Mike Bellamy

Mickleover Model Railway Group Mickleover Community Centre Uttoxeter Road Mickleover Derby DE3 0DA Saturday 7th October 10.00am - 5.00pm Sunday 8th October 10.00am - 4.00pm Admission Adults £5 Children Free The exhibition will follow our tried and tested format which includes the clubroom being open displaying 3 permanently set up layouts and then around 12 more in the Community Centre and clubroom, along with 3 traders and the always popular club second hand table(s). For the past 50 years or so we have always used this exhibition to showcase the work of our own members, either on club layouts or their own. This year we should have two 7mm O gauge, five 4mm OO gauge, two 3.5mm HO gauge, three 4mm OO9 narrow gauge and three N gauge. Trade will be Andy Brewin from A2B Models of Matlock Bath, John Sammans second hand sales and Chris Canner with the Railway Bookshop. David Wright will be demonstrating building buildings which will include the famous "Crooked House" pub - this model was featured recently on BBC TV. Light refreshments will be available from The Old School Tearooms (part of the Community Centre). Parking at the Centre is rather limited although there is a supermarket car park nearby - but ensure that you check the signs for restrictions and make a note of the time you arrived. Don't blame us if you get caught 😠 .

I have British Transport Films Collection Volume One called "On and Off the Rails" which has been produced by the British Film Institute but I can't see anywhere when this was first "digitally remastered" and released for sale.. Two DVDs containing 14 films. The booklet lists the names of the director, producer, executive producer, script writer, photographers, editor and composer (and that's just for the film 'Blue Pullman'). Others only list director and narrator, and one out of the 14 has no credits at all. Written on each disc "Warning. All rights of the producer and owner of the work reproduced reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance, radio or TV broadcasting of this DVD prohibited". From the other information given, BTF started in 1949 and was running until closure in 1986, producing around 700 films. .

In my case I am chairman of the local Community Centre where we have our model railway clubrooms. The Community Centre is a registered charity and so the local authority then had to set up a limited company for our "trading activities" which means that I am also the Chairman of The Old School Tearooms Ltd. As soon as this happened I had to complete a self assessment tax return even though the answer to every question about income, salary, expenses, dividends etc was "Nil". That was when I was still working and on PAYE. Now retired on a pension, I still have to also complete a self assessment return. Apologies to the F1 fans for the usual RMweb topic drift . . . . . . .

As far as I am aware, the only "large" exhibition is the Soar Valley Club's show at Loughborough in August with around 30 layouts and 25 traders and was well worth a visit. Of course it depends on your interpretation of East Midlands - isn't there a large show at Spalding and of course over on this side of Derbyshire, we're not far from Stafford. .

Thanks Adrian - looks like a great day out - I had to click on "Funny" for the photo of "Lady Madcap". Does she buy her scarves to match her hair colour or colour her hair to match the scarf😊 I was also a trainspotter for a change this weekend, again with narrow gauge, at the Apedale gala (near Newcastle-under-Lyme) where a friend is a driver but he took a day off to give a group of four of us a guided tour around the site. https://avlr.org.uk/ .

Copied below from the Traders list on the Gauge O Guild site Peter Roles 39 Tattynagole Road OMAGH County Tyrone United Kingdom BT79 7TT Contact Details 02882 252107 07525 498980 Email: roles.pete@googlemail.com .

Derby has actually lost three venues . . . . . . The last Derby Show with the smaller Darwin Suite used for American or Continental was 2008 which was an American year organised by the NMRA. By this time we knew we could no longer afford to continue running exhibitions there - we never made a loss but were getting very close to the break-even point. When we first went there in 1980, the City Council were running John Huntley archive railway films in the Great Hall and had tried (and failed miserably) to organise a small model show. At the very last minute, DCC contacted the club for help and within a couple of days had got a few layouts together and put on a bit of a show. In the aftermath, it was politely suggested that they really should have asked us to get involved. I understand the conversation was something like "You made a right f"*k up of that, we can do better" and the response was "Go on then" For the first couple of years the show was still in support of the DCC film show but as it became more popular, we swapped the show to the Great Hall, with films in the smaller room, then dropped the films all together when we took over the whole complex, which allowed us to alternate between American and Continental. It was interesting over the 20 years or so that we had this show inside a show how the attendance fluctuated - for a number of years American years were more popular and then Continental took over (or was it the other way round?) When we first started, the 'profit' was split between DCC and MMRG - they provided the hall and we put on a cost neutral show. When we had the whole building we were then charged for its use and what we didn't realise was that we had been given a bit of a concessionary rate as we were a local organisation bringing a few thousand visitors into the city centre. many years later, new management realised this and wanted to charge is the full commercial rate. After a lot of argument, with support from local councillors, this was capped at a 10% increase each year but we knew by then that we couldn't continue using that building. A new exhibition manager took over and we moved to Moorways Sports Centre in 2009 but had to move from there due to the closure and demolition to build a new swimming pool. 2015 saw us at Derby Roundhouse, a well know iconic railway building which had just been fully restored by a Heritage Lottery grant and was now part of Derby College. When we went into lockdown in 2020, the College closed their separate "Events" company, shut the website, made staff redundant and refunded us the deposits we had paid for the next three years amounting to several thousands of pounds. They said they wanted to use the building more for the benefit of their students, whatever that means. many wedding receptions, craft fairs, antique fairs and the beer festival were also cancelled. Although the Assembly Rooms is still standing in the Market Place, the plant room was destroyed in a fire in 2014 and so the building has no power, water or ventilation and almost 10 years later the City Council still can't decide what to with it . . . . . . . . We still run our local "village hall" show just with club members' layouts in Mickleover Community Centre on 7th/8th October when our Clubroom will also be open. .

