Ian Simpson

Fair point, I definitely over-simplified a bit! It was a fascinating period, and the Whigs became considerably less stroppy after the Glorious Revolution. Well, they did dominate English politics throughout the first half of the 18th century, which probably takes some of the edge of anyone's radicalism.

Interesting question. I'm going to say no. If anything, people often see the Tories as slightly to the right of the Whigs, as they tended to support the interests of the aristocracy [edit: okay, Compound corrects my dodgy history in the next post] and landed gentry while the Whigs were supportive of the nouveau riche industrialists. But I wouldn't consider either party to be left wing in any modern sense of the term. In the early days (late 17th and 18th centuries) the Tories tended to be more pro-monarchist, more tolerant in religious matters such as Catholic emancipation and more supportive of large landowners, while the Whigs tended to be more pro-Parliament, more Protestant / Puritan and more pro-merchant / early capitalist in their economic policies. [Hint: think "Cavalier" versus "Roundhead" here. The Tory and Whig factions developed in the years following the Restoration of Charles II.] Our modern understanding of Left and Right doesn't really fit very well into this period - for example, neither side was particularly interested in greater equality throughout society as a whole, while both were pro-liberty as long as it was reserved for people like themselves. I suppose the Tories tended to be more conservative in their wariness of social change (so more social reactionary / right wing: e.g. Burke), while the Whigs were more open to industralisation and free trade (so more pro-capitalist / right wing). Without wanting to trigger a fit of rage in anyone, I'd suggest the Labour Party was created because even at the end of the 19th century neither of the existing parties (Tory/Conservative and Whig/Liberal) were representing the interests of the working class effectively. Having said that, here in 1905 Norfolk we are surprisingly Liberal, based on the 1900 General Election results:

That's a fascinating question, and I hope it gets some equally fascinating answers. I don't know if this will help at all, but I quite enjoy making modelling mistakes! I feel I learn even more from my own errors than I do from other people's advice.

But they'll be here soon enough - and then we'll be sorry we didn't keep the Red Flag laws.

That's my summer reading sorted! Seriously, thank you for highlighting this article. The way accounts were reported made a big difference to the shareholders' mood in the early days of railways. The temptation to pay dividends out of capital rather than revenue was already a feature in the 1830s, so that the London & Croydon Railway's Parliamentary Act forbade the company to pay any dividends until the line was actually open and running trains. That was okay until the contractors encountered problems making cuttings that didn't collapse in the London clay, at which point the shareholders revolted and threw out the Board. They then discovered the company's books, which used a single entry method, were in such a haphazard condition that it took months to sort things out.

I've just made an online donation to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Living on the coast I know what an amazing job they do, but the real trigger was Nigel Farage's attack on them for running a taxi service for people traffickers (because lifeboats have been saving migrant families in the English Channel). A reminder that Kate Shemirani isn't the most repugnant person in the UK, by a long chalk. Of course, in the interests of balance I must also give John Finnimore's thought-provoking views on the RNLI:

Oh my God! They've infiltrated the No 10 Policy Unit!!

Yes, I was a bit surprised that such an incredibly powerful conspiracy was happy to let everyone spread its greatest secrets all over the Internet. Incidentally, I did discover in Wikipedia that Piers Corbyn and David Icke think that Kate Shemirani is really an Illuminati stooge feeding us false flag info. I wouldn't normally pass on gossip like this, but I felt it might go some way to reassuring Edwardian.

Well, this was meant to be a working morning. Instead I seem to have spent most of it link-hopping on Wikipedia, and as a result I know rather more about conspiracy theories than is good for me. For example, I now believe that DCC is a Deep State alien-developed technology giving a sinister Elite the power to stop us all playing trains. I also think it would be possible to make nickel-silver rails that never need cleaning, but a powerful cabal of track cleaner manufacturers won't allow it.

And in Winston's case, they were undoubtedly right.

To be fair, life expectancy has long been a factor in medical decisions, including policy ones. And Johnson could reasonably have pointed to some of the mental health impacts of lockdown and isolation on the other side of the balance sheet, as well as the economic effects of lockdown. Not that any of that changes my own view that he is an incompetent bungler who is hopelessly out of his depth during a major crisis.

