petethemole

I was always warned to watch out for the "funny people" without any explanation of who/what they were or why they were funny. Fortunately I didn't develop a fear of clowns or comedians. I think my parents felt unable to explain further. Many years later I asked my Dad what they'd meant and he still couldn't/wouldn't, he just said "you know, the funny people". As I was also warned against playing with the "common" kids (it never stopped me) I came to the bizarre conclusion that the funny people, whatever they were, all lived on council estates. However among us kids, the existence of "dirty old men" was quite well known!

I'd never heard of tuna in the 50s or most of the 60s, Canned fish was sardines, sild and pilchards, from cans you had to undo with a key while not cutting yourself. Didn't drink water much, just weak orange squash. Fish and chips from a chippy was "common" unless on seaside holiday when the chippy bus came to the village once a week. We played in a field that had bullocks grazing in it; cowpats were a minor hazard and were wiped off shoes and (cricket or foot) balls with long grass. The farmer tolerated us as long as we didn't leave our dams in his stream when we went home. We had fun with bangers but no frogs, though I heard of them being blown up with bicycle pumps by the kids you tried to avoid at school. Unaccompanied fishing at a disused reservoir and the river.

"Know what I mean?" and its awful elision "Nah mean?"

I don't see what safety, whether "health & safety at work", or rules/laws to protect the public who are not at work both from obvious hazards or from their own folly, has to do with "political correctness".

There's one for an accident compensation firm that stars a lookalike for Boris's avatar!

The only time I went by bus from Salisbury was on the Wednesday, mid-day, back in '97; there were plenty of seats. I don't think a lot of people go by bus really, but maybe more at weekends? It's a regular sevice bus to Blandford so the time of day may affect loading.

I had them occasionally in the 50s. In fact if I looked hard enough through some of my old things I think I wouid find one! Blackjack and Fruit Salad chews were 4 for a penny, so a farthing would get you one.

I think Sky Protect are Sky's own/licensed service outfit. We signed up with them as part of the Sky deal. If you get phone calls it will probably be the shyster companies that Sky sell details to. They have a nasty habit of ringing you after a year, pretending to be Sky Protect and telling you your cover needs renewing (SP do it automatically and confirm by post). If you're taken in this way you end up paying for 2 lots of cover. I was! So be warned. I now work on the basis that anybody who phones me to sell me something "save me money" or "improve my service" is a con (including the utility companies I do business with; why will they never put their offers in print?).

From what I saw on TV last night, many of the perpretrators were in their late teens (17-19)and twenties and some even in their thirties. How are their 'parents' going to keep them at home? The demographic appears totally mixed. These aren't even 'anarchists' as I doubt most are bright enough to understand the concept. Let's hope it loses its momentum ASAP.

If you like an occult/supernatural slant to a mystery, try Phil Rickman, particularly the Merrily Watkins series. She's not a detective but a diocesan exorcist! He also wrote two as Will Kingdom. Pete

And, of course, they were particularly common on routes used by the Blue Pullman! At the same time!

By the time they're of military age anti=social behaviour (at least) is ingrained, if they're allowed to run wild from an early age. You'd have to call up 10 year olds!

Thanks now I wonder...

uh, er...where?

That reminds me of a Hungarian gentleman who used to belong to the same military modelling club as me some 30 years ago, long before satnavs. He was driving some other members up the M3 to a show in London. Approaching Fleet Services, somebody said "shall we stop for a cup of tea?". So he did. in the outside lane of the M3! You don't need a satnav to drive with your brain in neutral.

Ex-SWMBO pet & house sat for a friend in Somerton a few years ago for over 2 weeks & I spent the weekends there. There was virtually no dogfood or catfood (for the ferret) so we had to buy it all, the elec key meter ran out so we had to charge it and SWMBO was expected to drive them to Bristol Airport and pick them up, so 2 round trips, at her expense! No problems with the animals though, apart from the hyperactive lurcher getting away, but he came back at food time. The next year she was asked again. They don't speak now. So just be sure you're not being taken for granted.

