Organ Update 48 (08/09/08)
History in Harmony UPDATE #48 Compiled by Boz Oram boz@historyinharmony.com www.historyinharmony.com Welcome to Update Number 48 – and a hearty welcome to members new and existing on the History in Harmony Update. Please feel free to contact me at the usual address boz@historyinharmony.com and if others would like to join, then let them know and I’ll gladly send a copy out to them. All links and websites have been checked out beforehand. They should all work just at the click of a button from your mouse. I do know that some of you have slow broadband, but the web addresses are normally worth clicking onto. Intro Due to unforeseen circumstances, this Update should have gone out prior to the Great Dorset Steam Fair, but due to a blockage in the Internet provider, it didn’t work. Such is life! Great Dorset Steam Fair Yes, it was that time of year again. The Great Dorset Steam Fair was 40 years old (well actually the Great Working of Traction Engines, but whose going to split peas over a name change) and as a result Stephen Hubbuck, with the directors of the show organised a showing of original exhibits and the style of the original show. Stephen had been working tirelessly to firstly find the exhibits because 40 years is a long time and items get sold and it can be almost impossible to find them again. Secondly, once found, would those owners actually take them to a field in Dorset and thirdly, how will that actually happen, as not everyone travels this old equipment anymore. Well all I can say is that the event went off exceptionally well with people actually finding the exhibition even without any signs to this little corner of the show – it was like a show within a show and the amount of people who came back time after time to get sanctuary from the main show seemed endless. To me the star of the anniversary field was the Motorcycle Speedway Ark of David Littleboy. It looked impressive, was impressive and with Dave Goodwin’s steam showman’s engine powering the electricity right inside the fair, it all looked right and sounded right. Dave managed to set the roof of the engine alight but soon put that out and the next evening broke the flat belt that powered the dynamo – a late night journey to Cornwall to get the spare so that they could do the job again the next day for the show. The mechanical organ of the show has to be Barnaby Newton’s Marenghi – it has taken him some 14 years to complete and the sound is superb, the visual aspect is magnificent and it really is a superb representation of a traditional fairground organ. Best show front was the Freak Show, firstly as it has taken years to achieve this fascinating part of our history as well as being designed on an original concept. The Barker family were there as the power plant with the Garrett Verity, that even though was converted to showman’s spec during preservation times, really should now have the accolade of being one of the very few that can actually be called a showman’s engine as it seems to spend much of its time working part of the fair. Best comment to me was “YOU BASTARD!” (repeated many times!) When I got up a slippery hill to connect up the two living wagons – my passenger was not best pleased when she got covered in oil, soot and mud when I opened the regulator full. Guess who she was! Nicest moments were pulling my wagon to the show from Drusilla’s at Horton behind Burrell show engine King George VI as both items had been in the same ownership of Bolesworth – the next was meeting the grand relative of the original owner – the next was helping a couple of apprentices get a bit further along the learning curve; a really good move was walking out of the real ale tent due to the smell of armpits, smelly breath and Tarrent Hinton Belly (masked normally by tobacco smoke); the enjoyment of meeting up with so many friends and enjoying the odd bottle of scotch and case of beer. Finally, taking my own loo! The coal was excellent, with little ash, a small amount of clinker and basically almost smoke free – I did see other engines belching out smoke, but maybe they must have been using a cheap variety that they had brought along for the show (could it have been the usual Sunday coal that got mixed into the week’s coal?). Good to see Nobby, the small Gold Medal steam crane tractor back on the circuit again and doing what comes naturally to the owners – entertaining the Public. Massive highlight was the Red Arrows display team doing a fly past and then later on that same day another fly past from the Hurricane, Lancaster and Spitfire – this time a triple flypast. The sound of the engines was superb and the height was just above ground, so thanks to the pilots for that showing. Finally, I hear that there was so much dissention within the people that were there about the toilets, that there has been a discussion that a mobile loo is being made that is sanitary and clean, with required paper and an attendant. It will be chargeable, but so nice to have a clean place to go and do one’s doings. Saddest Moment: finding out that the great Penny Rigden, who brought back the Can-Can to the world on mass, had died just a few days before the show. I will attempt to do a decent write up on her in the next Update about her dedication to dance and her passion for life. Weirdest Moment was driving the steam engine back single-handed with a Massey tractor on a push-pole behind me to Berwick St John! Odd to say the least!!! As per last year, I helped out driving a chuffer puff around the playpen and between three trailers and various engines hauling them for the Children’s Cancer charity CLIC. Last year they collected some £11,000 for the kiddie’s charity, so hopefully they’ll beat it this year. Interestingly, on asking whether people had been to the show before, it seemed to be between ¼ and a third of the trailer that had been before – the remainder hadn’t and needed directions as to where they were and what was there. Maybe in future this could be addressed, as there is such a lot to see and so little time if you don’t know where to go. Maybe maps throughout the show saying where you are and plenty of signposts would help as the place is huge and orientation is almost impossible to work out. I’ve been going since God was a boy and I still don’t know where anything is. All in all, I think that the show was great, but then I was in the most delightful part of the show with the 1896 Orton & Spooner living wagon. I met great (possibly great/great) grandson of the original owner, Mr Raymond Bolesworth and with a bit of luck we’ll be able to pinpoint the actual date of the family taking delivery. I also met a descendent of the builder too and hopefully, even though there seem to not be any records of what was built, we might be able to sort out a true family history. What was really heartening to see was that there are a few youngsters trickling through into the scene who are doing all sorts of things with their lives such as building living wagons (now that’s dedication), restoring tractors and generally taking over from us old ferts. There will of course be plenty if words about the show, so check out the magazines devoted to the hobbies and you’ll find out more. Hopefully the reinactment will continue for other years and will continually change as the years go by, but stay at the same size. Berwick St John On a bi-annual basis, the Country Fair is held in said village, near to Shaftesbury. On the Monday morning, my job was to get Richard’s Foster traction engine, plus two living wagons back to his farm. Unfortunately, even though we’d managed to couple up the two wagons the night before, the engine really wasn’t going to get out of the field as the rain came down and as there are no roads to speak of, the place became a quagmire. It meant that by the time Richard had got the tractor to haul it all out through all of the traffic jam, all of the water had been turned off so it was a case of getting off site as quickly as possible and find a water hole. We decided to pole the engine from behind and then stick the two wagons behind that – ah, this meant that one of us had to drive the tractor and one had to drive the engine. We chose straws and I ended up on the engine and Richard in the enclosed, dry, warm, cosy gentle tractor in the rain. Man that engine sounded really good with the whole lot on the back of the engine – something the ‘Mericans call “stack music” We did the whole journey with the start of the journey on good “during the week” coal, the appallingly dire “Sunday, low on btu’s (kg’s)” coal to be finished with “Uncle Jim’s” dredging coal where I couldn’t stop it from making steam. We got back in good time, but during the Sunday coal moment, it could have been curtains! Maybe the coal merchant paints some rocks black to see what will happen? Right, now the Berwick St John show is brilliant and guess what - I won’t be there! Its not that I don’t want to go, but I’ll be in Belgium as part of the fixtures and fittings at the now famous Geraardsbergen Organ Festival, however the wagon will be there, with hopefully my brother Stuart manning the wagon instead (or in the beer tent!). If you want to see a traditional and enjoyable show where everyone can enjoy themselves, then this is the one to go to. Tractors, Chuffer Puffs, Horses a brilliant selection of mechanical music, traditional bar that serves beer and spirits and actually stays open, old tyme fair and plenty of crafts that you can find. Basically a real working country fair. Unfortunately, over the same weekend, there is another brilliant show at Old Warden in Bedfordshire. Both are excellent and are the only two that light by boat and it always a shame that they occur on the same weekend. Such is life. Geraardsbergen (or bust) Yes the Belgian Organ festival takes place again at the town made famous by the Hooghuys family and I’ll be taking Sharahazad over there once again (by popular request) as well as other participants taking plenty of other instruments from all over our delightful European Continent. The town boasts the highest point in Belgium and their mountain can be climbed, but unlike so many other mountains in Europe, this one is in Belgium, and due to their excellent hospitality, has a bar at the top, so if you are a bit parched by the climb, then you can quench your thirst. The Mannekin Pis – the first to be made is here and the little fellah last time was dressed as an organ man, still showing off his own organ at the same time! The conservatoire still goes on and we all enjoy their singing and playing of instruments. Geraardsbergen is right on the boarder with the French half of Belgium and as I write, I hear that the prime minister has stood down and his place has been taken over by three members until something can be sorted out! Culinary delights, Belgian beer, those damn matter tarts that the townsfolk are so proud of and of course the Belgian fantastic sense of humour. If you missed out on Waldo this year, then this event, now in its third year is a great place to go and have some fun and enjoy mechanical music. As a PS. This year I hope to be uneventful for Linda, the organ, the truck, the organisers, and me, as I just can’t take another year of vehicle self-demolition! Carter’s Fair Yes I keep harping on about them, but it is the best fairground in the land and they have gone out of their normal habitat of London and the Home Counties and ended up being sand-scratchers at Weston Super Mare (an Irish term). Yes you might remember that WSM had a pier with a pavilion on top of it and it hit world headlines when it caught fire. Fortunately for the town, the fair had been booked months in advance to appear just a stone’s throw away from the pier so all was not completely lost and they still had a holiday atmosphere in the town. For all of those people who say that the fair doesn’t travel around the country, the Family Carter is trying it’s hardest to accommodate people’s wishes and get around the country. Its hard enough driving a fleet of Scammell lorries through London, but to actually take them on these massive journeys too really sends the drivers deaf with that throbbing Gardiner Diesel roaring away beside them! Look at the website to see where they are at the moment and go and support them. They are this week in Bristol, so do go and support them if you can. Signwriting Course – Yes just one this year Hopefully in a future edition, I’ll pass on details of Joby’s signwriting course plus a write up on the one I went on. It is truly fascinating to see how to do an old art form from a number of skilled professionals and take that information home with you. You really appreciate a good signwriter, but to then learn from master craftsmen (that includes Ladies too) as to what it takes to really understand this ancient and dying art. The course will be in January and no doubt Joby will send details to me shortly. At the GDSF, I met with most of the people who had been on the same course as me and they truly enjoyed a totally different aspect of the preservation movement. Waterslide Transfers As a PS to this, I am trying to find a company that does waterslide transfers. Since the advent of screen-printing and computer designated signs, they seem to be in an almost extinct mode. Are there any people or companies out there that still do these works of art? I want to do the ceiling of my living wagon with flowers etc and can’t get any sensible information off the Internet. Help please and I’ll pass it on too. Now for a bit of Serious Preservation Vultures Up until 10 years ago, the most common raptor in India was the Vulture. Yes it was used in religious ceremonies, was part of the culture; it cleaned up decaying carcasses and removed a lot of the threat of disease, however a drug, injected into the cow herds to stop inflammation of their joints has almost wiped out the whole vulture population. According to the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), 99% of the population has been killed to the point of extinction – even the placid and trusting Dodo took a bit longer to exterminate by Man. What is happening is that when a cow dies, it is left for the vultures to scavenge and thereby remove the meat and stop the spread of disease – its worked for countless centuries, you know the thing - man and nature working as one and now its all gone tits up due to making money. Well, the population has taken really badly to this and put pressure on the powers that be to do something; the drug has now been outlawed in three countries and fortunately the bird protection people have a small number of birds that have been taken into captivity until the drug is totally eradicated so that they can then be released back into the wild to continue on doing the job that they really do so well. Why am I talking about some birds? Well folks, in a country that is so extreme in its way of living, that something so important can actually take place within relatively such a short time. From instigating the drug, to actually seeing the damage it was doing, to saving the birds (hopefully) and then once it actually is clear, to reintroducing them again. To me, and I know that the virtual extinction