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Been virtually away a couple of days so haven’t responded to posts etc. Whilst today is supposed to be a sort of celebration, it is also the 22nd anniversary of my dad’s death. He was incarcerated in Changi PoW, not being freed until August 1945 by which time he weighed just 5.5 stone. Earlier this morning, my sister in law who is a nurse at the Royal Gwent hospital in Newport was assaulted as she went about her duties outside the hospital. I really do hope that the oxygen thief who did that is placed in one of their wards of WuFlu patients without any PPE - he simply doesn’t deserve to live when attacking a nurse on duty but what do I know - I am not in tune with the lovey-dovey liberal views so prevalent today. There is absolutely no excuse or justification for such behaviour. I think it highly likely that this experienced and caring nurse will now say that she has had enough, it is not the first time she has been assaulted on duty and our justice system simply doesn’t protect NHS staff with the CPS not prosecuting or even the judiciary offering trivial penalties to such offenders. What a bl@@dy mess this country’s society has become.

Just been to get a picture of this Spitfire in some ones front garden around the corner from us. It's about 3/4 scale I would say, and made of wood by the chap that lives there, even the Prop goes around, especially on a windy day.

Today is a sad day. They've blocked the forum on the work computer At least I only have two weeks left.

Back to my favourite combo... getting ready to start the day

While your on that subject John.

I did stick a sign up when we closed at 11.00 for the two minute's silence. So now the bunting's gone up at the front. The neighbours across the road have got their bunting out too so that constitutes a street party. Time to decorate the garden ready for afternoon tea, play some suitable music and end up with a drunken rendition of We'll Meet Again at 21.00 It's still a day to commemorate, just different from how it may have been.

Radcliffe on Trent again this afternoon. Radcliffe on Trent Cotgrave branch viaduct Sept 75 J4872.jpg Radcliffe on Trent Class 114 Nottingham to Boston April 80 J6874.jpg Radcliffe on Trent Class 47 Parkestone to Manchester Sept 80 J7247.jpg Radcliffe on Trent Class 101 Derby to Grantham 9th June 89 C11979.jpg Radcliffe on Trent 156429 Parkeston Quay to Liverpool April 90 J10761.jpg David

I'll look at the 4.4.0. votes in detail shortly, but first your morning photos. First one is from a very high vantage point indeed. The second is the classic view of an A4 approaching rom the south, Lord Faringdon on the Yorkshire Pullman again.

Worst trip - for two reasons. Liverpool-New York on a FlyGlobespan 737..... - yes transatlantic on a 737. It was an ER version though, but configured for Tenerife trips with not a lot of legroom. Stopped at Shannon and Keflavik to top up the tanks. Woman in front with small child who had a nanny to look after child. Child was crying a lot. It took considerable persuasion from the cabin staff to convince the woman that child was crying because it needed a nappy change. We could have told her that from the aroma...... (Nanny was on board a few rows away but was off duty!) Flight was already a day late and should have been non-stop LIV-JFK. Delayed because of "equipment issues" Flyglobespan had their ETOPS licence rescinded a few weeks later, followed by insolvency. Most interesting flight. BA 747-400 LHR-HK Kai Tak - Beijing. Top deck first row behind the cockpit - but this was still in steerage class. Landing and takeoff at Kai-Tak was "enlightening". Managed to get in the cockpit on the HK-BEI leg. Like IlDot - shiny new digital displays, but I didn't get to stay there for the landing. Pilot earning their pay landing. A Jersey European (otherwise known as Jack Walker Airlines) Fokker F-27 into Jersey. I was looking down the runway as we landed in a hideous crosswind. One wheel down. Swing the nose round. Second wheel down. Drop the nose. A joy to watch the skill of the pilot. Although the not-long-having-become Mrs NB didn't agree. The bruises have just about healed from where she had hold of me. I used to fly a reasonable amount for work in the early 1990s and I'd just got my AA gold card the day before a Manchester-Chicago-Portland (Hi Oz!) trip. In those days, AA were a respected carrier. Upgraded all the way there and back which was quite a relief as I'd just done MAN-JFK-Albany the week before. The airmiles accumulated did "pay" for US holiday return with friends and we all ended up getting an upgrade for the CHI-MAN leg home. First trip - a Dan-Dare 727 MAN to Fuerteventura - a 727 wasn't allowed a full fuel load on the short strip for the return and headwinds meant a refuel at Faro Second trip. MAN-LHR-Boston. Transatlantic with free unlimited booze. Me and my work colleague can't really remember the landing....... And the return was in Club Class. Bumpiest flight (not strictly a flight - but it was operated by SAS and had a flight number). Hovercraft from Copenhagen airport to Malmo. Drinks were served, but virtually impossible to drink without spillage. Most memorable trip - and my shortest so far - a sightseeing sea-plane from Vancouver Harbour. Part of our Silver wedding trip) Nice Beaver! And on that note. Lie-in and grass striping planned for Friday. Have a good one folks. Cheers, Mick

