Methuselah

.....and the Police were also still using Teleprinters up until 1981 or even a bit later.

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrhd719.htm The Top Shed being rebuilt, showing the entrances to the Wagon Hoist up to Hockley Port canal wharf. The structure for the hoist mechanism sat over the shafts;- https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrhd720.htm .....the building is still there on the left with a white roof, as it that wall next to the road.

Wow - his stuff is amazing..... Love the way he used the table. Oddly enough....I had a vague theory swilling around in my head that, my main outside section of track, with falling ground behind, would, when correctly photographed with a small aperture for depth of field, seem seamless. Here is the view behind where it will run - the immediate foreground would be hidden....;-

Mikkel, I don't think I'd be satisfied only with the railway in the garden - but it's a whole different game. You can run scale length trains..and have scale curves - and there are no 'rules'.... I can run any companies train out there, most of which wouldn't look 'correct' on my indoor diorama - when it's done. I'll also be able to sit-out alfresco and enjoy watching them too. The other thing is the light.....no matter how good indoor lighting is - or the models, nothing really compares with natural light - it's a funny thing. The 'mangle' was in the old brew-house when I bought the farmhouse, but sadly, the old copper for brewing the beer had long been sprited-away...! I couldn't quite find the heart to ditch the mangle - maybe I'll grow some flowers around it in the end.... :-) I have the original water-pump too, and it's stone basin. I'll make that into a water-feature. The old cider mill used to have a stone mill in it to crush the apples. It would have been powered by a donkey or mule, again - missing when I bought the place. It would have looked like this;- So much work - sooo little time..... :-P

Used to sail out of Appledore too, up on the north coast - that was even worse...and there was another bar when you got to the coast....and the sea tended to get rougher. All part of the fun..... :-)

Shaldon, 01/10/18 - it was like a summers day. Up to about ten years ago, I used to sail out of Teignmouth a lot - it was a simple pleasure. If it was a nice day and a fair breeze, I'd stop work at lunchtime and I could be in the boat sailing inside three-quarters of an hour. I rebuilt an old wooden boat I'd paid pennies for from a guy up on Dartmoor. Behind Teignmouth and the sand-bar, there is still something about the place the old seahawks might recognise. Dartmoor looming over the verdant coast and glittering estuary, the smell of the sea, the cries of the Gulls and I expect the sand still trod into the streets back when Walter Raleigh was a lad. I never had any sailing lessons - just trial, error - and common sense - a philosophy that has been a theme all through my life it seems. After setting-up, I'd beach the boat, have a quick pint in the pub, and head out to sea - four six or more hours sailing and fishing, back in and beach the boat for another pint, then back home for a BBQ - free fish and chilled home-made wine free from the garden. Who needs international-travel when there is so much to enjoy on our doorstep for pocket money...? These days, it seems that many people may have to re-learn simple pleasures - and that must be a good thing.

What stunning weather at the moment..... Having been cooped-up, the need to go out furnished the opportunity to have our 'Daily Boris' exercise through some ancient deciduous woodland nearby. Can there be any doubt that this is, on such a gin-clear day, the loveliest time of year...? Every bud, every leaf, strains - bursts with vigour. The wonderful fresh green against that arching sky, a gentle breeze whispering through the trees masking any sound of footfall on an ancient path. Even the wildlife all appears new and fresh. Wild flowers, carpets of late Bluebells - and everything in seemingly super-sharp focus. Wonderful and uplifting in such strange days. As Houseman said;- Star and coronal and bell April underfoot renews, And the hope of man as well Flowers among the morning dews. Now the old come out to look, Winter past and winter's pains. How the sky in pool and brook Glitters on the grassy plains. Easily the gentle air Wafts the turning season on; Things to comfort them are there, Though 'tis true the best are gone. Spring Morning

Back in the days when we were allowed out to play..... I think these were Mevagissy, the day after a funeral. A dull drizzly morn, then, as we walked, the current-bun came out to play. Lovely old converted fishing boat, and a curious Gull. Hope springs eternal......

This is round the back again - these photos were taken last season, after all the main groundworks were back-filled. Most of the repairs and replacements to the timber frame at the rear are nearing completion now. Here we can see an awkward area right in the corner that had to be tackled off the scaffold tower. The horizontal member is new, the diagonal brace is reclaimed. Here Terran is laid to stop the ground disturbed by groundworks from working it's way up through the new stone I'm about to put down. As you can see, most of the timber frame is complete, the remaining bit of nasty masonry is actually an original doorway that was later blocked-in. Where I am standing will actually be inside the model railway room when complete. I had to reduce the rear yard back down to it's original level - many tons were removed. The stone will help it drain - there is a new land-drain under it anyway - and I will lay stone flags or sets for the paths. The big plastic tank is going up into the loft of the cider mill that you can see behind as a header-tank for the water system. The yard buildings on the left will be rebuilt and extended past the camera to house the railway etc. The part in the corner is the brew-house and will be the utility, the woodshed nearest is too far gone so will be rebuilt. The main roof is pretty good as you can see - the projects saving-grace, as everything has stayed nice and dry inside. My new gutters have also helped to stop most of the wetting of the walls when it rains.

