Gwiwer

The 414 was the Horsham - Reigate bus. That and the 405 used to link Horsham and Redhill then on to West Croydon. The 414 ran via Dorking and the 405 via Crawley The 405 hasn’t done that since around 1971 There is no trace of the 414 at all these days nor the 405 south of Redhill. The 405 runs between Croydon and Redhill as part of the TfL network and under agreement with Surrey County Council but via a different route; it no longer serves London Road through Croydon. You can still travel over closely-similar routes to the old 405/414 by changing buses in Dorking or Crawley, Redhill and Purley.

Something Dr SWMBO has always found comforting. She often listens to the shipping forecast on her way to sleep. I use it for watch-keeping purposes these days. “Distant (Signal) West: West-south-west 4; 13; 998 steady; rain in past hour; misty or fine later; slight; moderate to good occasionally very poor.”

They carried GatEx branding all the way to Cambridge and still weren’t going to Gatwick. You would need the even-harder seats of a 700 to make that journey. Surely given that there are normally no dedicated “Gatwick Express” workings at all - the fast ones are Brighton services these days - it must be time to re-brand? It’s the dreaded p-word getting in the way again. Pottylicks.

Sure enough the aurora alarm pinged at 2.30am and woke me. There was a “red alert” suggesting visibility by both camera and eye anywhere in the UK. The interference level was rather high and a second source suggested around a 40% chance of an aurora. The rain beating on the windows told me it wasn’t worth getting out of bed for. Total cloud cover. Captain Slackbladder was relieved that I had been woken so it wasn’t entirely pointless. Welcome to Moanday. We are threatened with a return of the sun after lunch.

And that is what I shall say when I head off to bed in a moment. And then the aurora alarm goes off. It's looking possible on screen but it's not looking possible outside with cloud at 8/8. It's also dark so I wouldn't be able to see anything anyway 🤣

110% I failed to see the point of most maths at that level but accepted the need to pass O-level if I was to make any academic progress beyond school and for almost any worthwhile career opening. Calculus caused me stress and headaches well beyond the level of "reasonable". It didn't help that our high school maths teacher was a hot-tempered Welshman whose career was ended after he threw a pair of dividers across the room spearing a lad in the web of his thumb and pinning his hand to the desk.

I looked out on Friday at around 10.30 and again at 11 and saw only dark sky with the crescent moon. I went to bed. We face west. There isn’t a lot of light pollution and we have sight of the sea - sky horizon. No aurora. It gave a stunning display here to everyone except me. Gutted? Yes I am. How I missed that I don’t know. I went out last night as my Aurora alarm went off. This time I went down to the Cape which gives clear line of sight to the horizon all round. After waiting from 10 until near midnight I thought I saw a hint of purple in the northern sky. The camera picked it up better than my eyes but here - just about - is what was showing

Here they all use double-sided tape, but Ive never found a brand that'll last a whole Sydney summer stuck to the windscreen. Windscreen. 🤔 Obviously not the same double-sided tape that deputises for cups in an altogether different setting. 🤣🙊🙉🙈 Yes I do know about such things. More than one female friend in my history has asked for help in applying it 😮 Good moaning. Welcome to Sun Day. Currently living up to its name though we are threatened with sky-widdle later. Today’s mission is to the G***** C***** in an effort to replace the small things we planted last week. Those were gobbled up by ghastlypods within two days. The same ghastlypods who somehow evaded the defensive line of pellets ……… 🤬

So I looked out of the window and saw only dark skies. No hint of aurora. Everyone else saw a magnificent display.

Don’t think I’ll bother on a 20% chance. The nearest light-free location with a clear view north is only a couple of miles away at Botallack. The aurora was photographed there earlier this year. It’s been a long day and the car is tucked away in a tight spot. If I got it out I wouldn’t try getting back in after dark so it would have to go in the car park. Not that it’s far to walk but hey. I’ll have another muggercoffy and hit the hay. Tomorrow is also going to be a busy one.

Yes they do. To very mixed reviews it must be said. We went last year. Never again. Neither of us enjoyed the meals. Some others rate them highly, some go elsewhere.

Currently I have to say 1 - 2 weeks. Not within the control of any event manager but given the ongoing industrial disputes and the notice legally required to be given for such action I am unwilling to commit any funds - whether that be for admission, travel or accommodation, until I can be reasonably certain of actually getting there and back. Obtaining refunds is not always as easy nor as fuss-free as it should be. If I booked admission for an event which took place but I was unable to get there because of railway politics would the event refund me? Not all would. Similarly with accommodation which I am going to need if travelling for a day-long event more than a couple of hours from home. The cheapest deals are sometimes “non-refundable” but I am unwilling to pay more for the same product just in case I don’t get there.

Hello I’ve been below the big chimney watching our coast again Lots of yachtspersons not all of whom were abiding by the rules. Lots of visitors to the watch too - from hikers to thunder-bugs. And a party of around 30 younger folk from the West Midlands totally unfamiliar with the sea and safety thereabouts. And who chose to dive into rock-infested shallows from a private slipway. Eejits. The Coastguard was alerted. An incident was created. And a person in a dark blue Land Rover with a blue flashing light on top duly appeared and ordered them on their way. In what I later learned were “Strong Cornish terms”. It’s now beer o’clock. And it’s Indian grub night at the café. Yesssss. Welcome to the weekend

I had an adder crawl across my bare legs one time. I was relaxing on a rocky clifftop enjoying sun above, sea and surf below and idling my life away when I felt something crawling onto my leg. Thinking it might be an insect of some sort I glanced lazily down and to my great surprise there was an adder making its way across me. I think I was more concerned about wearing shorts than being bitten though it wasn’t anywhere near the vitals. I had the presence of mind to stay calm and it slithered on its way quite unconcerned. In all my 17 years in Australia I only ever saw two snakes. Both Brown Snakes and both snaking lazily across roads on hot sunny days. I was in the car on both occasions so wasn’t at all bothered. And they were not bothered by me because I was able to stop and let them go on their way.

Mount Disappointment Egg & Bacon Bay Iron Kn0b Kangaroo Flat Emu Plains ……. and many more