Please don't revive the all cyclists are evil theme. Anyway, from the OP it appears that the idiot in question was told off BY a guy on a bike, presumably for jumping the barriers while on foot?

A local rag full of left wing politics? There's a novelty!

Have you seen these pics? http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bulleidsociety.org/96/Pictures/Gallery/Corralls/96_Corralls_%26_BPC.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bulleidsociety.org/96/96_Gallery.html&usg=__DsqdHG8VoDLX2aMr1kBH98Y0r9c=&h=533&w=800&sz=69&hl=en&start=76&sig2=pU2F7rpA4R1-4r2Dfpc-DQ&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=5YZvKwHr8yB5ZM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=143&prev=/search%3Fq%3DDibles%2Bwharf%2Bsouthampton%26start%3D60%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26rlz%3D1I7_____en%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D859%26ndsp%3D20%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divnsm&ei=ooEbTs_mDY2p8AODupT-Bw Pete

There's a a section on Dible's Wharf in "Southampton's Quayside Steam" by Dave Marden, but no info on the diesels, obviously. There's a shot in "More Last Days of Steam in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight" by D Fereday Glenn, plus the colour cover picture, both of 30096 emerging from the Gasworks curve onto Brittania Road. There's a short piece in Bert Moody's "Southampton's Railways". I think the line featured in "Bylines" but I may be wrong. If you're interested I can get you a track plan of the line and yard. Pete

The newspaper train after midnight dep. from Waterloo to Pompey & Soton, dividing at Woking. They accepted the previous day's day returns and again a kip in Mk 1 compartments. With class 71 locos the point to point timings and max speeds were the fastest on the line, but unloading time at stations made for a 3 hour + journey time. The guard came through the Soton portion before Woking to wake all the matelots kipping in the wrong coaches. Came back on this several times in the 70s after gigs in London. Pete

I believe Fine Fare were taken over by International Stores (?), who I think later went bust. Amazin' Raisin bars Cinema showing two films in a continuous programme so if you missed the beginning you could stay on 'up to where you came in' or even longer. The second features were often good in their own right; throw in the Pathe Pictorial and you had over 3 hours for your 2/9d. Pete

I found out a few weeks ago that although the kids in these situations are fine in plain yellow (or whatever) hi-vis, the teachers/ helpers /parents escorting them are legally "working on the highway" and should wear highways grade hi-vis with reflective stripes. Now that may seem like overkill, which I think was the context of the article I saw, but think for a moment; how far away can you see a non-reflective high-vis at dusk or night=time, compared with reflective? I know which I'd rather have. Pete

Hi-vis is compulsory on the vast majority of construction sites, only some small firms work on the 'as required' principle, where you wear it when vehicles or plant are moving. It makes sense though that people aren't in a position to not wear it. However, a site manager from a major nationally known construction company at a large spread-out site told me "it's not for safety, it's so we can see where people are". Being more visible doesn't make you safe from a careless plant operator or truck driver. I once had a narrow escape from a tipper driver working without a banksman and my boss recently had his arm broken when hit by a slewing digger bucket; the driver "couldn't see him" although they'd been machining all morning. H&S in the workplace law is a godsend in the construction industry and its fringes, like archaeology. Some of our working practices in the 70s were downright dangerous, and people got hurt. Pete

I've bought a number of kit-built wagons & vans off that seller and I too think "very good" is a bit misleading. From experience it seems to mean it's complete with all buffers, couplings etc; "with problems" means bits missing. He obviously buys in lots from various sources so the build quality is very varied, some barely run. To me, if they're cheaper than the kit they're a piece of stock. The work required to bring them to a reasonable standard (from repaints to total dismantling) is modelling, so enjoyable. That van however looks like a scratch body on a kit wooden underframe and I'd leave it. Pete