Sadly, the big barn is still owned by the farmer. I do have space in the hop kilns at first storey level......but then I wouldn't be able to link to the garden layout when I build that - hence the extension to the shed behind the farmhouse. When I was young, conventional wisdom said you just didn't run OO outside, but actually - it can work very well. Some folks have been doing it for ten to twenty years. You can run full-length trains....and the natural light really brings the models to life. For me, it's not an alternative to indoors - just an extra dimension. Here is a guy called Craig Owen, who I think posts somewhere on RMweb. Here he's running both RTR and some kit locos - he seems to have hundreds of locos...!

Last summer. Lots of unavoidable work done - but it never seems to look much different outside....! Lots of groundworks were carried out. Being buried it's all consigned to invisibility. A lot of time and expense, yet even I find myself disregarding it after time. Queue Judy Garland....... :-) Certainly no pot of gold.... :-P

This is what my friends keep saying too.....! I discovered a couple of days ago that I've already got enough dug-out in the kitchen (I can't get the mini-digger in there any more, and my bad back precludes any serious hand-digging.). Since the boiler and heat-store are out in the brew house, I'm concerned that the kitchen wont be warm enough - as in always warm. I always used to have a solid-fuel range in the kitchen - love that 'Heart of the house' warmth - but 'Feeding the dragon' is a bit to much like a life-sentence in my dotage...!

Door to the solar/main bedroom. Above is some original wattle & daub in the Oak timber frame. The particular section of infill is in pretty poor condition, but I can't bring myself to remove it. Note that the daub had a layer of grubby lime plaster over it. Areas like this extend right up to the ridgeline on all the gables, proving that, originally, there were no ceilings..... They must have been very hardy souls...! Anyway - I may simply fix a section of plasterboard over it in the end to preserve it. I had to move the door to the left somewhat to allow room on the right, where the external wall is, for the insulation. Above the bresommer level, the chimney stands away from the wall. Here, we are on the landing of the cetral upper storey. Almost certainly, there was no chimney when this section was originally built. The section beyond the door is the original gable-end, and isn't original either, as there ar mortices and pen holes for a horizontal member where that door is. The bread-oven sits directly below the landing here. This is the door that I thought was a sort of B&Q jobbie.... it just looked too good to be really old. In fact - as I discovered when I dusted it off, - it is very old - just well-crafted. It's Oak, and there are no metal fixings - it's all pegged with very small Oak pegs. Below is the reverse of the same door. We had to make a new Oak frame as the old one was beyond saving. This is really a last resort. As you will probably noticed, some area include many grafted-in sections of timber to preserve originality wherever possible. Sadly, sometimes, it's simply not. The door-furniture is 'original'. With such buildings, the word is entirely relative. One often finds timbers and other items that clearly had a previous life. Here - we are really too far from the sea to expect to see reused ships-timbers - but some parts of buildings were commonly re-used, such as doors etc. Below is the inside of one of the specially made Oak windows. Because of the thick insulation, the window reveals are naturally wide. Rather than simply plastering, Oak boards over an inch thick been used, to, I think, good effect. At the time this building was first erected, ordinary folk couldn't afford glass. I have found the remains of the external iron hinges for external wooden shutters. They were lucky if they had something like oiled paper or vellum to allow light in and keep drafts out. The size and quality of the timber-frame suggests that whoever the original building was erected for, they had some minor status - some sort of yeoman perhaps. It's not possible to determine if it had any glazed windows originally, but it seems very unlikely. The door furniture on the windows is all hand-made.

Some internal woodwork. The rear of the drawing room door. The clenched nails are correct for the period. They are actually from a pile of unused nails I found in an old bucket at a previous property. They are in fact horse-shoe nails, used to shoe the old carthorses back in the day. The lock and keeper came from different locations, but match very well. Seen next to the new front door on the left, which is only located there temporarily, pending the rebuilding of the porch. The new drawing room door made to fit in the original mediaeval frame. Two layers of Oak at right-angles. Almost as heavy as the front door, which is even thicker. You would definitely not want to shut your fingers in these doors..... The metalwork is a mixture of reclaimed parts from site and new hand-made.

Another section of the rear ground-floor being renewed the year before last - 2018. This kitchen area of the building has required a lot of attention - more than any other single area. 50% of the floor above has been renewed - joists and floorboards, the rear wall, and eventually, two other walls will be renewed, it's all Oak of course. The floor is being relaid too...