Went for our walk earlier and managed another mile and a half before The Hip saying "Enough!" Quite a few people about including a group of middle aged bikers with Harleys parked up outside a Bulgarian shop who certainly weren't socially distancing. We hadn't been in long when the doorbell rang and our friends next door's daughters were outside bearing a gift which was carefully placed inside the porch. Looking forward to sampling them with a cuppa later.

I should have been going to the Roundhouse later today to start the clearance and set up. The change in date for the Bank Holiday would have worked in our favour as the College would have been closed and their staff would have already cleared the Roundhouse. On a normal Friday it is full of tables and chairs and used for student meals and a social space. We don't normally gain access to all areas until about 5.00pm and then have a rush to mark out the floor - rather difficult in a round building as you can't start in a corner ! A number of modellers and traders have difficulty in reading simple instructions and / or telling the time as they arrive at 3.00pm instead of 6.00pm - this year we were hoping for a much more relaxed set-up day - unfortunately not to be. At least I remembered to cancel the order for £2500 pound coins with the bank - it's surprising how much change we get through on the door - of course now we may have to consider contactless card payments but then that will cause a lot of delay - and if we have to get 2m between those in the queue, it will be around the building and over the bridge into the station! Hope to see you next year. Mike .

My Wife won't fully celebrate VE Day as her Farther was still FIGHTING the ***** in Burma, and came home a broken man. ***** = Japanese , but it won't let me put that word in. It was as J a p s.

Ey up! Blue skies equates to more grass scarifying. This will be done after some clearing up is undertaken in the house. Even minimal amou ts of plaster repairs seem to generate loads of dust. My dad hated Dame Vera Lynnes' songs. As he said, sitting in the middle of the dessert for 3 years and all she could sing about was meeting again..he preferred Lilly Marlene... As Q says while today is Victory in Europe I hope we mark Victory in Japan day as well. Remember the Forgotten Army. While others returned home after VE day as a VR my Dad wasn't allowed to leave the RAF until May 1946. I think he wished he had stayed in... Right, time to grab Friday (even though its a Bank Holiday) by its ears and drive it to deliver the best day it can. Tomorrow wpould have been our get together. Never mind..next year will have to do. Positive thoughts to all ERs. Baz

Evening all, Not sue where the day went apart from some heat induced sleeo this afternoon following some garden activity and a two bowls of home made asparagus soup for lunch. so high speed definitions stand deferred (but start at 100mph believe it or not). Anyway in the garden the management's requests instructions have been implemented and all gro-bags have been unstacked and are now in the requiured positions inside, or in the vicinity of, the greenhouse and tomatoes and cucumbers are well advance so will soon be transplanted to the bags. Further garden activity by teh management has led to a need for further compost for potting various. A couple of tries at the local garden centre's website revealed their total inefficiency at dealing with online sales so they got no business. A check on Root One's website revealed they are not doing deliveries in response to Govt guidelines regarding essential journeys only. So we went elsewhere and ordered some compost online - clearly the bunch supplying this compost have very different ideas about 'essential' journeys because the first tracking email confirmed that it had been despatched - from Edinburgh. So presumably compost being desatched over long distances a is as essential as sheds being delivered from Germany and pasties being delivered from Cornwall - but it's not essential to snd compost about 10 miles - strange But listening to a behavioural scientist on R4 today I suspect things might get even stranger next week when the ability of those who can't understand the fairly simple current lockdown etc procedures will be faced by all sorts of variations thereon which will not only be harder to understand but will no doubt be even more ignored. And no doubt the media will thoroughly assist such misunderstanding.

