Dave Hunt

One night many years ago a friend and I were driving over the Peak District when we saw an animal of some sort lying in the road. We stopped and discovered what appeared to be a ferret and upon finding it was still alive but injured, wrapped it in a dog blanket and took it with us, not knowing what we were going to do with it except some vague idea of trying to find how to contact the RSPCA. We found a policeman on foot patrol in Matlock (This was a long time ago) who was very helpful and contacted a colleague who kept ferrets and came to see our patient. He identified it as a polecat and took it away to be looked after. The downside to the story is that even though the animal had been wrapped in a blanket, the car and both of us stank to high heaven. After taking showers and changing clothes we weren't too bad but it took ages before the car stopped being niffy. Dave

Isn't there a saying along the lines of, "Dogs have owners, cats have staff" ? A truism in my experience. Dave

A few years ago Jill got some sort of shrub by mail order and when it arrived it looked like a dead stick that had been put through a mangle. She duly complained to the vendors, enclosing a photograph of said stick, and without demur they replaced it. The 'dead' one was then placed in a bucket of other garden waste, soil etc. where it remained over winter and the following spring started showing signs of life. It is now a large healthy shrub by the front door and is much loved by the birds, bees and spiders. Don't ask me what it is called, all I know is that it is green and bushy, or should that be shrubby? Dave

Exactly what I wonder. Our glass, metal and plastic recycling bins are put onto a hoist at the back of the lorry that lifts them up then tips the contents into the hopper with much crashing and banging. Ergo a lot of the glass must get broken but we are warned not to put broken glass in the bin. Why? Dave

Lucky you to have a bottle bank nearby. All the bottle banks near us disappeared after the multi-bin collections started years ago and the nearest ones now are twelve miles away at a recycling facility - and it has just been announced that will soon close due to council budget cutbacks, leaving the nearest one being twenty miles. Dave

I recently went through my cupboard of shame and although I did remember acquiring most of the stuff in there I had absolutely no recollection of where a complete etched brass locomotive kit, an etched brass parcels van kit and two plastic wagon kits in a polythene bag came from. It would seem that Polish Andy and I share some sort of defective gene. Dave

The large parasol in our front garden has been blown onto the hedge. We don't actually own a large parasol though....... it's really quite windy. Dave

The wheeliebins hereabouts are collected tomorrow and since the lorry is here about 0700 most folk will be putting them out tonight. if the wind keeps up it should be carnage by morning. Dave

I bet he was wishing that it was a shared drive when the front of his shiny new Lexus was remodelled by a Transit van coming round the corner. Dave

The chap across the road from Hunt Towers applied for planning permission to have a house built in his garden and to have an access driveway alongside. I had no problem with the house but the drive opened onto the road at the inside of the apex of a bend and I considered it dangerous, suggesting that a shared driveway would be safer. I went and stood where the proposed driveway would exit onto the road and timed how long it took from first seeing a car coming down the road to it being at the proposed exit point. The answer was two seconds compared with five seconds for the existing drive. I wrote to the planners with my findings and received a reply stating that the plan had been examined by the highways department and declared safe . Guess what happened within a few months of the house and drive being built? Dave

Not far from here there used to be a cycle track through a town that has now been officially repurposed as a car park. There is also another one out in the country that suddenly stops without warning at an extremely busy roundabout then reappears on the other side. Since it is a two way track, negotiating the roundabout is somewhat tense. The other problem is that the hedge alongside has been allowed to encroach on the track to the extent that it is virtually impassable in places. Dave

There’s a children’s medicine called Calpol. I don’t know what’s in it but No. 1 son and DiL seemed to dose their two ankle snappers with the stuff at the slightest suggestion of a cough or sniffle and I’m sure it sedated them. Maybe it’s a left over from good queen Vicky’s days. Dave

Hanging round peoples’ necks? Dave

Imagine - delivering McDonalds to innocent citizens. How downright evil can some people get? Dave

I quite agree Ian; when I was writing the Midland Engines and LMS Locomotive Profile books I used to find doing the livery sections a bit tedious but judging by the correspondence I got concerning them it would seem that there are a lot of people out there who find the minutiae of colour schemes and decoration very important indeed. Hence it paid to get it right if only to avoid the wrath of the minutiae spotters. Dave

