Willie Whizz

That Gannet looks a beauty … but on following the link it amused me to see that a majority of the paints required to complete it are shown as “out of stock”!

Thank you for clarifying - evidently I was not the only one who took what you were saying incorrectly. But in regard to your last post, I did also point out that some names are deliberately mis-spelled, so it was at least possible your Club had had a “deliberately incorrect” sign for years which the sign writer had, unaware, “corrected”. Anyway, as has been said, ‘storm in a teacup’, so let’s move on.

Not the place for a full-scale debate on naval history, but worth mentioning that Cradock’s orders were confused and contradictory (some say Winston Churchill as 1st Lord of the Admiralty was meddling again). When the armoured cruiser Defence, which had been promised him as a reinforcement and should have been at very least the equal of one of the big German ships) was diverted elsewhere, he got the clear impression his courage was being called into doubt. Knowing the old battleship Canopus creeping up to join him, rather than a ‘citadel’ around which he should supposedly concentrate, was actually a cripple with less firepower and armour than a modern armoured cruiser, he seems to have believed that when the German squadron turned-up, the Admiralty reckoned he was both equipped and expected to go up against them. With the example of Troubridge’s failure fresh in his mind, he did so. Of course unlike Byng, Troubridge did technically get off, partly on the grounds (again) of ambiguities in his orders, though his promising career was ruined. But many in the Navy felt the true villain of the piece was his Flag Captain, Fawcett Wray, who in the depths of a dark night poured weasel-words into his ear and persuaded him the odds of four middle-aged cruisers taking-on a modern battle cruiser were too great, even in an ambush. A generation later, at the 1939 Battle of the River Plate, three British cruisers in similar circumstances showed what could have been done, and their Commodore was promoted and knighted. A sad story …

That was the way I interpreted your wording, I’m afraid.

Wow, that should be an interesting read! FWIW I’d agree that there’s at least an arguable case that Byng made a convenient scapegoat; certainly executing him went a bit further than the usual precedents for such failure. But that was “justice” in the 1750s … It wouldn’t be the last case of ‘political interference’ in the aftermath of a naval battle either - as recently as World War II there are indications Winston Churchill in 1940-41 wanted to court-martial Admirals. Somerville, Wake-Walker and Tovey, the latter two in connection with the Bismarck chase, and had to be talked out of it once the full facts and rationale for their decisions were known. All have good reputations today still, thankfully. Conversely the Byng and Troubridge precedents (the latter especially, as it was so very recent) are thought to lie as a significant factor behind why Adm. Cradock in late 1914 took his antiquated and outgunned cruiser squadron into action off Coronel in Chile against the German admiral, Graf von Spee, when realistically he stood no chance and probably knew it. Hundreds died and precisely nothing was achieved. But ‘honour’ was saved; whatever else might be said, no-one ever criticises him for lack of bravery.

No, just a student of naval history as my “other hobby”. But that’s the chap all right! And it has to be said, it worked - for the next 200 years or so, aggressive tactics characterised the conduct of Royal Navy admirals and captains, even when the numbers were against them and it might have been more appropriate to be more reticent against hefty odds. I’m only aware of one actual subsequent Court Martial of an admiral for over-caution (Troubridge, 1914) - the precedent was enough. The really annoying thing, though, is that if Byng had done his job properly then Menorca might still be a British colony and we could be holidaying there without having to change currencies or learn pidgin-Spanish!

Why things were done differently in days gone by (if I remember correctly!).

Beheading unfaithful queens and traitors and shooting indecisive admirals uses to be done “pour encourager les autres”. Or “discourager” perhaps. Doesn’t work on small animals that wreck your garden or field though. If it did, I would have a string of shot tree-rats (a k a grey squirrels hanging on my back fence.

And indeed sometimes we forget!

That’s confusing. It reminds me of the old seaside postcard where a proud couple are watching their son in a military parade, and Mum says to Dad: “Oh look, George - all those soldiers marching and our Little Willie is the only one in step!” If your “old” sign said ‘Miniture’, and he copied that from a photo as you appear to be saying, and several of your members didn’t see anything wrong with the “new” sign, perhaps that was in fact the correct spelling all along!? Sometimes words are deliberately mis-spelled for effect - yesterday at a motorway service station I purchased a so-called ‘Phat’ Cornish Pastie.

In principle, I agree entirely. However, this only really works if those with radically different views and persuasions are willing to think and operate on the same basis. With the development of the vast echo-chambers of social media and the “woke” approach of our universities and other institutions who might once have been expected to endorse that liberal concept, unfortunately we seem to be getting to a stage where we feel obliged to “self-censor” for fear of the consequences. This is not “democracy” as we have understood it, but it is fast becoming the new normal.