Greetings al from a warm and sunny Sidcup, so warm that I have had to retire from the garden. Yesterday was so busy I did not have time to visit here properly and there are so many pages to catch up that I have had to skip them. These are indeed 1st world problems. i noticed a fair amount of bunting out in various streets during our daily walk but there is not much in ours. We have missed the memo that said this was the order of the day. When I speak to my Dad at the weekend l musk him his memories of VE Day. He would have been seven so o imagine he has some; his father was killed in the war (late 1944 in the Netherlands) so maybe it was a bittersweet occasion. during all this lockdown I have scarcely sets person I know on walks; but today we bumped into ( in a socially distanced kind of way) a friend from our NCT group and his two daughters, the elder of whom I’d the same age as Elder Lurker. Those little things make lockdown a little more bearable. enjoy the rest of your day

Afternoon all, Fully agree with the comments about the lowlife who assaulted KZs sister in law. Hanging is too good for them! we have been reprovisioned by friends this morning and while they were unloading the shopping into boxes we put near the bottom of the drive, a dog decided it was interested and came into the drive to investigate, hotly pursued by its owner shouting at it for being a bad dog. Rather than have a row as I did 2 weeks ago, I remained silent but the owner must have seen from the stony silence from us and our friends that we didn’t approve. Why is it that some dog owners feel that they are above the law when it comes to letting their dogs off the lead on public roads? Never mind it being a bad dog, I just think that she is a bad owner for failing to adequately control it. Rant over!! A cold overcast morning has turned into a nice sunny afternoon, so tea and biscuits will be had outside this afternoon. Dinner tonight will be homemade pizza, so the breadmaker will go on shortly to make the dough. Last time I did a pizza this way, the dough was really good, so I am looking forward to it.

The blue Anchor is a superb old world pub and their own brews are very nice. Been there a few times over the years. This morning we went for a very long walk via footpaths that we have not been down before in the 26 years we have lived in the area so a superb day for it. Reigate Fort wasn't quite what I was expecting as its fenced off and closed ta present. it was only built in 1898 . Also the tribute to a USAF B-17 crew that were killed when the plane crashed into the hillside. Superb views over Reigate then a steep walk back down to Pilgrim brewery to collect more essentials, bread from a stall in the town with no queue unlike M & S then a walk up and down hill back home. 10km in all.

To each their own but "Commemorate" rather than "Celebrate" is the word here. There is nothing, in my opinion, to celebrate about warfare, there is much to remember about those times and the long era of peace and (for some at least) prosperity we have had since. There is bunting in the front windows which SWMBO spent an hour early this morning painting, cutting out and sticking together. Something flew over a while back on a south-north track which is definitely not a Heathrow flight path. It sounded like a Spitfire but was not seen and the sound was mixed with that of a neighbour's power-mower. To the best of my knowledge no immediate family member has been lost to any conflict. In that respect we have been lucky. One several-times great grandfather is recorded as "lost at sea" whilst in Navy service but might - and as we suspect - have jumped ship in foreign parts to settle with someone anew leaving his British wife and numerous children behind.

Good morning all, Sunny start here and a mainly fine day is forecast. From memory having sold thousands and handled quite a few there are 24 no. 2'x2'x2" (600mmx600mmx50mm) concrete paving slabs to the tonne. (about 41kg each) This makes them somewhat heavier than a sheet of 6mm ply. We sold a lot of their bigger 3' x 2' brothers as well which went about 61kg each. You didn't want to drop either of them on your toes even when wearing steel capped boots! A walk is the first thing to do then I'm told we need to finalise our food order with Sainsbury's. After that playtime in The Shed. Tonight "we'll meet again" and Zoom with the family. Have a good one, Bob.

