James Dundon
Joined: 21 Nov 2005
Posts: 324
Location: Falmouth, Cornwall
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 Posted:
Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:39 am |
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History in Harmony UPDATE #51
Compiled by Boz Oram
boz@historyinharmony.com
www.historyinharmony.com
Welcome to Update Number 51 – 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.
A quick note about the website
History in Harmony is having a revamp and while that takes place, a new website, www.weareshifting.com overrides the old website www.historyinharmony.com .The new site will be posted and updated by Linda as the time goes by, however the History in Harmony Update will continue to still be sent out on a regular basis to subscribers by me.
The tours will still continue as and when they occur throughout the year, much as they have been doing for the past 13 or so years! There are also many places throughout Europe (including the UK) that are still having festivals, special museums are still being opened and good hotels are there to be enjoyed.
This is very much a time for change and staying in an old energy style company results in an economic and personal spiral downwards, and looking at the global situation, we are reviewing our operations behind the scenes to make sure we move with the times.
We will of course still operate any arrangement for groups on demand and will keep you updated with our usual tours on that site.
Now the housekeeping has been done, let me wish you a….
Happy New Year
Firstly, thank you for all of your comments about reaching the 50th Update and also thank you for your good wishes for Christmas and now the New Year. Both Linda and I wish similar felicitations to you all too. Many of you beady-eyed people will also notice that this Update is a lot behind time (if that really matters). Lots of happenings have taken place and I just haven’t had the time or the inclination to put anything out, but I’m sure you don’t mind.
There are a couple of Christmassy themes in this update, but it’ll give you a chance to do things right for Xmas 2009. Oh and by the way, let me be the first to wish you a happy Christmas for this year! Wow and that all done before Easter too.
Good point
There is a bonus to this so-called recession. The Pound (£) is weak at the moment; therefore the holiday that you have been saving up for, for years might just be within your grasp. Looking at the tourist industry websites and various bits that come through the email network, the UK will be a good destination as well as Iceland (both of which are going through all sorts of hellish fiscal cock-ups). Look forward to seeing you here and bearing in mind that last year, weather wise was pretty appalling, then there is a better chance for this year!
Model Engineering Exhibition
We have had the annual tour out to Germany for the model engineering folk and a hearty and full busload of passengers took their vacation into the excellent model exhibition at Sinsheim as well as the Auto Technik Museum. The group also visited the newly remodelled National Railway Museum exhibition at Mulhouse with a option to the Electrical Museum, plus the truly fascinating collection at Farsrugh Marxzell and finally the sister museum in Speyer.
According to the advertising blurb, this year is definitely the last time the engineering show is being held in Sinsheim, moving next year to Karlsruhe.
Thanks
Grateful thanks to Paul McCarthy for tuning Sharahazad at such short notice for a funeral. The organ sounded great and got a lot of nice complements from people who normally want to see mechanical organs consigned into the term “musical firewood”, namely the steam engine fraternity; always good to have a bit of friendly rivalry and beware when I get the gas axe out!
With out further ado, Welcome to Update #51
This Update is rather large – sorry to those who find that offensive, but to those who like the length of the Update, then here’s a good one for you!
The oldest running railway locomotive
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vZVcIqs_PBM A Guinness World Record holder, this engine is the pride of the Indian Railways. It is the world's oldest locomotive in working condition. Built in 1855 by Kitson Thompson and Hewitson of Leeds, U.K. this engine has once again been pressed into service on popular demand since 27-Sep-1997 and has been periodically hauling tourist trains between Delhi and Alwar. This engine was the first exhibit to be brought to the National Rail Museum in New Delhi, at the time of the laying of its foundation stone in 1971. This locomotive is said to have hauled troop trains to Raniganj during the 1857 War of Independence.
The engine weighs 26 tonnes, has a gauge of 5' 6", coal capacity of 2 tonnes(app.), wheel arrangement with 2-2-2 T WT and Stephenson valve gear.
I also see that the steam railway network that had been using gas to power the engines has been converted back to coal. It is more efficient and seems to burn more cleanly. Now I’m guessing that this is reporter speak, but with good quality coal and a decent fireman, this should be possible. Maybe we could import one or two of them to teach our own traction engine firemen how to place coal on a fire.
