here is to buy one from a friend's grandad- I used to help sell them when I was younger so it's good to go back for a brew and a catch up. It's also about the only time I see my friend these days, this year I finally met his wife & 3 year old son for the first time. Must admit I never had him down as dad material but he's clearly taken to it like a duck to water and young Ted is a credit to him and his good lady. Home as it was getting dark, so fire lit for the tree (and moose) decorating ritual, all very festive and something I grudgingly admit to enjoying- although not as much as Laura, who donned elf slippers (with bells) and happily danced around throwing tinsel and baubles at everything for an hour or so. Was a good antidote to the three hours sat under the Land Rover hurling expletives at the clutch hydraulics on Saturday; non functioning Land Rover would have meant no tree, at the expense of domestic harmony...
 

[Oldddudders]

DDolfelin, on 07 Dec 2015 - 11:42, said:

I wonder if Ian would be willing to offer some matrimonial advice.

How does one arrange to live in different countries?

Who washes your socks etc.,?

Thanks for any assistance. 

The art of living in both countries includes ensuring both residences have an adequacy of storage space. Thus I have clothes in Sherry's flat and she uses wardrobes here, enabling us to each travel light on that account. Smalls and their washing are - just - within my compass. Larger items get washed but then Alison takes the creases out, although Sherry is happy to do so if needed. 

 

As far as getting an existing partner to move to another country is concerned, I have little experience. Unreasonable behaviour, e.g. railway modelling, could be a useful catalyst though.

[runs as required]

A pity they didn't take their nickname from supporting the King then rather than a later one.

We could call them Charlies rather than Geordies.

I didn't know Geordies were Hanoverians - I understood the nickname came from all males apparently being called George (like Paddys and Jocks).

The Catholic Charles's troops holed up in Newcastle's keep,  I understood, were very unpopular. Most locals supported the Scots (as they seem to do again today)

2

Just been talking to a guy (from the Forest of Dean) who walked up from Newburn past Wylam up to Ovingham yesterday who told me the river was raging at Wylam bridge and whole sections of timber buildings were being carried past under the Hagg Bank bridge (cf Ron Hegg's amazing model ).

He reckons people in places like Gloucester, Tewksbury and Shrewsbury have long ago adapted their lifestyle to regular flooding of ground floors. I wondered how you could actually do that - the pubs along the Ouse in York are very austere and dour below their proudly displayed flood level markers.

 

dh

 

Edit: usual poor proof reading

Edited December 7, 2015 by runs as required

[The Stationmaster]

An excellent choice!

 

As for drinks that are consumed in an operational military setting, the finest I have come across was from the  Royal Navy.  I believe it was referred to as 'Kye'.

 

Hot chocolate and rum stiffened with rice pudding!

 

The rice pudding acting as a binding agent preventing the contents slopping over the brim of the mug when the sea got a bit bumpy..

 

I believe there was a tapioca variety as well.

That sounds like a special version for serving up to pongoes with no sea legs.  As I understand it there original recipe was dark pussers chocolate (shaved or grated) preferably steam melted, plus condensed milk plus sugar plus (unofficially) pussers issue rum.

[NGT6 1315]

Tidying up is done, now for some sweets which I think I've earned!

[The Stationmaster]

I didn't know Geordies were Hanoverians - I understood the nickname came from all males apparently being called George (like Paddys and Jocks).

The Catholic Charles's troops holed up in Newcastle's keep,  I understood, were very unpopular. Most locals supported the Scots (as they seem to do again today)

2

Just been talking to a guy (from the Forest of Dean) who walked up from Newburn past Wylam up to Ovingham yesterday who told me the river was raging at Wylam bridge and whole sections of timber buildings were being carried past under the Hagg Bank bridge (cf Ron Hegg's amazing model ).

He reckons people in places like Gloucester, Tewksbury and Shrewsbury have long ago adapted their lifestyle to regular flooding of ground floors. I wondered how you could actually do that - the pubs along the Ouse in York are very austere and dour below their proudly displayed flood level markers.

 

dh

 

Edit: usual poor proof reading

It used to be relatively simple to adapt to living in a regular flood situation - one of our masters at school did exactly that living in a cottage several centuries old which was built for it.  The ground floor had a flagstone floor plus wall air vents which could be opened to allow the water to flow through and there were hooks and blocks in the ceiling beams to allow heavier items of furniture to be lifted up on ropes above flood level while the inhabitants lived upstairs during the late winter/spring flood.  

 

Another older touch was not to carpet the stone floors but to use dried rushes as the instantly disposable floor covering but that probably died out by the early 20th century - and of course folk back then had far less furniture and probably no electricity in rural areas.

