chrisf

Good morning one and all In front of the church where the RCTS meet in Hitchin is a forecourt with not enough parking spaces and a grassed circular area. I parked next to the latter yesterday evening for want of another space. Not entirely conspicuous at the time was a very low wall, just high enough to make its presence felt on the driver's side sill of my hapless Polo. Heaven knows how much it will cost to have the dent removed and the few missing flakes of paint replaced. I am in no hurry to find out. When i returned home last night I found an overgrown tonka toy parked outside my residence. The cretinous maggot who left it there did so in such a manner as to sterilise at least one other parking space. This is not very neighbourly. Shortly I will be taking a chance on a quick fodder run in the car hoping that there will be a suitable space for me and the injured Polo on return. I will not be in the least disappointed if the tonka toy and its driver has gone by then. One good thing did happen yesterday. A replacement recycling bin was delivered less than three weeks after the old one was damaged. By Borough Council standards this is a rapid response. Tonight is Area Group in Harpenden. I wonder if the M1 will be kind to me. Warm thoughts to all, especially those in distress for whatever reason Chris

Good morning one and all I was cross with BT yesterday. All together now: How unusual! I discovered that the act of renewing my broadband and phone contract had obliterated the 1571 component, by which for the adjective-omitted sum of £2.25 a month callers can leave a message. Few do. It should be functioning again in a couple of days. It will be interesting to discover what else used to work but no longer does and costs me more. An unexpected delight was to discover that the garden has six daffodils in flower, five more than last year. Their inclined heads remind me of friendly lower quadrant distant signals. It also has a proliferation of dock leaves and other triffids which threaten to choke the strawberry plants having helped to protect them over winter. I really must wrap up warm, venture outside and tackle the desolation. It will take ages but come June or July I shall enjoy the strawberries. All that will have to wait. Today I visit Poorly Pal, minus wok but with a sense of anticipation as to what he will put in our sandwiches. After m*d*ll*ng is finished we shall visit the Royal Corps of Train Spotters for a talk by someone from Crossrail. Tomorrow evening is Area Group in Harpenden and on Sunday I will be at the Nottingham show. This should leave some time for enjoyable pursuits ... I had a vision the other day. I heard and saw Lulu singing 'Shout' but with the face of the First Minister of Scotland. For what could it possibly be an omen? Warm thoughts to all, especially those in distress for whatever reason [except the one I just suggested] Chris

4square's 10th anniversary EP, 'X'. Their treatment of Richard Thompson's 'Farewell' is stunning. Chris

Nearly right, Taz. The first coach is a BC to diagram E167. Chris

Good morning one and all On the way to the East Anglian show at Wood Green Animal Centre yesterday I was chuffed to bits to discover that a street in Godmanchester has been named after my late father. When he died, 12 years ago, he was President of the Godmanchester Community Association and to name a new street Foren Crescent is a wonderful and touching tribute to his work for them, even though it is on a Barratt development! Quite why I thought that there might have been a naming ceremony I’m not sure but the naming has been effected and I do not have to make a potentially embarrassing, cheesy and tearful speech. The usual warm thoughts to all, particularly those in distress for whatever reason. Chris

Good morning one and all It was good to see and catch up with my old pal at Leicester beer festival yesterday. Less good, but sort of self-inflicted, was a fester in Leicester after deciding that any more beer would not be a good idea. Trains from Leicester call at Bedford only once an hour and are affordable only if booked in advance. How I wish that I had reserved my pew on the 17.32 instead of the 19.32. Hey ho. It is a good thing that my journey would not have been today as there are buckets and spades at Market Harborough until 2 pm and replacement buses. Whether the latter are as well as or instead of running the main service via Corby I know not. Neither do I know what Market H has done to merit an hourly non-stop to London - shouted loudly, probably. Today I shall go to the East Anglian show near Godmanchester. The venue is just round the corner and up the hill from my late father's last home so it's a bit of a sentimental journey. When I get home I need to phone Poorly Pal about my visit on Tuesday. Once again I think we are having sandwiches instead of stir-fried something, aka wok and roll. Warm thoughts to all, particularly those in distress for whatever reason Chris