Welsh Coal
Now to all of those people, who say that insurance companies or legislation will stop the usage of steam locomotion, think again – the real thing that’s going to stop the use of these old chufferpuffs will be the amount of smoke coming out of the chimney. We all know that coal quality has been poor and after my last time of using it, you can see that people do have a point when the coal is of such poor quality that one shovel full of coal equates to 2,000 Green Campaigners saying that the Ozone Layer is getting knackered because of soot.
We’ve also all seen the cooling towers being shown on TV with white steam coming out of them and a reporter saying how awful this is. Really this is actually putting clean moisture back into the atmosphere, but hey ho, the damage is already done from the media. The photographers not realising that the chimney is the rather smaller thingy without anything coming out of it at all, doesn’t get a mention so that their point can be put across to those who don’t know. You’d have though that by now we would tell these people where to get off, but obviously not yet.
Maybe something else of our liberty must be taken away to get through to doing something about our lives.
Well Ladies and Gentlemen, there is help at hand and I really hope that the clubs and societies will pull together and try and do something positive here. There is Evans & Reid Coal Company of Cardiff that is now extracting coal from the Ffos-y-fran colliery where really good quality coal is being extracted and as a consequence, they have tried 10 tonnes of it on the Dean Forest Railway which produces (at this time of year) white vapour and with different crews and driving styles it hasn’t failed yet. It has also been used out of Portway/Avonmouth docks with steam vessels using it.
Evans & Reid Group
Empire House
Mount Stuart Square
Cardiff
CF10 5QZ
Tel: 02920 488111 switchboard
Fax: 02920 491130
http://www.evansandreid.co.uk/
On normal coal there is a 20% saving over normal coal, without the smoky effect either. The coal is more manageable and little ash or clinker – there is less firing to do and it performs, as a true steam coal ought to.
Now I saw a TV film about this stuff and the locals are up in arms because it looks as though the land has been raped of its green top. Well if the pundits get their way, they’ll try and stop it happening, so I guess that if the clubs and societies actually pull together and give their support, then we’ll have some 10 to 15 years of decent coal. If not, then I guess we’ll have a whole load of people sitting around a static and cold chuffer puff saying “if only…”
Check out your local coal merchant and ask for your choice of good coal…
Queen Elizabeth 2
On the spur of the moment, Linda and I decided to go down to Southampton and say our fond farewells to the great Cunard Ocean Liner, the Queen Elizabeth 2 saying its last farewell to its home port and a fond send off to its new home on other shores and be an icon to its new owners.
It was quite an emotional moment too with the folk of Southampton coming out in droves on all sides of Southampton Water to say “goodbye” to this emblem of national pride and one of the last big ships to be built on British soil with our own engineers.
BBC montage of the QE2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/history/local_history/qe2/
Cunard’s Views
http://www.cunard.co.uk/ourships/?ship=QE2
The Queen Elizabeth the Second
It arrived on the day of Rememberance to the Fallen 11th November 2008, which was well chosen as this ship had been quickly converted to become a troop ship during the Falklands War in 1982 – a number of biplanes dropped 1 million poppies over the ship as a mark of respect for the many thousands, or maybe millions of deaths from WW1 since. A harrier jump jet bowed its nose in salute to all troops past and present. To those who don’t understand the significance of the poppy, after the devastation of the Great War, later known as WW1, the poppy was the first sign of life back in those killing fields, bearing in mind that all vestages of life were exterminated from the shelling – no animals, no trees and no grass. There were just craters, mud and thousands of dead bodies.
Many of us had seen the ship from its earliest days on the Solent and felt it fitting to go and say a final farewell to this grand old lady of the seas, especially as it decided to bugger up all of the timings by parking itself on the sandbank by Calshot Castle (I have to say that Linda had been there just a day earlier – spooky or what) and arrived one hour late. Yes the humour of this ship shone through right to its final departure and gave those who worked, sailed or just enjoyed seeing it coming in and out of the terminal a real feeling of pride, especially as those who could understand the significant wit!