Bit of a tall order, that. I found something on YouTube only yesterday which may be of interest. The video is called "London Pride march 2019. From the parade" and was posted by Kirk R. Someone who is much more clever and tech-capable than I am, ie practically everyone, might like to create a link. However you watch the clip, the relevant bit is at 4 mins 43 seconds in. It does not show these boots, which were making their public debut that day and attracted some attention. I was slightly bemused to have my feet photographed. Footwear by Doc Marten and a snip at £130! Now a shirt from Stonewall that I bought for Pride parades: Yes, it's Welsh. It translates as: "Some people are gay. Get over it". Matters arising: My memory has been playing tricks on me. I was a bit shocked to learn from Neil that Ronaldsway has been modernised but I have no reason at all to doubt what he says. I have flown into and out of there more recently than 1976. It would have been around 2007 when I took part in one of David Williams’s photo charters. Somehow I managed to blag my way on to and off the Isle of Man without my passport. This caused some awkwardness at Gatwick but, as I recall imperfectly, nowhere else. I do remember that reclaiming my baggage was much less of a faff at Ronaldsway than it ever could be at Gatwick. My technical ineptitude strikes again. I forgot to send greetings to one and all. Best wishes and enjoy VE Day. Chris

If this thing doesn't end soon there are going to be a lot of people wandering around with really bad haircuts. I inherited at least two things from my dad. Varicose veins and hair that just keep going. My hair was getting a bit annoying as it kept getting in my eyes so MrsID was enlisted to have at it. Fortunately, as the dog groomer is currently horse of combat, we had invested in clippers to trim Shona and these were deployed to trim my fair locks. (They were fair a very long time ago but despite my considerable antiquity they are now just black/brown with a few grey streaks - some people have had the bloody cheek to insinuate that I have resorted to chemical hair coloring.) Actually the results were not all that bad and the leaf blower made short work of the considerable residue on the deck - the birds might find it useful for lining their nests.

Evening all, following my posting earlier today I did manage to cut the lawns front and back and, in the back garden, did manage to get some reasonably straight lines: Later, rummaging around my train shed I came across this station sign that I purchased in Japan many moons ago: If I remember correctly this platform sign was purchased at the Tokyu Railway Museum after the railway had done some track alterations which affected platform allocations so they had a load of unusable signs. Suddenly thought that the sign could be used on my Japanese-style waiting room/teahouse so from now on what's situated on the top of the mountain will now be known as Platform No.3. A successful day I think. Over 70s shopping tomorrow from 8:00am so think its time to hit the sack. Pleasant dreams..... Keith

Not much in the way of celebrations here today. It's the second anniversary of us losing our dog Sam and despite trying not to let it affect me I've been feeling low all day. Have a quiet and peaceful night everyone. Dave

OK I won't, they were horrible, said he, lying through his teeth!

Time for tea again. One more look at Lord Faringdon, but this time from up on the bridge.

Large amounts of furineers **** seen, cycling, on foot and in car . Police car seen heading in the direction of sea palling where our neighbour having just walked back from. She reports lots of cars parked all over the place because not surprisingly the carparks are closed. Furineers***** anyone from our side the village.. 400 bricks, 20 Heavy duty breeze blocks, and 4 41kg slabs moved. Area almost ready for trailer.. About another 400bricks need to be added to the pile from the entrance of the corrugated tin shed. We'll do that first, or we'll be walking round the trailer every time. Giant hog weed looking decidedly sick, I'll have wait till its properly Dead before cutting it down. Excuse me, I think the pink pills are taking effect, I expect my back still to be complaining once I awake.