of the most common bird in India (+) is a total catastrophe, but to me, seeing an administration actually doing something for the country, the people and the creatures themselves just shows that Politicians, if they really bother to do the job they are paid for, can actually achieve positive things instead of just scratching each others ars--- (backs). Now to the other side of the coin Talking of Politicians Ask most people who have a brain and they’ll come back with a similar answer. Damn… from this point on, the whole article had to be scrapped as my ego got stuck in having opinions – sorry folks, lets try something else that might be less controversial!! Ah! I finally found a use for them… Politicians and people in the Public Eye are really only good for a couple of things: to make fun of and hopefully for them to use their supposedly intelligent brain for a few witty retorts. So here goes with loads of quips… Back in Historical times Just before Oliver Cromwell’s death, some of his supporters changed their ways to become supporters of Charles II with words such as …” that grand impostor, that loathsome hypocrite, that detestable traitor, that opprobrium of mankind, that landscape of iniquity, that sink of sin, that compendium of baseness, who now calls himself our Protector.” Group of English Anabaptists to the future King, King Charles II (1658) Lets go back a few years to Tudor times, when the celebrated Martin Luther (1483-1546) spouted forth about Henry VIII …” a pig, an ass, a dunghill, the spawn of an adder, a basilisk, a lying buffoon, a mad fool with a frothy mouth… a lubberly ass… a frantic madman… seems odd, but did I get the impression that he was not best pleased with the old Henners - that diatribe went on for a bit more (but I can’t really repeat it here), until he got it out of his system, but what lovely expressions. Another blast was at one of Henry VIII’s (8), daughters Queen Mary I, more commonly known as Bloody Mary, for her weird religious beliefs and her “how dare anyone oppose me – kill them approach”. A certain John Knox (1505-1572) was a bit more succinct in his approach to the mad mullah on permanent menstrual tension “Cursed Jezebel of England” Her sister, Queen Elizabeth I was a much more clever and gifted person and was perfectly capable of returning any poison to its sender “Proud Prelate: You know what you were before I made you what you are now. If you do not immediately comply with my request, I will unfrock you, by God.” Elizabeth I (1533-1603) to the Bishop of Ely. Now strangely enough one of the world’s greatest wordsmiths, Bill Shakespeare (1546-1616) had a great time writing one-liners into his plays such as “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” (King Henry VI, second part.). What else can be said! Or maybe “Sweep on, you fat and greasy citizens!” (Anthony & Cleopatra). Is that where the expression for a fat person is a “lardy?” And “The devil damn thee black, thou cream faced loon” (Macbeth) The cryptic message goes back even further and here’s an example from Roman times. The poet Martial wrote, “I could do without your face, Chloë, and without your neck, and your hands, and your limbs, and, to save myself the trouble of mentioning the points in detail, I could do without you altogether.” Marcus Valerius Martial (c40-104 AD). I guess Chloë was not his favourite person. Further Roman fun “Perhaps it was because Nero played the fiddle, that they burned Rome”. Oliver Herford (1863-1935). What about Politics? “We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British politician in one of his periodical fits of morality” Macaulay (1800-1859) Robert Burns (1759-1796) was also known to put pen to paper “Thou eunuch of language… thou pimp of gender … murderous accoucheur of infant learning… thou pickled herring in the puppet show of nonsense” to an anonymous critic. I had to look into the dictionary for some of those! More modern terms now such as “the English country-gentleman galloping after a fox – the unspeakable in full pursuit of the un-eatable” Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) “Very nice, though there are dull stretches”. Antoine de Rivarol (1753-1801) on a two-line poem. As you can see, wit and sheer cruelty is great fun for the outsider. Now to me that means that if we can laugh at others, then surely we can do the same with ourselves; in other words, it only works if you interact with someone, that it can hurt. Circus Sale On Saturday 13th September at 10.30hrs, there is a sale of circus vehicles and related ephemera (stuff) from Peter Arnett at the Grigg Ranch, Titchfield Lane, Wickham, Hampshire PO17 5NT with viewing on Friday 12th September between the hours 9am to 5pm. Buyers premium up to £1000 10% - over £1000 5%. Enquiries leah.sca@btconnect.com . The auctioneers are Southern Counties Auctioneers. Catalogues at £5. http://www.salisburyauctioncentre.co.uk/ Berwick St John Country Fair Here’s a reminder. Now if you are going to go to this auction, just a few miles further on down on the edge of the Wiltshire/Dorset border at Berwick St John, not far from Shaftesbury, you’ll find the village’s bi-annual country fair. Folks, trust me, this is the best in the area and you’ll get the opportunity of seeing all equipment in action in fact “A great working of machinery” where you’ll also see working horses, dogs, steam and possibly a show that encompasses the very spirit of why we continue to preserve our bits and pieces. By the way, it is a free entry gate so if you say it’s too expensive to go to a show, then you’re just making excuses to not go anywhere. Pewsey and Crofton Haven’t seen Sharahazad this year? Well you have the choice to go to Belgium and go to a brilliant festival or you can go to Pewsey Carnival September 20th in the evening or the Crofton Beam engine open day on September 27/28th. http://www.croftonbeamengines.org/intro.html Crofton is the oldest working beam engine house in the world and houses the oldest engines too! Once a year they have a get-together where a few roading chuffer puffs arrive and a few other bits and pieces come along. It is possibly the least expected piece of ancient machinery to be found anywhere as it lies within tranquil settings of the Kennett and Avon Canal as well as being in close proximity of Wilton Windmill. Where is it? Right smack in the middle between Marlborough (where Merlin’s Mound http://druidnetwork.org/en/reviews/books/merlins_mound.htm is – supposedly his burial place) and Hungerford, made famous by the Victorian Festival held in December and brings together steam engines, organs and the townsfolk together in an evening of revelry. Come off the main A4 (where Sir Goldsworthy Gurney’s Steam Carriages http://www.hevac-heritage.org/victorian_engineers/sir_goldsworthy_gurney/sir_goldsworthy_gurney.htm used to ply their trade from London to Bath) towards Great Bedwyn and follow the brown signs. They are a voluntary organisation and rely totally on your support. You won’t be disappointed or if you are, then you’re most likely a miserable git! Gurney I remember seeing somewhere that in the US, a Gurney Wagon is a either a hearse or an ambulance. Could someone in the know tell me please which one it is and if possible why it is called that? Now this is, if the feedback is anything to go by, is the bit you’ve been waiting for… The final Part of the Rolls-Royce story In the previous two editions of the Update, I have tried to give a few stories and examples of the famous badge of excellence. This is the final part, not unless someone wants to do another write up for us. This part is the SPEED part on land, sea, and air. Air During WWI, nearly ¾ of all aero engines were Rolls-Royce and the most popular being the Eagle, adapted from the Silver Ghost engine – a V-shaped 12 cylinder and powered amongst others the Handley Page bomber nicknames the Bloody Paralyser. The engines were designed to keep on going with more bits damaged than any other engine on earth. In 1919, newspaper, the Daily Mail offered £10,000 for the first direct flight across the Atlantic. On June 15th, Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whiten Brown made the crossing, mainly in dense fog and once coming out of cloud and found themselves almost upside down and just a mere 50 feet above the water. The 1890 miles took 15 hours 57 minutes, beating the previous best time by over three days (that of course being the Mauritania). Rolls-Royce engines also powered the first flights from England to India (1918), Australia (1920), South Africa (1920) as well as from the first purpose built racing circuit at Brooklands to Bulawayo however the plane did meet with a bit of a crash, however the crew walked out of the wreckage unharmed. Schneider Trophy Now the ‘R’ type engine was sketched out in the sand by Royce with his walking stick at West Wittering in 1928 and became the precursor of the magnificent Merlin engine. A year after the sketch, Flight Officer Waghorn flew the Rolls-Royce powered Supermarine S6 to win the Schneider Trophy for Britain at a world record speed of 328,63mph. After a bit of slap and tickle from the engineers, more power was produced just a few days later and the S6 was flown this time by Squadron Leader A.H. Orlebar and took the speed to 357.7mph. Amazingly, and nothing changes as the years go by, the British Government was so stuck up its own backside that it just wanted to pay its own salaries and to hell with the rest of the country (does that ring a bell anywhere?) and in 1926 Fanny Lucy Radmall, a great opponent of the policies of Ramsay MacDonald wrote out a cheque for £100,000 to finance the Royal Air Force’s defence of the Schneider Trophy (shame on the Government of the Day). She hated the policies of the Government so much that on her yacht Liberty, displayed along the entire length a six-foot high sign in electric lights said “TO HELL WITH RAMSAY MACDONALD”. From the money donated, Flight Lieutenant J N Boothman captured the trophy for keeps on 13th September 1931 and later that day Flight Lieutenant G H Stainforth took the world speed record up to 379.05mph. He was also the first to travel over 400mph (408mph) in a special Rolls-Royce sprint engine developing 2,530hp and was the real prototype of the famous Merlin engine. Strangely enough, the British Government tried to take the credit for the win! On 22nd February 1933, Sir Malcolm Campbell attacked the land speed record in Bluebird using a 36½ litre 2,300bhp Rolls-Royce V12 ‘R’ type supercharged engine ripping up his tyres on Daytona Beach making a world record of 272.46mph. Campbell’s last attempt at the world speed record was at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1935 where a 12 mile road was cut into the salt, a thick black line painted down the middle and one morning in September, as he hit the measured mile, the radiator inlet closed to give maximum speed, the windscreen covered itself in oil, the cockpit then filled with fumes and smoke and a tyre burst, then the whole vehicle caught fire. Strangely this didn’t put him off and on the second run later that day he achieved hi 9th world record at the age of 50 at 301.129mph. The most prolific land speed breaker was George Eyston who built the largest petrol engined record breaking vehicle of all time was the gargantuan Thunderbolt – the car was built in just 6 weeks and its power was from two supercharged Schneider Trophy racing engines producing 4,700hp with an engine size of 73 litres. On 19th November 1935, Eyston’s car was push started with an ordinary family car to set off on a new world record of 314.42mph. Thunderbolt came to a sad end – it was destroyed by fire in New Zealand in 1939. Water Sir Henry O’Neill de Hane Segrave broke the world water speed record in Miss England II with secret Rolls-Royce engines borrowed from the Air Ministry and the engines generated enough power to drive the propeller at 13,000rpm – a speed that many said was impossible to achieve. The engine was a bit like cramming a bomb into an eggshell. On a Friday 13th in 1930 he took the world record at 98.76mph, however he wanted to break the 100mph barrier. He took Miss England II to just under 120mph but unfortunately hit a sunken branch which cart wheeled the projectile. Segrave was rescued but died of a punctured lung. His last words being “Did we do it?” The body of Halliwell, his mechanic was found days later still wearing his goggles, still clutching his engineer pencil and note pad. Miss England II was salvaged (who said recycling is new) from the bottom of Lake Windermere, given a new propeller and it went on to get two more speed records at the hands of Kaye Don who took it to 103.4 mph on the Parana River in Argentina and 110mph in Italy. Miss England in the capable hands of Kaye Don managed 120.5 mph on Loch Lomond in 1932 and became the first man to travel at 2 miles per minute on water. Sir Henry Royce refused permission after this attempt to use Rolls-Royce engines, however he was shortly to die and Malcolm Campbell got hold of an ‘R’ type for Bluebird. He took it out on Lake Locarno and came back to the UK with a new world record of 129.5mph. In 1939, with war just around the corner, MC wanted to promote Made in Britain and advertised in The Times “wanted. A stretch of water about 5 miles long in a straight line, not less than 90feet deep, must be in the British Isles. Will anyone knowing of such a lake or reservoir please contact Sir Malcolm Campbell, 169 Piccadilly, London WI. Lake Coniston was the place and he got a new world record of 141.74mph. Returning back to the Merlin aero engine – the thing that played such a vital part in the defence of Britain was originally developed on its own funds by Rolls-Royce without a penny of Government aid and got the code number PV12 (PV = Private Venture) The first time it was flown it was put into a Hawker Hart – a biplane on the 12th April 1935. In 1940, after Winston Churchill had asked Rolls-Royce to send the blueprints to the United States Government just in case. As it turned out, the Merlin engines were constructed in the US and were made by the Packard Plant in Detroit and not Henry Ford who thought that Britain might loose the war. The American Air Force had the Mustang fighter and it was capable of 350mph. When it arrived in the UK, the engine was changed to a Merlin and became the Mustang P-51H and that increased its speed to 450mph with a top speed of 487mph and became the fastest of all the piston engined fighters during WW2. The production of Merlin engines exceeded 150,000 units and during this time, the efficiency was increased from in 1939 340mph to 1944’s improvements of 420mph and when the flying bombs were sent over, the engine capacity was increased further so that the Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mustangs could catch them, chase then and then shoot them down. The official record for a piston-engined aircraft is 499.048mph and was done by Steve Hinton in a Mustang powered by a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine at Mud Lake, Nevada on 14th August 1979. Up to 1910 there was no mascot, however the craze suddenly spread for those with money to burn by