As much as the modern liners are quite sumptious and possibly far more lavish and superbly perfect, there are none being sailed now that were actually built on the British Isle soil anymore and as a consequence, it was a joining of the different parts of the UK from the John Brown Shipyard (now gone) in Scotland to England’s sexy Southampton Port. Even more fitting then, that the SS Shieldhall should be out there on the Solent at the same time; this steam ship being once a Scottish descendant and now has its home in Southampton and if you are able to watch the BBC footage, you’ll hear the siren and whistle of the Shieldhall. http://www.ss-shieldhall.co.uk/ and
http://www.clydesite.co.uk/articles/shieldhall.asp
Now strangely enough, all of the footage from the TV is from Hythe, Mayflower Park and the QE2 terminal, but we chose the side of Southampton where the work was done, next to Thornycroft’s works (now gone) at Weston Beach in Woolston and right in between Victoria Park Hospital (now gone) where the horrendously injured troops were brought in from the various wars that the UK seems to be active in (not gone).
Now here was a real wave of emotion as this was where the heart of the vessel actually hailed. The respect and the emotion here was something else and I would hazzard a guess that there were at least 10,000 people on the shore line. So, with a feeling of sadness that the grand old liner will not visit any of the old shores again, we wish her a good life in her new surroundings, but without her Scottish and Southern accents and humour.
As we were leaving, I overheard from a lady “Just go and gently bump into an iceberg, get yourself back home and we’ll look after you”, sort of says it all especially as so many people from Southampton died on the Titanic from Southampton.
Rolls-Royce (continued)
From Ted Gromwell out in the Mediterranean.
“Firstly thanks Boz for keeping us ex-pats in touch with what’s going on in the world of preservation and seeing in the last edition that you didn’t get any responses from your readers, I’ll try and help you out. As you can see I live in terrible conditions and miss the chance of seeing all those old cars and lorries being shown off and watching all of those hampers of excellent food being eaten from at the shows. The yacht has its moments when the engine breaks down, but its not the same as getting a full restoration project underway! Anyway you asked for further details about Rolls-Royce and strangely enough a local paper ran a small article about Eleanor Thornton, the beloved mistress of Lord Montagu, so have actually decided to save you the job of rewriting the article and done a bit of research. Thank you once again for the Update – it is most interesting and always different and have a good break away from the grindstone”
Thank you Ted – nice words and it really must be abject hell out there on the sunny Med! Strangely enough it would be quite nice to have a break there whilst either fishing or just watching the sun set upon the gentle ripples of the waves as they touch the shoreline with a glass of gin and tonic in my hand, catching a few of the sun’s rays whilst thinking of all of those hardy souls trying to finish some project or other in the freezing cold! Thanks also for coming to my rescue in my hour of need by writing this touching and delightful story..
Ted writes
“I should have got a stronger grip on her” wrote Lord Montagu in a letter home from his sick bed in Malta in 1916 after being rescued from the wreckage of the SS Persia after it had been hit by a German torpedo while crossing the Mediterranean, however to his enduring pain, Eleanor Thornton who had been his travelling companion, personal assistant and beloved mistress had not been saved.
According to his son, the present Lord Montagu, his father was shattered by Eleanor Thornton drowning and even though he had been badly injured, he spent ages looking for Thorn (his pet name for her) where she had been blown overboard hoping that she would turn up. As history dictates, she never did, however their love affair would become immortalised in the most unlikely of places and she was the inspiration for the Rolls-Royce flying lady whose soaring curves are modelled on Thorn and recognised by motorists throughout the world as being a marque of quality and distinction.
In fact, this story will soon be brought to the big screen by non other than Lord Attenborough and entitled The Silver Ghost; a remarkable story made even more surprising when you find out that Lord Montagu’s wife Lady Cecil not only knew about it but actively encouraged it.
Eleanor was born in Stockwell in 1880 to a Spanish mother and an Australian engineer father and she left school at the age of 16 and went to work at the Automobile Club, now the RAC. Through her work she met all sorts of pioneering giants and among then was the familiar face of John Scott Montagu. He was a charismatic figure and educated at Eton and Oxford and was one of the first who really took to travel and transport. He became MP for the New Forest in Hampshire UK, and became a great car enthusiast and came third in the Paris-Ostend road race in 1899; he also is credited with getting King Edward VII into motoring!