G'f day all, Running later than intended because when stated going through the posts nearly 2 hours ago I made the foolish mistake of getting up to refill my tea mug and got back to the study to find I had been gazumped by the management (who has her own laptop 'puter when she remembers she owns one). quite agree retreat for the miscreant who attacked KZ's SIL - something nasty and taking a long time would be best so maybe the gibbet idea is the current winner - I think a red hot poker, inserted cold end first in order to increase the anticipation, might also give him cause to regret his actions. Coincidentally a patient had a go at the Good Doctor yesterday but as she was an aged woman with dementia her attack on the person holding while a nurse tried to administer an enema is probably quite excusable and no damage was done. Street party at 15.00 this afternoon - socially distanced of course although I'm not sure how cake might be handed round between households. Now to his gh speed railways. the Uk definition, long ago agreed between BR and HMRI was that any line speed in excess of 100mph qualified as 'high speed' along with all sorts of added safety precautions. the permitted maximum in Britain without continuous cab signalling is 125 mph which in fact could be counted as 'high speed;' within the UIC definition because it exceeds (by a whisker) 200kph which the UIC allows to qualify as 'high speed' under certain circumstances. However the normal UIC definition of High speed is either 250 or 300 kph and of course CTRL/HS1 qualifies in that respect (as will HS2 of course). I'm not sure how much route/track mileage in Britain is 125 mph capable but it is quite a lot especially since the WCML upgrade added mileage there to the original 125 mph mileage on the GWML and ECML. Incidentally while TVM 430 is supposedly capable of dealing with speeds up to 430kph the in-cab display 'egg box' - which is very much 1960s technology using projected figures and symbols instead of digital images - is only really capable of dealing with a maximum of 320kph and can only display the full range of required speed bands at a maximum of 300kph (one of the lower bands has to be omitted to provide space for 3209kph on the original display equipment which was still being installed well into the 1990s. SNCF have been very wary about going above 300kph because of the considerable extra energy cost just to get up to 320kph although moving on from the very solid 1960s engineering of most series of TGVs and the original Eurostars might allow some reduction in energy consumption? But that solid engineering has one big advantage, lunatic very high speed trials running apart, because TGVs have proved to be very safe trains in which to be travelling if derailed at speeds in excess of 100mph. Enjoy the rest of the day one and all. Meanwhile here preparations for the socially distanced street party seem to be getting underway and the musician who lives opposite will shortly be setting up her keyboard to practice 'We'll Meet again'. Yes, we; 're all trying to stay safe and so should you

With our cup of tea this morning, just another shot of 60034 advancing steadily towards the spotters, who have seen it many times before.

Just back from the blue DIY shed (it's got their name on it!) with a substituted 5L sprayer of weed killer (not the Roundup I had requested) Received this yesterday (advised delivery Saturday 16th May!): so wore it at work! Some smiled, some commented, others just seemed to ignore it! When I thanked the guy who'd taken the delivery and brought it to my desk, he groaned and sighed, but then that's what I had expected! Yes guys, we are working with a skeleton staff! (AndyY: when are we ever going to get that Groan button? I note that Farcebook have added a 'care' button!)

First flight - they even made a movie about it (it was actually Lydd/LeTouquet). Most entertaining flight - Seattle (probably) to Phoenix on Southwest. It was a Friday evening and the plane was half-empty. The first part of the flight was really bumpy. Once things smoothed out the flight attendants decided we should have a party!

Today, I drove the furthest I have in several weeks. We've been driving to a shop and back once a week, and that's been all. Today we did about 40km, including a couple of stretches of highway. I found I had to work at driving - so much of what was instinctive really wasn't any more. I was quite surprised.

Good evening everyone As I suspected this morning, there were big queues for both the Trafford Centre and the butchers, but it’s a case of wait patiently or do without, so I’m prepared to wait. It could have been worse, it could have been chuckinitdarn, but instead the skies were cloudless and it was sunny and warm. I managed to get all that was on the shopping lists, as well as a card for one of Sheila’s friends who’s wedding anniversary is soon. Sheila didn’t expect that I’d be able to get one so she was very pleased I did, and even liked my choice of card too! After dinner I measured up the garden benches so I can get some replacement wood. I’ve even made a list of stuff to get from the big orange DIY shed, which I plan to visit tomorrow. If there’s a huge queue to get in, I’ll leave it until lockdown has ended, or the restrictions have relaxed a bit, as I’m not that desperate for the stuff, I can always find something else to do. As as I was in the garden this afternoon the young lad was out ‘playing’ basket ball with his sister. Surprise, surprise, he’s far better at basket ball than he is at football, he was getting the ball in the net more times than he wasn’t, so maybe he should think about changing games! Goodnight all.