putting all sorts of odd things on the radiator. Eventually, Charles Sykes, a distinguished artist at the time was introduced to Rolls-Royce by John Scott (later Lord) Montagu and was taken for a spin in a Silver Ghost and inspired by its power, majesty, silence and grace made the famous statue. It soon became one of the worlds most instantly recognised trademarks and almost at the same time, became the most widely borrowed and imitated marks of all time. The model for the Silver Lady is widely believed to have been Eleanor Velasco Thornton, a favourite model of Sykes. She did however meet with an untimely end when on the 30th December 1915 the ship that she was on sailing to Port Said, the SS Persia was torpedoed and sunk by a U boat. Unfortunately she did not survive. Land Speed Record – Steam Yes folks, the land speed record for steam will happen soon and when I get further details, will pass them on to you, but speaking to a possible candidate to drive the said beast the other day, he did say that he’s never travelled faster than 150mph. Well here’s hope to you and hope that you actually achieve the record without too much trouble. Escorted Tours from the Trade magazine of the ETOA The following is an update on the situation surrounding driving hours on escorted tours in Europe. On 26th March the Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) within the European Parliament voted to support a proposal to reinstate the 12-day rule. This was contained as amendment number 191 of a draft report on a Commission proposal to revise EU rules for the "occupation of road transport operator". The report should be voted on by the Parliament in a plenary session later this month. Some have expressed hope that this marks "the beginning of the end" for the existing laws, heralding an imminent return to the 12-day rule. Whilst any airing of the problems caused by this legislation in Brussels is welcome, members ought to be aware that this is very much an airing of an idea. It is not relief. The Parliament's proposal is a political statement declaring that existing social legislation on road transport should be amended. If, as we hope, MEPs vote to retain this proposal in their final report, further progress depends on support from National Ministers on the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council. Both the Parliament and the Council have an equal say in the final decision on new European transport legislation. The European Commission would normally have to draw up the legal text that implements the 12-day rule's reintroduction. But the Commission indicated that it would prefer the dossier to progress on the basis of the Parliamentary amendment. The present parliamentary initiative comes at a time when consultants are about to start work on the European Commission's own study of the coach sector in Europe. Due for publication in 2009, this represents an additional opportunity for reform. ETOA continues to support all efforts to reintroduce the 12-day rule. If reform takes place, it is likely to be a lessening of the impact of the existing laws, rather than an outright repeal. Should the current Parliamentary initiative succeed (and there remain some procedural problems) a decision could be taken within the next 6 months. If not, the process may take at least 18 months. Kind regards, Adam Buckmaster European Operations Manager This is basically for those people who travel on escorted tours. There has been quite a lot of words spoken about tours and driving hours and how many drivers etc etc, which is possibly putting the costs up out of the reach of people on limited incomes. This is one of the replies, so hope it helps. Tours from History in Harmony For those who want to see Mechanical Music, the Annual jolly off to the Continent of Europe takes place in November with the Mechanical Organ Owner’s Society. Want to go, then details from mark@nle.demon.co.uk and if you want a place, then you’ll have to join the society. The Society produces under the editorship of Shane Seagrave and excellent publication that continues to improve on each edition and the website http://www.moos.org.uk/ has been revamped and is under the watchful eye of James Dundon, seen this year being the comperé on one of the stage shows at the GDSF. The tour is going to the eastern side of the Netherlands – a place not normally visited by groups to the excellent collections situated there. Well done again to Peter for his sterling work in finding these locations. Sinsheim 2009 The annual trip to the model and engineering exhibition in southern Germany takes place again with another selection of museums and exhibitions as well. Truly fascinating the show is too – literally hundreds of live steam vehicles plus all of the ancillary equipment as well. For further details tours@historyinharmony.com and mark it Museums Tour. Now for a bit of Magic Thanks to Rudy Nijs http://www.youmaker.com/video/sv?id=51485816d3124842bc22d463af60dc51001&f=fs and From Bill Lane somewhere in the World on his travels! MURPHY'S OTHER FIFTEEN LAWS! 1. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak. 2. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well. 3. He, who laughs last, thinks slowest. 4. A day without sunshine is like, well, night. 5. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. 6. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't. 7. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool. 8. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong. 9. It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them. 10. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it. 11. The things that come to those that wait may be the things left by those who got there first. 12. Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish & he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer. 13. Flashlight (torch): A case for holding dead batteries. 14. The shinbone is a device for finding furniture in the dark. 15. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty. From Wolfgang Brommer in Germany Dear Boz, Thanks’ for the reports. May I introduce you to http://www.morgan-organ.com In 2009 the Morgan car Factory has his 100th Birthday, so we at Jaeger and Brommer have designed a nice and new idea for this special 20 note street organ in a car design. All handmade in Ash Wood like the cars and hand painted by artist Klaus Dieter Kienzler. See you next time in Waldkirch with more time. Wolfgang Thanks for that Wolfgang – Having seen your work and the excellent musical sounds that you produce, I wish you a very full order book! It seems to be better to come and see you when the festival isn’t on as there is actually time to talk!! Maybe in Belgium and a beer or five? From the Mechanical Organ Owner’s Society courtesy of Rob Wichall, Peter Craig and Mark Jefford. Firstly, the website is UP AND RUNNING! Yes in the really capable hands of James Dundon, the site is really a really brilliant website to look at and enjoy. http://www.moos.org.uk/ If you don’t believe me, just hit the url thingy and see for yourselves. Following on from the last edition of the Update, here are a few of the organs that featured in the Waldkirch Mechanical Organ Festival.. “As usual this proved to be a most enjoyable event with lovely warm sunshine for most of the weekend. Below is a list of the larger organs that were in attendance. 125 keyless Carl Frei Barth Family 92 key Decap (1948) P Bader 68 keyless Limonaire (1908) D Hinzen 42 keyless Gebr Bruder (1923) R Weber 52 keyless Gebr Bruder (1930) Fuchs Family 35 key Limonaire (1924) Stimolo Family 48 keyless Wilhelm Bruder Söhne (1926) Dr Andrew Leach 53 keyless Wilhelm Bruder Söhne (1913) K Halter 89 key Gavioli (1895) B & C Wells and Family 67 keyless Wilhelm Bruder Söhne (1915) De Voer Family 78 keyless Ruth (1906) M W Verdonk 78 keyless Ruth (1926) Frans van Reeken 96 keyless Ruth (1908) Bram Vader 41 keyless Wilhelm Bruder Söhne (1912) F Brunner 52 keyless Ruth (1922) F Gigengack 48 keyless Wilhelm Bruder (1900) J E Klug 43 keyless Jaëger u Brommer (2002) E Köpf 52 keyless Ruth (1880) Senn Family 51 key Carl Frei (1960) R Renner 66 key Ruth Barrel organ (1882) Waldkircher Orgelstiftung 45 keyless Alfred Bruder (1928) Waldkircher Orgelstiftung In the Waldkirch Museum other instruments were in play throughout the weekend including the ex-Duncan Price 89 keyless G4 Blackforest Gavioli of which the restoration has yet to be completed. Bursens 100th Anniversary This year sees the 100th anniversary of the Bursens firm, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Johnny Claes of Boom, Belgium (who some of you will have met on the MOOS tours). To mark this event Johnny is organising an organ exhibition and an organ gathering in Antwerp later. The exhibition is in the Antwerp suburb of Hoboken, where the Bursens factory was located, and runs from 4th until 19th October, while the organ gathering itself takes place on Sunday 5th October. In conjunction with this, Johnny is assembling an exhibit of sleeves of LPs featuring Bursens organs and is appealing as widely as possible for the loan of such items. Further details from MOOS via Mark Jefford mark@nle.demon.co.uk Geraardsbergen One event I mentioned and have now tracked down before it starts is the Hooghuys Event in Geraardsbergen, Belgium on the 14th Sep. The event celebrates the Centenary of organ LH553, formerly known as 'Prince Carnival', which is owned by the city and lives in the city centre. This date comes courtesy of the website for the Belgian Organ Society 'MechaMusica'. http://www.mechamusica.be/ I am booked to appear with Sharahazad once again which means that hopefully the town of Geraardsbergen will again have excellent weather and a fine array of all types of mechanical organ. The town goes quite wild and is a brilliant place to go to if you haven’t had enough of good festivals this year. If you are coming via the tunnel and want to get via train to the event, then in the French part, when you ask for a ticket, do ask for Grammont as this is the French name for the town – they do not understand Geraardsbergen as they don’t like speaking Flemish! Ah the joys of Europe! Viewpoint The Death of Fair Organ Preservation This was a subject that arose a few years ago in another preservation journal. Recent observations have got me thinking that the genuine original instrument seems to be loosing popularity among the so called group of Mechanical Organ enthusiasts in this country with favouritism being shown in the latest creations of today’s generation of Organ builders, both professional and amateur. At the Waldkirch Organ Festival I was in conversation with a gentleman who had built his own 20 note hand turned organ and was telling me all about the project which I found interesting and complimented him on his achievement. Next thing I steered the conversation around to the products of the builders of old and discussing the comparisons between Gavioli and Marenghi organs. At this point the gentleman looked at me in a very vacant manner and changed the subject back onto home built instruments. It was as if I was talking a foreign language that seemed completely alien to him. In fact, I might as well have been having this conversation with a teenage ‘Hoody’ in some inner city shopping precinct for all the feedback I received. Continuing on… The FOPS recently staged its 50th Anniversary event at Holme on Spalding Moor in Yorkshire. The organisers managed to assemble together a good selection of old, genuine organs as well as some very nice new instruments. Some of the older instruments in attendance have very limited outings these days so it was a good opportunity to view and listen to these organs. The support shown by Organ enthusiasts to this event was quite honestly, pathetic. It is very sad when our friends from the continent can support the gathering yet British organ devotees chose to shun the event. Everyone I spoke to seemed to enjoy the show. I know I certainly did. So, bearing this in mind I’m now considering parting with my little Marenghi in favour of purchasing a second hand Rabbit Hutch, decorating it with some Christmas Tinsel, mounting it on a pram purchased from Mothercare, stick a CD player in the back and play recorded music. I’m sure this will go down a bomb with British enthusiasts far more than the outdated old dinosaur that I currently have. Before some of you start jumping up and down the point I am trying to make is I’m all in favour of modern instruments being produced. In fact there have been, and still are some very exciting projects to date with more planned for the future, I’m sure. But old and new instrument ALL have a part to play in this fascinating past time of ours. Just remember though, if it were not for Messrs Gavioli, Marenghi, Ruth, Mortier, Hooghuys etc we wouldn’t be enjoying our hobby today. So let us not turn our backs on these gems. Interesting points being made here – Have you got a view? Then if you are not too contentious, then I’ll print it. From Garry Heron in New Zealand Hi Boz, Just to let you know of some Rallies coming up this, and next year in the South Island New Zealand. 