I don’t want the blog to cease but life has been somewhat hectic since the last post; has this blog really seen nothing new posted since Christmas: where has the year gone? Those who know me will be aware that my replacement as SLS Journal editor suffered a disastrous house fire just into the new… Read More »
Down by the old colliery buildings there were no street-lights and, with tonight’s bright moonlight, eerie shadows were crossing the broken concrete slabs of the old access road. The hard frost made Ernie’s steps crackle. As he hit the frozen remains of a small puddle, an even sharper crack as it split and shattered under… Read More »
British Gas – hopeless We have been trying to book a service for ages, but every time doing it on line the system crashes. Finally gave in and rang the given number. Repeatedly during the call centre wait it tells you it is quicker to go on line! Duh, on line is bust! The system… Read More »
Escape It is an obvious thing to point out, but, in order to engage in some form of escape, there is a requirement to first be trapped, perhaps physically, but these days more often than not it is in the less obvious mental and financial arenas. Overcoming the latter is becoming harder and harder, it… Read More »
In the year after I was born the first recorded round trip to the summit of Mt Everest occurred. In May 1953 Sherpa Tensing got Edmund Hillary to the top. It might not have been the first successful ascent, as George Mallory may well have got there first; however, he died on the mountain. As he… Read More »
Writing event Why not come along to Littlemoor Library, near Weymouth, a week today (9th October) where Kathy, Judi and I will be taking part in this event next week. Come and join us for some insights into the factual, fanciful and fictional world of writing. An opportunity to see, and buy, from a cross-cutting… Read More »
Garage As part of the ongoing tidying and fixing of the garage it became apparent that the roof was leaking. Closer inspection indicated that almost the whole of the edge strip where the roofing felt bends over the edge had split. On getting onto the roof I also discovered that the original installation in several… Read More »
It’s August Firstly why the Yorkshire rose? 1st August was Yorkshire day, a day when we can all celebrate the best of the county and our heritage. I was going to head up this up as August jottings, however, that would perhaps have suggested a gravitas for the post far greater than justified. The problem… Read More »
Early Railways 6 – Edited by Anthony Coulls This book, Early Railways 6, for which this is the advance call for subscriptions, will be my next academically published work. The series of Early Railways Conferences held its sixth gathering in June 2016 in the cradle of railway history that is Newcastle, with visits and events across… Read More »
Missed blog posts (April & June) This is a shortened rewording of what formed the Editorial to the most recent SLS Journal and Newsletter (J912 July/August), a bi-monthly magazine which I now edit and giving the reasons for my missing the task of making blog posts here during both April and June. SLS Stand ready for… Read More »