Early Risers.

[jamie92208]

I had a games teacher for a mother and my father was a county standard tennis player, however my brother inherited all the games skills, though not the height.   I was thus absolutely hopeless at all ball games.  It was a complete lottery as to which direction, any ball I kicker or hit, might go in.  I was also in the 3d team for rugby and cricket and hated it but did learn the rudiments of both games.   We also had to stay back after lunch on a Saturday of the school 1st XV or XI were playing another school and watch the match.  We froze but I could see the steam hauled trains on the S&C whilst watching rugby.   I got so bored watching the cricket that I became a scorer and ended up scoring for the 1st XI and enjoyed that.  I only started to enjoy games afternoons when, in the 6th form, I was allowed to go Cross Country running, which was on the hills above Giggleswick, and I came to love that.  The views were great and I did get really fit.  So very mixed memories of school sports.

 

Jamie

[TheQ]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

 

 

In fairness “Q” normally refereed First vs. Second Team games leaving us in the hands of either a nearly-retired English master or the deputy head of Games who was as incomprehensible a Welshman as could ever be found east of the border.

 

Best wishes to awl. 

I deny all responsibility,  when forced to play rugby when for some reason we acquired a Welsh P. E.

teacher, I ran about very little,  and ensured if a ball got given to me it instantly got passed to someone else. 

Luckily playing Shinty,  my team knew I was useless so rarely ever passed the ball to me.. 

Cricket was more my style stand around in the outfield and return a ball roughly in the direction of the wicket. 

Later after I left school, 

volleyball came along ( in the RAF) ,  good sport that, stand around and wait for the ball to come within a few feet. 

Sailing even better,  a sport you can sit at. 

Edited February 11, 2019 by TheQ

[AndyB]

I think it's fair to say that a day in the north east has been the most carbohydrate laden of the year so far. But then it will have been about 18 hours door to door. So a beer on the way home might be excused! 

Plane was late taking off as the pilot got stuck in traffic. The rest of us made it on time though. 

Then when she got on the runway she turned in the wrong direction and did a u turn at the end. Quite why the whole of the first halfa of the runway was needed is not quite clear.

 

[lightengine]

I had one year of rugby.  The PE teachers name was B. A. Stard.  I don't have anything good to say about Mr Stard.  My thoughts along with the thoughts of quite a few others was that he lived up to his name.

 

 

[Tony_S]

As well as encouraging him to do his best his best at things like rugby the PE staff were really kind when Matthew was in year 10 and 11. He decided he wanted to water polo as his sport option. I was a bit concerned as his epilepsy wasn’t fully under control then but the PE teacher assured me that she wouldn’t allow him to come to  any harm.  He didn’t, and enjoyed being in the pool.

[Tony_S]

42 minutes ago, AndyB said:

I think it's fair to say that a day in the north east has been the most carbohydrate laden of the year so far. But then it will have been about 18 hours door to door. So a beer on the way home might be excused! 

Plane was late taking off as the pilot got stuck in traffic. The rest of us made it on time though. 

Then when she got on the runway she turned in the wrong direction and did a u turn at the end. Quite why the whole of the first halfa of the runway was needed is not quite clear.

 

Have you ever flown from or to London City. That is “interesting” too. 

[Gwiwer]

There’s “Q” and TheQ. Different people, surely. 

Quote

I deny all responsibilty

 

Never a good player of ball sports the reason became apparent when I first visited the optician and was prescribed a face-worn device which finally enabled me to see the ball. Except one was not permitted to wear spectacles on the sports field for safety reasons. 

 

Was it safer to wear them, see the action but risk glass in the eye or to not wear them, have little idea where the rugby ball was (and no idea at all about a cricket ball) but risk taking a full-face hit as my father once did. He lost most of his teeth at age 14 to a direct hit from a cricket ball. 

 

I enjoyed athletics. A year-round sport though not one open to the junior years at our school in winter. I did well in long jump and was a handy 400m runner in my day, almost up to school’s county championship level. But I quickly developed a love for long distance where stamina ruled over speed.  I was always entered in the 1500m but loathed it. Too far too fast for me but it was the longest competitive race available at school. We were permitted to run 5000m above age 14 but non-competitively. 10000m was forbidden but I regularly ran two laps of the track and counted one thereby “doubling” the distance on the sly. 

 

The annual cross-country run through rural footpaths and open land was about 3 miles and invariably a mud-bath. I loved it. Never won nor even came close but it spurred me on to bigger things. 

 

After school and with the fast-growing popularity of city marathons I ran several and completed the London three times always in just under four hours. Which wasn’t bad for a “fun runner” and beat some of the club people too. 