50th Anniversary rally 25th - 27th October 2008 at Fairton Mid Canterbury. Marlborough Vintage & Tuamarina Traction engine club Jananuary 2009 on 100th Anniversary on Lister oil engines. The Southland Steam 50th anniversary 14th &15th March 2009.McLeans Island Vintage Fair Near Christchurch on 28 & 29th March. Ellesmere Country Fair at Leeston 4th & 5th April. Keep on Steaming Garry Heron I went back to Garry to see if there are any websites for us to look at for further information Hi Boz, Well we found the web site for McLeans Island vintage fair it is www.vintagecountryfair.co.nz The others do not have any websites. If you would like more info we will try and get it for you. I am going to go to the Southland Steam rally at Gore and take the model down to it. In 2010 there is the New Zealand ploughing Championship - world contest at Methven. Web site www.nzplough2010.co.nz and that will be 15th-18th April. Well that’s all for now apart from waking up this morning to have a bit of snow on the ground. That’s the 3rd time this year. Bring on summer! I do have to say Garry, that at least you have snow, which I think it is supposed to do that sort of thing during winter. Here in the UK we have had an impression of dismal Autumn through most of the summer! Now our weather forecasters seem to want rain, because the forecasts continue to say heavy rain, even though yesterday and today it is a bit overcast, but certainly not the rain and monsoons predicted. The knock on effect is that people stay at home thinking it is going to rain. That’s hardly surprising, as the mass consciousness of people want to believe in something trustworthy. It a lot worst when a large show cancels right at the last minute due to either a weather prediction or just due to a lack of professionalism. Olympigs Just a few thoughts to all of those remarkable athletes from all countries that have been competing in the Olympic Games. Firstly well done to all of them whether you came in first or didn’t, someone has to win and many more don’t. For me the viewer, it is really great to see that so many people spend so much of their time getting their bodies fit and up to the peak of perfection and give up their lives all to the cause, so that the remainder of us don’t have to, and can specialise in other areas, such as sitting in the armchair, having a leisurely drink and having a good watch. I have also noted that our own UK Government has already massively overspent on its comedians (oops) consultants and back-handers and goodness only knows what else, so I now hear that the Government, is saying that there is no more money in the coffers to back the already cash strapped athletes and they’ll have to find it elsewhere! The Olympic Stadium is now holding the Paralympics and more medals are being won, however this it seems, is more interesting and much more competitive than the able bodied competitors. From Bob West Twinwoods Hi Boz, I hope you will come to Twinwoods this year, with or without an Organ. This will be the third year that I have staged a very successful Organ Festival at the Glenn Miller Museum, Twinwoods Arena, Clapham, Bedford. The dates this year are Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th October 2007. I am getting nearly 70 Organs attend. Mainly split 50/50 Large Organs and Handturned Organs. The Twinwoods website is www.twinwoodevents.com All Organs are playing and there is on site catering and an indoor bar and Saturday evening entertainment. Best regards, Bob West Thanks for that Bob. For those who don’t know about Twinwoods, this is that airfield that band leader Glenn Miller took off from on his last flight anywhere during WW2. There has been much speculation as to what happened. It seems that the aircraft could have been shot down by enemy fire or even to a plane unloading its remaining supply of bombs and they actually landed on the Miller plane underneath. All I know is that Glenn Miller certainly brought his own style to the Big Band and gave millions of people terrific enjoyment. Twinwoods is a fantastic place to visit without an event going on but even better when Bob’s involved with it! Musical Spotlight 68 key Gavioli Street Organ de Jupiter Recently I received a CD of de Jupiter and I have to say this is one of the best recordings that I’ve listened to for quite a long while especially as it has been professionally recorded with a superiority of sound, an excellent selection of music that has actually been choreographed to give a total contrast whilst listening to it and it is certainly one for the CD collector even if you aren’t into mechanical organs! Yes folks, it’s that good. A bit of background From the sleeve notes, the street organ de Jupiter was built around 1900 in Paris by the well known firm Gavioli et Cie and was designed for use in the dancehalls, however a few years later, the Antwerp firm of Devreese altered the disposition and the instrument went to Holland and was rented out as a street organ, and this makes de Jupiter one of the oldest street organs in the Netherlands. Its original name whilst in Rotterdam was Great Gavioli (Grote Gavioli), however after a few years of working, it came into the restorer Jac Minning who gave the organ a thorough overhaul; new registration took place with the old bourdon pipes being replaced with new ones and baritone and glockenspiel added and at the same time, the name was changed to de Jupiter. On 5th May 1955, the instrument made its first appearance in the streets of Haarlem and a group of enthusiasts were so impressed by its musical qualities that they decided to do something about securing its future. This helped lead to the foundation of both the Haarlem Organ Museum and the Kring van Draaiorgelvrienden and for this occasion, the famous organ builder, arranger and composer Carl Frei composed the march Leve ‘t Pierement which can be heard on the CD. Later in 1969, Theo van Zutphen, one of the founder members of the Haarlem Organ Museum bought de Jupiter and it became one of the first items in the newly founded museum. After his death, the ownership transferred to the Kunkels Organ Foundation, which now managed the museum. More recently in 2000, the instrument was completely restored and redecorated and the instrument was returned back to its old fashioned traditional wooden cart again. By buying this CD, you also make an important contribution to securing the future of the unique collection of street, dancehall and concert organs of the Haarlem Organ Museum, a museum that is based entirely on volunteers and cannot exist without your support. The music by the way, covers 23 different tunes and melodies and gives you the listener, the composers and the arrangers of the music which is great for the likes of myself who are interested in the different styles. Copies can be bought directly from the Draaiorgel Museum in Haarlem and in the first instance you can contact info@draaiorgelmuseum.org or you can go to their excellent website http://www.draaiorgelmuseum.org for further information. In fact, if you are in Holland and in the area, then every Sunday, the collection is open to the General Public where they have music all day long with food and drinks. This is an excellent opportunity of seeing a brilliant collection and hearing beautiful music in a lovely city. The address is Kuppersweg 3, 2031 EA Haarlem, Netherlands. If you have sat nav just shove the details in or aim for the manufacturing area of the town and you’ll find yourself either next to that damn speed camera factory or in another country! Useless Information Louis XIII of France went bald at 24 years of age; he got one of his courtiers to go out and buy a wig and started a rather wild fashion in the head department. All the males in Europe wanted long curly wigs and during the following century, the wigs became more and more stupendous with curls tied in ribbons draped all over the men’s shoulders. Fortunately the female population didn’t want to be left behind and in retaliation their styles went even more extreme with their hair built up on towering framework soaring up to three feet in height. As a consequence builders and architects had to raise the height of doorways and ceilings, but more importantly cut holes in carriage roofs to accommodate these boufantalicious creations. It was also a place where lice and all sorts of vermin took refuge too as the warmth and dirt suited their habitat! Maybe the people of nowadays who wear a rug on their head are right to keep them a short length! More Hair Going back a couple of thousand years, ancient Egyptian women started the home perm – they bound their hair round canes, then covered the canes in clay and then shoved their hair in the oven to bake it to get their permanent wave! Fortunately for later mortals, the invention of curling tongs were used during La Belle Epoch or Edwardian era and then later a young scientist names Nessler (later changed to Nestle) in 1905 designed a permanent waving machine – the forerunner of those in modern salons. Some hairdressers decided to try and wreck his invention as they thought it would destroy their trade in “Marcel Waving” – a form of hot tong waving introduced by a French hairdresser with the name of Marcel. From Mark Jefford Have just come across a Supplier of Boiler Parts that may be of use. > Their catalogue includes items such as Metric & Imperial Boiler Joints, Spiral Wound Gaskets > Boiler Doors > Glass Tape & Rope Lagging, Tube Expanders & Brushes > Gland Packing & Jointing Sheet, Gauge Glasses & Tubes They are Industrial Boilerhouse Supplies Ltd from Fareham, Hants and their website is www.IBHS.co.uk <http://www.IBHS.co.uk Also from Mark Thanks for the mention of Vohrenbach in the last Update. 'Voehrenbach Imhof Zeitung' http://www.suedkurier.de/region/furtwangen/art1061,3277892 Translation http://66.102.9.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.suedkurier.de/region/furtwangen/art1061,3277892&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2527Voehrenbach%2BImhof%2BZeitung%2527%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG Ethno Spot FINE You know what you ask someone how they are; you sometimes get the reply “FINE”. Well strangely enough, I just happened to be watching The Italian Job, the remake of the original one with Michael Caine. This one is good fun and it seems to be done more in homage to the original that anything else. In the storyline, there is a bit where someone asks, “how are you” and the answer is of course “Fine”. The person who asked the question says something like “Fine, you know what that means don’t you?” to which the other person realises that they are going to get a bit of pithy wisdom and it continues “Fine means Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional, that’s what FINE means” Next time you say or hear someone say “fine”, stand behind the short wall and feel what they are really saying. Sheep come in all different forms We’ve just managed to pass the Summer Solstice and living near to the rather famous Stonehenge site, Linda and I decided to wander off down to see the goings on that happen on the “Solstice” with the thirty thousand or so people who turn up to watch the sun rise over the horizon. It was with some trepidation though, as this year was a leap year and therefore the longest day was not the 21st but the day before. Would anyone notice? It seems that a weather girl mentioned this on the TV that morning and put a whole load of non-calming thoughts into the revellers. Linda, being the charming “oil on troubled waters” person that she is said “yes of course, today is as powerful as yesterday” when asked whether the energy would be right. What I find interesting is that the majority of the world seemed to think that the Solstice was on the 21st and it took a weather girl to point out its true date. Just remember that just because the TV, politicians and media say something; just remember that it might just not be true. At the same place, we met a fellah who had cycled down from Liverpool. Not too difficult I hear you say – I guess not when you have two wheels, but a bit of a bugger on a Unicycle methinks! He decided to go back on the train as he’d got a bit too much saddle soreness!! Since that time we have had an eclipse of the Moon and just watch what is going on underneath where it took place – interesting eh! This Modern World we live in Microsoft’s guru Mr Bill Gates has relinquished a bit of his time spent at the factory, so to speak and has decided to pass on some gems for up-and-coming people going into the workplace. At a recent speech to American High School kids, he spoke that the feel good, politically correct teaching has created a generation of pupils with absolutely no concept of reality. In the UK we had our own let downs too, especially when we read that a chief examiner admitted that he had given marks to a pupil who had only written F*** Off on his examination paper! Is it no wonder that employers complain about young people entering work with a ludicrously inflated sense of their own abilities? Bill Gates then had a few tips for success, which they would never learn in school. Tip 1 Life is not fair – get used to it. Tip 2 The world will expect YOU to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself Tip 3 You will NOT make £30,000 a year, by just leaving school. Tip 4 If you think that your teacher is tough, then wait until you get a Boss. Tip 5 Flipping Burgers is not beneath your dignity. You grandparents had a different name for it: opportunity Tip 6 If you mess up, its not your parents fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, just learn from them. Tip 7Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. Tip 8 Life is not divided into terms. You don’t get the whole of summer off. Tip 9 Employers are not interested in helping you find yourself. You will have to do that in your own time Tip 10 TV is not real life Tip 11 Be nice to nerds. Chances are that you’ll end up working for one. Tours I have to say that Peter Craig has come up with a totally fascinating and brilliant MOOS tour, popping into Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Yes it’s the other side of the country to what we are normally used to and a whole host of new collections to go and see, as well as seeing new organs being built as well as restorations too. If you want to know more, and trust me if you are into mechanical organs, then I suggest that you contact Mark Jefford to firstly become a member of MOOS (that’s if you aren’t already one) and then ask for a booking form for the tour. Trust me, when you see the itinerary, you’ll wish you hadn’t left it so late – it’s a real cracker! Limited places on the tour so only the first to apply will get seats. Mark’s email is mark@nle.demon.co.uk and MOOS website http://www.moos.org.uk/ From Peter Griffiths The price of Petrol versus Printer Ink All these examples do NOT imply that petrol is cheap; it just illustrates how outrageous some prices are.... You will be really shocked by the last one! (At least, I was...) Compared with Petrol...... Think a gallon of petrol is expensive? This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective. Diet Snapple 16 oz £1.29 .. £10.32 per gallon Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz £1.19 ...........£9.52 per gallon Ocean Spray 16 oz £1.25 ......... £10.00 per gallon Brake Fluid 12 oz £3.15 ...... £33.60 per gallon Vick's Nyquil 6 oz E8.35 ... £178.13 per gallon Pepto Bismol 4 oz £3.85 . £123.20 per gallon Tippex 0.7 oz £1.39 ....... . £317.71 per gallon And this is the REAL KICKER... Evian water 9 oz £1.49..£21.19 per gallon! £21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source (Evian spelled backwards is Naive.) You don't even want to compare it with perfume or after-shave. Ever wonder why printers are so cheap? So they have you hooked for the ink. Someone calculated the cost of the ink at................ (you won't believe it....but it is true........) £5,200 a gal.. (five thousand two hundred pounds) So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water, or Tippex, Pepto, Bismol, Nyquil or Heaven forbid, Printer Ink! Just a little humour to help ease the pain of your next trip to the petrol pump... And - If you don't pass this along to at least one person, your exhaust will fall off!! Okay, your exhaust won't really fall off....but you might run out of toilet paper From Peter Griffiths – A History Lesson in following someone else’s ideas or ploughing your own furrow. Does the statement, "We've always done it like that" ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England , and the original English expatriates built the US Railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used the same wheel spacing. Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have of course been used ever since that time. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome and had been standardised, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses! Now, the twist to the story When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. Thiokol at their factory at Utah makes the SRBs. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the worlds most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by