Reading of iD's trip where he got to ask the pilot some intelligent questions reminds me that some elements of aircraft cabin conditioning systems used to be included in the Dip. Aviation Medicine; a course taken by military medics and those looking for lucrative work in the airline industry. Sadly the most intelligent question I used to get was "Is this stuff going to be in the exam?" Usually asked in the graveyard shift before lunch in the mess awaited the little darlings. Oh how I loved the practicals the following day. Somehow anyone not showing sufficient interest in my lectures would end up as being "the volunteer" in my demos. Funny that.

Morning. My ol' dad also would not celebrate VE day as he was in the Navy in the 'Forgotten Fleet' out East and says the war did not end until VJ Day. I can hear him saying it now.... In other news, we have had our extra bank holiday we get here for TT senior race day cancelled, even though it wasn't cancelled the year the TT also did not happen for foot and mouth. This is causing an uproar, as the losers are the very people working their backsides off to keep the rock functioning currently. Bad political decision, and alleged to be unconstitutional - we'll see.

I think it is good that VE Day was due to be celebrated today. However, I do wish that we could have Remembrance Day on 11th November each year as it should be, rather than being relegated to the nearest Sunday. Woke up at 6.30am and then tried to get back to sleep, failed and finally got out of bed at 9am to make a mug of tea and catch up on here. SWMBO is still asleep but I am going to wake her with her mug of coffee and morning tablets at 10am. Then I will see what today has in store for me.

Good morning all. Just to help those who are loosing track of things... today is Bank Holiday Monday. Have a good weekend, stay safe and well.

Mooring awl, Inner Temple Hare, 6.5 hours solid sleep so far. Ben the Alarm clock Collie was ten minutes late this morning, and then wouldn't pass the car. I think he wants a trip out somewhere. It's sunny dry and definitely a bit warmer today. This missive of scattered thoughts is being interupted by eating porridge flavoured by blackberries, if you've got brambles in the garden you may as well get some benefit. Poor Ben, I've got the BBC news on, and every so often the bagpipes come on, then he goes and hides in his cage. Tasks today, move two piles of bricks, then as many slabs as I can which won't be many. I too had the Bristol freighter model, one of the many disposed of when we moved.. Again. There has been a bit on about the 75th anniversary of weather forecasts returning to the BBC post war. I can remember in 1977, watching the Anglia TV weather report. An obviously ex RAF Met officer, complete with handle bar moustache. Sitting behind a desk, using a wooden pointer, to a weather map little more than 2 ft square. Not much of a change to 30years before.. Enjoy your VE day, remember those still fighting in the Far East..

I loved building the Airfix kit of the Bristol Freighter and even managed to get the nose doors to open and shut in pre mekpac days. Anyway good morning all. I think it's going to rain here as there are dark clouds around. As I type a pair if Blacbirds keep coming in and out of a hole in the hedge. Mrs great tit is still sitting on her eggs in the verandah ceiling. No webcam though unlikevthe rather famous goose at York. Update it is now raining. Anyway yesterday the sun shone, washing was dried in a carbon neutral fashion. I did the shopping. Thr essential fermented red liquids were purchased then it was on to Intermarche where I had to queue for 10 minutes. However the staff were all very pleasant. In the afternoon I even managed some successful shed time. Beth had a bit of a relapse with her chest infection. The Dr was updated but is still waiting for the blood results. Not a lot will happen till Monday now due to VE day bank holiday. It means a lot over here as La Rochelle was the very last prefecture to be liberated on 8th May 45 after having a very bad time with executions of hostages in 1945. En route to and from the supermarket I pass a very well maintained memorial to two resistance fighters killed in 1944. Over here it is called Liberation day. Usually there is a parade to the war memorial but this year the mayor is going to lay a wreath with just a few councillors nearby. If Beth is up to it we may walk down later. On a brighter note, we now know that we are in the green zone so some restrictions are to be relaxrd from Monday. The hairdresers will be visited, we no longer need to go out clutching our attestations and I will be able to go for a decent bike ride. Not a lot on the agenda today so I will wish you all a good day. Jamie

