petethemole

I was working from memory, which was clearly faulty. I saw a plan of the site some years ago. I thought I had downloaded it but can't find it, or the original online source.

Some of their others are fun, how about Crossing Glenfinnan Viaduct | 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults | Gibsons – GIBSONS (gibsonsgames.co.uk) featuring what appears to be a Brighton tank loco in Southern green, numbered 618 (0-4-2 Gladstone in fact).

Immediately south of the Elstow Brickworks site there was a Royal Ordnance Factory, established in 1941. It had 15 miles of internal standard gauge railway, connected to the MML by what is now the shunt neck. Post war it was a Ministry of Supply Depot, then a CEGB depot. It gained notoriety a a proposed site for dumping low-level nuclear waste. It is now being developed as a new town "Wixams" and industrial estates. Ref:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROF_Elstow I went past the southern (main?) entrance, which was at Kempston Hardwick, daily on the bus to school in the '60s.

Sadly his handler was a Cambridge graduate. Garbled details of his missions were discovered several years ago in released KGB archives and published on a web page that has since become unavailable.

I sold my unbuilt military kits on EBay, they all went quite quickly after researching recent sale prices. I too have the poblem of what to do with made models. Figures seem to sell OK and I've seen AFV models listed, but I'm not quite ready to deal with them yet, partly because they're in the lock-up a mile away and partly a reluctance to part with them. If they're not really good enough to sell online I might donate them to the local modelling club for sale to members. Some will buy them to refurbish, convert, or as a source of parts.

Sainsburys do Vegetable Quarter Pounders that have been the same for years; mixed veg patty coated in breadcrumb, and also Chilli Bean Burgers. The labelling has changed but the product hasn't. They also do things made of brown sludge. We're all omnivores so I cook vegetarian and vegan dishes as well as meat and fish. Baked beans are usually ASDA No Added Sugar or Salt, which taste fine and are reasonably priced. They are more likely to be mixed into something than on their own, but I love them with a fry-up when I'm stressed. Speaking of which...Mrs mole and I went to the lock-up garage to deposit stuff and pick stuff up. On opening the up-and-over door, which has been awkward for a while, it swung over to one side and jammed half open. The cable on one side was adrift and jammed in the works. Mrs mole drove home to get Martyn, who has height and long arms so I thought he might get it free.. Cue a wait of about an hour (home and back should be less than 30 mins), then Martyn turned up on foot. She had a blowout on the way back, limped home on the flat and sent Martyn in a cab (on the car insurance). He couldn't unjam the cable so I called the agent who lets the garages and he called a garage door installer/repairer (and made it clear that maintenance is our responsibilty in the lease). We had to clear a space for him to work in and then waited. By this time I was getting bored and a bit pi***d off, mainly as I had nothing to read and no sudokus (in the car). There were books in the garage but all hers, nothing I fancied. I had some juicy blackberries from the hedge and met a rather aloof cat. I sent Martyn to the corner shop for sustenance and eventually the man came and repaired the door, not too expensively, and what a contrast to how it used to handle. Mrs mole eventually turned up with a new tyre. Nearly four hours stuck in a car park behind some flats with FA to do left me a bit grumpy. (A BIT????) The blowout appears to have been caused by clipping a badly aligned bit of kerb at a junction, which claims a lot of victims according to the tyre guy. Looking at it close up on Streetview the vertical face of the offending kerb stone is dark grey rather than concrete colour. And I never got my shopping done.

Happy Birthday to Baz; better late than never!

I've just rediscovered this thread. Looking at the Sutton Coldfield Georgian row, there appear to be four properties; from the right, a basic house with front door, then a tradesman's property with arch and the front door inside the arch*, and a pair of matching houses on the left. * A house of the status requiring a carriage entrance would have a proper front door, probably similar to those on the left.

I sometimes wonder whether Elisabeth Beresford was travelling in the same coach as me on a Southampton - Waterloo train in the early summer of 1968. I was with my then girlfriend and was inspired while passing through Wimbledon to speculate about a place-name association with Wembley, that was related to a secret underground community that lived in tunnels between the two places, called the Wimbles. Furry rodents and litter collection weren't involved though. When the Wombles TV show started (1973) I recalled the conversation and discovered the first book had been published in 1968.

Happy birthday to PhilJ W. Thanks for all your good wishes yesterday. I had a fairly ordinary day, then Martyn and I went for a meal at the local Hungry Horse. Mrs mole was out at a theatrical event with a friend. I ate more than usual and felt sleepy as a result so went to bed early (for me). Mrs mole is seriously stressed out ATM. Virgin Media sold their mobile network to O2 last weeknd she's had problems ever since incuding no text facility. She decided to change to another network but needs to text a code in order to keep her existing number. Cue calls to the O2 call centre somewhere in India (Mumbai probably). She had difficulty with the lady's accent, but I understood what was going on. However the problem remains unresolved. A visit to the O2 shop was suggested, which did not go down well.

The afoorementioned SWR guard was of the opinion that it's part of a long term plan to close the railway system.

