Mike Bellamy

Wise words from Mr Bear. My father spent the last couple of years in a small bungalow (one of eleven) in the grounds of a nursing home. Although he owned the property, there was a service agreement with the home that they would provide emergency cover in case of need and so alarm pull cords were in each room. There was also a daily visit each morning from one of the staff at the home - usually 'Laundry Pat' (so called as she did the laundry for the residents at the home). As he didn't want to be bothered with her calling in every day and spending 10 minutes gossiping, dad had an arrangement that she would tap on the lounge window, where he would be reading the paper (if it had arrived) or watching the breakfast news. If he waved back, then she knew he wasn't dead yet - this worked well for a couple of years until his health deteriorated and we arranged for carers to visit daily and he passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 92. I hope that Chris had a peaceful end to his suffering. We did meet briefly at an early RMweb meet at Warley some years ago and in a posting here he also expressed surprised that 50 years ago (at the age of 18), I had seen a folk artist he knew at Grantham Folk Club - I was by far the youngest member of the audience! .

. . . like Eric Morecambe teaching Andre Previn who was playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order. .

A Masterclass in CAD and 3D printing. Giles posts most of his narrow gauge work on the NGRM forum but you need to be a member there to view his amazing work. I understand that there are plans for this to eventually become available in kit form. .

Andy locked the previous topic to prevent speculation . . . . . . . . .

See PM just sent

Unbelievable - if the leak couldn't be fixed then if the two bath taps (and shower?) had been installed correctly, then they should have isolation valves somewhere so that would prevent further use and stop water leaking from the waste pipe. As an alternative, all that was needed was to tell your friend not to use the bath !! We had a similar situation a couple of years ago with father-in-law who had a faulty gas fire and the 'engineer' cut everything off at the meter. When we found out, my son (Gas Safe Registered) did a 100 mile round trip for 10 minutes work to just disconnect the faulty appliance and got everything else working again. We had an accident with our caravan at the end of July (white van man hit us in the rear in slow moving traffic). To maintain the warranty on a nearly new caravan, it has to go back to the factory for repair . . . . . . 9 months later in April !!! .

Not any more - Guildex moved to Stafford in September . . . . . . . .

All good here thanks Peter - retired in 2019 and still spending my time keeping the Mickleover club finances in order - only problem is that the old building is about ready to fall down and we can't afford a replacement . . . . . . . . .

Hi Peter The local Derby Telegraph website has an article about a property for sale in Shardlow - described as a 'Malt Warehouse' - it could be yours for £800,000 . . . Click Here for Link to 'Derbyshire Live' - sorry about all the adverts ! This then got me thinking - and a search on 'Rightmove' gave me three canalside properties all for sale - but the best bit is that they include drone photos to show where they are located and so you may find further inspiration for other buildings in the area. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128215325#/?channel=RES_BUY https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85879134#/?channel=RES_BUY https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129288692#/?channel=RES_BUY Looking forward to further developments. .

Most impressive - particularly the use of original photos to show the scenes you have modelled. .

I think that puts him about an hour away from @jamie92208 .

Amusing to see that they are all queuing under the "Fast Check-in" signs . . . . . . . . .

We spent a day their a few years ago and as we were staying in the area went back the next day to finish off what we had missed due to lack of time. We also went to the computing museum and as we had both worked in a major bank during the 1970s, we recognised many of the adding machines and early computers etc. Ron's photos also show what it must be like in good weather - we were there on a couple of very dull and dismal days ! .

Neil - you need Paul Martin at EDM Models of York. He developed the Minerva Peckett sounds with Paul Chetter and is the authorised installer of this sound system - or he sells a DIY kit. https://ngtrains.com/shop/product/minerva-peckett-dcc-kits-installs-and-decoders/ As the original loco worked in Swansea Docks, one of the functions includes the sounds of seagulls . . . . . . . . .

Copied below from the Gauge O Guild Forum - given the circumstances with a sudden death, I assume it will take some time to sort out his business affairs. .