Mikkel;- Thanks. I do love the old place, I've certainly 'bonded' with it..... :-) The well was in an awkward position, and sadly, I had to remove the old cast-iron hand-pump, which I've saved and will restore as a curio. When we lifted-up the old cap, we found it was reinforced with an old bicycle (A common practice it seems..!) and several length of Bullhead. I needed to rebuild the new cap strong enough to allow lorries to drive over it, so the lengths of Bullhead went back it....! I wonder what interesting locos ran over those metals.....Beyers, 517's...Metro's....or even earlier types. I daren't get too distracted by layout-building though.....

12;- …..But I Digress. These are, it has to be said, strange days – and given that fact, it will perhaps not seem so unusual to write a blog about a model railway project that I have not even seriously physically started on – aside from collecting a mountain of material and parts etc. Also, given the interest/kind words relating to the reasons for my delay in starting, I thought it might be of some little interest to describe the larger project surrounding my little model railway project, and thereby flesh-out my pathetic excuses for the delay….! If Restoring mediaeval houses and creating an off-grid Shangri La are of no interest - look away now....! Ten years ago, a domestic collapse left me looking for a new home. This was problematic for me on many levels, not the least of which was the fact that I was left with, literally, three lorry-loads of blokey ‘stuff’. In many ways, I was really looking for a workshop – with a house attached…..I didn't need a big house, I didn't want a big house, but I did need lots of storage. Added to this, I’ve always wanted to create an eco-friendly off-grid utopia. I’d also really always hankered-after a very old timber-framed building, but they were either unsuitable, too small, too large – or too expensive. I had carried out an extensive refurbishment of a two hundred and fifty year old country house some years ago – and thought that one such project in a lifetime was enough, I was very reluctant to get involved in another – even bigger project in my dotage and decrepitude. This was all happening at a time when my very elderly parents were at the end of their lives too, with all that that also entails. After some research, my attention focussed on a German design-standard known as Passive House. (More at the Links below.). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house https://passivehouse.com https://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/what_is_passivhaus.php This is not a specific design of house – but a set of standards to create an eco-friendly dwelling that basically needs little or no heating. I’d done some sketches of my own to create a passive house, but in a local vernacular style. So far so good. My intention was never to follow the Passive House word for word - after all, it was conceived for new buildings, not one around over half a millennia old. As they say in Hollywood, my version 'Was inspired by...'....! The next step was to look for a building plot, and here my plans started to run aground. Such building plots as there were, were often in unsuitable locations, hideously expensive, and in fact, it was sometimes more cost-effective to buy a property and demolish it. Madness. At around this time, I happened upon a very old, very dilapidated farmhouse. It was in many ways very well located. It was private, well away from traffic, had great views, plenty of outbuildings and even a well. The farmer had sold the house to a chap who had carried out some renovations – and then run out of money. A cautionary tale perhaps….! I formed the basic idea that that I could combine my desire for an eco-friendly house with my longing for a really old building – if I could swing it….. Negotiations ground to a halt, as the seller was in default and the bank wouldn’t budge. I’d given-up and moved-on to looking at other properties. Then – over a year later, the agents re-approached me and asked if I was still interested. After the usual delays, I acquired the property. It’s perhaps worth pointing-out at this juncture, that many people would have looked askance at this project. It was – and is still - approached down a rough track, and through a farm populated with rusty decrepit agricultural machinery and collected junk. The average wife would not allow their husband to get halfway down the track before calling for a ‘Swift Exit’….! Oddly enough, this worked to my advantage, as it put-off many prospective buyers, and generally helps to discourage unwelcome visitors. If, like me, you are an old curmudgeon, you will understand…! At this point, whilst the roof had been re-done and felted etc, there were still a couple of broken purlins. Some of the Oak timber-framed walls had been replaced, mainly to the front south-west facing elevation, and all of the brick infill-panels had been removed from the timber-frame and replaced with board and insulation and lime-rendered. Some of the windows were missing, and the rest all needed replacement anyway. There was no bathroom and no kitchen and no heating. The water supply had been expropriated by the farmer, but there was at least mains power to the fuse board, although the wiring was unusable. All the plumbing had also been ripped-out. There was also no access-drive directly onto the curtilage of the property. These would be just some of the issues to be dealt with. The previous owner had obtained all the necessary permissions to work on the property, which included extending the habitable part of the property into the agricultural buildings. I had no need of such grandiose statements – but did need those workshops and storage for my vast collection of ‘stuff’. I’d already had to move it twice, so this HAD to be the last move. This would be the third time I’d move it all – and the last. I couldn’t even use my forklift truck as the ground was far too soft. This is how the house looked in 2012 – in fact, externally, it doesn’t look much different today, as most of the work is either around the back, inside – or buried…! 1) (The derelict shell before work started. It's saving grace was a refurbished roof. Despite it;s great age, the building was amazingly dry - unlike so many others that I viewed.). One of the first big jobs was to put-in a decent drive, and a pond was excavated at the same time. Sadly, despite careful endeavours to line the pond with clay, if will still not hold water for any period, so it will need a liner in due course. 