He was to marry Lady Cecil (Cis) Kerr, with whom he had a daughter, but when he met Thorn, the effect was instantaneous and fell in love with her at first sight. His thoughts were noted as saying “as I couldn’t marry her, I felt I must keep away from her as much as I could” Fortunately for them both, the feelings were mutual and in 1902, when Eleanor was 22 and he 36, she went to work as his assistant on Britain’s first motoring magazine, Car Illustrated in an office just on London’s Shaftesbury Avenue.
It was a love whose light never went out and when his father dies in 1905, John Scott Montagu inherited the title becoming the second Baron Montagu of Beaulieu and moved from the House of Commons to the Lords.
During this time, Miss Thornton was very much on the scene and her increasing duties as his assistant meant that she would be taken in his Rolls-Royce and on many occasions would also share the vehicle with Charles Sykes, the artist and sculptor. As we now know, these meetings were to inspire Sykes and he then asked her to model for him for the now worldwide famous mascot “the Spirit of Ecstasy. At Montagu’s suggestion, with the go-ahead of the managing director she became the model and the other name for the spirit was “Miss Thornton in her nightie” and graced the first Rolls-Royce in 1911
Lady Montagu by now knew of the affair and became resigned to the fact that he had Thorn as his partner and became resigned, with no feelings of bitterness to her husband’s affair and took the view that if he had to take a mistress, then it was as well he had chosen someone as sweet-natured as Eleanor rather than someone who would create a scandal.
In 1915, Montagu had to leave for India to be an advisor on Mechanical Transport Services to the government of India; Miss Thornton was asked if she would also go. She agreed and would accompany him on the SS Persia. http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=15326
http://www.darkforce.com/royce/ecstacy.htm
http://www.timegun.org/fate-sspersia.html
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=55548 Before the trip, Thorn corresponded with Lady Cis with words such as “I think it will be best for me to make arrangements without telling Lord Montagu – so he cannot raise objections” and later on in the letter, she writes “it is kind of you to give your sanction to my going as far a Port Said. You will have the satisfaction of knowing that as far as human help can avail, he will be looked after.”
They boarded the ship at Marseille on Christmas Eve 1915 and five days later on December 30th, they were sitting at a table having lunch when a German U boat fired a torpedo at the ship’s hull. The massive blast ripped into one of the boilers and that in turn also exploded. The ship began to list and the icy water form the sea rushed in through the open portholes. In the confusion down below, they managed to make it to the deck that were beginning to split in half; they were hit by a wall of water and the next second, she was gone. The port side of the ship was submerged within minutes and Montagu was dragged down with it. He was wearing an inflatable waistcoat and this along with an underwater explosion forced him back towards the surface. In a wire home, he cabled the message “I saw a dreadful scene of struggling human beings; nearly all of the boats were smashed and after a desperate struggle I managed to climb onto a broken boat with 28 Lascars and three other Europeans. Our number was reduced to 19 the following day and only 11 remained the next, the rest having died from exposure and injuries.
They were rescued some 32 hours later by the steamship Ningchow http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/nowell&CISOPTR=84&CISOBOX=1&REC=3 and were fed, watered and hospitalised. Montagu convalesced in Malta to return back to England later and upon arrival read his obituary, written by Lord Northcliffe in the Times!
The blast left him physically frail, however for years he continued his search for his beloved Thorn, but to no avail. He erected a memorial plaque in Beaulieu Parish Church, beside the family pew giving thanks to his own miraculous escape from death and in memory to Eleanor Velasco Thornton who served him devotedly for 15 years. Bearing in mind that in those days any thought of scandal would have been the end of anyone’s career or life, this was an extraordinary public display of feeling.
Lady Cecil died in 1919 and he remarried the following year to Pearl Crake who bore him a son Edward who is now the third Baron Montagu of Beaulieu.
The story doesn’t end there either – when Montague died in 1929, during the reading of the will, it was found that Eleanor had had a child, Joan, but had been adopted at an early age. Lord Montagu kept in touch with her and upon his death she visited the grave but was as discreet as her mother would have been.