Years back, EFE produced a set of two Barton Transport buses; the double decker had the Derbyshire destination spelled as “Ilkestone” but the “e” is neither present nor pronounced on the real place.

“Free” to whom, though?

My son moved to a nearly-new house on the edge of Castle Donington last year. Go out in the garden on a summer weekend and for the first half hour or so the combination of the motorbikes and holiday jetliners is certainly jarring. After that it just stops registering and you just “screen it out”. I imagine HM the Queen used to feel much the same living at Windsor. And as the new houses are all being built with triple glazing, indoors you don’t hear a thing. But the point is, he knew exactly what he was buying and that he’d have no moral, let alone legal, right as a newcomer to complain. For someone who lived there decades though, it must be genuinely awful.

I have a strange relationship with jazz. I can listen to three or four tunes - say 10-15 minutes, and thoroughly enjoy it, especially live. But sit me down to listen to a whole CD-ful and I’m climbing the walls beyond half-way through …

No, no - all mere ‘Pretenders to the Throne’. As the old rhyme used to go: ”Where North meets South, The bit between Is NOTTINGHAM, The Midlands’ Queen!” Though of course you missed out Derby, which redeems your list somewhat in our eyes. “Ah, Derby - a place where Men are Men And Women (and Sheep) are glad …”

Er …. Us people from ‘t Queen of ‘t Midlands will have something to say about the origin and attribution of that phrase. Round here, it is usually coupled as a greeting with an affectionate “me duck”.

That’s what I rather meant by “a few very specific locations” … Given the overall percentages though, perhaps some of our Europe-based colleagues in countries that have a markedly higher proportion of second homes “for own occupation”, as mentioned in that report, could tell us whether the problem is proportionately even worse in their own equivalent desirable small areas; or if it isn’t an issue, then why not. Of course, the elephant in the room is that in the UK at least, many properties are not actually second homes “for own occupation” - not more than 3-4 weeks a year anyway - they are doubling-up as “investment properties” which for most of the year are let out to holidaymakers for a few days at a time. Nothing wrong with that in principle, but it effectively amounts to a sideline business, and the owners often don’t then like having to pay taxes, local and national, on that basis. If the regime was tightened-up, perhaps the problem of affordability for locals would diminish.

As regards ‘second homes’, a newly-published study by the Resolution Foundation think-tank suggests many of us may be under something of a misapprehension. It seems that in Q1 of 2024, only 4% of British households own second homes for their own use. That compares to around 9% in France, 17% in Finland, and a whopping 22% in Spain. Across Europe, only Ireland and Germany have lower rates of second home ownership. So it looks as if, except perhaps in a few very specific locations, this issue is only marginally relevant to housing shortages.

Just a thought, but if those auctioned locos had “never run”, and if the builder had never intended that they should, then did he even go to the not inconsiderable expense of fitting them with motors? If not, then perhaps an average of £27 a pop doesn’t sound quite so unreasonable.

My occasional holiday drives through Norfolk have been an education of sorts. Irrespective of the speed limit on any road, they only ever seem to drive at exactly 40mph. Since there aren’t any motorways and not a lot of dual carriageways and safe overtaking spots, it can get rather frustrating.

So Brunel was right, but just by too big a margin!

There are probably a few minor exceptions, but basically HM Treasury doesn’t believe in “hypothecation” of tax revenues, and resists any attempt to introduce it. Whatever label is put upon a tax, the money raised all goes into the central pot; and the Government of the day spends whatever it feels it needs to or can afford to on an issue, irrespective of how much the tax notionally linked to that issue has raised. So putting vehicle taxes up emphatically doesn’t mean any more will necessarily get spent on roads, or any other transportation infrastructure .

Watched it last night. According to Mr Portillo, Marylebone Station was built by the “Grand Central Railway”. I think that says all you need to know about knowledge of railways (as opposed to the places he visits), not just about him but those who write his scripts and edit the programme.

It is the sheer quantity of emails some organisations send you, rather than that you get them at all. Rails are getting annoying and are at risk of cancellation by me now, but are by no means the worst. I booked a cruise a couple of years ago, had good service from the agency, but immediately began to get deluged with 4-5 emails a week about more cruises, plus leaflets and brochures twice a week by post. After a couple of months of this I opted-out, and when their website asked for a reason why I replied "How many cruise holidays a year can one person actually take?; and you must have blown your entire profit from my business on postage of stuff that goes straight in the bin". One firm I use has the best idea; when you sign-up they actually ask you: "How often would you like to receive marketing communications from us: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, not at all?" I opted for monthly and have been entirely content; very sensible.