2) 3) (The ground-works contractor looks pleased with himself as the first water - pumped-up from the well courses into the pond. Despite our best efforts and the ground being clay, it has consistently failed to hold water - hey ho...!). 4) Whilst we had the smaller 360 excavator on site, I was able to take action on a story that, about 18" under the front lawn was a complete mediaeval cobbled yard. This snippet had been passed to the old farmer by his grandfather - so he'd never seen it himself. We dug a test pit - and yes - it seemed to be there. 'Duggie' the dumper was put to work with the 360, and lo, this interesting relic appeared from under many tons of soil...! 5) Attention also turned to the rear external wall of the house. Parts of this were in a poor state, one section rotted-away at the bottom and dangling from the structure above. Here are a few illustrations, showing the renovation of the rear wall creeping along, rotten wood and masonry being replaced with new, or occasionally even re-used sections of Oak. Old timbers can look great, but after half a millennia or more, the hardness of the Oak is unbelievable. Some of it is very dark – and very dense. It’s like iron, wrecks your tools and breaks your back. Then again, all of it emanates such an amazing fragrance when it’s being worked. If only I could bottle it…!!! 6) (The ochre-coloured panels here are original wattle and daub that has, amazingly, survived. This image is from the first phase of timber-frame renewal at the back, so 2013. Most of the rest is done now too.). 7) Unless these sorts of old buildings are lucky enough to have a decent masonry footing with a slate DPC – which is very, very rare, then this sort of rot – even of English Oak, will occur over time. Unlike the other sides of the building, a little of the ground-floor timber-frame was still in place across the rear elevation. As much was saved as possible, new footings dug and concreted and new sections of English Oak placed onto reclaimed masonry from on site, with a slate DPC. Renewing the timber-frame on this rear-section has taken place piecemeal over a number of years. Such repairs are quick to say, but apart from the eye-watering cost of all the – literally tons of Oak, the material is hard to work, blunts all of your tools, and is generally so heavy, it’s very difficult to work alone when assembling. Just as they were originally, joints are pegged with slightly tapered Oak pegs. One of the problem when repairing is that, unlike when originally assembled, where everything could be put-up like some sort of Airfix kit, when repairing, you can’t disassemble the whole house….this means that some pretty ingenious methods need to be used to restore integrity to the structure. Another issue is that, at the same time, in order to save original structure, a certain amount of ingenuity must be utilised. This might mean hidden joints, or, when necessary, steel straps or even weldments in order to allow the building to function for many more centuries. 8) (This steel weldment is a brace and anchor for a transverse tensioning tie-rod. One of the plat plates behind was fitted outside, and the whole structure bolted into place. Most of this is now hidden inside the thickly insulated walls.). 3) As I mentioned at the outset, very old buildings are pretty-much guaranteed to spring a few surprises on you. When we looked at the bathroom floor it was lower in one corner, owing to some local settlement. Finding the joists loose, we started to pack the whole floor back to level, only to discover that neither the joists nor the floor were really good enough to support the weigh of the usual offices of such a room, and also including a spa. We removed the whole floor, and replaced most of the joists and all of the floorboards in English Oak. 9) Weathering and structural issues are of primary concern. Neglect these – and your little off-grid utopia is soon going to descend into an expensive disaster. New over-sized gutters were fitted throughout. Here, it might be worth explaining a common problem with old timber buildings. Modern buildings have no flexibility designed into them. They are built on concrete footings or a concrete raft, and none of this is intended to move – ever. Old buildings very rarely had any real footings. If there was little soil, and the masonry could be laid onto bedrock, great – but this is very rarely the case. More usually, a bit of a trench was dug down into the earth, and if you are fortunate, you may find good, solid, dry, compact clay. Then they would assemble a footing of stone or, later, brick masonry with lime mortar – another dying art – but we’ll leave that for another time…. Now, as the ground drys and wets, there is a certain amount of inevitable movement. Old timber-framed buildings always tend to move – or ‘breathe’ as the seasons pass. The joints and the flexibility of the wood can absorb a certain amount of such movement – within limits. We have all seem, and often admired old such buildings, where the upper stories cant outwards. There are two reasons for this. The immediate reason is the weight of the roof causing the purlins to bow downwards over time. As the purlins sag, that flattening triangle that forms the roof is forced outwards at the eaves, causing that characteristic angle. In the worst cases, usually where extreme neglect has allowed water or damp into the structure, and/or not attempt has been made to arrest such structural movement, timbers or joints can fail – and the whole structure can collapse. When we were working in and investigating the loft area, we were somewhat surprised to find a large amount of very very old straw. Clearly, the roof had been thatched originally – which brings us neatly to the cause of many such roof deformations, which it the greatly added load on the roof when thatch was replaced with clay tiles weighing many many tons more than the straw etc. Thatch was commonly used all over the British Isles during the Mediaeval Warm Period. Later, then colder wetter weather prevailed, plain clay tiles were developed to replace the thatch.). To arrest this deformation of the roof, I adopted a number of strategies. Thick, very robust plywood gussets were added to all of the ridge junctions of the rafters. Steel strengtheners were added where the wallplates were scarf-jointed, and a new, replacement bracing-rod was made, with a proper tensioner, as well as weldments at the eaves in the largest and oldest centre-section of the building. In fact, at the front upstairs, a whole warren-girder was welded-up to brace the front centre-section upper-storey and bolted in place. Most of this steelwork is now invisible, save for a few boltheads. Some steel weldments were also necessary to the areas around the ends of some of the purlins. One purlin that was broken had been replaced many years ago by a new one, of insufficient size, and the broken original left in place. This will need to be replaced in due course. However, craning-in such a very large, very heavy Oak beam is no small feat, especially as the current overhead power feed is just outside. After the overhead mains feed has been replaced by an underground feed, then the purlin-replacement can be carried out. Next year perhaps. Windows & Doors;- New windows in English Oak are commissioned in batches as required. They are similar, but of course, each unit is bespoke to fit into the ancient timber-frame. The house has quite wide eaves, and together with the oversized gutter fitted now, quite a bit of weather-protection to the windows is afforded. 