Now a century on after Eleanor Thornton and John Montagu met, their story has now passed into history as one of the greatest love stories of modern times, however the spirit of their life and passion lives on in the form that graces every Rolls-Royce.
Now there’s a story….
Limbo Swimming For Boats
In the last edition #50, I put a web address for a boat going under a bridge. The site has seemed to run out of time so here’s another one that will get you to the thing I was actually talking about. Again, thanks to Stuart Legg for pointing this out.
http://believe-or-not.blogspot.com/2007/08/boating-under-bridge.html
From John Johnson in the US
Boz,
Please pass this link on of our steam school photos!
Attached is the link for Steam School photos taken during steam school 2008.
http://www.roughandtumble.org/rt-albums/rt-2008_sch/rt_photo_2008_sch.asp
Best regards,
John Johnson
Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association, Inc.
Steam School Administrator
Email: steamschool@comcast.net
http://www.roughandtumble.org
Events
There are two special events this year. A music festival around Lake Thun in Switzerland, The "International Drehorgelfestival" takes place in 2009, 18th and 19th July. For more Information concerning our organisation and festival contact us under www.drehorgelfestival.ch however I have been asked whether we can make a tour suitable for other hobbies too. If there is any interest, then we’ll go ahead.
The second is the now rather well established mechanical organ festival in Geraardsbergen 13th September with a chance to go into Holland for a similar festival the day before. The examples being shown are excellent and range from good acting displays with organs right up to the largest of instruments. Having taken the Louis Hooghuys instrument out for three years now, I feel it would be nice to take a group out there and savour the delights of Geraardsbergen as well as a nice festival in Holland at the same time. We are waiting for some information to come back from the Netherlands before we proceed with any itinerary. http://www.hooghuysfestival.be/
Hi Boz
Well, from a little research (and obviously one should be wary of the net) it seems that it is generally accepted that the Geraardsbergen Mannekin Pis is the oldest existing piddling statue in Belgium – I think the doubt comes from the fact that there is believed to have been one in Brussels (probably made from stone) before the casting of the Geraardsbergen one c. 1455. The current Brussels one appears to be from 1619 but one website at least notes a reference to one in Brussels having been in existence as early as 1388. It appears that Geraardsbergen even harbored the Brussels one on one occasion it was “liberated”! And don’t forget that there are other small piddling boys in Belgium, such as Ghent and Hasselt.
The slightly scary thing is that the Brussels one now has a sister – Jeannekke Pis. I trust SAMMS won’t be renaming their 92 Decap in its honor! (a bit of an in-house joke that one)
Anyway, found these websites quite useful – and some really interesting stuff on Geraardsbergen (though it really could do with a mention of Hooghuys!)
http://www.belgiumview.com/belgiumview/tl3/view0004235.php4
http://www.belgiumview.com/belgiumview/viewpage.php4?codegiven=1&volgnummer=237&taal=3&voterid=&bg=sri2bg&viewid=0004164&blad=view&hoofdbladvan=naam&bijbladvan=naam&pictoshow=main&fromrecnbr=&naamlike=&vanview=0004235&mapx=&mapy=
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~blondell/DEblondelDEbeauregard/
Oh, and look at this – the Brussels one has a myspace page!
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=69627929
Anyway, all the best
Matt
Thanks for that Matt. Yes Geraardsbergen is also enjoying the anniversary of its own Mannekin Pis all at the same time as the organ festival. See first bit of the Update on how to get there.
Drive it Day
Federation of British Historic Vehicles 26th April 2009
Yes the annual Drive it Day is on the 26th April. Never heard of it before, well the aim is to promote historic vehicles on the public highway and remind the Public at large that there is an historic movement within our shores (as well as overseas) and this is quite a crown puller for the tourism industry as well. The DID shows how varied the vehicle movement is and make the point that these vehicles are infrequently used. Just taking your old charge out on to the road will let the rest of the population know that old historic vehicles are part of their lives, its just that they rarely see them on the roads and therefore think that they don’t exist. The future is in your hands, so lets make a united front this year. http://www.fbhvc.co.uk/events/drive-it-day-09.htm
From the National Traction Engine Trust
The engine owners section presents its 19th Steam Training and Driving Course held at Astwood Bank near to Redditch in Worcestershire on the 9th and 10th of May 2009.