We were there last year and were entertained by the Royal Air Force. First a Chinook accompanied by a light aircraft and later two Typhoons joined in. They were flying around for about half hour doing circuits out to sea and then turning back inland for another pass. The jets seemed to have difficulty in going slow enough to match the helicopter and every couple of circuits they broke off and went high and fast perhaps to cool the engines (?). Checking Flight Radar showed that the light aircraft was used for photography and later some of the pictures made it onto the RAF News website. I did find a couple of other photos online claiming it was above the "White Cliffs of Dover" but if you look very carefully, the two black dots on the cliff top might be me and the wife (or perhaps specks of dust on the camera lens ! https://raf.mod.uk/news/articles/raf-typhoon-and-chinook-train-over-white-cliffs/

Clearing father-in-law's house a couple of years ago, we found papers in almost every drawer in every room which were obviously phone numbers - but no names. Then on other bits of paper we had names but no numbers. We never did understand the filing system and the whole lot went in the bin. He had been an enthusiastic amateur photographer and there were boxes and boxes of photos and negatives but nothing on the packets to say when or where. The only photos in any sort of order were ones he took in Egypt during 1952-54 when he was there on National Service - they had all been placed in a couple of rather nice leather bound albums he bought in Alexandria - he had even kept the receipt and the tear off stubs from the British Postal Orders used to pay for them. The rest of the house was a bit chaotic as well - several cameras were well beyond economic repair as batteries had been left in and had corroded the contacts. Spending time trying to clean them was more than they would have been worth. A number of lenses had also been affected by lens fungus due to unsuitable storage and lack of cleaning. A few of the 37 cameras had a value and paid for about a week in his care home !! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_fungus .

The biggest Steampunk Festival in the world is at Lincoln this weekend - 50,000 visitors are expected to attend. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-66605940 .

I know just what you mean and can imagine how you feel. As reported elsewhere on RMweb my close friend Neil Blair collapsed and died a few months ago. We had worked together in the administrative offices at the university and were both members of the small but active local group of 7mm narrow gauge modellers. Neil was like my apprentice and took on many of my jobs when I retired just before lockdown and we continued to meet every two weeks - but on zoom instead of in the pub. The zoom meetings continued as it allowed more friends to join in who couldn't get to the pub - one from York and on from South Wales. Neil's layout was photographed by Andy York and was published in BRM - he got his advance copy a few days before it was due in the shops and was so proud to have seen his work across 10 pages of the magazine as he held it up to the camera for us all to see at our last meeting. Four days later he collapsed and died with a suspected blood clot to the heart - at the age of only 35. .

Unfortunately not the only recent gliding fatality - another pilot killed on Thursday after a mid-air collision near Melton Mowbray, Leics. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-66544210 .

Dronfield, near Chesterfield last night. The van was on the back of a transporter - it isn't any more . . . .!! Image from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue / Derbyshire Live. https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/van-jammed-underneath-railway-bridge-8690266 .

The following are available from the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association Glyn Valley Tramway - Dolywern Waiting Room Glyn Valley Tramway - Pandy Coal Office Glyn Valley Tramway - Pontfadog Waiting Room Glyn Valley Tramway - Standard River Bridge See here https://7mmnga.org.uk/7mmNarrowGaugeSalesLtd/publications/publication_details.php?ref=NLE09 .