This has been signalled for some time. SWMBO has been aware of it; she is disabled, uses crutches, and has autism. She finds using ticket machines so difficult that she won't, and on-line ticket sites confusing and diffcult. Phone apps are a No-No. She appreciates the help and advice from the booking office staff at Southampton Airport who always get her the best deal for her journey. In conversaion with a SWT guard last weekend she was told there is a petition against it on the RMT website. I don't travel by train very often now, except to Fareham or Romsey, or home from Eastleigh if the bus has gone. I can use the machines for simple fares but get confused at times, so prefer a ticket office. On-line ticket sites can be diifficult to navigate, and my usual experience is losing the outward leg after booking the return. I have a phone that makes phone calls and receives texts; I have no need (yet) to carry a computer about. But at 60 and 75 I don't suppose the potential loss of our combined fare revenues will be noticed.

I appeared on the 6th, allegedly the 2,586th birth. Dad aways said he was grateful I waited, so he didn't have to pay. A primary school classmate was born on the 5th, the First Day; our mothers were on the same ward.

When the changeover from Disability Living Allowance to PIP started the procedure was that you lost your existing entitlement and had to apply for PIP from scratch. SWMBO had Higher Rate DLA which had funded a Motability car for several years. The car was taken away and the application process began. As a result of the same process applying to many clainants there was a lot of online support and information available, from which it was clear that the DWP was systematically refusing or reducing the benefit in most cases. The application form was difficult to understand for me, with a degree, let alone for SWMBO who has autism and hates forms etc. We had excellent advice in completing it from a CAB volunteer. The assessment interview was held at a venue where the claimant had to walk some distance to the interview room. I was there taking notes. The assessment, which awarded SWMBO only Lower Rate mobility (= not enough for a car) included several lies and exaggerated the distance SWMBO had walked in one go. The appeal to DWP was a joke but had to be done before we could go for a tribunal. My notes of the dodgy interview helped, and I also revisited the venue (with permission) to measure the actual distance from the waiting area to the room. SWMBO was awarded Higher Rate Mobility and also Lower Rate Daily Care which she hadn't even applied for. She found the whole process very stressful and degrading, and was very limited in getting about for about 6 months (I don't drive).

I heard all the drummer jokes from the late Martin Smith (Gentle Giant's original drummer and previously in Simon Dupree and the Big Sound). Most are frequently applied also to bass players and banjo players. I don't think we've had this one: Why are drummers always buried 12 feet down instead of six feet? Because deep down, they're really nice people.

That reminds me of my youth, travelling daily by bus past the Eastwoods Company pit, which was right next to the Ampthill-Bedford road. The LBC pits were only visible from the train, which I didn't use to go to Bedford after Ampthill Station closed.

I've just been up to Southampton Airport Parkway Station to buy a day return to Reading for Mrs mole tomorrow, with her Disabled Railcard. While I was there an XC service called, a single 4-car unit. It was announced as the "Fun Size" service to Manchester, four cars "well two and a half actually" full and standing. Mind you, I don't think the people trying to board were smiling.

I've just been up to Southampton Airport Parkway Station to buy a day return to Reading for Mrs mole tomorrow, with her Disabled Railcard. Round trip by bus, out and back 35 minutes. While I was there an XC service called, a single 4-car unit. It was announced as the "Fun Size" service to Manchester, four cars "well two and a half actually" full and standing. Walking back down the platform to the footbridge I passed the 3rd and 4th cars. In the 3rd there were at least two double seats, each occupied by one person on the aisle side plus their luggage, with people standing in the aisle. The last coach was First Class and about half empty. As that was at about the same time Mrs mole is travelling tomorrow I hope it's not as bad then. Otherwise I fear for her health.

I have just had a row of four leylandii removed. The largest was split at the top and the other three were too tall for their girth and potentially a danger to our big shed garden building and next door's garage conversion to similar. They had already caused some serious moisture damage to one end of the roof of ours where the branches rubbed against it. Although they were in the NE corner of our plot so didn't shade it from the sun it is noticeably lighter at that end. The area immediately north is an access/turning area but the neighbours to the NE will get a bit more sun. The local woodies will have to find another tree to argue in.

I'm just catching up after two days with lousy wifi connectivity and higher priorities for the PC time that was available, so belated birthday greetings to HH and a Happy Birthday to iD.

Condolences to Stewart.

I used to live in Southend in the late '60s, when I heard a story about four Met CID officers who'd been in Southend for a court case and were heading home up the Southend Arterial Road in a plain car. They were pulled over for speeding by an Essex motorcycle officer. The Met driver showed his warrant card and said "There are four professional liars in this car who will testify that we were within the limit".

Fixed it for you, thanks to Irfanview.

The van body looks about the right length for one of the L&YR van diagrams formerly produced by MAJ kits, so could be modified to resemble one by adding external framing, strapping and door hinges. Without the underframe you would get a reasonably convincing grounded van.

Martyn fell foul of this. He'd been accepted for a job but could only provide Birth Cert., bank statements and a letter from the NHS (as he doesn't get utility bills) but no, he had to provide photo ID and his child passport had expired. So he had no job, while a foreign national with a work permit could have.* He was very upset, being autistic. He has no intention of driving (yet, and probably never) but got himself a provisional licence just for ID. As regards voting, my bus pass sufficed, but if in the future they require the address to be included I will lose the vote. * I have no problem with anybody legally here working, but it seems unfair that a British citizen born here couldn't.