 

I’d like another shot. But the ballot entry makes securing places very hit-or-miss. I’ll keep trying. I reckon I’ve still got another one in me. 

 

SWMBO returned safely from Lost-and-Found Withiel having enjoyed a relaxing time and, without prior planning, scored one of the last HST trips ever from Cornwall to London. They finish in a few weeks and there’s only one or two still in use. 

 

I’m off for an early night. Tomorrow is best bib-and-tucker as we are invited guests of the Board of Directors and Trustees as Kew Gardens open their annual orchid festival. Canapés, champagne and speeches are apparently on the menu; dress code is “cocktail”. Wish me luck. 

 

G’night all

[New Haven Neil]

There isn't an icon for that, Rick!

[Dave Hunt]

56 minutes ago, AndyB said:

when she got on the runway she turned in the wrong direction and did a u turn at the end. Quite why the whole of the first halfa of the runway was needed is not quite clear.

 

It's a mantra among pilots that the three most useless things in the world are height you've lost, fuel you've used and runway behind you. I would be critical of any pilot who didn't backtrack (the term for turning the wrong way then doing a U-turn at the end) before taking off. It's a bit silly to have an engine failure just before takeoff and being left with insufficient runway to stop because you didn't backtrack.

 

Dave 

[Dave Hunt]

5 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Ref is still normally addressed as "Sir" over here.

When I played rugby in the RAF everyone had to call the referee 'Sir' on the field whatever their respective ranks. I was playing once when the referee penalised me for 'climbing' in the lineout ( and there's a sign of the times) and as he was a friend of mine from training days I said something like, 'Ah, come on Martin...' whereupon I was admonished with, 'Any more arguing from you number eight and I'll send you off,' followed by a bo**ocking from my captain, who was junior in rank to me. Just to make my day I was later admonished by my Squadron Commander who had been spectating. Happy days! 

[JohnDMJ]

5 hours ago, roundhouse said:

Aaaarh. Its posted twice when I tried to edit it.

 

Deleting a post is no longer an option; last time I tried, I received a relatively curt message from an admin simply stating that my post had been deleted. When I queried this, fearing the worst (overstepping the mark, about to be barred, etc.) I was only then told that it was the one I had tried to delete.

 

3 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

 I got so bored watching the cricket that I became a scorer and ended up scoring for the 1st XI and enjoyed that.  I only started to enjoy games afternoons when, in the 6th form, I was allowed to go Cross Country running, which was on the hills above Giggleswick, and I came to love that.  The views were great and I did get really fit.  So very mixed memories of school sports.

 

Jamie

 

As for school cross country, I excelled in turning a 2.5 mile course from a half-hour run into a 2 hour saunter! (IIRC, I was never last, either!) On the 'School Cross Country' day, I worked the ruse that there had to be one photographer from each House to even things up; I represented Grenville House in photography!

 

I 'scored' for my school's first XI for 3 seasons and, whilst recording a match in Winchester, was told by their scorer that he had been awarded First XI colours. Three seasons' of work under the belt, I approached the HeadMaster who relented but felt it necessary to bring the rest of the XI on to stage individually before making the presentation.

 

I have since recorded matches for Ventnor and Petersfield Cricket Clubs, Hampshire Cricket Association and various works inter-departmental (including one as Square Leg Umpire as well!) and inter-company matches.

 

At one stage, I even had my own design of scoresheet and associated stats sheet on the market (a certain, mm, Club in London purchased several!), along with a DOS-based program (in 1985) capable of recording the match ball-by-ball, including vector diagrams and calculating stats well before the TCCB even went there!

Edited February 11, 2019 by JohnDMJ
hopefully to make more sense

[bbishop]

Short legs, no neck, poor eyesight.  So a natural hooker and a reasonable wicket keeper (just so long as I could bat at eleven).  No good at athletics - but enjoyed cross country  - the thicker the mud or the deeper the snow, the better.

 

Two hours overtime today, difficult shout, way above my skill set; we ended up with a HART team and an advanced paramedic.  Then training!

 

Bill

[bbishop]

Duplicate

 

Bill

Edited February 11, 2019 by bbishop

[laurenceb]

Night awl 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

It's a mantra among pilots that the three most useless things in the world are height you've lost, fuel you've used and runway behind you. I would be critical of any pilot who didn't backtrack (the term for turning the wrong way then doing a U-turn at the end) before taking off. It's a bit silly to have an engine failure just before takeoff and being left with insufficient runway to stop because you didn't backtrack.

