jonny777

I think the "Rooney was the best player on the pitch" statements are from Man Utd supporters, for whom anyone on the Old Trafford pay list deserves to be in the England team, even the tea lady. They also have a tendency to rubbish any performance from players signed to Liverpool, as a matter of tradition. Personally, I didn't think that any of the players did well last night, although Sterling tried hard but his inexperience showed when up against international defenders. Sometimes, I think Rooney tries too hard and I think the Uruguay players were trying to wind him up and get him to react; but for me Welbeck had the poorest performance and Jagielka was not too far behind. Cahill was good, but Sturridge seems to blow hot and cold through the game. No one seems to like Johnson, but that is because by being more attack minded he neglects his defensive duties sometimes. Without his cross, Rooney would not have been on the score-sheet. Maybe he would be better utilised as a right sided midfielder. The problem with ditching Lampard, Gerrard and Henderson is; who is good enough to replace them against quality international midfielders that England will face in major tournaments?

It is quite strange how before the tournament, the England management and players emphasised how they would need to keep possession of the ball for long periods of the game because that is how the quality teams play in hot and humid conditions, and yet as soon as they get on the pitch they play "hell for leather" British style football and give the ball away on a regular basis. Oh well, the 2nd Test starts today. Lets hope for a few days good weather in Leeds.

We lack a 'Luis Suarez'

Ah yes. Driving lessons in a Morris 1100. I remember those well. My dad was a rather nervy instructor, and if he thought I might be going too fast coming to a junction he had the habit of pulling on the handbrake from the passenger seat. A very unsettling experience for a learner driver, and probably for those cars behind me, when my brakes came on suddenly, but the brake lights did not. However, I digress. Another batch of excellent photos as always.

Excellent 9F photos. Oh, to have been fortunate enough to have been on that Marylebone - Nott Vic service in 1964 behind 92231.

Judging by the length of the parcels train behind that 31 at Swayfield, I suspect that it is 3E09 which was a feature of Sunday afternoons on the southern half of the ECML. However, I have no idea whether your photo was taken on a Sunday, so I might be talking nonsense. Anyway, I believe that the train originated at Leeds and usually loaded to between 30 and 35 assorted GUVs and BGs. Occasionally, a Deltic was seen on the train but almost anything could turn up.

At last. Something works. Thanks for trying these links. To prevent this going off at a tangent I have started a separate thread called Jonny's Audio (or something like that) on which I will add more nostalgic file links.

EDITED: to say that I have given up with '4shared' site and have registered with Mediafire. Maybe this will give user friendly results? Would any adventurous soul like to try http://www.mediafire.com/listen/y799k6kyz94wrzy/55005.aiff

Did anyone try that link? Did it work? It works for me, but then I am the creator of the download page - so it will do so automatically. If it works for everyone, then I might try and dig out a few more old recordings and upload them to that page. EDITED: to add that I have moved the file to another website, see message 98

If you are all suffering some withdrawal symptoms, then maybe this will help:- http://www.4shared.com/file/16bAU_1Yba/55005.html I hope that link works. It should be a sound recording of The Prince Of Wales Own Regiment Of Yorkshire passing by in the late 1970s.

I can't really cope with abandoned railways. I walked a good length of the old Midland route around Bakewell many years ago, and I should have loved it. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. The route was full of insects and wild flowers, but all I could think about were the trains that would have raced by at 80mph or so decades before. Especially the Royal Scots, Blue Pullman and Peaks. I therefore gave the chance to walk along the old Scarborough to Whitby trackbed a miss, a year or so later.

Wasn't that one D8237 aka ADB968002? Certainly, I saw it on the scrap line at Toton in September 1982.

It is quite interesting how older threads are suddenly resurrected, and I had not known of this one before. That second photo certainly made me sit up and take notice. The photographer, presumably D1030western musketeer, must have been standing right next to me when taking that picture. How can I know this? Because I took this one, and I am certain they are of the same loco on the same service - 25th October 1976. Looking at the position of d1010 to the rails of the adjacent through road, I would say that Campaigner has moved another couple of feet forward in my shot. Could that be the back of my head in the first photo? Probably not, as I don't seem about to hold a camera to my face, but what a small world it is.

Thanks David. I never knew that, and it is amazing what snippets I can discover after all these years. I think that by the time I ventured to that area the rebuilt versions were operating.

The harlequins may explain your lack of native ladybirds, because the harlequin larva will eat the native British species and are resistant to disease that can kill the native ones.

Dunnocks have some very mysterious habits. As I understand it, the female will often mate with more than one male, sometimes in quick succession. DNA tests on chicks in the same nest can reveal that the brood can have more than father. It would seem the males know that females are not particularly faithful, even during their egg laying spells, and so they peck at the female's hind quarters in an attempt to get her to eject the sp_erm of a previous mate before giving her a present of their own. Edited because the Politically Correct checker replaced one word with hashes, which tended to ruin the explanation.

That 308 taking the Tilbury line looks rather unusual. Is it one of those which were converted for parcels use? I thought they were a later development.

It must be dated after 1968, because before that the 'L' headcodes were (somewhat illogically) used for Cleethorpes services. Leeds/Bradford/Harrogate were 'N', and Newcastle/Edinburgh were 'A'.

I only discovered this thread this morning, but I love the layout and the photos. It really is an excellent piece of modelling.

I love that photo of the emu in the snow. It must have been so difficult to get a sharp image with the low light levels in those conditions.

No you don't sit corrected, Mr controller. I'm afraid it is I who have got that second part wrong. The inaugural World Cup was 1975 according to Cricinfo. Sorry. (And apologies to DaveF for hi-jacking your excellent photo thread with weather and cricket).

No. The famous snow event was June 2nd 1975, and resulted in the tv footage of the snow covered cricket ground at Buxton. The test matches in 1976 were later in the season, because the inaugural ODI World Cup took place in June that year.

I think you may be referring to the Hampstead storm of 14th Aug 1975. There were large quantities of rain (some estimate 200mm in just over 2 hours), although the nearest rain gauge to the storm centre at Hampstead recorded 171mm. There was also copious amounts of large hail which would turn the area white, but as the afternoon temperatures had risen to 30 C there could not have been any snow I'm afraid. It is scientifically impossible at ground level.

You travelled from Kings Cross to Wood Green in a class 114?? When was this? I never knew 114s got much further south than Peterborough. Pedantic edit: Except for when E50000 & E56000 went to Stratford a couple of years after their official withdrawal.

That is excellent. I love the smokebox and cylinder cover weathering.