There used to be a petrol station attached to the previous incarnation of the Brampton Hut. In the summer of '66 this [then] raw school-leaver worked there as a pump attendant for two months. Strictly speaking I am not old enough to remember the Dragoon in its 60s heyday but I do. Grandadbob had gone by then ... Chris

I think that if you use your head You'll find the mower in the shed. Chris

Good morning one and all I'm off to Leicester later this morning to meet an old mate at the beer festival. There can be no better way of catching up after far too long an interval. I have implicit though shaky faith in the self-service machine which contains my tickets and seat reservations. All being well - unfamiliar expression - they will be retrieved seamlessly without panic, foul language or the magic spell ushered in by the word Abracadabra. If I have a window seat and if it is next to a window I may be able to view progress on the MML electrification. Cue Everly Brothers with 'All I have to do is dream'. Yesterday I booked two tickets for a concert nine months hence. The threatened confirmatory e-mail has yet to arrive so it is probably just as well that I printed the order confirmation page from the website. I would have preferred to do it on the phone but after two minutes of pressing this button and making that choice a recorded voice told me "not available". "What concert is this?", I hear you cry. Eliza Carthy and the Wayward Band, at Bedford Corn Exchange on 14th December. Dead cultural! Warm thoughts to all, particularly those in distress for whatever reason Chris

Good morning one and all Last night's concert was gentle. Pagoda Project comprises a lady with two clarinets and a hairy bloke with an accordion who make lovely music that is difficult and pointless to categorise. The theatre was not well filled but those who did not venture out missed a treat. Guess what? I bought a CD. I have an injection at 8.40 this morning so must not tarry here overlong for I need to make time for my oat cuisine before I go to the surgery. When the nurse has drilled a hole in me I can think about whether a fodder run is needed. Warm thoughts to all. No time or need to be specific. Chris

Good morning one and all. As expected, late on parade after a 19 hour day yesterday. The trip to the dentist was unremarkable. He sanded loads of plaque from my remaining fangs but found nothing else requiring attention. This probably foreshadows a catastrophic filling failure in the next couple of weeks. Last night's gig was tremendous. The Harrison is a backstreet pub near Kings Cross with a compact basement in which gigs are mounted nearly every night. The stage is just about big enough for a four piece band and their instruments. If there are more than about 30 in the audience the place looks full and probably is. To this gathering of 4square fans past, present and future first played Elliott Morris, a singer-guitarist with a good line in chat and some interesting compositions. That's three more CD EPs for the collection. 4square themselves were as good as I have ever seen them and we go back for nearly all their 10 years. They were enjoying themselves and the better for it. I arrived at the pub far too early and decided to kill time by riding on a bus. The 17 goes to London Bridge and so did I. It was so S L O W! I had not realised that much of the City is subject to a 20 mph speed limit. Fat chance of attaining that. There is another concert tonight, a mere five minute from here by hoof. I propose to spend the rest of the day quietly. Where, you might well ask, is my stamina? I think I left it on the bus. Warm thoughts to all, especially those in distress for whatever reason. Chris

Good morning one and all I have a dental check-up this morning. With any luck the dentist will not find too much of a need for civil engineering work in the gob but one can never be certain. This evening I head for London for the 4square concert. By the time it ends I suspect that all the remaining trains back to Bedford will be all-stations and there are a lot of stations. Fortunately the venue is a brisk and quite short walk from St Pancras so that I can tire myself out and snatch a bit of doss on the train. I might be late on parade tomorrow. Between these two events comes the Budget. He who expects nothing is rarely disappointed. Las night I enjoyed a film show, up to a point. The presenter had only limited success in persuading an unfamiliar 8mm projector to pick up the soundtrack but there were snatches of commentary and distant sounds of distinctly out of period music, mostly by The Shadows. What I did not enjoy was the hubbub of audience members turning to one another and burbling pointless comments. "That's Ampthill". "Is that Ampthill?" How easily they are excited, poor things. I have to write a report of this show for the Club Bulletin. Wish me luck. Warm thoughts to all, particularly those in distress for whatever reason. Chris