Looking on Google Street View, Lea Hall appears to have a lot of roadside parking on the northern side around the school. Has anyone experience of parking in this area? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.48116,-1.7851087,202m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en .

One of my earliest memories, at the age of five, was the unforgettable smell in the cellar of my grandfather's village pub, with all wooden casks and beer all over the floor from spillage when filling jugs or connecting pipes. No other smell like it (at least for a five year old), and never experienced since then. .

It isn't just about the two world wars - what about the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afganistan etc . Don't the fallen there have a right to be remembered ? .

In early September we were at the Seven Sisters cliffs near Eastbourne and after a coffee break at the National Trust tearooms at Birling Gap, walked up onto the cliff tops. Soon we heard the distinctive sound of a Chinook which was flying with a light aircraft. They were flying east, parallel to the coast, then turning for a circuit inland before repeating the manoeuvre. Soon they were joined by the Union Jack display Typhoon which for most of the time, was positioned between the Chinook and the cliffs. The jet was flying nose up (to slow down to helicopter speed?) and after a couple of circuits would bank and accelerate away before re-joining the formation (overheating ?). All the time there was a second Typhoon circling much higher and joined in the formation a few times. After a very entertaining 15/20 minute display the jets went north, and the Chinook and the light plane went west - the light plane was tracked back to Bournemouth. I said at the time that I guessed they were there for photography and have now found this link. https://raf.mod.uk/news/articles/raf-typhoon-and-chinook-train-over-white-cliffs/ .

Chimichurri.....Perhaps I spelt it wrong but I got Dick Van Dyke in the film Mary Poppins . . . . . . . . . Nduja....Isn't that Mrs Hippo of Telford . . . . . .

Many thanks to you both for quick and informative replies - now what colour will she choose . . . . . . . .

Could I ask you both what was your preparation/treatment of choice. We have just had a new shed for gardening stuff and assorted cr@p out of the garage and the recommended treatment is Protek Royal Exterior at £65 for 5 litres. We declined their offer to supply this but then I realised that most suppliers actually charged more - so it's rather expensive stuff. Hopefully you can suggest a cheaper alternative. Thanks. .

A few years ago at the Classic Car show there was a large queue buying parking tickets from a portacabin on the way to the halls. I decided to get a ticket later in the day but ended up staying until the show closed. By the time I got to the ticket office it was all locked up and the barriers were all open so no charges that day for me. That was the Motorhome and Caravan Show last week - from Tuesday to Sunday in Halls 6 to 20 but as far as I know there were no other events on during that time and so all carparks were free. .

The Gauge O Guild held their show at the same venue a few weeks before Stafford. After much criticism in previous years about hidden costs and a substantial loss at Telford (£30,000?) the new team have published a complete income and expenditure account to show the reality of putting on a large exhibition. This is for a 2 day show with only about 10 layouts and 80 traders and is the 'showcase' for the Guild. There were around 1,500 visitors compared to 2,000 in 2019. Admission (2 day ticket) was £10 members and £15 public. All costs are in thousands £x,000 and many of the smaller amounts have been omitted from the headline figures below Ticket Sales £15, Trade £17 (Total income £38) Venue £28, Hotels £5, Meals £3, Layout Travel £2.5, Other Travel £1.5 (Total costs £45) This resulted in a loss of almost £7,000. The following information may be of interest when trying to plan against a budget set 12 months before the show . . . . . . . . . . .

Sorry to hear you have caught Covid - I wonder if it was from our show two weeks earlier although I haven't heard of any of our club members suffering. Hope you are soon feeling better. My son once raced there and we went to watch his first time out in a clapped out repainted pink Ford Fiesta. He was at the back of the grid as a beginner and got as far as the first corner when his car stopped, and they had to 'red flag' the race to push him out of the way. Distributor lead had come off the coil. A couple of races later the same day, he had got the hang of it and was actually passing a few more experienced racers. A few weeks later he won his first race. He also used a well known saying from a John Wayne film (She wore a yellow ribbon says Google) "Don't apologise, it's a sign of weakness" which seems rather appropriate given the coming and going in Downing Street over the last few days !! .