Liam

Same with me - volunteer for the OTB primarily but also Bewdley platform and Bewdley MPD. Due to a busy schedule I had only managed two shifts since the end of November, so I’m really missing the SVR. 
 

This ongoing crisis gave me a question - if a preserved railway has a steam loco with a boiler certificate that expires at the end of 2020 (for example), will its certificate be extended by the time the railway was inactive? 4566 springs to mind, as IIRC the expiration date of its boiler certificate was delayed by a few months in 2017 due to the floods that devastated us in 2007. 

On 03/04/2020 at 13:51, melmerby said:

Your trees seem a bit tardy this year.

Here in Worcestershire most trees have leaves on now although not fully unfurled, so aren't skeletal any more.

Still a few bare trees in my corner of Worcestershire.

Marstons Pedigree tonight. Went rather well with some pork. 
 

But Morrisons are selling this and EPA for just £1! I have an idea why that might be the case - as Marstons own lots of pubs and hotels, they might be bottling much more than they would normally to make up for their establishments being closed, and they might also be prepared to sell their bottles for a lower price than usual if it means more sales.

7 minutes ago, Phil Bullock said:

How about a West Country version..... Zuider Zidings....

Including suitable aromas of course. And maybe a bit of The Wurzels...

2 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

Not strange at all Liam. I am technically inept and would put this down to a sausage hoof in the wrong place. I can't be bothered amending it now.....

 

Rob. 

No worries. 

That’s strange Rob, my photos seem to have ended up in your post! 
 

I do notice however that Chris Nevard expanded Brew Street to accommodate the water features. Another one I liked was Brewhouse Quay - you could practically smell the hops and hear the water gushing against the quayside... 

Here’s a couple of photos that might help you out: 

I know I’m resuscitating this thread after over two years but with not much else on, I had a flick through volume 7 of ‘How to Build a Model Railway’ at the weekend. I saw Brew Street, and I’ve been well and truly bitten by the micro layout bug! There’s a few boards in the garage that aren’t doing anything else, so I might see what I can do with a small baseboard, existing stock, some spare Peco code 75 and a vivid imagination...

Has it been mentioned that the NEC is now also to be used as a makeshift hospital? 
 

https://www.itv.com/news/central/2020-03-27/nec-to-become-temporary-hospital-in-fight-against-coronavirus/

Just came across this very sad story. 
 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/29/spanish-flu-survivor-dies-from-coronavirus-aged-108?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0ILhypZwUw3VBCbrvYrwUWszwwGnJKprin6QnmEKA2Df5B98LdQL6L_Is#Echobox=1585493935

All looks good Rob. I’ve been tempted down similar lines after seeing Chris Nevard’s ‘Brew Street’ in volume 7 of How to Build a Model Railway. If it wasn’t for the clearout I did earlier today I probably wouldn’t have unearthed it...
 

I’ve got a few unused boards in the garage so I might well end up building something similar to Brew Street. 

My cooking endeavours if nothing else have at least generated interest in this thread... 

25 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

If the virus has jumped from china in winter to countries like Singapore and Malaysia that would indicate that it can survive big climate swings.

Perhaps, but as of today Malaysia has 2,320 cases, and 27 death, and when here in the UK we had a similar number of infections the death toll was around 100, so warmer weather, if it doesn’t delay the spread of the virus, may lead it to mutate into a less fatal virus. 
 

I’ve used this news article here, and the graph by Peng Wu, a student at Leeds who everyday converts the latest figures from the Department of Health & Social Care into a graph.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-new-covid-19-cases-mar-28-12585940

https://mobile.twitter.com/DHSCgovuk/status/1243901924786790400

17 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Indeed my first thought was WTF went on there? 

 

Too much Tangle Foot before dinner I think 

No officer, I wasn’t drinking while cooking! *hic* 

Badger haven’t referred to it as a ‘deceptively drinkable ale’ for no reason. But all jokes aside, that wasn’t my best effort; my best so far was this last August. 
 

Must admit though that that wasn’t made with Tangle Foot; despite being located literally next door to the brewery, Tesco in Blandford didn’t have any Tangle Foot, so we had to make do with some Golden Champion, which I would enjoy if it wasn’t for that peculiar floral aftertaste.