10) Doors are original where possible. Some of the new doors are perhaps overkill to modern eyes, but perfectly in line with the original structure and period vernacular practices. The new front door is temporarily sited, until the new porch is built. It’s very large and about 2” thick. I don’t know what it actually weighs – but it took four men to carry it…. The frame took three men to carry it. 11) The ironmongery for the doors and windows is a mixture of original, old stuff I’ve collected over the years, and hand-made. When working on the from hallway, I discovered, hidden under some later crap, most of a very old mediaeval doorframe. This was restored, and a new door, very similar to the front door was made. Both door are made from two layers of English Oak planks, the face-side being vertical, and the reverse-side being horizontal. Both door have four heavy hinges – and they need them too…! I had assumed to unusual raised & fielded door to the solar/main bedroom, was some sort of DIY-shop cheapie. However, on closer inspection, this turned-out to be probably the oldest ‘original’ door left in the building. OK, so let’s now move on to the ‘Off Grid Utopia’ part….. Water Supply. Although the property was connected to the water main, after purchase, it transpired that the old farmer had cannily carried on paying the bill and using the water on the rest of the farm. A new main had been already put up the lane, but when I asked for what I thought would be a simple connection and meter, the water-board tried to say that despite having been on the Main before, and the house having been there for six-hundred years, they wanted to charge as for a new-build…. This amounted to many thousands of pounds. I decided that I was having none of this BS, and besides, I knew I could have plenty of better water…and FREE to boot…..but….how….? Although I did do some research, the system I’ve crated is largely of my own design. The primary source of water is rainwater from the gutters. The property has a lot of roof area, so when it’s raining, the collected water amounts to a minor torrent. All of the gutters output from the extensive roofs is directed down to the site of the infamous tank – the one that will sit under the ‘train-shed’. From here, water will be pumped up to a large one-ton header tank in the roof of the main loft over the cider mill. The pump will operate automatically. If it rains too much, the excess water goes via an overflow into the pond. If there is a drought, them there is also a submerged pump in the well. This allows the main u/g tank to be automatically replenished. Sensors will do all the detection and switching automatically. Operation should be seamless. Coming off the main header tank, water flow is by gravity, through manifolds to three different levels of filtration. 1;- Basic filtration for toilet flush water. 2;- Normal filtration for washing etc. 3;- Full filtration for Potable Drinking Water. Duplicate filters in parallel allow uninterrupted supply when changing-over filters. Drainage;- Amazingly, the original septic tanks are excellent. These have been upgraded with replacement supply pipes. Power;- This will be from extensive solar arrays, feeding back to a bank of storage batteries. I’m too overcommitted to do this at the moment, but it should happen next year, or perhaps the year after. In the summer, there should be no problem generating 100% of the electrical power required. Winter is another matter – even with a very generous array. Heating etc;- A ‘heat store’ is being fitted. These are basically just a very well-insulated hot-water tank, but fitted with extra heat-exchanger-coils. A large oil-fired boiler has been waiting to be fitted. Ultimately, this is only intended as an emergency back-up, but, until the full off-grid electrical system is up and running this will be the primary heat-source. For now, the boiler will heat the water in the Heat Store, and this will, via the heat-exchangers, heat the radiators and house domestic Hot Water, with an Immersion Heater as a back-up for summer use. Given the pretty insane amount of very expensive insulation, it really shouldn’t take a lot to heat the building. Interestingly, even with no heating currently, once warm, it stays warm for ages….. Very promising…..! All rooms will have at least one radiator, but overall, probably smaller and less in total area than would be normally expected for the size of building. Once the off-grid electrical supply is fully operational, the winter heating should come from the batteries. This should be possible when there is good light, if not, then the oil-fired boiler is there as a stand-by if required. There will also be a number or woodburners and open fires. It is not envisaged that these will need to be relied upon, however, apart from being very nice for special occasions, they do also provide an alternative heat source in extremis (More anon..!) . 