Danemouth

On 01/03/2023 at 12:04, Neal Ball said:

Apologies that updates from Henley-on-Thames have been a bit sporadic of late. 

 

I have been a bit pre-occupied!

 

This is my Metro tank 2-4-0T seen at Henley-on-Thames, the build of which has been in the Metro thread: 

My loco has moved on at a decent enough pace, but before I solder the wheels bearings in place, I am getting the Loco builders box: http://www.poppyswoodtech.co.uk/tools.html just to check it is absolutely square. I can then ream the coupling rods and think about a spray paint.

 

The loco is seen here in Platform 3 at Henley-on-Thames. The Gentleman doesn't seem that impressed, although it looks as if the lady is thinking how it will steam with that huge gap in the front!

 

Work in progress:

 

Neal,

Can I ask from where you got the station name running in boards please?

Thanks,

Dave

1 hour ago, Philou said:

 

Oh gosh, you don't know Cardiff then. For very posh there was always Cyncoed with very large houses overlooking Roath Park Lake and then Llandaff (City) as opposed to Llandaff North, Penylan and the environs of Roath Park Lake wasn't to be sniffed at either. Then there's the area around Llandaff Fields which was always posh-ish until it became 'bed-sit land' and then has become ultra-expensive over the last 15 years or so - no bed-sits. On the perimeter it was Lisvane (an extension northwards of Cyncoed) and Radyr (Roald Dahl was born there). Whitchurch, Rhiwbina and Heath Park were always 'classy'.

 

At one time, in the mid 19th century/start of the 20th century, THE place to be was Tiger Bay, as it was where all the shipping merchants had their big houses close to the docks, but they moved out to the Llandaff Fields area.

 

BTW, do you know where 'posh' comes from? In times gone past when the professor had reason to say 'dammit, Carruthers, we're British' and Britain had an Empire upon which the sun never set, a lot of people travelled by ship to and from these shores to India and those that could afford it always travelled Port Out, Starboard Home, so as to avoid the worst of the sun in the southern climes - ie 'going posh'.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

Thanks Phillip,

I live in Rhiwbina! and of course @Happy Hippo was brought up here - no didn't know him, we've only been here 25 years. 😀😀😀

Cheers,

Dave

John,

Before switching to a blog remember that there are people on here who don't bother with blogs - this was mentioned in a thread a few weeks back - can' remember which one.

So you will reduce your potential audience.

Dave

3 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Not just Carlisle, my mum’s rellies up the valleys 20 years earlier (and they were legion) kept their front rooms immaculate but never used them except for laying out the dead. 

When I worked in Wales Gas one of my colleagues was a former Meter Reader. He recalled going to a house in the Valleys where said room had an occupied coffin in front of the cupboard containing the meter. He had to go under the coffin to read the meter.

I thank the Lord that I have never witnessed the things some of you have seen.

Dave

1 hour ago, DaveF said:

I think I am fortunate in not having much interest in most sports any more.  I do not like the "primadonna" attitude of many sports people and cannot stand most pundits. 

Hear, Hear Dave,

Totally agree with you,

Another Dave

My mother used to say "Old age cometh not alone".

Now I am 75 I know she was 101% correct!

Dave

2 hours ago, polybear said:

bh.....

doc was very good and realised bear was somewhat less than a bouncy tigger; tramadol dished out - bear never had it before but after reading the blurb (yep - i actually read the instruction sheet that warns of everything apart from nuclear war) i'll only be downing one when absolutely required (most likely just before pit time) and not for too long either

PB I was prescribed Tramadol back in 2011 when I had an operation for a rotator cuff repair - right shoulder. I took them for a single day as prescribed but abandoned them as they made me feel very light headed - no comments please @br2975 😀

Dave

46 minutes ago, NHY 581 said:

 

 

Now then.....( lights blue touch paper and stands back.....) the Welsh do not make good whisky, says the Welshman. 

 

The good stuff is most definitely Scottish, primarily from the Isles...........

I will have you know Sir that if you had made that remark to me a couple of centuries ago my seconds would be calling on you to arrange a dawn meeting on Greenway Road Playing Fields  One of the seconds would be a large Pachyderm and the other a fan of Cardiff City (their only fan?) known to us both. 😀😀😀

Cheers,

Dave

My experience over several years was that consultants were a licence to print money and offered  comparatively little benefit to the business involved.