Tangle Foot for me tonight. But last Monday I baked another Tangle Foot toad in the hole. Here’s the finished product:

4 hours ago, 88D said:

Come on Coal Tits, those Blue Tits are bullies!

So after my earlier post there was a rather interesting development - the blue tits and coal tits were simultaneously entering the nestbox! At one point there was a blue tit AND a coal tit in there!

One theory I had was that they’ve put their differences aside, reconciled with each other and have now joined forces to have a mixed brood. But that would lead to a very overcrowded nestbox, and add to that four adult birds and it would get quite cosy in there during the night...

2 hours ago, Phil Bullock said:

Blue tits keep looking at our nest box but dont want to take the plunge.....

 

That’s exactly what ours have been doing - they peer in but often they don’t actually go in. Methinks blue tits are rather fussy about where they nest.

31 minutes ago, Kingzance said:

No chance of knocking up another nesting box and finding a nearby and suitable place for it Liam?

Well the previous owners of our house left a nestbox on the right hand side of the garden, and the nestbox which has been used is an RSPB one attached to the wall of the shed on the left hand side of the garden. Currently the old nestbox is buried in undergrowth but if one pair find it then they could use it as a well hidden nesting site. Though I do remember the RSPB website saying that nestboxes shouldn’t be positioned too close to each other as it can lead to conflict. 

Well, there appears to be a battle between the blue tits and the coal tits for our nestbox. The coal tits had moved in last Friday, but then on Sunday/Monday the blue tits, who have used our nestbox in 2015, 2016 and 2018, decided that THEY would use the nestbox, and Bulleid the coal tits out. This involved somewhat of a dogfight between one of each pair. The blue tits then moved in although they would often hesitate on the entrance hole before going in.

But this afternoon the coal tits have reclaimed the nestbox and restarted nest building, although so far I believe I’ve only seen one as the one I’ve seen hasn’t been seen with their partner and uses the same flight routes. I hope we have a coal tit family because they were here first.

51 minutes ago, black and decker boy said:

This week I’ll be mostly taking Chiltern Brewery Beechwood Bitter

 

(with apologies to the Fast Show)

 

 

How much have you got in there?

On 22/03/2020 at 00:20, 43110andyb said:

 My worry is that the panic buyers of the 24 cases of lager run out and get a taste for real ale! The beer and cider aisle had been stripped bare yesterday apart from the craft & real ale sections!

You may well be right - in Morrisons this afternoon there was a notice saying that sales of bottles of beer and cider were restricted to three per customer. I got a Pure UBU, Hooky Gold and Golden Sheep - the latter of which I’m looking forward to try.

4 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

I did the same, last minute Ratio Station, platform kits and a signal box with internal kit......need something for once I have fitted all the point motors and wired permanently.......at least this damned virus has had the effect of getting the rocket up me and get started on my new layout....... I’ve had the baseboards packaged as arrived for a year and collecting track and rolling stock for longer......

May I take this opportunity to say that’s a very impressive DVD collection? 

10 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Most countries seem to have the army out being simultaneously reassuring and mildly intimidating , and I guess that the TA (Army Reserve?) is being mobilised right now.

 

Their very presence in uniform should have the desired affect of making people think about whether their journey is really necessary.

 

 

I’m picturing Corporal Jones hysterically shouting ‘Don’t panic!’ and Warden Hodges shouting ‘Put that light out!’ 

1 minute ago, 57xx said:

 

67 million people are in the same boat. Yes it will be tough. Get over it.

Of course it will be tough. And it’s not like I have any other choice but to ‘get over it’.

1 minute ago, St. Simon said:

Hi,

 

I believe they are quoted as being timed for a Class 158 quite often, or at least that’s what it was when I helped do some risk assessments a couple of weeks back.

 

Simon

Thanks Simon. I’m keen to have a ride on them when this period of chaos is over but it’s difficult anyway when the nearest points of the GWR network to you are Worcester SH or Evesham. IMHO the HSTs won’t be the same with power doors and fixed windows.