 

Dave 

Some years ago before the runway was extended to allow passenger jets to operate , a Boeing 707 landed at Southend “after office hours”. The crew were all arrested as a substantial quantity of drugs were unloaded. Not sure if the intention was to fly away or abandon the aircraft. The aircraft flying there now seem ok. All kinds of aircraft appear there to practice now. A Typhoon was there recently . The resident Vulcan isn’t going anywhere though 

[PhilJ W]

4 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Some years ago before the runway was extended to allow passenger jets to operate , a Boeing 707 landed at Southend “after office hours”. The crew were all arrested as a substantial quantity of drugs were unloaded. Not sure if the intention was to fly away or abandon the aircraft. The aircraft flying there now seem ok. All kinds of aircraft appear there to practice now. A Typhoon was there recently . The resident Vulcan isn’t going anywhere though 

Sadly the Beverly that resided there was scrapped, and the Shorts Belfast.

[Coombe Barton]

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2019/02/11/sandys-chemo-day-55-of-126/

[The Stationmaster]

Hmm - rugby was simply yet another ball game at which I was rubbish so I quickly progressed to  cross-country runs instead and once in the 6th form went rowing all year round which was something of a trial in winter as it inevitably involved paddling in order to get the boat in and out of the water and was subject to cancellation when the river really did flood (back to running then).  Rowing had the distinct advantage of being in the town so not only well away from school but the rowing club's boathouse which we used was right next to a pub which meant leaving the school tie and blazer in the rowing club - even on cold days.

 

As for today well 'she' remembered that we were due for our diabolic eye testing so not only did we get out for a walk but we also visited Waitrose and herself was a bit peckish after we'd been seen so we popped into our favourite (i.e very reasonably priced) café and at c.14.00 hours I had a very pleasing 'full English' breakfast - first one this year (and for several months before that).

[Andrew P]

Cricket, Football, Rugby, Gymnastics, Running, etc. etc. etc. = Please Sir, can I clean the Changing Rooms, I hate Sport = Yes O.K. Peters, but do a good job. = Yes Sir.

 

[tetsudofan]

Interesting that, like me, a number of ERs enjoyed cross country running at school. 

 

Thinking of it reminds me of my first job interview with Barclays Bank. I was asked what sports I did at school and I responded "cross country running during the winter and athletics during the summer". Oh, he said "individual sports, you must remember, we are team players at Barclays"

 

Never did mention it at future interviews but I got the job. In a way the interviewer hit the nail on the head and, looking back at my working career, I was an individualist more than a team player. Even now I fall in that category and that's how its going to be until I turn off the mortal coil.

 

Must remember to add a note to my will, want to have "I did it my way" added to "time to say goodbye"

 

Keith

[newbryford]

7 hours ago, Simon G said:

 

We had a games teacher who liked to get fully involved with his pupils

 

Errrrr...........

 

 

 

Been out of the loop for a few days - away at BRM Doncaster. 

 

Generic C&C's and a few boxes ticked. 

The weekend went by very quickly from loading the van, driving the van, unloading the van, setting up and testing the layout, retiring to the hotel, drinking and eating, sleeping, up for brekkie, go to venue, play with layout, (repeat from retiring to the hotel) then load the van, drive home, unload, eat and drink......

 

The hotel lift was shared with fellow ER Brian 2975 on one occasion.

 

The layout ran pretty well and was surrounded by a decent crowd for much of the show. 

 

Most of today was spent in sorting out the new office.

 

My desk is on the right and after 2 years, I now have a window...... that incidentally has a partial view of passing trains. My usable workspace has about doubled in size.

There is still work to be done in arranging the workbench section and shelves. That will consume some of tomorrow before normal customer service is resumed.

 

Over the next couple of months, there is a plan to build a test layout that will occupy the space immediately out of sight to the right of the picture.

 

Have a good week folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

I trip to my local independent DIY shop was fruitful and I came away with a new hammer shaft for the prickly sum of £2.99. Once I’d fitted the head I was able to complete the bracelet I made yesterday. I then carried on working on the L class loco for the rest of the day.

 

I wasn’t particularly good at any sort of ball game, but I did play rugby for the school team, I enjoyed it but wasn’t very good. I also liked football, but again I wasn’t very good and I never liked running at all. I quite liked the shot put, the discus and javelin, but again, I wasn’t particularly good at any of them. I much preferred water sports, swimming, diving, I even played water polo for out local under 17 side for one season, we won the league I seem to recall, then the team disbanded!

 

Goodnight all 

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[roundhouse]

Good morning.

 

Yesterdays beers helped me have a really good nights sleep.

 

Talking of sleep I found this video of the refrurbished GWR night Riviera coaches quite informative.