The course includes instruction on boiler management, mechanical operation, care and maintenance, plus driving techniques.
Adult members £176.25 for the two days and Steam Apprentice Club members (13-15 years of age) £58.75 or (16-21 years of age) £88.12
Further details from Stuart Tomlinson on +44 (0) 1455 613079 or you can email him on his wife’s machine at hazel.tomlinson@homecall.co.uk. If you are an overseas member, you’ll find that the pound Sterling is shot to bits, so it’ll be a much less expensive weekend than it used to be. http://www.ntet.co.uk
Steam Apprentice Club – Driving Days
List of Venues
Venue Date Contact
Fengatye Farm 18/19th April Richard Parrott
Weeting, Brandon
Suffolk
There are about 5 resident engines with other steamers locally brought to the farm especially for the weekend’s learning. Camping and Caravanning space is available.
http://www.weetingrally.co.uk/
Old Warden Park 27/28 June Paul Worby
Biggleswade
Bedfordshire
The largest of the SAC driving days and this year the 30th anniversary of the SAC is being celebrated there at the same time. Apply to Paul Worby directly Park Farm, Henlow, Beds SG16 6DF. Details from SAC website under the auspices of the Nation Traction Engine Trust http://www.ntet.co.uk/sac Camping and caravanning space available.
http://www.bseps.org.uk/
Bursledon Brickworks 26th April Graham Chaffer
Swanwick Lane
Swanwick
Southampton
Museum and Steam centre. Horizontal Mill engine, plus several local engines based locally. For the younger apprentice, there are smaller models for them to get used to. Camping etc. http://www.bursledonbrickworks.co.uk/
Stithians 2/3rd May Richard Stock
Cornwall
Run by the WESES (West of England steam engine society) at Stithians. Camping etc
http://www.weses.co.uk/news/index/20090502-apprenticeweekend.htm
Flookburgh 24th July (Friday) John Durling
Grange over Sands
Cumbria
The Steam Apprentice Club has the show arena for the whole day.
http://www.steamgathering.org.uk/
County of Salop 29th August Stephen Milns
Shropshire
This event takes place on the Saturday before the County of Salop rally
http://www.shrewsburysteamrally.co.uk/
Tinkers Park 19th September Adrian Vaughan
Hadlow Down
Sussex
The Tinkers Park Trust has a many and varied selection of steam engines to choose from. There is camping and caravanning available.
http://organ.10.forumer.com/a/hadlow-down-tinkers-park-steam-rally_post853.html
Now Ladies and Gentlemen, if you want to get your child used to or gain more experience, then please let the people running the event know now (or sooner). They need to know how many people they have to look after, how many engines are available and the logistics too of staging such an event. To those who have steam engines available, then please let the organisers know as soon as you can so that coal etc can be available.
Remember too that it isn’t just driving a chuffer puff; there is also the other important parts such as catering and a get-together where all the apprentices and others get to know each other. Unfortunately there are now so many laws and regulations too that it almost makes it impossible to operate anything that might help people on their way, so do make the effort this year.
Well done to all concerned – the organisers, the owners and the helpers.
As it is 30 years since the SAC was formed, and surprisingly (STILL) there is no other society devoted solely to apprentices in the world, then full marks to Sylvia for starting it and for the rest for keeping it going.
If your child has not joined the SAC, then maybe it’s about time to do it, otherwise they’ll be too old and won’t thank you for not helping them on their way.
PS
Strangely enough, I see in the media that music teachers are now to stand behind sound deadening screens and wear earplugs during the time when children and students are playing their instruments. Ah the Health and Safety Executive! And there I was trying to stand up for them.
Robert Burns http://www.robertburns.org/
Last night was Burns Night. I was in a Pub that was serving Tatties, Nips and Haggis. Being a southerner, I haven’t got a clue as to what these items actually are, however I do know that Robert Burns is one of the greatest attractions of Scotland and brings in some £100 million to the economy. Now that isn’t bad.
On the way back to the car, I went past an oriental takeaway where it said on a sign “Chinese Burns Night”; a bit too hot to handle, maybe?
Where do you go to get quality things done?