Would that be the same Ticket Factory whose webshite does not always allow one to buy advance tickets for Warners shows? I think I will get mine from Roger Carpenter at Scaleforum. Chris

Good morning one and all Hooray, hooray, the ironing is out of the way. I cannot claim any other tangible achievement for yesterday. Today will see the fodder run, collection of a prescription and a film show. It was nice to learn that some inmates know of Cyril Tawney and his works. Let me run another name by you, that of Derek Brimstone. I learned yesterday that he passed away a few days ago, aged [i think] 84. He deserved to be more widely known than he was but might have caused a few ructions had he appeared on TV since he was rather prone to use bad language in his act. To him was given the rare ability to switch seamlessly and instantly from uproarious humour to deadly serious music. His bottomless pit of funny stories was complemented by meticulous guitar work and an uncanny knack of making the banjo acceptable in polite company. He leaves many happy memories. Warm thoughts today to Derek's family and to all in distress whatever the cause. Chris

I do not know if it is still there but there was an LMS sleeper at Chappel many years ago acting as the Hilton [volunteers' hostel!]. Chris

The summer 1948 cwp specifies a 70 ft First in the formation of the 7.0 am Weston-super-mare to Paddington and 1.15 pm back without laying down a similar rubric for the rest of the train. Another example is the 8.30 am Plymouth to Paddington and 5.0 pm back which was required to have one 70 ft Van Third, no such obligation affecting the rest of the train. Other candidates were the 11.55 am Paddington to Milford Haven in which four of the 13 vehicles were laid down to be 70 footers and the 2.15 pm Paddington to Chletenham which was supposed to have two 70 ft Firsts on Saturdays only. Why not the rest of the week or why at all is something that I wish I knew but I suspect that providing the right number of seats for the expected number of posteriors would have had something to do with it. Chris

Good morning one and all Oh dear, I have heard of Otis Rush but am not familiar with his work. I will see him and raise you Cyril Tawney once again: Too soon to be out of my bed Too soon to be back at this bus queue caper Or fumbling for change for my picture paper On a Monday morning More great musicians that you may not know are 4square, described as Manchester's ferocious folk foursome who came together at the Chetham School of Music. Their 10th anniversary EP arrived on Saturday and I'm off to the Harrison, off Grays Inn Road, on Wednesday night to get it signed - and to enjoy the gig, naturally. Yesterday there was laundry. Today there will be ironing, followed much later by far from celebratory bangers and mash. There is still no answer from the surgery so I shall probably die of shock if one arrives. It is also only just over a week since I notified the council that my recycling bin was damaged on the day of Storm Doris. Yesterday I emptied out the rain water, replaced it with accumulated recycling and placed the lid on top. I should prepare a cautionary placard lest the dustmen do not spot the damage. I don't think my fingers want to do any more typing as they are making a # of what I have done so far. So, warm thoughts to all, particularly those in distress for whatever reason. Chris

Good morning one and all I was listening earlier to the profile of the new Met Commissioner, Cressida Dick, and realised that I knew her father. Described in the programme as an Oxford don, he was professor of philosophy at the University of East Anglia, where I was a student between 1966 and 1969. Let's just say that I was happy to give up philosophy after two terms and concentrate on economic history. Today I plan to cook a salmon steak as per a Ken Hom recipe. A sumptuous and probably unhealthy dessert is to follow. I hope to do a bit of m*d*ll*ng later but nothing is certain. The week ahead will be busy. On Tuesday I have yet another prescription to fetch and there is a meeting of the local LCGB branch, which will come out as LGBT one day knowing my thumb-like fingers. On Wednesday I have a dental check-up in the morning and a concert with 4square in London in the evening. On Thursday evening there is another concert, this time in Bedford featuring the Pagoda Folk Project. Friday morning early sees me having my injection at the surgery and on Saturday I am off to Leicester beer festival to put the world to rights with an old friend. Amid all this will be the usual grind of the fodder run and, if I'm really lucky, some unspecified pottering. One hope for the week ahead is that my recycling bin will be either fixed or replaced. Its lid broke off a week and a half ago as a result of either Storm Doris or a clumsy dustman and it is steadily fulling with water. I am expecting nothing. Warm thoughts to all, especially those in distress for whatever reason. Chris