12) (This Inglenook is in the oldest centre-section of the house, and, as you can see, has a bread-oven on the right hand side. One of the features that help to push the date of this section of the building right back in time, is that it was originally built without a chimney. This was added inside the then north-western gable end. As there will be two other woodburning stoves, I'm a little reluctant to fit one here as well, as this room will function as the dining hall and I'm rather attached to the theatre of a blazing fire when having friends or relatives around for supper. The fireplace must have smoked a bit, becaue the old farmer lowered the Oak bean about fifty years ago. The strengthening above it is Bullhead rail from the Tenbury branch line. On the left of the image is an old pot-hanger and a crane for the kettle from days gone by.). I’m currently trying to decide if I should heed the advice of friends and fit a heated floor downstairs…..but if I allow any more complications – I may never get this ruddy railway built….! Anyway….I’m assessing the added cost and delay at the moment…. Utility;- There is an old Brew-House. I have installed a new concrete floor and this room will be ‘Mission Control’, with the Boiler, Heat Store, batteries and other associated electronics, as well as the washing machine and drier et al. Insulation;- Firstly, one has to realise that as built, these walls, despite all the Oak, are very narrow. They are also very uneven. To square this circle, studding was built inside. After putting in place a breathable membrane, two different layers of insulation were fitted. Inside the studding, thick, rigid insulation, clad with foil, and between this and the membrane, soft mineral wool. This allows all of the unevenness of the walls to be catered for. The whole then was covered with foil-backed plasterboard. The actual depth varies, but it averages around 12”/300mm total. All walls and ceilings are thus equipped. 13) (My own 'system' of insulation, all ready for the fitting of the final layer, - foil-backe damp-proof plasterboard.). Naturally, wiring was installed as we went along. Upstairs, all of the external skirting are huge, 12” tall English Oak, and behind this, there is a void for piping and wiring. All the skirting boards are fixed in place by brass screws, so as to allow easy access for any future alterations or repairs. Every few yards, a flexible-plastic duct is built into the wall to allow services to route up into the loft and/or cross the building. Apart from neatness, there is a very good structural reason for this. Many of these old structures have been unnecessarily weakened by the drilling of floor-joists etc. My system avoids such butchery in almost all cases. Weather;- 'Huh...??? Now what's he rambling-on about...?' I hear you muttering into that last dregs of your tinnie...! Bear with me here, as a somewhat lengthy prologue to this subject is required, so with apologies to any meteorologists or astronomers reading this for my crude presentation, here goes...! ;- We hear much talk today about ‘global warming’ and no sane person can dispute the fact that we have been heavily polluting our beautiful planet – and yes, affecting the climate. Sadly however, vested interests have taken-over this agenda, moving the focus away from the real issue – pollution, onto a far more nebulous one – ‘climate’. We know for a fact that the climate has varied hugely over time. Over geological time, the changes have been massive. However, even over historical time – that is to say the last few thousand years, big changes have taken place. The Sahara Desert used to be green and filled with wildlife. The Romans grew vines in Britain. Much of the mediaeval period was warm – and yet in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the UK endured severe winters every year. The prime driver for these historical climate variations is the amount of energy the Earth absorbs from the Sun. The Sun goes through metronomically regular periods. The normal short-term cycle is about eleven years. People have been aware of this for many years, and even when the first telescopes were made, one of the very earliest observations was the existence of Sun-Spots, the increase and decrease of which denote the shorter eleven-year Solar Cycle. Now - the ordinary eleven year Sunspot Cycle is not a massive issue - normally. However, between 1645 to 1715, an epic low of Sunspot activity was observed, and this has become known as the Maunder Minimum ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunder_Minimum .). The amount of solar radiation that our planet absorbs is also governed by orbital factors, and of course, our planet has a tilted axis, which creates our seasonal changes. There are however, other factors at work, by way of celestial mechanics. The orbital-path of our planet is not perfectly circular – and other planetary alignments perturb this further. Some of these are known and predictable, - one very interesting set are the Milankovitch Cycles - (Link here for the more masochistic readers.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles Thus, within the greater, much longer, geological periods of climate change, smaller, more regular changes take place - and at a human scale, these are what are of much more concern than that the temperatures were when the dinosaurs roamed our planet millions of years ago. These climatic effects we can see happening long before the Industrial Revolution, and latterly seen in the Mediaeval Warm Period, and the Little Ice Age, which was still being felt into Early Victorian times, when the Thames froze every year and there was an annual ‘Frost Fair’ held on the river….. All of the foregoing is to explain another reason for my creating an off-grid house with huge amounts of insulation. As per the predictable Melankovich Cycle, we are now entering into a new alignment which will cause an enlargement of the Earth’s orbit. This will not be large….but since the drop-of in Solar Radiation is more or less exponential, it will cause a fall in the amount of Solar Radiation available to heat our planet – and ALL of the Earth’s weather is driven, 100% by this energy absorbed by the Earth from the Sun – but there is more…. The current observations of the Sun show historically low Sunspot activity. More sunspots means more heat, less Sunspots means less energy emitted from the Sun. Thus, as you can see this will be a ‘Double-Whammy’. In past aeons, such combinations of factors are thought to have triggered ice-ages. That is not to say this will happen this time….but here in the northern hemisphere, especially this far north – and even more especially in the UK where we sit, precariously-balance between three weather systems, even a fairly minor change could make a BIG difference. Will this end life on Earth…? No, but here in the UK, we could easily see the return of some very very severe winter weather. Leaving aside the practicalities of transport etc, simply keeping warm then becomes a big challenge – and these days – a huge expense to say the least. I remember the winter of 1963.....and if that was to become the norm, I'd need to be seriously well prepared. Do I think this will come to pass…? I’ve no idea - I hope not – but I’d prefer to hedge my bets….. In this scenario - we may even come, ironically, to thank our ‘Man-Made Global Warming’, as it may stop the climatic balance being shifted far enough to bring this potential return to really cold snowy winters. That’s probably the longest excuse for lack of progress on a model railway in history, but I hope it has been of some little interest.