History in Harmony UPDATE #48 Compiled by Boz Oram boz@historyinharmony.com www.historyinharmony.com Welcome to Update Number 48 – and a hearty welcome to members new and existing on the History in Harmony Update. Please feel free to contact me at the usual address boz@historyinharmony.com and if others would like to join, then let them know and I’ll gladly send a copy out to them. All links and websites have been checked out beforehand. They should all work just at the click of a button from your mouse. I do know that some of you have slow broadband, but the web addresses are normally worth clicking onto. Intro Due to unforeseen circumstances, this Update should have gone out prior to the Great Dorset Steam Fair, but due to a blockage in the Internet provider, it didn’t work. Such is life! Great Dorset Steam Fair Yes, it was that time of year again. The Great Dorset Steam Fair was 40 years old (well actually the Great Working of Traction Engines, but whose going to split peas over a name change) and as a result Stephen Hubbuck, with the directors of the show organised a showing of original exhibits and the style of the original show. Stephen had been working tirelessly to firstly find the exhibits because 40 years is a long time and items get sold and it can be almost impossible to find them again. Secondly, once found, would those owners actually take them to a field in Dorset and thirdly, how will that actually happen, as not everyone travels this old equipment anymore. Well all I can say is that the event went off exceptionally well with people actually finding the exhibition even without any signs to this little corner of the show – it was like a show within a show and the amount of people who came back time after time to get sanctuary from the main show seemed endless. To me the star of the anniversary field was the Motorcycle Speedway Ark of David Littleboy. It looked impressive, was impressive and with Dave Goodwin’s steam showman’s engine powering the electricity right inside the fair, it all looked right and sounded right. Dave managed to set the roof of the engine alight but soon put that out and the next evening broke the flat belt that powered the dynamo – a late night journey to Cornwall to get the spare so that they could do the job again the next day for the show. The mechanical organ of the show has to be Barnaby Newton’s Marenghi – it has taken him some 14 years to complete and the sound is superb, the visual aspect is magnificent and it really is a superb representation of a traditional fairground organ. Best show front was the Freak Show, firstly as it has taken years to achieve this fascinating part of our history as well as being designed on an original concept. The Barker family were there as the power plant with the Garrett Verity, that even though was converted to showman’s spec during preservation times, really should now have the accolade of being one of the very few that can actually be called a showman’s engine as it seems to spend much of its time working part of the fair. Best comment to me was “YOU BASTARD!” (repeated many times!) When I got up a slippery hill to connect up the two living wagons – my passenger was not best pleased when she got covered in oil, soot and mud when I opened the regulator full. Guess who she was! Nicest moments were pulling my wagon to the show from Drusilla’s at Horton behind Burrell show engine King George VI as both items had been in the same ownership of Bolesworth – the next was meeting the grand relative of the original owner – the next was helping a couple of apprentices get a bit further along the learning curve; a really good move was walking out of the real ale tent due to the smell of armpits, smelly breath and Tarrent Hinton Belly (masked normally by tobacco smoke); the enjoyment of meeting up with so many friends and enjoying the odd bottle of scotch and case of beer. Finally, taking my own loo! The coal was excellent, with little ash, a small amount of clinker and basically almost smoke free – I did see other engines belching out smoke, but maybe they must have been using a cheap variety that they had brought along for the show (could it have been the usual Sunday coal that got mixed into the week’s coal?). Good to see Nobby, the small Gold Medal steam crane tractor back on the circuit again and doing what comes naturally to the owners – entertaining the Public. Massive highlight was the Red Arrows display team doing a fly past and then later on that same day another fly past from the Hurricane, Lancaster and Spitfire – this time a triple flypast. The sound of the engines was superb and the height was just above ground, so thanks to the pilots for that showing. Finally, I hear that there was so much dissention within the people that were there about the toilets, that there has been a discussion that a mobile loo is being made that is sanitary and clean, with required paper and an attendant. It will be chargeable, but so nice to have a clean place to go and do one’s doings. Saddest Moment: finding out that the great Penny Rigden, who brought back the Can-Can to the world on mass, had died just a few days before the show. I will attempt to do a decent write up on her in the next Update about her dedication to dance and her passion for life. Weirdest Moment was driving the steam engine back single-handed with a Massey tractor on a push-pole behind me to Berwick St John! Odd to say the least!!! As per last year, I helped out driving a chuffer puff around the playpen and between three trailers and various engines hauling them for the Children’s Cancer charity CLIC. Last year they collected some £11,000 for the kiddie’s charity, so hopefully they’ll beat it this year. Interestingly, on asking whether people had been to the show before, it seemed to be between ¼ and a third of the trailer that had been before – the remainder hadn’t and needed directions as to where they were and what was there. Maybe in future this could be addressed, as there is such a lot to see and so little time if you don’t know where to go. Maybe maps throughout the show saying where you are and plenty of signposts would help as the place is huge and orientation is almost impossible to work out. I’ve been going since God was a boy and I still don’t know where anything is. All in all, I think that the show was great, but then I was in the most delightful part of the show with the 1896 Orton & Spooner living wagon. I met great (possibly great/great) grandson of the original owner, Mr Raymond Bolesworth and with a bit of luck we’ll be able to pinpoint the actual date of the family taking delivery. I also met a descendent of the builder too and hopefully, even though there seem to not be any records of what was built, we might be able to sort out a true family history. What was really heartening to see was that there are a few youngsters trickling through into the scene who are doing all sorts of things with their lives such as building living wagons (now that’s dedication), restoring tractors and generally taking over from us old ferts. There will of course be plenty if words about the show, so check out the magazines devoted to the hobbies and you’ll find out more. Hopefully the reinactment will continue for other years and will continually change as the years go by, but stay at the same size. Berwick St John On a bi-annual basis, the Country Fair is held in said village, near to Shaftesbury. On the Monday morning, my job was to get Richard’s Foster traction engine, plus two living wagons back to his farm. Unfortunately, even though we’d managed to couple up the two wagons the night before, the engine really wasn’t going to get out of the field as the rain came down and as there are no roads to speak of, the place became a quagmire. It meant that by the time Richard had got the tractor to haul it all out through all of the traffic jam, all of the water had been turned off so it was a case of getting off site as quickly as possible and find a water hole. We decided to pole the engine from behind and then stick the two wagons behind that – ah, this meant that one of us had to drive the tractor and one had to drive the engine. We chose straws and I ended up on the engine and Richard in the enclosed, dry, warm, cosy gentle tractor in the rain. Man that engine sounded really good with the whole lot on the back of the engine – something the ‘Mericans call “stack music” We did the whole journey with the start of the journey on good “during the week” coal, the appallingly dire “Sunday, low on btu’s (kg’s)” coal to be finished with “Uncle Jim’s” dredging coal where I couldn’t stop it from making steam. We got back in good time, but during the Sunday coal moment, it could have been curtains! Maybe the coal merchant paints some rocks black to see what will happen? Right, now the Berwick St John show is brilliant and guess what - I won’t be there! Its not that I don’t want to go, but I’ll be in Belgium as part of the fixtures and fittings at the now famous Geraardsbergen Organ Festival, however the wagon will be there, with hopefully my brother Stuart manning the wagon instead (or in the beer tent!). If you want to see a traditional and enjoyable show where everyone can enjoy themselves, then this is the one to go to. Tractors, Chuffer Puffs, Horses a brilliant selection of mechanical music, traditional bar that serves beer and spirits and actually stays open, old tyme fair and plenty of crafts that you can find. Basically a real working country fair. Unfortunately, over the same weekend, there is another brilliant show at Old Warden in Bedfordshire. Both are excellent and are the only two that light by boat and it always a shame that they occur on the same weekend. Such is life. Geraardsbergen (or bust) Yes the Belgian Organ festival takes place again at the town made famous by the Hooghuys family and I’ll be taking Sharahazad over there once again (by popular request) as well as other participants taking plenty of other instruments from all over our delightful European Continent. The town boasts the highest point in Belgium and their mountain can be climbed, but unlike so many other mountains in Europe, this one is in Belgium, and due to their excellent hospitality, has a bar at the top, so if you are a bit parched by the climb, then you can quench your thirst. The Mannekin Pis – the first to be made is here and the little fellah last time was dressed as an organ man, still showing off his own organ at the same time! The conservatoire still goes on and we all enjoy their singing and playing of instruments. Geraardsbergen is right on the boarder with the French half of Belgium and as I write, I hear that the prime minister has stood down and his place has been taken over by three members until something can be sorted out! Culinary delights, Belgian beer, those damn matter tarts that the townsfolk are so proud of and of course the Belgian fantastic sense of humour. If you missed out on Waldo this year, then this event, now in its third year is a great place to go and have some fun and enjoy mechanical music. As a PS. This year I hope to be uneventful for Linda, the organ, the truck, the organisers, and me, as I just can’t take another year of vehicle self-demolition! Carter’s Fair Yes I keep harping on about them, but it is the best fairground in the land and they have gone out of their normal habitat of London and the Home Counties and ended up being sand-scratchers at Weston Super Mare (an Irish term). Yes you might remember that WSM had a pier with a pavilion on top of it and it hit world headlines when it caught fire. Fortunately for the town, the fair had been booked months in advance to appear just a stone’s throw away from the pier so all was not completely lost and they still had a holiday atmosphere in the town. For all of those people who say that the fair doesn’t travel around the country, the Family Carter is trying it’s hardest to accommodate people’s wishes and get around the country. Its hard enough driving a fleet of Scammell lorries through London, but to actually take them on these massive journeys too really sends the drivers deaf with that throbbing Gardiner Diesel roaring away beside them! Look at the website to see where they are at the moment and go and support them. They are this week in Bristol, so do go and support them if you can. Signwriting Course – Yes just one this year Hopefully in a future edition, I’ll pass on details of Joby’s signwriting course plus a write up on the one I went on. It is truly fascinating to see how to do an old art form from a number of skilled professionals and take that information home with you. You really appreciate a good signwriter, but to then learn from master craftsmen (that includes Ladies too) as to what it takes to really understand this ancient and dying art. The course will be in January and no doubt Joby will send details to me shortly. At the GDSF, I met with most of the people who had been on the same course as me and they truly enjoyed a totally different aspect of the preservation movement. Waterslide Transfers As a PS to this, I am trying to find a company that does waterslide transfers. Since the advent of screen-printing and computer designated signs, they seem to be in an almost extinct mode. Are there any people or companies out there that still do these works of art? I want to do the ceiling of my living wagon with flowers etc and can’t get any sensible information off the Internet. Help please and I’ll pass it on too. Now for a bit of Serious Preservation Vultures Up until 10 years ago, the most common raptor in India was the Vulture. Yes it was used in religious ceremonies, was part of the culture; it cleaned up decaying carcasses and removed a lot of the threat of disease, however a drug, injected into the cow herds to stop inflammation of their joints has almost wiped out the whole vulture population. According to the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), 99% of the population has been killed to the point of extinction – even the placid and trusting Dodo took a bit longer to exterminate by Man. What is happening is that when a cow dies, it is left for the vultures to scavenge and thereby remove the meat and stop the spread of disease – its worked for countless centuries, you know the thing - man and nature working as one and now its all gone tits up due to making money. Well, the population has taken really badly to this and put pressure on the powers that be to do something; the drug has now been outlawed in three countries and fortunately the bird protection people have a small number of birds that have been taken into captivity until the drug is totally eradicated so that they can then be released back into the wild to continue on doing the job that they really do so well. Why am I talking about some birds? Well folks, in a country that is so extreme in its way of living, that something so important can actually take place within relatively such a short time. From instigating the drug, to actually seeing the damage it was doing, to saving the birds (hopefully) and then once it actually is clear, to reintroducing them again. To me, and I know that the virtual extinction of the