I remember one occasion where the Director made a proposal to the Board which was swiftly rejected. A consultant made the very slmilar proposal less than a year later, which was greeted as if it were the best thing since sliced bread and should be rapidly deployed.

The Director, a friend of mine left the company within a few months.

Dave

2 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I have taken the decision to put it to the back of the cupboard:  Probably until the 6 Nations prior to the next RWC in 2027.  By which time time we may have got our act together once more.

Well I must be the only Welshman in Welsh Wales who does n t give a flying f@@k for any sport 😀

I do enjoy the Welsh Magic Falling Down Water and therefore see no reason to limit myself to sporting occasions when partaking of it though I have given it up for Lent.

I wonder what the views of Gimli are on this matter 😒

Dave

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-come-with-me-to-cardiff-1954-online?fbclid

Nice opening sequence with 7026 Tenby Castle leaving Paddington

Dave

2 hours ago, Chris Chewter said:

 

All was going fine until one of the tam valley frog juicers gave up. That’s disappointing as the layouts only had 10 hours worth of running. That was disconnected as we only had an hour of running to go,

 

I used those frog juicers on Danemouth and had two fail within days of each other. I then swapped to the switches in the Cobalt motors and even worked out how to wire polarity changing on a double slip 😀

Glad that things went reasonably well for you even if Murphy's Law did come into force once or twice.

Dave

4 hours ago, JustinDean said:

 

When I was a lad this was my favourite car - I was going to buy one when I grew up - can't think the last time I saw one in the flesh!

Dad's firsr car was a 1959 Standard Ten 936 BNY bought in 1963.

Dave

One of my childhhod memories was the milk train. My grandparents lived in Railway Strret, Splott in Cardiff - which backed onto a large number of goods sidings. At the far side (Pearl Street) was the SWML. Each evening, IIRC five o'clockish the milk train went through from I think Whitland to my young eyes there were lots of milk tanksm- it also had a couple of coaches which I now suspect were brakes. All seen from the back bedroom window 😀

If only I had the camera I now have in those days ..... he sighs

I do remember seeing a Corden in those sidings and asking what it was.

Dave

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

The Ship & Pilot for me - and say no more you lot who knew the place but at least I always left on my own and never  got a knife stuck in my back or anywhere else.

IIRC run by three spinster sisters at one time  - one bloke told me it's nicname was the six t*ts

Dave

7 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Perfect.  Book Bear a Table.....

 

 

Would sir like a large glass of flat Cola to wash that lot down?

Dave

Looking back at my schooldays which finished 58 years ago I see some really unhappy times. Particularly at High School some of the things we suffered would today bring screams of outrage, media attention etc. and rightly so!

Dave

Just collected the car from its annual service and MOT - I managed 1,635 miles in the past year. - its a 15 reg and still has less than 22,000 on the clock.

When we do longer journeys we go in SWMBOs car and she drives!

Dave

Talking of fridges my parents first fridge in 1959 ran on gas and lasted ten years. The second fridge was also gas, bought using my Wales Gas staff discount but was got rid of after natural gas conversion. - once converted there was a faint black mark up the wall from its flue.

Dave

32 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Sterri was designed for communities where refrigeration was not an option.  A white milk-like appearance was the main design aim. Taste was of secondary importance...

 

Sterri unlike other milk was the only milk bottle that had a crown cap, which needed a bottlle opener.

Dave

56 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Eyelids are needing inspection...

 

You're certainly keeping busy in your new retirement and probably trying, to discover how you had time to go to work 😀

Go and check the insides of your eyelids!

Dave

41 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

Perhaps the later Mondeo based one is more to your liking?

Afraid not @30801  it's the "squareness" of the rear section I find ugly 😒

Dave

12 minutes ago, 30801 said:

It rather put me in mind of that Austin Ambassador based motorhome...

 

I cannot tell a lie, I find it ugly!

Dave

3 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I went to a school that had a Latin motto but we didn’t study Latin. 

My school was the same - it gained a latin motto whilst I was in the fifth form "Veritas Praevalebit" - which means "Truth will prevail"

I have a very slight knowledge of latin as an altar server in the Catholic Church in the latin days (pre 1965). Still serving sixty years later albeit in a different parish 😀

Dave