Mikkel;- The music noted on the YT posting is;- Song Arco Noir (a)-14016 Artist Richard Allen Harvey PRS Album WOM 192 Strings Of Sorrow Licensed to YouTube by AdRev for Rights Holder, AdRev for a 3rd Party (on behalf of West One Music (West One US) (West One Music Group)); AdRev Publishing, LatinAutor, Abramus Digital, and 11 Music Rights Societies Song Chanson du Soir (a)-14016 Artist Richard Allen Harvey PRS Album WOM 177 Reflections Licensed to YouTube by AdRev for a 3rd Party, AdRev for Rights Holder (on behalf of West One Music (West One US) (West One Music Group)); AdRev Publishing, and 10 Music Rights Societies

More speed-corrected Edwardian equine minutiae for your delectation Mikkel - and some very interesting characters fresh from your Farthing diorama.... :-) . I had to watch this several times - quite poignant when one reflects on the events of the Great War and the Spanish Flue bearing down upon them to change their world forever.

UPDATE;- Thanks for the comments and moral support. Since I posted this a few hours ago, I was informed first thing this morning that the buyers chain on the property I'm living in and selling - has collapsed..... (****..!!!) - presumably due to the 'Panic-demic'....! Not that I'm in anyway trivialising the CV-19......but all the panic and febrile response only makes matters worse. Hey - ho..... Ah well.......I'll have to revert to 'Plan B' and rent this house out, as there is no way I'll get a sale in any reasonable timeframe in the currently febrile climate.... I can't allow my plans to be diverted - or I'll miss the summer season working on the farmhouse - and the model railway and other projects will have to go onto the back-burner yet again...and I'm determined not to allow that to occur. I was afraid that this might happen, but despite having everything crossed..... Life will go on, we are all just going to have to re-adjust our expectations for the immediately foreseeable future, whether that be three months or eighteen months. Stay safe folks.... :-)