Good morning one and all I’m off to the Leamington show today. If I can find it, I plan to have breakfast at the Saracens Head in Daventry and might listen to Tony Blackburn on the displaced Sounds of the 60s on the way. Yesterday saw the fodder run and was in all other respects unremarkable. The usual warm thoughts to all, particularly those in distress for whatever reason. Chris

Keith, I think you forgot the Heathrow branch. Chris

It sounds like the sort of ad hoc or seasonal working that would have been set out in the weekly notices or other operational circular. The chances of finding such documents are slimmer than a supermodel. Chris

Good morning one and all First things first – welcome back to dear old Blighty, Rick. Thank goodness that you were able to bid your father farewell. Please accept my condolences. There is still no reply from the surgery but I have now heard from the Prof’s secretary who says that I am to keep taking the tablets, or rather start taking them again after a gap of two months. For some reason I have to collect them four tablets at a time, and with the recent change to my statins I now have to put in prescription requests every four weeks instead of eight. This is tiresome rather than a bloody nuisance. I hate with a passion not knowing what I am supposed to know. At work, if anyone said “Oh, I thought you knew” to me they rendered themselves liable to summary execution and it is perhaps just as well that the sentence was never carried out. I like the proposal for an ER meet at Ally Pally on the Saturday and will be there. If my forgettery does not let me down I will be sporting a name badge. All RMwebbers should but few do, sadly. Warm thoughts to all, particularly those in distress for whatever reason Chris

Me too. Chris

This may not be a lot of help but I have a Swansea district WTT for winter 1958-59. It shows a train of empty tanks departing Carmarthen at 2.50 pm, calling at Pencader for water from 3.28 to 3.33 and at Lampeter from 4.3 to 4.15 and arriving Pont Llanio 4.30. A "milk etc" train left Pont Llanio at 5.20 pm, called at Lampeter from 5.35 to 7.18, called at Pencader and Conwil and arrived at Carmarthen at 8.32 pm. What we now need is a 1962 WTT. Anybody???? If tanks did go north to Aberystwyth the transit to their destination must have been protracted and I am wondering whether they were bound for somewhere other than London. There were all sorts of minor flows which are not particularly well known - Builth Wells to Aberdare comes to mind - and with living memory disappearing by the day some of it will inevitably be lost. Chris

Good morning one and all I had my hair cut and washed yesterday, having discovered that it was last done on 16th November. No wonder that it was beginning to look like a monochrome haystack and felt like trying to comb a doormat. You lose track of time when you get to my age. On that score, I have also booked a check-up with the dentist next week as the last one appears to have been in April. My bank has a new self-service machine. This is a mixed blessing. When it worked, irregularly, the old one could be set to print the balances of all my accounts on one sheet of paper. Hitherto I have found this helpful on the first day of each month when interest, however miserly, is credited. The new machine will not do this, or if it will the member of staff who was trying to help me did not know how to do it. Instead, she had to make separate prints for each account. Two pages for each account makes eight sheets instead of one. I believe that some might view this as an improvement. After that irritation another swiftly followed, in the form of another begging letter from the well-known charity. Clearly four weeks is not enough time to update a mailing list. The return address is different this time – Yorkshire instead of Wiltshire. Anyone in need of a job could so easily become a fundraiser, it seems. On the prescription front there is no word from the surgery but I am hoping to hear from the Prof’s secretary today. Warm thoughts to all, particularly those in distress for whatever reason Chris