 

Anyway our schoolmaster, nearing retirement age decided he and his wife were a bit too old to face that so had a new house built in their garden in the Edwardian fashion - common in larger riverside properties on the Thames - of having arches underneath with the floor well above ground level so the river could flow underneath.

 

While Carlisle and Keswick etc are in a somewhat different situation, and the weather was truly exceptional many people living on river flood plains, especially those of the Thames, are simply ignoring history and nature if they don't think the river will rise and flood at certain times of year.  it used to do so regularly here, to a lesser or greater extent, but a decade or more of dry winters and springs presumably convinced many of the dumber folk that the river would never flood again, and they moaned like stink when it did.

 

However some of the modern flooding, notwithstanding the exceptionally wet weather is very obviously man made as water meadows have fallen into disuse so the water is no longer managed and idiots upstream have been allowed to build on flood plain forcing the extra water to go downstream.  On the Thames the Maidenhead flood relief stream has saved Maidenhead but simply moved the flooding downstream thus making it more noticeable further down river.  But it is still flood plain which has been flooding on the Thames.  And of course despite clearly changing weather patterns and warmer, far wetter, winters in Britain the idiot planning authorities are still not taking any real steps to cull building on flood plains, especially - again - on the Thames.  If people want to build there they should have to build on arches to allow free passage of floodwater and the amount of hard surfacing should be severely limited - but then the latter goes for just about everywhere of course.

[AndyB]

Afternoon all,

Sunny here and getting packed up ready for a trip "up north". The first of many, I don't doubt.

Tried to buy a ticket online but was baffled by the pricing options. So I went to the station to seek help. Cor the lengths some counties will go to to keep us southerns at arms length! 

The station staff were equally baffled and discovered that selecting a ticket that was very specific on which train one might travel on was more expensive than a completely flexible ticket. 

We elected to go for a cheap ticket with maximum flexibility on journey times. 

I say "cheap" in the sense that I'm assuming the carriage is all mine, will have bacon butties on tap and suitably ironed newspapers.

In reaIity I hope to get a seat on the way home, but may have to sit on my luggage. Ahh, how I've missed commuting. NOT.

 

Have a nice week everyone. Andy

[NGT6 1315]

It used to be relatively simple to adapt to living in a regular flood situation (…)

 

The issue with people having built on flood plains has continued to arise here in recent years as well, also around the various rivers through and near Leipzig. I agree with what you said about people who do want to have a house that close to a river doing wisely in having said houses designed accordingly, though I admit the building styles you describe were new to me. They could, however, grow in significance if expansion of settled areas shall continue near bodies of water which might cause periodical flooding. I suspect too many potential homeowners would not really be willing to spend money on such flood-proofing, however…

[BoD]

I didn't know Geordies were Hanoverians - I understood the nickname came from all males apparently being called George (like Paddys and Jocks).

 

There are a few theories about.  One of the most popular is that it was a nickname given by the Scots when the town declared for George I in the 1715 rebellion. Newcastle supported George II and closed it's gates against the '45 too.   Another theory  is that it came from the fact that miners in the area used Geordie safety lamps (invented by George Stephenson), rather than Davey lamps. 

 

No one knows for sure.

[shortliner]

That sounds like a special version for serving up to pongoes with no sea legs.  As I understand it there original recipe was dark pussers chocolate (shaved or grated) preferably steam melted, plus condensed milk plus sugar plus (unofficially) pussers issue rum.

The use of the rice pudding and condensed milk was apparently because it looks exactly the same coming back up as it did going down

[BSW01]

Weather has been quite mild all day, even had lunch alfresco. The sun managed to peak it's head from around the clouds around lunch time, see pics. This mornings fiasco with my laptop has been my only fly in today's ointment so to speak, no more troubles since. Why is it that big company's are willing to spend millions of pounds on technology, but never think ask the guys or gals who are going to have to use it, what it is that they really need, doh! Or am I just being to logical!

There, rant over.

 

Below are to images taken just seconds apart from the same spot, one facing North, the other South. They were taken just outside Newton-le-Willows, once home to the Vulcan Locomotive Workshop. It there several times carrying my then work duties, it was a massive place and is now sadly gone, they even knocked down the sports a social club, the grounds where huge, 2 rugby fields, 2 football fields, plus tennis courts etc. They are already building houses on it!

 

 

Looking North

Looking South

 

Christmoose at BSW01 towers, he has an identical twin hiding on the other side of the tree.