Floods, Plagues and Pestilence - yes really..... Given the rising global pandemic and all of the associated uncertainties, even incipient panic by some, immersing oneself in the world of miniature fantasy may seem like a highly frivolous activity of little import - and in truth - it is. On the other hand, a non-reactionary approach and a sense of historical perspective probably make for a calmer, less panic-prone citizen - so you'll excuse me if a lean towards the latter view. We had terrible flooding locally this winter, a great tragedy for many, and resulting in ongoing misery and hardship. Fortunately, being in a reasonably elevated position, my property suffered no significant ill-effects to the biblical inundations. What may yet prove to throw a massive spanner in the works for me is the pandemic, and it's effects upon the supply of workers, both skilled and unskilled. I have a big program of work on my property this year, and until I get that to a reasonable state of advancement, serious progress on my diorama is simply not going to be possible - I simply dare not allow myself to become prematurely diverted. Of course, that hasn't stopped me honing some of my ideas. The enforced delay has allowed time to come-up with a number of improvements that had not hitherto revealed themselves to my ageing brain. The biggest single - and recurring problem to manifest itself, in terms of layout design, has been that of space, and, rather like the child whose eyes are bigger than his belly, I've found that I had somewhat underestimated the space that I will need, not by much, but a miss is as good as a mile... I've become rather obsessed with not bending or foreshortening the diorama, and whilst Woofferton wasn't very big as railway stations and junctions go, I'd not really allowed enough for the curves at the ends, carrying the line away to imagined horizons. At the end of the month, I'll finally move the thirty miles or so to the farm. I've had a caravan on site for a couple of years now. It's a few years old and pretty basic, but perfectly tolerable - at least until you get visitors....whereupon it starts to get like a sardine tin...but in the current situation, that’s not likely to be an issue…! Had I gone for a normal property restoration, I'd have been finished long ago. Being, apparently, some sort of masochistic idealist, I'm trying to create a sort of eco-friendly, off-grid paradise. Doing this with a six-hundred year old house is not without it's challenges. Last season, was mostly taken-up with groundworks - digging and burying a kings-ransom in various types of pipes and ducts. As well as normal sewers - to a septic tank of course, there is a system to collect and store rainwater - lots of it. Overflows, back-up pipes to the well, ducts for wires for the various pumps and sensors etc. I could go on, but you get the drift. Part of the new railway room will in fact sit over the main water storage tank - something of an impediment to progress....! I've had to wait for the ground to dry-out a little before digging the rather large hole for the water tank, but this will happen very shortly now. Thus, being off-grid for sewerage and water, I will have to address the electrical system. Currently, I'm using mains power, but next year will see the fitment of a goodly number of PV panels and batteries to store surplus energy. The rest of this year will see new floors and walls at the ground-level, a new porch, and finally, the railway room/outbuilding. Having mentioned Floods and Plagues - lastly - Pestilence. Not clouds of Locust fortunately - but mice. I don't actually have a huge infestation - but then again, it only takes a few mice to cause untold damage.... To this end, moving with me will be my two Savannah's. These cats are, we are told, pedigree cross-breeds of some sort of Asian cat, with the wild African Serval. They are not especially large, but they are exceptionally athletic - and very good mousers, so they will have a field-day - or at least I ruddy hope so. In case you are thinking that I paid the reputed thousands for these cats, let me inform you that they were rescue cats and came free.... Rather foolishly, having always owned cats, I thought that I'd be able to tame them and bend them to my ways. Well, it's fair to say that I've only been partially successful. They are siblings, and had been used for breeding at a cattery, and, truth be told, had never really been handled. They aren't nasty as such - and are very clean.....but they live for each other - and ONLY for each other. You can't just pick them-up like teddy bears and cuddle them. They are nervous, jumpy and highly strung, and if panicked, will hiss at you like a Cobra about to strike…. However - they are very beautiful, and have limitless curiosity. They move like water flowing and both of them together like a shoal of fish. Some people who have had them from kittens put them on leads. These two would never suffer such domestic abuse and are far beyond such impositions upon their freedoms. All interactions have to be on their terms. Oddly, they were house-cats when they arrived, but they now love to roam free. When it's cold or wet, they much prefer their basket or propping-up a scalding-hot radiator. When it’s a cold but sunny day, they are often to be found, sat like book-ends on the window as a mirror-image. In Roman times, people used to have niches by the entrance to the house, in which they placed their household gods - the Lares & Penates, to ward-off evil spirits and bad luck. In my case - I'm hoping my Lares & Penates will rid me of Pestilence too. Anyway - their utility as mousers is about to be put to the test. I'm just hoping that the mice haven't caused damage to all my stored railway treasures... Model railway-related acquisitions have now slowed to a tiny dribble, and the real work is about to begin…..

I never saw clogs in general usage, but in the 1950's and '60's, I commonly saw kids playing barefoot in very poor areas in the warmer months. At the time of my grandfathers childhood in the late 1800's, this was common. Boots were expensive and saved for Sunday Best and church. At the risk of serious thread-drift;- Jeremy Atkinson is the last traditional clogmaker in England, based in Kington, Herefordshire. https://www.clogmaker.co.uk A pal of mine still wears clogs made by Jerry about forty years ago. Here he is explaining the traditional method of clogmaking. Fascinating ;-

Interesting to see people wearing clogs. Clogs seem to have lasted much longer in some parts of the UK. Very comfortable and nigh-on indestructible.... :-)

Mikkel;- Another one right up your alley. Reprocessed film from 1901. It's so good it's spooky. Great detail of the dress of working people in northern England in 1901. It's like looking through a time-travellers wormhole back a hundred and thirty years..... It's strangely addictive....