most common bird in India (+) is a total catastrophe, but to me, seeing an administration actually doing something for the country, the people and the creatures themselves just shows that Politicians, if they really bother to do the job they are paid for, can actually achieve positive things instead of just scratching each others ars--- (backs). Now to the other side of the coin Talking of Politicians Ask most people who have a brain and they’ll come back with a similar answer. Damn… from this point on, the whole article had to be scrapped as my ego got stuck in having opinions – sorry folks, lets try something else that might be less controversial!! Ah! I finally found a use for them… Politicians and people in the Public Eye are really only good for a couple of things: to make fun of and hopefully for them to use their supposedly intelligent brain for a few witty retorts. So here goes with loads of quips… Back in Historical times Just before Oliver Cromwell’s death, some of his supporters changed their ways to become supporters of Charles II with words such as …” that grand impostor, that loathsome hypocrite, that detestable traitor, that opprobrium of mankind, that landscape of iniquity, that sink of sin, that compendium of baseness, who now calls himself our Protector.” Group of English Anabaptists to the future King, King Charles II (1658) Lets go back a few years to Tudor times, when the celebrated Martin Luther (1483-1546) spouted forth about Henry VIII …” a pig, an ass, a dunghill, the spawn of an adder, a basilisk, a lying buffoon, a mad fool with a frothy mouth… a lubberly ass… a frantic madman… seems odd, but did I get the impression that he was not best pleased with the old Henners - that diatribe went on for a bit more (but I can’t really repeat it here), until he got it out of his system, but what lovely expressions. Another blast was at one of Henry VIII’s (8), daughters Queen Mary I, more commonly known as Bloody Mary, for her weird religious beliefs and her “how dare anyone oppose me – kill them approach”. A certain John Knox (1505-1572) was a bit more succinct in his approach to the mad mullah on permanent menstrual tension “Cursed Jezebel of England” Her sister, Queen Elizabeth I was a much more clever and gifted person and was perfectly capable of returning any poison to its sender “Proud Prelate: You know what you were before I made you what you are now. If you do not immediately comply with my request, I will unfrock you, by God.” Elizabeth I (1533-1603) to the Bishop of Ely. Now strangely enough one of the world’s greatest wordsmiths, Bill Shakespeare (1546-1616) had a great time writing one-liners into his plays such as “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” (King Henry VI, second part.). What else can be said! Or maybe “Sweep on, you fat and greasy citizens!” (Anthony & Cleopatra). Is that where the expression for a fat person is a “lardy?” And “The devil damn thee black, thou cream faced loon” (Macbeth) The cryptic message goes back even further and here’s an example from Roman times. The poet Martial wrote, “I could do without your face, Chloë, and without your neck, and your hands, and your limbs, and, to save myself the trouble of mentioning the points in detail, I could do without you altogether.” Marcus Valerius Martial (c40-104 AD). I guess Chloë was not his favourite person. Further Roman fun “Perhaps it was because Nero played the fiddle, that they burned Rome”. Oliver Herford (1863-1935). What about Politics? “We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British politician in one of his periodical fits of morality” Macaulay (1800-1859) Robert Burns (1759-1796) was also known to put pen to paper “Thou eunuch of language… thou pimp of gender … murderous accoucheur of infant learning… thou pickled herring in the puppet show of nonsense” to an anonymous critic. I had to look into the dictionary for some of those! More modern terms now such as “the English country-gentleman galloping after a fox – the unspeakable in full pursuit of the un-eatable” Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) “Very nice, though there are dull stretches”. Antoine de Rivarol (1753-1801) on a two-line poem. As you can see, wit and sheer cruelty is great fun for the outsider. Now to me that means that if we can laugh at others, then surely we can do the same with ourselves; in other words, it only works if you interact with someone, that it can hurt. Circus Sale On Saturday 13th September at 10.30hrs, there is a sale of circus vehicles and related ephemera (stuff) from Peter Arnett at the Grigg Ranch, Titchfield Lane, Wickham, Hampshire PO17 5NT with viewing on Friday 12th September between the hours 9am to 5pm. Buyers premium up to £1000 10% - over £1000 5%. Enquiries leah.sca@btconnect.com . The auctioneers are Southern Counties Auctioneers. Catalogues at £5. http://www.salisburyauctioncentre.co.uk/ Berwick St John Country Fair Here’s a reminder. Now if you are going to go to this auction, just a few miles further on down on the edge of the Wiltshire/Dorset border at Berwick St John, not far from Shaftesbury, you’ll find the village’s bi-annual country fair. Folks, trust me, this is the best in the area and you’ll get the opportunity of seeing all equipment in action in fact “A great working of machinery” where you’ll also see working horses, dogs, steam and possibly a show that encompasses the very spirit of why we continue to preserve our bits and pieces. By the way, it is a free entry gate so if you say it’s too expensive to go to a show, then you’re just making excuses to not go anywhere. Pewsey and Crofton Haven’t seen Sharahazad this year? Well you have the choice to go to Belgium and go to a brilliant festival or you can go to Pewsey Carnival September 20th in the evening or the Crofton Beam engine open day on September 27/28th. http://www.croftonbeamengines.org/intro.html Crofton is the oldest working beam engine house in the world and houses the oldest engines too! Once a year they have a get-together where a few roading chuffer puffs arrive and a few other bits and pieces come along. It is possibly the least expected piece of ancient machinery to be found anywhere as it lies within tranquil settings of the Kennett and Avon Canal as well as being in close proximity of Wilton Windmill. Where is it? Right smack in the middle between Marlborough (where Merlin’s Mound http://druidnetwork.org/en/reviews/books/merlins_mound.htm is – supposedly his burial place) and Hungerford, made famous by the Victorian Festival held in December and brings together steam engines, organs and the townsfolk together in an evening of revelry. Come off the main A4 (where Sir Goldsworthy Gurney’s Steam Carriages http://www.hevac-heritage.org/victorian_engineers/sir_goldsworthy_gurney/sir_goldsworthy_gurney.htm used to ply their trade from London to Bath) towards Great Bedwyn and follow the brown signs. They are a voluntary organisation and rely totally on your support. You won’t be disappointed or if you are, then you’re most likely a miserable git! Gurney I remember seeing somewhere that in the US, a Gurney Wagon is a either a hearse or an ambulance. Could someone in the know tell me please which one it is and if possible why it is called that? Now this is, if the feedback is anything to go by, is the bit you’ve been waiting for… The final Part of the Rolls-Royce story In the previous two editions of the Update, I have tried to give a few stories and examples of the famous badge of excellence. This is the final part, not unless someone wants to do another write up for us. This part is the SPEED part on land, sea, and air. Air During WWI, nearly ¾ of all aero engines were Rolls-Royce and the most popular being the Eagle, adapted from the Silver Ghost engine – a V-shaped 12 cylinder and powered amongst others the Handley Page bomber nicknames the Bloody Paralyser. The engines were designed to keep on going with more bits damaged than any other engine on earth. In 1919, newspaper, the Daily Mail offered £10,000 for the first direct flight across the Atlantic. On June 15th, Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whiten Brown made the crossing, mainly in dense fog and once coming out of cloud and found themselves almost upside down and just a mere 50 feet above the water. The 1890 miles took 15 hours 57 minutes, beating the previous best time by over three days (that of course being the Mauritania). Rolls-Royce engines also powered the first flights from England to India (1918), Australia (1920), South Africa (1920) as well as from the first purpose built racing circuit at Brooklands to Bulawayo however the plane did meet with a bit of a crash, however the crew walked out of the wreckage unharmed. Schneider Trophy Now the ‘R’ type engine was sketched out in the sand by Royce with his walking stick at West Wittering in 1928 and became the precursor of the magnificent Merlin engine. A year after the sketch, Flight Officer Waghorn flew the Rolls-Royce powered Supermarine S6 to win the Schneider Trophy for Britain at a world record speed of 328,63mph. After a bit of slap and tickle from the engineers, more power was produced just a few days later and the S6 was flown this time by Squadron Leader A.H. Orlebar and took the speed to 357.7mph. Amazingly, and nothing changes as the years go by, the British Government was so stuck up its own backside that it just wanted to pay its own salaries and to hell with the rest of the country (does that ring a bell anywhere?) and in 1926 Fanny Lucy Radmall, a great opponent of the policies of Ramsay MacDonald wrote out a cheque for £100,000 to finance the Royal Air Force’s defence of the Schneider Trophy (shame on the Government of the Day). She hated the policies of the Government so much that on her yacht Liberty, displayed along the entire length a six-foot high sign in electric lights said “TO HELL WITH RAMSAY MACDONALD”. From the money donated, Flight Lieutenant J N Boothman captured the trophy for keeps on 13th September 1931 and later that day Flight Lieutenant G H Stainforth took the world speed record up to 379.05mph. He was also the first to travel over 400mph (408mph) in a special Rolls-Royce sprint engine developing 2,530hp and was the real prototype of the famous Merlin engine. Strangely enough, the British Government tried to take the credit for the win! On 22nd February 1933, Sir Malcolm Campbell attacked the land speed record in Bluebird using a 36½ litre 2,300bhp Rolls-Royce V12 ‘R’ type supercharged engine ripping up his tyres on Daytona Beach making a world record of 272.46mph. Campbell’s last attempt at the world speed record was at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1935 where a 12 mile road was cut into the salt, a thick black line painted down the middle and one morning in September, as he hit the measured mile, the radiator inlet closed to give maximum speed, the windscreen covered itself in oil, the cockpit then filled with fumes and smoke and a tyre burst, then the whole vehicle caught fire. Strangely this didn’t put him off and on the second run later that day he achieved hi 9th world record at the age of 50 at 301.129mph. The most prolific land speed breaker was George Eyston who built the largest petrol engined record breaking vehicle of all time was the gargantuan Thunderbolt – the car was built in just 6 weeks and its power was from two supercharged Schneider Trophy racing engines producing 4,700hp with an engine size of 73 litres. On 19th November 1935, Eyston’s car was push started with an ordinary family car to set off on a new world record of 314.42mph. Thunderbolt came to a sad end – it was destroyed by fire in New Zealand in 1939. Water Sir Henry O’Neill de Hane Segrave broke the world water speed record in Miss England II with secret Rolls-Royce engines borrowed from the Air Ministry and the engines generated enough power to drive the propeller at 13,000rpm – a speed that many said was impossible to achieve. The engine was a bit like cramming a bomb into an eggshell. On a Friday 13th in 1930 he took the world record at 98.76mph, however he wanted to break the 100mph barrier. He took Miss England II to just under 120mph but unfortunately hit a sunken branch which cart wheeled the projectile. Segrave was rescued but died of a punctured lung. His last words being “Did we do it?” The body of Halliwell, his mechanic was found days later still wearing his goggles, still clutching his engineer pencil and note pad. Miss England II was salvaged (who said recycling is new) from the bottom of Lake Windermere, given a new propeller and it went on to get two more speed records at the hands of Kaye Don who took it to 103.4 mph on the Parana River in Argentina and 110mph in Italy. Miss England in the capable hands of Kaye Don managed 120.5 mph on Loch Lomond in 1932 and became the first man to travel at 2 miles per minute on water. Sir Henry Royce refused permission after this attempt to use Rolls-Royce engines, however he was shortly to die and Malcolm Campbell got hold of an ‘R’ type for Bluebird. He took it out on Lake Locarno and came back to the UK with a new world record of 129.5mph. In 1939, with war just around the corner, MC wanted to promote Made in Britain and advertised in The Times “wanted. A stretch of water about 5 miles long in a straight line, not less than 90feet deep, must be in the British Isles. Will anyone knowing of such a lake or reservoir please contact Sir Malcolm Campbell, 169 Piccadilly, London WI. Lake Coniston was the place and he got a new world record of 141.74mph. Returning back to the Merlin aero engine – the thing that played such a vital part in the defence of Britain was originally developed on its own funds by Rolls-Royce without a penny of Government aid and got the code number PV12 (PV = Private Venture) The first time it was flown it was put into a Hawker Hart – a biplane on the 12th April 1935. In 1940, after Winston Churchill had asked Rolls-Royce to send the blueprints to the United States Government just in case. As it turned out, the Merlin engines were constructed in the US and were made by the Packard Plant in Detroit and not Henry Ford who thought that Britain might loose the war. The American Air Force had the Mustang fighter and it was capable of 350mph. When it arrived in the UK, the engine was changed to a Merlin and became the Mustang P-51H and that increased its speed to 450mph with a top speed of 487mph and became the fastest of all the piston engined fighters during WW2. The production of Merlin engines exceeded 150,000 units and during this time, the efficiency was increased from in 1939 340mph to 1944’s improvements of 420mph and when the flying bombs were sent over, the engine capacity was increased further so that the Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mustangs could catch them, chase then and then shoot them down. The official record for a piston-engined aircraft is 499.048mph and was done by Steve Hinton in a Mustang powered by a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine at Mud Lake, Nevada on 14th August 1979. Up to 1910 there was no mascot, however the craze suddenly spread for those with money to burn by putting all