The oddest thing this morning is how depressed everyone seems to be about England having the second-best team in Europe. That seems to be something for football fans to celebrate, rather than stress over. If I was the second-best modeller on RMWeb you'd never hear the end of it

Useful, but soccer still seems simpler: 1. Put the ball in the opponent's net, not your own. 2. Don't use your hands if you're wearing the same colour shirt as your teammates. Okay, there's also an offside rule. Don't worry about it, the referee will tell you if you break it. [Edit: in which case everyone on your team will still believe you, rather than the ref.]

Did the Junction / surrounding area change a lot between 2019 and today? If not, I'd suggest staying with EMT as the recent photos will still be very relevant. If it did change significantly, other people of RMWeb may have earlier photos if you give a shout out.

Well, anyone modelling a period before the 1980s now knows they have to include a vignette of a broken-down car with the bonnet up.

Perhaps the other two have gone back on the sauce?

I've held off saying anything so far because my painting isn't that great. I suspect that puts me in the "average modeller" category, as RM used to say. On Richard's five steps: 1. Clean the model using alcohol or white spirit, not soapy water. Yes, I fully agree! I still sometimes see that old advice to clean in soapy water and then rinse it off afterwards, but my rinsing is no better than my painting and any soap remnants will ruin a paint job. I tend to use alcohol for cleaning, because occasionally white spirit has softened some types of plastic (e.g. Lima wagons). 2. Undercoat with a Halfords spray primer - usually grey, occasionally white Yes again, a big fan of the spray can here. I tend to use Poundland spray cans, which work well enough for me although they don't hold as much paint as some other brands. I know we're supposed to use black primer for figures, but I find most of the enamel colours I use look more accurate with a light-coloured undercoat. 3. Optional base coat with a Tamiya spray, this depends on having a suitable colour to hand I've never tried this, but it seems a good idea if you've got the time and enthusiasm. 4. Tamiya matt acrylics, applied by brush, adding coats as wanted to increase colour depth; use the largest brush possible, lots of springiness in the bristles, adjust pressure to suit Afraid I've always preferred enamel paints to acrylics. Agree a springy brush is best - too stiff and it will ruin the work, too flabby is just exasperating. Personally I don't always go for the largest brush, as I like painting small areas at a time, but suspect that's because I'm using enamels. 5. Leave for a week+ and finish with an enamel matt varnish applied very lightly (I am using a Humbrol spray), this pulls the surface together and hides most brush marks. Ahem! Totally lacking patience, if I leave the paint overnight I'm doing well. But I'm sure Richard is right. Yes to light matt varnish - or perhaps satin if you want the finished surface to reflect a bit of light. On John's over-thick coats of paints, I always have the same problem with acrylic paints. That's why I prefer to use enamel paints, with a few drops of extra thinner in the can, and apply several thin coats. The additional thinner seems to make the paint dry smoother without brushmarks.

Simon (Rue d'Etropal) does some 3D prints of small GSWR loco bodies: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/recreation21?section=Irish+5ft+3in+gauge&s=0

Well, at least it seems Covid-compliant!

I love the boilers on those overhead coaches! Looks as if a Seuthe smoke unit would fit in them, too.

I'd certainly be interested, Alan! I prefer ad hoc micro-layouts for myself, but I'm still fascinated by the building of large and complex layouts by those with more stamina and ambition.

I've just ordered the Humbrol enamels that I personally needed from Squires Tools of Bognor without any problems. I didn't ask for 33 Black, so I've no idea if they've got that colour in stock at the moment. Squires' prices for Humbrol are more expensive than some other suppliers, and they have a minimum £15 order. On the other hand, there's no extra charge for postage and packing, which can be quite significant with other firms. As Squires have a very full range of modelling materials etc, I can usually find an excuse to buy fifteen quid's worth of stuff from them. The usual disclaimer applies: I don't have any connection except for being a satisfied customer for several years, and I do like their customer service.

Craftsmanship/clever for sure, but I can't help thinking there's an element of witchcraft involved here too! Really well done, a brilliant job!

I'm going to add Francis Marindin here. He played for the Royal Engineers in the 1872 Cup Final.

Good point. I must admit I was thinking about the name of the rail set-up becoming redundant rather than the island. Not that that's in my top ten concerns about the proposal.