rockershovel

I must confess, I hadn't given a thought to the practicalities of owning and operating an artillery piece of any era. I have had experience of the procedures involved in storing and using explosives for construction (tunnelling) work and that's enough for me. I did once own a quite snappy little 177 air rifle which I used for occasional rough shooting along the route in my land rig drilling days. Wouldn't do that now.

I remember seeing a bunch of them at Howard's Castle one summer afternoon. They certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. The two Commanding Officers appeared to be of the Large Ham school of acting, there was smoke everywhere and the artillery appeared to be on both sides simultaneously.

Watched Exeter clobber Gloucester today, mostly by consistent execution of basics plus an unstoppable Saffer.... oh, and Feyi-Wabosi, a player to watch I think

In those distant days when the government cared about their people, and a University education was a ticket to a good job...

Then I will try it, next time it is offered. My preferred "zero" drink is Beck's Blue. My good wife has ordered Old Speckled Hen Low on next week's delivery, on offer at £1.17 a bottle... I thought it worth a punt at the price!

Well, exactly. My late Aunt Patsy (my grandmother's sister) lived in a house in Cambridge which she regarded as quite modern when she took it, about 1904 in that it had a cold water tap in the scullery and an outside toilet. Her previous house, still standing in the 1960s had no water supply other than a communal standpipe in the "front alley: with communal WCs in the "back alley" When you live in such conditions the pub is an extension to your living space. If you must rise at 5am for your shift, you don't want to do it with a banging head, furry tongue and the urgent need for a consultation with Mr Shanks and Mr Armitage. The ability to drink four or five pints of relatively weak beer, around 3% abv was a necessary social skill

I was offered Guinness Zero at my daughters' the other day, although I opted for something else. I've never had it; is it any good?

But the quantity distributed in pre-packed plastic sacks was trivial. My mother's house had two coal bunkers holding about 1/4 ton each, and that was nothing unusual. My present house still has the remains of a bunker of about 1/2 ton When we lived in Hackney the coalmsn would deliver a ton at a time through a manhole in the pavement into a dark, damp room under the pavement

A propos beer strengths, it's a matter of "horses for courses". The relatively weak Watneys keg beers (the name Star Light also comes to mind) were well suited to the then-common custom of drinking several pints a night, three or four nights a week accompsnied by games such as bar billiards or darts, and then getting up early for a day's heavy work. It kept the pipes working and a bit of flatulence did no harm. What students did, was of no interest - they being fairly rare at the time. I think the sudden surge in lager drinking was a product of the rapid growth of mass foreign tourism from the 1960s onwards.

Don't forget that the local coal merchants operated a distribution system based on 1cwt sacks delivered house-to-house The secondary school I attended, built new in 1964 still used hand-fired central heating and hot water

That, or plain blue like the AC electric locos with black or silver smokeboxes

I will enter a vote for the much-maligned Watneys Red Barrel, with a special mention for its classic avatar, the Party Seven. Who really remembers the draught beers of that distant era? I cut my teeth, so to speak on Greene King and Tolly Cobbold, and both might politely be described as "inconsistent". Remember that the British already had a highly developed taste for long-lived beers, particularly India Pale Ale which had been developed for shipment to the Colonies in almost any conditions. Bass was another brewer with a lot of experience in that field. Keg beer was ideal for the British palate. Light, fairly tasty and not too strong (2-3 % abv), immune to the vagaries of the British climate and the indifference of the British landlord, well tailored to the British culture of drinking in groups or "rounds" it was a product of its time.

The "rail blue, late steam" layout sounds fun....

Quite so. I give you Keith Tatlinger in evidence. In the 1950s, Mr Tatlinger invented the container twist lock. Containers weren't new - they appeared immediately after WW2 - but the problem was two-fold; lifting large steel boxes containing heavy loads, and stacking them securely on ships. Like all the best ideas, once someone had thought of it, it was obvious. It also solved the fundamental problem of introducing change, which is to demonstrate its usefulness. Once big shippers were convinced that it would speed up offloading - which it did, immediately - the money to pay for the change appeared immediately. The crucial problem THEN was to standardise the size of the container, which was already pretty much achieved - the ubiquitous 20'x8'x8' box was about as big as the road transport of the day could deal with.

Indeed. Doesn't do your socks any good at all

See Kingsley Amis' short story "The Friends Of Plonk"

Also true for BOAC trolly dollies in my AIOC days....

I think the REAL reason these types weren't required, is that the country simply isn't big enough. Also, most traditional steam-era freight, especially coal, didn't warrant a premium in speed

Moving along through the gathering insanity of daily life, I find that rejecting modern thinking entirely solves a lot of problems. My good wife's Egyptian crocodile act clearly causes her more problems than enough.... Sometimes she comes up trumps, though. She lately ordered milk from a door-to-door delivery and it's rather good; the simple fact of it not having been frozen, and being in a glass bottle not plastic makes all the difference.

If you think the Prosecco sold in England is undrinkable, you don't know the English. The English may buy large quantities of wine these days, but still have no palate at all. They drink "supermarket red" (mostly Rioja) or "supermarket white" (Chardonnay) and regard £7 a bottle as expensive. Sparkling wine is basically ceremonial, like Brussels Sprouts at Xmas This doesn't trouble them at all. Beer, of almost any description, is a PROPER drink. Cider is associated with West Country spud-snatchers, although it is widely drunk (any pub will have it bottled, most have it draught), especially in summer

No 1 Son has Ryobi tools and there are at least 3 different batteries

... which neatly illustrates why 4-8-2 types were never developed in UK. LNER showed conclusively that 2-8-2 types could handle trains too big for the network (London coal traffic) and that the 8-coupled wheelbase was too long for the Scottish main lines A loco which requires fuel at London, Crewe and Carlisle to reach Glasgow is hardly "long distance", apart from being beyond the limits of hand firing. Look at the enormous tenders used in the US - 12 and 14 wheel tenders carrying loads far beyond anything used in UK, and the mechanised loading used to cope with them.

I don't care to speculate on what a "reactor scram" might involve

Achyung Spitfire!

I dont drink prosecco ... my daughter usually gets it first...