Edited December 7, 2015 by BSW01

[The Lurker]

I understand that the contract for the daily tot of rum was awarded by the Navy to James Man in 1784 and remained with the firm - later renamed E D & F Man -  until abolition of the ration in 1970.
 
 http://edfman.com/about-us/history#4
 
Quite how this ties in with Pussers Rum I am not sure. Maybe Man supplied Pussers Rum

Edited December 7, 2015 by The Lurker

[sixoh8sixoh]

Afternoon all from a (currently) dry Scottish HQ.

 

Saturday afternoon involved lugging 110kg (17 stones) of slate floor tiles up to my girlfriend's flat for the bathroom floor, then a quick dash to pack an overnight bag before heading to Glasgow.

 

Mum and Dad were coming up from Durham to Glasgow on Saturday, to go to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the King's Theatre. They got as far as between Haydon Bridge and Haltwhistle, before getting caught up in the flooding and fallen trees. Turning round, they couldn't get back the way they'd come along the A69. They ended up going home via the military road, until they could rejoin the A69 after the flooding. They'd booked a hotel near Jamie's mum's house, so rather than trek back to Edinburgh and back again yesterday, I pinched their room as it was non-refundable.

 

They managed to get up yesterday for a day visit, but drove up the A68 through Jedburgh and around the Edinburgh City Bypass to Glasgow. A bit longer, but less flooded. There were a number of flooded areas in the Greater Glasgow region, but thankfully nothing too bad where we went - though the Kelvin was very full and some fields around under several feet in places. They made it safely back about 10.15 last night.

 

As Mum and Dad didn't make it up on Saturday, we took Jamie's friend Hannah with us to the panto. They had spare seats still, and it wasn't an issue having a child instead of an over 65... We did Jamie's school Christmas fair yesterday afternoon, and a bit of shopping with her. She got her birthday presents from her grandparents and her Christmas presents delivered too.

 

Hope all are well!

[The Stationmaster]

I understand that the contract for the daily tot of rum was awarded by the Navy to James Man in 1784 and remained with the firm - later renamed E D & F Man -  until abolition of the ration in 1970.

 

 http://edfman.com/about-us/history#4

 

Quite how this ties in with Pussers Rum I am not sure. Maybe Man supplied Pussers Rum

Pusser in RN speak is a corruption of the word purser whose naval duties at one time could be equated with the the term quartermaster in the army although its is not clear if the term ever actually applied as a rank or job title in the RN.  Thus the rum issue (the daily tot) was 'pusser's rum' but also - certainly in later years - bottled rum was available for purchase onboard although probably only when ships' paid off while it was also no doubt available in bottled form to the wardroom.

 

I was given a half bottle of it by a rather inebriated matelot many years ago on an overnight train from Marylebone to Manchester (which seemed to be inhabited by half the crew of a frigate which had paid off at Chatham) and a few drops of that put me off rum for many years, in fact the next time I had any to drink was in the Chief PO's mess of the Portsmouth Guard Ship at Navy Days a year after the Falkands War when I was allowed 'onboard'  as I knew someone who was serving on the ship as a CPO.  The ship had only granted local leave and was at something like 6 hours notice for steam (real steam! - proper job boiler room) with a core of experienced POs, CPOs and Leading Seamen to get it ready while the Shore Patrol rounded up the rest of the crew - it would have been a fearsome thing if it had put to sea as the occupants of the Chief's mess could have melted any opposition with their breath.

[runs as required]

... If people want to build there they should have to build on arches to allow free passage of floodwater and the amount of hard surfacing should be severely limited - but then the latter goes for just about everywhere of course.

I have to admit I thought Land Use/Transportation planning represented the future while working for BR(E) CCE's in the early 1960s at the time when we had close connections with Dutch Railways (with work at Parkeston and the Hook) and had a number of exchange visits.

 

Working on their Ronstadt railway based urban strategy, the Dutch were already airing the merits of 'floating' built development versus wholesale polder reclamation (it was only 8 years since the disastrous East Coast Low Countries killer floods).

 

Nowadays it seems that raft-type ‘floatable’ built development has become the Dutch norm, grouped around attractively planted recreational water bodies on a floodable landscape - rather than trying to keep their fingers in higher and higher dodgy dykes.

Particularly attractive are Dutch recreational/commuter village parks. From my Northern fastness, I can’t understand why we don’t go that way in hard pressed areas like the South East and the Thames Valley.

