Gwiwer

The greater part of the fun there was listening to Eddie Waring frothing and foaming in his enthusiastic "regional accent" and wondering whether an excess of excitement might cause him to burst.

I thought the London ceremony was one of the best. With the exception of one Mr. McCartney who even then was old, tired, missed some notes and missed his cue at least once. However he is undeniably a British musical institution love him or otherwise. I have since re-watched the major part of London's opening ceremony a couple of times and felt moved by its inclusivity and integrity, portrayals of history and its British-ness. Paris 2024? Meh. Vraiment.

Daily Wail headline ..... "Hippo Makes Bear. Climate Change Blamed" 😂

I see our resident @polybear has chosen to reply to this in TNM 🤷‍♂️. Curdy Turses?

I'm waiting for something like that. The Little Red Driving Box is 59-reg so no spring chicken but at 67,000 miles is still quite light on her feet. Casual inspection and a history of zero MoT failures suggest she is sound but anything might happen at any time. Book value is only around £1200 (less on some sites but condition and low miles lift it a bit) so even a nudge whilst parked could write her off. At least the insurance is a zero-excess policy.

G'morning all. Midway through yesterday afternoon a thing happened. In a matter of seconds the thick fog which had enveloped us all morning and the equally thick mizzle which had wetted us simply lifted and went away. High-level cloud remained but the rest of the day was quite good. Today so far is still in that vein; there are occasional sunny moments between high-level cloud. It is cool like an Autumn day and the air smells of Autumnal vegetation, drying out but past its best. The aroma of cow-flop and the faint marine waft of the sea drift in on the breeze. The gulls are noisy, the choughs are chuffed, the swifts are .... well ..... swift and the council is noisily collecting the green bins which have been replaced with black ones. Because as they say "The green bins do not fit the collection vehicles" Which is utter rubbish as they are the same size and design but hey what do we know? I must venture forth to various locations. The Big Orange Shed must be visited (about an hour's drive), our esteemed Friends in Camborne have some goodies awaiting my collection, Pests at Home will supply needs for both ends of His Furship and Sainsburys will look after the two of us. PaH / Sainsburys happen to be opposite Costa-lot Coffee so I'll probably take a break there for good measure. But first it is time to throw the Gwiwer in the shower followed by shaving the teeth. Avagoodun. POETS if appropriate.

There must be no suggestion of "Hire and Reward". The legal definition of offering ones' vehicle for use in return for any form of income. But there is no limit on donations. Not perhaps specifically "for the diesel" but I have, and have seen, this done by simply presenting a crew member with some folding money and offering thanks for their time and a good day out. I have also seen it done when refuelling (which of necessity is sometimes done during the proceedings rather than or in addition to before / after) when a generous soul has nipped into the shop with their card before the owner. the latter has then gone to pay and found their costs already covered. Fuel consumption varies but perhaps 8 - 11mpg would be in the ball park. More recent vehicles which are now paraded as "heritage" are more thirsty usually because they have larger more powerful engines also expected to drive more auxiliaries. A Leyland National might only manage 5 - 6mpg for example. When they were new this was a significant cost burden to operators - most of whom were forced by NBC to accept fleets of these buses whether they were wanted, suitable or not - and somehow fund the very much higher running costs from steadily-diminishing fares revenue.

Huge amounts of time and money. As many events which offer rides do so on a no-hire-and-reward basis (i.e. free) which allows the use of older non-DDA and emission-compliant vehicles and sidesteps the need for any service registrations there is no guarantee of anything going back into the owner’s pockets. They may also be uninsured against accidental damage caused by passengers leading to more out-of-pocket expenses. Many events charge for programs with any surplus from sales donated back to the owners. Usually this helps with but does not entirely cover the fuel bills. I maintain my support of two bodies who both organise running days. Even though I can’t get there I still buy a program knowing that I am helping to sustain these events.

G'morning all. It is a fine November day here at the Distant (Signal) West. In July. Raining. Breezy. Foggy. Humid. But it's lifting a little as I can now see beyond the front wall; I couldn't even see that at 7am.

It is not something I would choose to witness again. At a distance the eerie glow tells all. At closer quarters the embers are blown ahead of the main fire-front and ignite spot-fires sometimes kilometres ahead. Which in turn ignite new fires and can trap the firefighters behind a new line. I was witness to the Australian Black Saturday fires though at a distance; we could see the line of hills well alight from early in the afternoon and at night the sky was glowing red and flames could be seen rising into the night at a distance of around 50kms. I was very much closer to a Gippsland fire. We were driving home from the coast and knew a fire had started and closed the main highway towards Melbourne. We were set to follow diversions but drove the highway anyway because fire behaviour and best advice can change in a moment. We were diverted off the highway into town which seemed to be towards the fire front but we assumed those in charge knew best. Upon reaching the town centre we were met with barricades, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles as evacuations were in progress. They told us to go back the way we had come; we told them their colleagues had the road closed and had sent us this way. After a brief pause - during which we and the rest of the motorists in line were becoming surrounded by thick yellow-brown smoke - we were allowed to proceed along a road leading out of town to the north rather than west as we hoped. Everyone was out of their homes. We felt the heat and knew the front was very close. The absence of fire-trucks said to us they had decided the area was beyond saving. As we drove into ever-thicker smoke it got hotter and hotter until we could see the fire itself through the smoke. At a distance of perhaps 400m. Bush fires can jump distance that in seconds. After what seemed like much more time than it was we emerged north of the fire into clear air, found a way back to the highway and continued our trip home. Later we learned that the street we had been diverted along had been burned out with almost nothing and no homes left standing. Barely a couple of minutes after we had passed through. We also knew of friends who had been burned out in previous bush fires and of one of Dr. SWMBO's family who had been building a bush house only to have it razed by fire shortly before they retired and were to move in. Fire spares no-one. It is said that those fires can only be controlled when the fire itself is ready.

Welcome to Wetness-day. The sky is weeing as is its wont. It is almost cold. Spiders are spinning webs. Blackberries are ripe and juicy. And it’s July. Not September or October. Definitely Autumn out there now. In other news it’s always a nice surprise to spot something unusual at the watch. In the only shaft of light the sun has managed today sailing vessel Thalassa makes her way leisurely north through the Inshore Traffic Zone bound for Douglas, Kingdom of Fraggle Rock

The spacing is defined by the crossover which is N-scale. The 009 stock currently in the collection will pass; the unknown is the yet-to-be-collected bug-box coaches. The existing Peco passenger coach is at least as wide as those however and will (just) pass one of the Baldwin steam locos on the adjacent track. It will be a "one train working" operation. Not literally one engine in steam as a shunt move using a second locomotive will be needed but two trains will not be required to pass each other on the double-track section.

Mais oui. Le selfie 😂

Thank you. And no. They spoke perfect if slightly Germanic-accented English, did not freely understand the information we have posted in German and French (acknowledging that Schweizerdeutsch can be slightly different) nor were they apparently Italian-speaking. As they signed the visitor's book - with some very complimentary words - I did get their name which struck me as being of slightly farther eastern origin; perhaps from Austro-Hungarian background.

Just me and the sea. Very quiet here today. Apart from the Swiss family who called in and were given the guided tour. I asked but they didn’t seem to know anyone called @iL Dottore