After redundancy from Lloyds 25 years ago, I had a temporary job through an agency working for a local firm manufacturing gas boilers. I was answering the phones to irate plumbers merchants and installers asking where their deliveries were. It was explained that the dispatch manager was off with long term sickness and they had a guy in from an agency who hadn't a clue what he was doing and soon left through stress. Deliveries were contracted out to an independent haulage firm and the solution was to get one of the lorry drivers in the office for a few days as he knew which depots had their own fork lift or were down a narrow street - turns out the other guy was getting half his lorries sent back as they couldn't unload or were unable to access the site. I had taken four phone calls from depots around the Manchester area and went to see him - he said we'll load it all on the night shift and they'll get everything they want in the morning - and they did. Next problem then was that production couldn't keep up with dispatch and the warehouse was running out of stock - what's the point of supplying boilers without the flue pipes. I then got another proper job and left the chaos behind me. I emailed the Parish Council about some overhanging trees at the end of our road - normally District or County responsibility but I had seen a copy of the Parish Council minutes on a notice board outside the village hall saying that they had responsibility for maintenance of the playing field - which was where the trees were. Email back next day from Chair of Council and later that day the groundsman was there cutting back the overgrown branches. Result. .

Copied from Gauge O Guild (Jackie Kneeshaw, Chair of Events Committee). .

In my case, everyone got a "Jobs at risk" letter and was invited to apply for redundancy, which I did as it would have been worth quite a bit after 20 years service. Although some were accepted, mine was declined and I complained saying that it was age discrimination as I was 64.5 years old. This went right to the top and I met one of the senior managers who told me I had a wealth of accumulated knowledge and a valuable skillset. So why had I been told my job was at risk - they had to treat everyone equally so we all got the letter. However I was offered a 2bonus" if I stayed on to enable an "orderly handover" to my replacement. This was during the transition of the state retirement age from 65 to 66 and so although my 65th birthday was in the April, I wouldn't get my state pension (and bus pass!) until November. I was asked to stay until the end of July but be paid for 3 more months, which I agreed to. My work pension was then backdated to April. As for the orderly handover, they didn't recruit until a week before I left and she was then on holiday so the handover was left to others to organise. .

Thanks - a very detailed review of the past, present and future, and what's right and wrong with Hornby. Perhaps it should be compulsory reading for everyone before they comment on here 😊 .

I seem to recall at the Warley Show a few years ago, Hornby were selling off various "Smokey Joe" 0-4-0 locos that were either Collectors Club or Commemorative models at, I think, £10. .

Very weather dependent (raining in Derby at the moment) - we had an enjoyable visit to a local Maize Maze the other day with our 7 year old grandson. He took the lead looking for spray paint markers showing the correct route, but I had to act as navigator as the map showed that almost all of the checkpoints were off the main route and it took some time for find them all. I hadn't appreciated how tall the maize would be - probably 8 to 10 ft so no chance of seeing where you were without the map. Good luck with whatever you find. .

Have a look at the work by @Giles Giles Flavell here https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/153791-cobble-embossing-tools-in-4mm-and-7mm/#comment-3933538 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3DTfVOH--g .

Thanks Dave - much appreciated. Perhaps it's appropriate at this time to go back to Richard's first posting in this topic in July 2020 - and with hindsight it could be said that "Wheeltappers" might have been a more appropriate place rather than in "Modelling" although there is always the "Ignore" button for those who find the content is not quite what they expected. The Night Mail is the antidote for Early Risers and for those who don't have to get up so early! This page of letters, continuing themes. Tell us your nightmares, and your dreams. If you are a girl without a blog, Or a boy who wants a dog You're welcome to relay your news What you tell us you can choose. We're here to listen and to chat. It really is about all that. We'll talk boats, and cars and planes Unlike ERs, we welcome trains. Show your pictures, good and bad. Tell of the things that make you mad. So come in here and show your face All are welcome in this place. .

My work about 20 years ago took me to Israel at the time of the celebration of Purim when there is a tradition of wearing fancy dress. I asked a member of staff in the office why she had dressed up and got the reply " I have no idea - I may be Jewish but I'm not religious " . . . . . . . .

With our clock, we removed the batteries, left it for a while to forget the previous settings and then switched it on again. After a while it reset itself to the correct time - after all, isn't that the usual way to fix anything electrical - "Switch it off and on again" !! .

At the University, the most senior had Business Class and everyone else went Economy. On a very long trip to Botswana via Johannesburg, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (second in command of the whole organisation) was leading a team of seven to approve a new partnership with a college in Botswana. He didn't want to travel that distance on his own and suggested Premium Economy for everyone. As the most junior on the trip (bag carrier and note taker) I had the job of sorting this out. Finance refused to process the order as it was outside guidelines, but not that much more expensive for 7 PE v 1BC +6E. When he found out he was rather cross and basically told them that if they wanted to remain in employment, they should process the order PDQ. Problem was that by then all the PE seats had gone and so the boss travelled at the back with rest of us ! On another trip to Malaysia, there was some sort of mix up with bookings and although we all went Economy, the return had two seats in Business and so we took it in turns to use those seats and the hospitality swapping over when we stopped off in Dubai and also during the journey - the on-board staff from Emirates were very helpful and didn't mind as long as the named passengers were in the right seats for take-off and landing (and guess who had one of the Business tickets !!) .