Evening. I hear what you say Rick, and agree with the sentiment. I do note however the Beeb use the term 'celebrate' in the news I have just watched. OUr day started with a ride out, firstly through the 'curraghs' which is a boggy area to the west of us, much is a nature reserve, not managed, just unspoiled. There is a number of wild wallabies that live there, I probably have mentioned them before, they escaped from the wildlife centre many years ago and thrive in the area - hard to spot, sorry the photo is grim, phone camera. When we got in we then joined in with next door at 3pm (3m apart...) and dressed up a bit and had a beer. NHN (new slimline version, note!) used his Guard uniform from Groudle, Mrs NHN is as a Land Girl. Next door too.... The other side of war - this 'was' my paternal grandparents house - that's grandad with the long coat and trilby.....nothing to celebrate there.

Put the final touches to the D29 clerestory earlier today. Here are the 'official' photographs. Final jobs today were to touch up the paint here and there ('Oops, there's a bit of Indian Red on the cream - oops, now there's a bit of cream on the brown', etc.), to add the lamp irons (Brassmasters) and to convert the original lavatory droplight to the later pattern fixed unit with an inwardly opening toplight, as per photos in Russell etc. (Done by adding a little piece of microstrip and painting it Indian red.) The very last thing was to snip the now redundant lamp brackets off the Keen Systems gangway end plates - three brackets per coach end seemed a little excessive! Hope the vehicle now looks a bit more 1930s-ish. Currently processing some pictures of it in service on the layout, so a bit more to come about how I got on with this conversion. John C.

Sorry, but that was not a good and/or skiliful landing. A good and safe crosswind landing is best achieved by approaching with drift on (I.e., pointing sufficiently into wind to fly straight towards the runway) then immediately before touchdown applying rudder to 'kick off' the drift and land on both mainwheels simultaneously. The way you described the landing is not a good idea. There are other ways such as what is called the one wing down approach but they all end up with touchdown being with the aircraft pointing down the runway and on both main wheels at the same time. Bit of a grey day here at present. Not a lot planned so back to muggocoffee. Have a good one all. Dave

Two things come to mind: > Social Darwinism > Evolution in Action. In theory, the pandemic would be a good way of cleaning up “the left hand side of the curve” Unfortunately, the universe is unjust, unfair and spiteful; stupid, venal and inconsiderate people are likely to escape the consequences of their stupidity and foolishness, whilst the innocent and blameless get it in the neck. I sometimes find it hard to believe how really, really stupid some people are. I recently saw a photo of a woman wearing a PPE mask with a hole cut out for her nose and mouth - because she “couldn’t breathe properly” And that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg... The lockdown has provided me with plenty of time to read and I recently discovered the philosopher Edmund Burke, whose view of the world very much resonates with me, as I see what’s happening in Britain these days. On a completely different note (and one for the dog owners on ER), Schotty and Lucy were taken to the vet on Tuesday for their yearly inoculations and - this time - their rabies inoculation (which they get every few years). Strangely, this time both dogs seemed to have had a minor reaction to the vaccines: Schotty was somewhat lethargic on Wednesday, whilst Lucy ate grass and vomited (twice) and refused all food for a day. I wasn’t overly concerned, suspecting it to be sequelae to the rabies vaccine (far, far, better they have a day of discomfort than be susceptible to rabies - a truly nasty disease). Nonetheless, it was a bit disconcerting. Cheers iD

Well we are now gearing up for the ditch party. It would have been a muddy hollow party, but there is no mud, just dust. Bunting has been deployed along with a Union flag. Red, White and Blue is the theme: I shall wear a Red (Welsh ) rugby shirt as part of the ensemble. To add a bit of excitement to the proceedings, I have fenced off a part of the muddy hollow with rope and signs which Proclaim 'Danger UXB Keep Out' The UXB is there, partially buried, and the enclosure forms a natural social distancing barrier. Time to make the Pimms (It's bring your own booze and snacks. Too much effort for what will last about 10-15 minutes? Probably but it's going to be a bit of fun!