sorts of odd things on the radiator. Eventually, Charles Sykes, a distinguished artist at the time was introduced to Rolls-Royce by John Scott (later Lord) Montagu and was taken for a spin in a Silver Ghost and inspired by its power, majesty, silence and grace made the famous statue. It soon became one of the worlds most instantly recognised trademarks and almost at the same time, became the most widely borrowed and imitated marks of all time. The model for the Silver Lady is widely believed to have been Eleanor Velasco Thornton, a favourite model of Sykes. She did however meet with an untimely end when on the 30th December 1915 the ship that she was on sailing to Port Said, the SS Persia was torpedoed and sunk by a U boat. Unfortunately she did not survive. Land Speed Record – Steam Yes folks, the land speed record for steam will happen soon and when I get further details, will pass them on to you, but speaking to a possible candidate to drive the said beast the other day, he did say that he’s never travelled faster than 150mph. Well here’s hope to you and hope that you actually achieve the record without too much trouble. Escorted Tours from the Trade magazine of the ETOA The following is an update on the situation surrounding driving hours on escorted tours in Europe. On 26th March the Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) within the European Parliament voted to support a proposal to reinstate the 12-day rule. This was contained as amendment number 191 of a draft report on a Commission proposal to revise EU rules for the "occupation of road transport operator". The report should be voted on by the Parliament in a plenary session later this month. Some have expressed hope that this marks "the beginning of the end" for the existing laws, heralding an imminent return to the 12-day rule. Whilst any airing of the problems caused by this legislation in Brussels is welcome, members ought to be aware that this is very much an airing of an idea. It is not relief. The Parliament's proposal is a political statement declaring that existing social legislation on road transport should be amended. If, as we hope, MEPs vote to retain this proposal in their final report, further progress depends on support from National Ministers on the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council. Both the Parliament and the Council have an equal say in the final decision on new European transport legislation. The European Commission would normally have to draw up the legal text that implements the 12-day rule's reintroduction. But the Commission indicated that it would prefer the dossier to progress on the basis of the Parliamentary amendment. The present parliamentary initiative comes at a time when consultants are about to start work on the European Commission's own study of the coach sector in Europe. Due for publication in 2009, this represents an additional opportunity for reform. ETOA continues to support all efforts to reintroduce the 12-day rule. If reform takes place, it is likely to be a lessening of the impact of the existing laws, rather than an outright repeal. Should the current Parliamentary initiative succeed (and there remain some procedural problems) a decision could be taken within the next 6 months. If not, the process may take at least 18 months. Kind regards, Adam Buckmaster European Operations Manager This is basically for those people who travel on escorted tours. There has been quite a lot of words spoken about tours and driving hours and how many drivers etc etc, which is possibly putting the costs up out of the reach of people on limited incomes. This is one of the replies, so hope it helps. Tours from History in Harmony For those who want to see Mechanical Music, the Annual jolly off to the Continent of Europe takes place in November with the Mechanical Organ Owner’s Society. Want to go, then details from mark@nle.demon.co.uk and if you want a place, then you’ll have to join the society. The Society produces under the editorship of Shane Seagrave and excellent publication that continues to improve on each edition and the website http://www.moos.org.uk/ has been revamped and is under the watchful eye of James Dundon, seen this year being the comperé on one of the stage shows at the GDSF. The tour is going to the eastern side of the Netherlands – a place not normally visited by groups to the excellent collections situated there. Well done again to Peter for his sterling work in finding these locations. Sinsheim 2009 The annual trip to the model and engineering exhibition in southern Germany takes place again with another selection of museums and exhibitions as well. Truly fascinating the show is too – literally hundreds of live steam vehicles plus all of the ancillary equipment as well. For further details tours@historyinharmony.com and mark it Museums Tour. Now for a bit of Magic Thanks to Rudy Nijs http://www.youmaker.com/video/sv?id=51485816d3124842bc22d463af60dc51001&f=fs and From Bill Lane somewhere in the World on his travels! MURPHY'S OTHER FIFTEEN LAWS! 1. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak. 2. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well. 3. He, who laughs last, thinks slowest. 4. A day without sunshine is like, well, night. 5. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. 6. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't. 7. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool. 8. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong. 9. It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them. 10. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it. 11. The things that come to those that wait may be the things left by those who got there first. 12. Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish & he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer. 13. Flashlight (torch): A case for holding dead batteries. 14. The shinbone is a device for finding furniture in the dark. 15. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty. From Wolfgang Brommer in Germany Dear Boz, Thanks’ for the reports. May I introduce you to http://www.morgan-organ.com In 2009 the Morgan car Factory has his 100th Birthday, so we at Jaeger and Brommer have designed a nice and new idea for this special 20 note street organ in a car design. All handmade in Ash Wood like the cars and hand painted by artist Klaus Dieter Kienzler. See you next time in Waldkirch with more time. Wolfgang Thanks for that Wolfgang – Having seen your work and the excellent musical sounds that you produce, I wish you a very full order book! It seems to be better to come and see you when the festival isn’t on as there is actually time to talk!! Maybe in Belgium and a beer or five? From the Mechanical Organ Owner’s Society courtesy of Rob Wichall, Peter Craig and Mark Jefford. Firstly, the website is UP AND RUNNING! Yes in the really capable hands of James Dundon, the site is really a really brilliant website to look at and enjoy. http://www.moos.org.uk/ If you don’t believe me, just hit the url thingy and see for yourselves. Following on from the last edition of the Update, here are a few of the organs that featured in the Waldkirch Mechanical Organ Festival.. “As usual this proved to be a most enjoyable event with lovely warm sunshine for most of the weekend. Below is a list of the larger organs that were in attendance. 125 keyless Carl Frei Barth Family 92 key Decap (1948) P Bader 68 keyless Limonaire (1908) D Hinzen 42 keyless Gebr Bruder (1923) R Weber 52 keyless Gebr Bruder (1930) Fuchs Family 35 key Limonaire (1924) Stimolo Family 48 keyless Wilhelm Bruder Söhne (1926) Dr Andrew Leach 53 keyless Wilhelm Bruder Söhne (1913) K Halter 89 key Gavioli (1895) B & C Wells and Family 67 keyless Wilhelm Bruder Söhne (1915) De Voer Family 78 keyless Ruth (1906) M W Verdonk 78 keyless Ruth (1926) Frans van Reeken 96 keyless Ruth (1908) Bram Vader 41 keyless Wilhelm Bruder Söhne (1912) F Brunner 52 keyless Ruth (1922) F Gigengack 48 keyless Wilhelm Bruder (1900) J E Klug 43 keyless Jaëger u Brommer (2002) E Köpf 52 keyless Ruth (1880) Senn Family 51 key Carl Frei (1960) R Renner 66 key Ruth Barrel organ (1882) Waldkircher Orgelstiftung 45 keyless Alfred Bruder (1928) Waldkircher Orgelstiftung In the Waldkirch Museum other instruments were in play throughout the weekend including the ex-Duncan Price 89 keyless G4 Blackforest Gavioli of which the restoration has yet to be completed. Bursens 100th Anniversary This year sees the 100th anniversary of the Bursens firm, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Johnny Claes of Boom, Belgium (who some of you will have met on the MOOS tours). To mark this event Johnny is organising an organ exhibition and an organ gathering in Antwerp later. The exhibition is in the Antwerp suburb of Hoboken, where the Bursens factory was located, and runs from 4th until 19th October, while the organ gathering itself takes place on Sunday 5th October. In conjunction with this, Johnny is assembling an exhibit of sleeves of LPs featuring Bursens organs and is appealing as widely as possible for the loan of such items. Further details from MOOS via Mark Jefford mark@nle.demon.co.uk Geraardsbergen One event I mentioned and have now tracked down before it starts is the Hooghuys Event in Geraardsbergen, Belgium on the 14th Sep. The event celebrates the Centenary of organ LH553, formerly known as 'Prince Carnival', which is owned by the city and lives in the city centre. This date comes courtesy of the website for the Belgian Organ Society 'MechaMusica'. http://www.mechamusica.be/ I am booked to appear with Sharahazad once again which means that hopefully the town of Geraardsbergen will again have excellent weather and a fine array of all types of mechanical organ. The town goes quite wild and is a brilliant place to go to if you haven’t had enough of good festivals this year. If you are coming via the tunnel and want to get via train to the event, then in the French part, when you ask for a ticket, do ask for Grammont as this is the French name for the town – they do not understand Geraardsbergen as they don’t like speaking Flemish! Ah the joys of Europe! Viewpoint The Death of Fair Organ Preservation This was a subject that arose a few years ago in another preservation journal. Recent observations have got me thinking that the genuine original instrument seems to be loosing popularity among the so called group of Mechanical Organ enthusiasts in this country with favouritism being shown in the latest creations of today’s generation of Organ builders, both professional and amateur. At the Waldkirch Organ Festival I was in conversation with a gentleman who had built his own 20 note hand turned organ and was telling me all about the project which I found interesting and complimented him on his achievement. Next thing I steered the conversation around to the products of the builders of old and discussing the comparisons between Gavioli and Marenghi organs. At this point the gentleman looked at me in a very vacant manner and changed the subject back onto home built instruments. It was as if I was talking a foreign language that seemed completely alien to him. In fact, I might as well have been having this conversation with a teenage ‘Hoody’ in some inner city shopping precinct for all the feedback I received. Continuing on… The FOPS recently staged its 50th Anniversary event at Holme on Spalding Moor in Yorkshire. The organisers managed to assemble together a good selection of old, genuine organs as well as some very nice new instruments. Some of the older instruments in attendance have very limited outings these days so it was a good opportunity to view and listen to these organs. The support shown by Organ enthusiasts to this event was quite honestly, pathetic. It is very sad when our friends from the continent can support the gathering yet British organ devotees chose to shun the event. Everyone I spoke to seemed to enjoy the show. I know I certainly did. So, bearing this in mind I’m now considering parting with my little Marenghi in favour of purchasing a second hand Rabbit Hutch, decorating it with some Christmas Tinsel, mounting it on a pram purchased from Mothercare, stick a CD player in the back and play recorded music. I’m sure this will go down a bomb with British enthusiasts far more than the outdated old dinosaur that I currently have. Before some of you start jumping up and down the point I am trying to make is I’m all in favour of modern instruments being produced. In fact there have been, and still are some very exciting projects to date with more planned for the future, I’m sure. But old and new instrument ALL have a part to play in this fascinating past time of ours. Just remember though, if it were not for Messrs Gavioli, Marenghi, Ruth, Mortier, Hooghuys etc we wouldn’t be enjoying our hobby today. So let us not turn our backs on these gems. Interesting points being made here – Have you got a view? Then if you are not too contentious, then I’ll print it. From Garry Heron in New Zealand Hi Boz, Just to let you know of some Rallies coming up this, and next year in the South Island New Zealand. 