But don’t think that because of the above that I’m going soft on panniers 😊 Dave

The subject of locomotive colours is notoriously subjective and whilst my preference in overall locomotive types predisposes me towards crimson lake, I do think that there are definite colours that suit those from other establishments. For instance, middle chrome green is really the only colour for Swindon’s products (best of all when combined with red framing), which is brought home when one looks at the awful ‘Hogwarts’ scheme that just looks all wrong. It is also undoubtable to my mind that Perth blue and crimson on a Caledonian engine and the green of a Highland locomotive were far more suitable than LMS Crimson Lake for those particular machines and the same would apply to a lined black Crewe engine. Bronze green for the NBR also comes to mind. There are, of course many other examples from other companies and the colours of carriages come into the picture but overall I think that we should celebrate our railways’ colourful past and admire their individuality. Dave

In amongst all this scatalogical talk may I bring news that at Hunt Tqwers I am being feted as the man who today walked a mile? The speed could only be described as slow and the progress uphill as hesitant but it was done and I am quite chuffed, even more so when I was presented with, instead of a winner's medal, a rather toothsome egg'n bacon brunch. I am, however, now under orders from The Management not to try for greater distance until it gets a bit easier. I think I will award myself a drop or two of Caol Isla 15 a bit later. Dave

Well, who's a clever boy then? Today I managed to walk a mile. Not very quickly and not in supreme comfort but progress is being made. I am now instructed by The Management not to 'overdo' things so I have to stick at a mile for a time until it gets a bit easier before trying to go further. And my reward for today's achievement? A jumbo egg'n bacon butty - yum yum. Dave

Now that the excitement over my possible DVT has receded I have resumed the drive to get properly mobile again and even possibly get nearer physical fitness - the last few years having been fairly disastrous in that respect. To that end, yesterday I managed to walk 3/4 of a mile - not earth shattering but a damn sight better than I could have managed a couple of weeks ago before my spine operation. I’m just about to set off for a repeat performance or, who knows, even better? Dave

Today I managed to walk 3/4 mile. I realise that this will probably not get into the Guinness Book of Records but its been a while since I could achieve it so for me it' a big deal. Next week a marathon. Dave

I'll have you know, Sir, that I haven't needed my chakras aligning since the slightly eye-watering experience when glancing a fast delivery to the onside onto the underside of my protector. Dave

As previously posted, this morning I had yet another appointment at Telford hospital. Unlike those so far this week, though, it turned out to be less time wasting, simpler, more informative and less stressful as I was seen on time, underwent an ultrasound scan and saw a consultant all in short order. The diagnosis was the I do not have a DVT but a less nasty thing called a superficial thrombophlebitis that can be treated with a heparin based cream and anticoagulant tablets but the consultant did say that it was a good thing I had it looked at as had it been a couple of inches higher up my leg or a bit deeper it could have been a lot more serious and that recent research indicates it is not as benign as once thought. As he was going through my notes, though, he started to frown and asked me to describe in detail the events of the last four days and as I did so he started cross-referring what I said with the notes then writing things down on a jotting pad. Once we had finished I saw that he had written in large capitals, "CALL XXX (a name)" and circled it with two exclamation marks added. From his demeanour as he was questioning me it was obvious that he was not happy with the way in which I had been treated and I got the impression that he was going to take issue with someone. Anyway, the outcome is that my happy bunny outlook is beginning to return, which is obviously a Good Thing. Dave

An addendum to my last: one of the things I was told could exacerbate my condition is the recent finding that exposure to the colour generally described as Brunswick Green, copper caps and the word pannier can be detrimental. I pointed this out to HH as we arrived at the Muddy Hollow and once he had thrown a large blanket over the contents of his modelling bench we enjoyed a convivial visit. Dave

Well, this morning's visit to Telfland hospital was a great deal simpler, more informative and far less stressful than the earlier part of this week. I was seen at the appointed time and given the necessary ultrasound scan (once I had pointed out to the operative that she was scanning the wrong leg) then after only a few minutes saw a consultant. The diagnosis was the I do not have a DVT but a less nasty thing called a superficial thrombophlebitis that can be treated with a heparin based cream and anticoagulant tablets. However, the consultant did say that it was a good thing I had it looked at as had it been a couple of inches higher up my leg or a bit deeper it could have been a lot more serious and in any case recent research has suggested that it is not as benign as once thought. As he was looking at my notes he started to frown and asked me to describe the events of the last four days and as I went through the sorry tale he started making notes that he cross-referred to those in the file. The only thing that I could see of what he wrote was at the end when he added in capitals CALL XXX (a name) and circled it. From his demeanour and his questioning of me it was obvious that he was not happy with the way in which I had been treated and I got the impression that he was going to take issue with someone. Anyway, the bottom line is that I am now a much happier bunny than of late. Dave