' afternoon/evening all from red dragon land. Just come in from my bike ride on the spot wearing my grease top (GWR letters), bib n braces, and boots in memory of the girls on the railways. Boy, was it hot in that lot! Worked the bike a bit harder, too. Beforehand, I also fitted in a couple of tunes on the fife from the Radio 4 UK Theme - Men of Harlech and Rule Britannia. A guy opposite our daughter's got out his guitar, some backing music, speakers, and sang some wartime songs - video received via WhatsApp. He was good! The area is somewhat more built up than ours so guaranteed a wide audience! I did notice a trail of kids passing by up their street while he played. They were suitably spaced out, mind! Slow progress on the fife box, an insert at a time and wait overnight to dry. It seems to be working. A couple of more days should do it. Time for a cuppa, check the chicken in the oven, then get the rest of dinner done. Hopefully I will have some time to catch up later. Fitt and Elfie chuffing along. Be good. Play safe. _________ Best wishes Polly

So bored now that I am livening up my shopping trips by visiting different supermarkets. Morrison's in Leominster today. Very long well-organised queue outside and then no controls inside so a complete fail on social distancing. Tempted by some strange looking fruit scones. Much more like a rock cake. Very yummy.

I both sympathise and share your anger. Had the scrote, who assaulted your sister-in-law, voiced an opinion that - say - “changing gender does not alter your biological sex”, then he would have been banged up faster than you could say “you’re nicked, sunshine”. Far be it for me to advocate a return to the days of Hanging Judge Jeffries (although I do argue that there are some people who really are too evil to let live), but a return to (some of) the policing and judicial mores and standards of yesteryear is long overdue. And probably the most choleric inducing aspect of this terrible state of affairs, is that the bien-pensants that have created this whole mess are, by dint of wealth, position in society and location in the land, isolated and protected from the consequences of their decisions and actions... Oh f*** I’d now better go get a “chill pill” Cheers iD

We cleaned the cooker hood today. Well to be honest I dismantled it and Aditi cleaned the parts that didn’t go in the dishwasher or were replaceable. Our deliveries arrived including my glue sticks. They arrived just after I found the missing ones. We sat down and watched Antony and Cleopatra from the National Theatre on the tv tonight. Not a play either of us had seen before. I had a call from Southend Hospital letting me know that the consultant would like to have a chat on Tuesday. I said I would be in. Tony

Ben the seldom-pictured Collie? A fine evening here with a visit to the Thai restaurant for the evening meal. Their current system is for you to knock on the window to attract attention (unless there is already a queue being served) whereupon your order and phone number is taken, you are then called when it is ready and you pay on collection - also through the window. They probably run on a shoe-string at the best of times but are gamely carrying on and we are happy to support them. A nice touch was the always-smiling Thai waitress who presented me with the carry-out bag; not only apologising for the wait (which was all of 15 minutes and shorter than was suggested when I ordered) but adding "Oh. You live over back. We love you garden". We do live just behind and are separated by the car parking area meaning they can indeed see much of our gardening efforts every day. We have exchanged waves and greetings with their staff as they come and go for a long as we have been here. A quick check-in with sister confirms that all remains well with her other than having to undergo a training course in autism awareness. In her words "It feels as though it was written by the work-experience person and frankly with three autistic children I could tell them a thing or ten". But she's paid for it so heads-down and hey-ho. I ought to attempt sleeping. The conversation upstairs between just the two people is as though they were socially distanced and hearing-disabled - there really is no need to speak to each other in the same room at a volume where your neighbours hear every word. In other times I might pop up and ask them to pipe down but (1) these are not other times and (2) she is isolating due to being very much with child so they may well not appreciate the visit quite apart from me offering an opinion on their personal volume level. If I have another muggercoffee they might run out of steam ..... but I won't hold my breath. G'night all. It may be a long one here.