50th Anniversary rally 25th - 27th October 2008 at Fairton Mid Canterbury. Marlborough Vintage & Tuamarina Traction engine club Jananuary 2009 on 100th Anniversary on Lister oil engines. The Southland Steam 50th anniversary 14th &15th March 2009.McLeans Island Vintage Fair Near Christchurch on 28 & 29th March. Ellesmere Country Fair at Leeston 4th & 5th April. Keep on Steaming Garry Heron I went back to Garry to see if there are any websites for us to look at for further information Hi Boz, Well we found the web site for McLeans Island vintage fair it is www.vintagecountryfair.co.nz The others do not have any websites. If you would like more info we will try and get it for you. I am going to go to the Southland Steam rally at Gore and take the model down to it. In 2010 there is the New Zealand ploughing Championship - world contest at Methven. Web site www.nzplough2010.co.nz and that will be 15th-18th April. Well that’s all for now apart from waking up this morning to have a bit of snow on the ground. That’s the 3rd time this year. Bring on summer! I do have to say Garry, that at least you have snow, which I think it is supposed to do that sort of thing during winter. Here in the UK we have had an impression of dismal Autumn through most of the summer! Now our weather forecasters seem to want rain, because the forecasts continue to say heavy rain, even though yesterday and today it is a bit overcast, but certainly not the rain and monsoons predicted. The knock on effect is that people stay at home thinking it is going to rain. That’s hardly surprising, as the mass consciousness of people want to believe in something trustworthy. It a lot worst when a large show cancels right at the last minute due to either a weather prediction or just due to a lack of professionalism. Olympigs Just a few thoughts to all of those remarkable athletes from all countries that have been competing in the Olympic Games. Firstly well done to all of them whether you came in first or didn’t, someone has to win and many more don’t. For me the viewer, it is really great to see that so many people spend so much of their time getting their bodies fit and up to the peak of perfection and give up their lives all to the cause, so that the remainder of us don’t have to, and can specialise in other areas, such as sitting in the armchair, having a leisurely drink and having a good watch. I have also noted that our own UK Government has already massively overspent on its comedians (oops) consultants and back-handers and goodness only knows what else, so I now hear that the Government, is saying that there is no more money in the coffers to back the already cash strapped athletes and they’ll have to find it elsewhere! The Olympic Stadium is now holding the Paralympics and more medals are being won, however this it seems, is more interesting and much more competitive than the able bodied competitors. From Bob West Twinwoods Hi Boz, I hope you will come to Twinwoods this year, with or without an Organ. This will be the third year that I have staged a very successful Organ Festival at the Glenn Miller Museum, Twinwoods Arena, Clapham, Bedford. The dates this year are Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th October 2007. I am getting nearly 70 Organs attend. Mainly split 50/50 Large Organs and Handturned Organs. The Twinwoods website is www.twinwoodevents.com All Organs are playing and there is on site catering and an indoor bar and Saturday evening entertainment. Best regards, Bob West Thanks for that Bob. For those who don’t know about Twinwoods, this is that airfield that band leader Glenn Miller took off from on his last flight anywhere during WW2. There has been much speculation as to what happened. It seems that the aircraft could have been shot down by enemy fire or even to a plane unloading its remaining supply of bombs and they actually landed on the Miller plane underneath. All I know is that Glenn Miller certainly brought his own style to the Big Band and gave millions of people terrific enjoyment. Twinwoods is a fantastic place to visit without an event going on but even better when Bob’s involved with it! Musical Spotlight 68 key Gavioli Street Organ de Jupiter Recently I received a CD of de Jupiter and I have to say this is one of the best recordings that I’ve listened to for quite a long while especially as it has been professionally recorded with a superiority of sound, an excellent selection of music that has actually been choreographed to give a total contrast whilst listening to it and it is certainly one for the CD collector even if you aren’t into mechanical organs! Yes folks, it’s that good. A bit of background From the sleeve notes, the street organ de Jupiter was built around 1900 in Paris by the well known firm Gavioli et Cie and was designed for use in the dancehalls, however a few years later, the Antwerp firm of Devreese altered the disposition and the instrument went to Holland and was rented out as a street organ, and this makes de Jupiter one of the oldest street organs in the Netherlands. Its original name whilst in Rotterdam was Great Gavioli (Grote Gavioli), however after a few years of working, it came into the restorer Jac Minning who gave the organ a thorough overhaul; new registration took place with the old bourdon pipes being replaced with new ones and baritone and glockenspiel added and at the same time, the name was changed to de Jupiter. On 5th May 1955, the instrument made its first appearance in the streets of Haarlem and a group of enthusiasts were so impressed by its musical qualities that they decided to do something about securing its future. This helped lead to the foundation of both the Haarlem Organ Museum and the Kring van Draaiorgelvrienden and for this occasion, the famous organ builder, arranger and composer Carl Frei composed the march Leve ‘t Pierement which can be heard on the CD. Later in 1969, Theo van Zutphen, one of the founder members of the Haarlem Organ Museum bought de Jupiter and it became one of the first items in the newly founded museum. After his death, the ownership transferred to the Kunkels Organ Foundation, which now managed the museum. More recently in 2000, the instrument was completely restored and redecorated and the instrument was returned back to its old fashioned traditional wooden cart again. By buying this CD, you also make an important contribution to securing the future of the unique collection of street, dancehall and concert organs of the Haarlem Organ Museum, a museum that is based entirely on volunteers and cannot exist without your support. The music by the way, covers 23 different tunes and melodies and gives you the listener, the composers and the arrangers of the music which is great for the likes of myself who are interested in the different styles. Copies can be bought directly from the Draaiorgel Museum in Haarlem and in the first instance you can contact info@draaiorgelmuseum.org or you can go to their excellent website http://www.draaiorgelmuseum.org for further information. In fact, if you are in Holland and in the area, then every Sunday, the collection is open to the General Public where they have music all day long with food and drinks. This is an excellent opportunity of seeing a brilliant collection and hearing beautiful music in a lovely city. The address is Kuppersweg 3, 2031 EA Haarlem, Netherlands. If you have sat nav just shove the details in or aim for the manufacturing area of the town and you’ll find yourself either next to that damn speed camera factory or in another country! Useless Information Louis XIII of France went bald at 24 years of age; he got one of his courtiers to go out and buy a wig and started a rather wild fashion in the head department. All the males in Europe wanted long curly wigs and during the following century, the wigs became more and more stupendous with curls tied in ribbons draped all over the men’s shoulders. Fortunately the female population didn’t want to be left behind and in retaliation their styles went even more extreme with their hair built up on towering framework soaring up to three feet in height. As a consequence builders and architects had to raise the height of doorways and ceilings, but more importantly cut holes in carriage roofs to accommodate these boufantalicious creations. It was also a place where lice and all sorts of vermin took refuge too as the warmth and dirt suited their habitat! Maybe the people of nowadays who wear a rug on their head are right to keep them a short length! More Hair Going back a couple of thousand years, ancient Egyptian women started the home perm – they bound their hair round canes, then covered the canes in clay and then shoved their hair in the oven to bake it to get their permanent wave! Fortunately for later mortals, the invention of curling tongs were used during La Belle Epoch or Edwardian era and then later a young scientist names Nessler (later changed to Nestle) in 1905 designed a permanent waving machine – the forerunner of those in modern salons. Some hairdressers decided to try and wreck his invention as they thought it would destroy their trade in “Marcel Waving” – a form of hot tong waving introduced by a French hairdresser with the name of Marcel. From Mark Jefford Have just come across a Supplier of Boiler Parts that may be of use. > Their catalogue includes items such as Metric & Imperial Boiler Joints, Spiral Wound Gaskets > Boiler Doors > Glass Tape & Rope Lagging, Tube Expanders & Brushes > Gland Packing & Jointing Sheet, Gauge Glasses & Tubes They are Industrial Boilerhouse Supplies Ltd from Fareham, Hants and their website is www.IBHS.co.uk <http://www.IBHS.co.uk Also from Mark Thanks for the mention of Vohrenbach in the last Update. 'Voehrenbach Imhof Zeitung' http://www.suedkurier.de/region/furtwangen/art1061,3277892 Translation http://66.102.9.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.suedkurier.de/region/furtwangen/art1061,3277892&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2527Voehrenbach%2BImhof%2BZeitung%2527%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG Ethno Spot FINE You know what you ask someone how they are; you sometimes get the reply “FINE”. Well strangely enough, I just happened to be watching The Italian Job, the remake of the original one with Michael Caine. This one is good fun and it seems to be done more in homage to the original that anything else. In the storyline, there is a bit where someone asks, “how are you” and the answer is of course “Fine”. The person who asked the question says something like “Fine, you know what that means don’t you?” to which the other person realises that they are going to get a bit of pithy wisdom and it continues “Fine means Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional, that’s what FINE means” Next time you say or hear someone say “fine”, stand behind the short wall and feel what they are really saying. Sheep come in all different forms We’ve just managed to pass the Summer Solstice and living near to the rather famous Stonehenge site, Linda and I decided to wander off down to see the goings on that happen on the “Solstice” with the thirty thousand or so people who turn up to watch the sun rise over the horizon. It was with some trepidation though, as this year was a leap year and therefore the longest day was not the 21st but the day before. Would anyone notice? It seems that a weather girl mentioned this on the TV that morning and put a whole load of non-calming thoughts into the revellers. Linda, being the charming “oil on troubled waters” person that she is said “yes of course, today is as powerful as yesterday” when asked whether the energy would be right. What I find interesting is that the majority of the world seemed to think that the Solstice was on the 21st and it took a weather girl to point out its true date. Just remember that just because the TV, politicians and media say something; just remember that it might just not be true. At the same place, we met a fellah who had cycled down from Liverpool. Not too difficult I hear you say – I guess not when you have two wheels, but a bit of a bugger on a Unicycle methinks! He decided to go back on the train as he’d got a bit too much saddle soreness!! Since that time we have had an eclipse of the Moon and just watch what is going on underneath where it took place – interesting eh! This Modern World we live in Microsoft’s guru Mr Bill Gates has relinquished a bit of his time spent at the factory, so to speak and has decided to pass on some gems for up-and-coming people going into the workplace. At a recent speech to American High School kids, he spoke that the feel good, politically correct teaching has created a generation of pupils with absolutely no concept of reality. In the UK we had our own let downs too, especially when we read that a chief examiner admitted that he had given marks to a pupil who had only written F*** Off on his examination paper! Is it no wonder that employers complain about young people entering work with a ludicrously inflated sense of their own abilities? Bill Gates then had a few tips for success, which they would never learn in school. Tip 1 Life is not fair – get used to it. Tip 2 The world will expect YOU to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself Tip 3 You will NOT make £30,000 a year, by just leaving school. Tip 4 If you think that your teacher is tough, then wait until you get a Boss. Tip 5 Flipping Burgers is not beneath your dignity. You grandparents had a different name for it: opportunity Tip 6 If you mess up, its not your parents fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, just learn from them. Tip 7Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. Tip 8 Life is not divided into terms. You don’t get the whole of summer off. Tip 9 Employers are not interested in helping you find yourself. You will have to do that in your own time Tip 10 TV is not real life Tip 11 Be nice to nerds. Chances are that you’ll end up working for one. Tours I have to say that Peter Craig has come up with a totally fascinating and brilliant MOOS tour, popping into Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Yes it’s the other side of the country to what we are normally used to and a whole host of new collections to go and see, as well as seeing new organs being built as well as restorations too. If you want to know more, and trust me if you are into mechanical organs, then I suggest that you contact Mark Jefford to firstly become a member of MOOS (that’s if you aren’t already one) and then ask for a booking form for the tour. Trust me, when you see the itinerary, you’ll wish you hadn’t left it so late – it’s a real cracker! Limited places on the tour so only the first to apply will get seats. Mark’s email is mark@nle.demon.co.uk and MOOS website http://www.moos.org.uk/ From Peter Griffiths The price of Petrol versus Printer Ink All these examples do NOT imply that petrol is cheap; it just illustrates how outrageous some prices are.... You will be really shocked by the last one! (At least, I was...) Compared with Petrol...... Think a gallon of petrol is expensive? This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective. Diet Snapple 16 oz £1.29 .. £10.32 per gallon Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz £1.19 ...........£9.52 per gallon Ocean Spray 16 oz £1.25 ......... £10.00 per gallon Brake Fluid 12 oz £3.15 ...... £33.60 per gallon Vick's Nyquil 6 oz E8.35 ... £178.13 per gallon Pepto Bismol 4 oz £3.85 . £123.20 per gallon Tippex 0.7 oz £1.39 ....... . £317.71 per gallon And this is the REAL KICKER... Evian water 9 oz £1.49..£21.19 per gallon! £21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source (Evian spelled backwards is Naive.) You don't even want to compare it with perfume or after-shave. Ever wonder why printers are so cheap? So they have you hooked for the ink. Someone calculated the cost of the ink at................ (you won't believe it....but it is true........) £5,200 a gal.. (five thousand two hundred pounds) So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water, or Tippex, Pepto, Bismol, Nyquil or Heaven forbid, Printer Ink! Just a little humour to help ease the pain of your next trip to the petrol pump... And - If you don't pass this along to at least one person, your exhaust will fall off!! Okay, your exhaust won't really fall off....but you might run out of toilet paper From Peter Griffiths – A History Lesson in following someone else’s ideas or ploughing your own furrow. Does the statement, "We've always done it like that" ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England , and the original English expatriates built the US Railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used the same wheel spacing. Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have of course been used ever since that time. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome and had been standardised, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses! Now, the twist to the story When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. Thiokol at their factory at Utah makes the SRBs. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the worlds most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by