 

dh

[Rugd1022]

​''MESSAGE BEGINS : aforementioned 'DIY' now miraculously accomplished. STOP. have no idea how it happened. STOP. hope now largely regained but house might fall down at some point. STOP. ran out of flippin' tea bags! STOP. ...MESSAGE ENDS"

Edited December 7, 2015 by Rugd1022

[runs as required]

Pusser in RN speak is a corruption of the word purser whose naval duties at one time could be equated with the the term quartermaster in the army a

Ah!...effing pussers.

They very nearly carried off my young wife and her baby sister (in mini skirts up to their bums) during wild RN parties on the rocks in front of Grand Harbour, Malta in the 1960s. I believe the pusser's rum got spliced after the gin ran out.

I never ever got invited, preoccupied with 'all nighters' on the drawing board.

 

dh (must go and finish painting the bathroom ceiling)

Edited December 7, 2015 by runs as required

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Aft'noon all,

 

Anyone recognise the brim full reservoir compared with the highly green low water reservoir fields version. Probably the fastest fill of this large body of water that I've witnessed..... 

 

 

Church DCC tonight

 

Enjoy what you do

 

Dave

[jamie92208]

 

 

Church DCC tonight

 

 

Dave

Your church must be very advanced if they come DCC fitted.  I'd love that at our church meeting so I could mute some of them and if the organist was chipped we might even be able to speed her up from funerial pace.

 

Jamie

[BSW01]

Running out of teabags is bad news, very bad news. Us gas men cannot survive all day without vast quantities of steaming hot tea. In my company car I, like many that I work with, have a large box which contains the following, box of teabags, a kettle, various extension leads (several different types sockets used on site), thermal mug with lid and 2 stainless steel flasks with filled with water. I even carry a small table and chair for the smaller sites that do not have room for them. These come in handy for alfresco dining in the summer! Oh, I almost forgot to mention my tools and test equipment. The only down side is it takes me about 40 minutes to completely empty the boot doh .

[jamie92208]

Running out of teabags is bad news, very bad news. Us gas men cannot survive all day without vast quantities of steaming hot tea. In my company car I, like many that I work with, have a large box which contains the following, box of teabags, a kettle, various extension leads (several different types sockets used on site), thermal mug with lid and 2 stainless steel flasks with filled with water. I even carry a small table and chair for the smaller sites that do not have room for them. These come in handy for alfresco dining in the summer! Oh, I almost forgot to mention my tools and test equipment. The only down side is it takes me about 40 minutes to completely empty the boot doh .

I remember one afternoon at work (In the Police) we suddenly got diverted from a training exercise to surround Wakefield Prison due to something that had gone off inside.  I was most impressed with my team as within 20 minutes hot tea had been conjured up out of nowhere for all concerned.   I chose not to enquire as to where it had come from. Some things are essential.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

The use of the rice pudding and condensed milk was apparently because it looks exactly the same coming back up as it did going down

Wot!  No carrots?

[Ian Abel]

Monday morning and NOT in Long Island this week, therefore a much happier camper

 

Currently delayed getting to RMWeb as I'm being pulled in four different directions by some urgent requirements from no less than three of our "Managed Services" clients. Never rains but it pours. I need to try and extend myself to work full-time on the Long Island client whilst also helping out on these.

 

As Jemma is doing "pilot recruiting" in the office this week, I'm now designated driver since her car is of course in BIllings! Actually a nice morning break/wake-up giving me the opportunity to get some fresh air first thing, the afternoon retrieval may prove to be more traffic-laden. She was in excellent spirits when she got in last night from the two-day trip, seems best we can tell the sinus issue is behind her.

 

We've got Trevor coming over for dinner with us tonight then we're going as a family to fight over choose our Christmas tree... will decorate it over the next couple of evenings apparently. Being I'm primarily the chauffeur and loader/unloader, they don't give me much more in the way of a detailed schedule - good thing too probably

 

-1 driving Jemma to work, partly cloudy, still seasonably warmer than it should be, expecting 6 for a high.

 

Hope the week starts out well for everyone.

[Ian Abel]

Running out of teabags is bad news, very bad news. Us gas men cannot survive all day without vast quantities of steaming hot tea. In my company car I, like many that I work with, have a large box which contains the following, box of teabags, a kettle, various extension leads (several different types sockets used on site), thermal mug with lid and 2 stainless steel flasks with filled with water. I even carry a small table and chair for the smaller sites that do not have room for them. These come in handy for alfresco dining in the summer! Oh, I almost forgot to mention my tools and test equipment. The only down side is it takes me about 40 minutes to completely empty the boot doh .

When I started reading this I thought for a minute you were going to say NEXT that you also had a small gas ring in the car and were making cuppas on the go