Joby Carter Restoration Services
Joby has a restoration service and will restore or even give a new feel to your piece of equipment such as fairground rides (just look at the David Littleboy Ark for an example), organ façades, showman’s living wagons (interior and exterior) as well as historic transport and that includes lorries, steam engines and right down to the smallest things such as hand-pushed wooden carts such as milk, or bakery vans, Size by the way is unimportant (now there’s a novelty) as all the equipment is safely protected away from undesirables in the enclosed and locked compound.
No, this isn’t just art – this is Joby Carter Traditional Art. info@cartersentertainment.com
John Todd
Along with Joby is the renowned coach painter and artist John Todd, who if you know him will know that he is one of the fastest painters around, so your prize exhibit will be in the paint shop for the shortest amount of time possible. John’s phone is +44 (0) 7958 295171 and email is johnttodd@btopenworld.com. Strangely enough, it seems that so far he hasn’t had to repaint any of his work due to normal usage, which can be seen on much of the painting he’s done over the years. Should you prize exhibit have a smack up; he can sort out your problem too.
Just one month to go……………………………….
The Continental Superstar
The Ghysels collection, since the summer of 2007 has been owned by the Flemish Government and can be seen and heard at the exhibition "Continental Superstar".
16 mechanical instruments are being displayed in the "rectangular court" of the Jubelpark museum in Brussels. Every day they invite to dance and be merry from 14.00 till 16.00 hours. (except on Mondays)
Practical information
Jubelparkmuseum
Jubelpark 10
1000 Brussels
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x704ch_orgelcollectie-ghysels-in-jubelpark_creation
http://www.draaiorgel.org/english/news.htm
Opening hours
From October 9th 2008 till March 8th 2009
open : 10:00 -17:00 hours
pay-desk closes at 16:00 hours
Closed on Mondays
Just where does it go?
Just to let you know – the British government under the administration of Golden oops Gordon Brown took £46 billion pounds sterling off the vehicle driver in tax last year. It spent £3 billion on the roads, which means that £43 billion pounds sterling is unaccounted for. Oh and by the way, the earmarked 3 billion pounds for the rail network has been stopped too. So much so for being a green government and thinking further than their noses (or should I say back pockets).
Society of Driver’s and Enginemen Annual Road Run.
Yes the annual road run took place, this year having a rumble around the beautiful countryside of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire starting off from the Trout with two different routes one for the faster locomotives (and the daring) and one for the slower machines. Dear reader, I must admit I had a late start and then got totally lost when I tried to find the Trout. Ah, I remembered later that I had only come from one direction in the past and this time was coming from a totally different one. I got confused. After a phone call to my brother who was on one engine he mentioned that they were at a set of traffic lights in Lechlade and guess what, I came around a corner from the opposite direction and there they were! Turn right and find a suitable parking place and stand on the side of the road and thumb a lift. I knew it could be done as I’d done it earlier in the year on the Isle of Wight. Yes the engine stopped and with a load of negative banter saying how my crapnav ought to be upgraded with a Government one that really lost its direction - we set of on a nice run towards Swindon and the town of Highworth. Turning right through plenty of parked cars we arrived at a place called the Freke Arms. Amazingly, with 30 or 40 willing bodies outside wishing to help with the credit crunch, the landlord decided to keep his doors locked. Oh dear! My guess that that would have been a quick £100 + that he turned away. We left after waiting for ½ hour just as he was unlocking the door. We waved and continued on to the next place that was far more hospitable. Much better ambience here and strangely enough also invited us in to the hostelry.
On these runs, the drivers and steersmen are already allotted and it was my turn, so being nicely sensible let everyone else get on with it. I managed to fiddle with the fire in the hearth of the pub and put it out much to the amusement of all around and at the same time.
On our journey was Mike with 2 speed Tasker tractor, Team Barker with Charley Burrell aka Defiance, plus Willie with Jolly, another zippy Tasker, but with three speeds and finally Busy Bee the Burrell of Patrick and Estelle with previous family owner Willem Middlemiss, at the helm.
Engines with rubber tyres are great for comfort but damn useless to follow, as they leave no marks in the road. After backing the engine up with the living wagon on behind us, we then took the correct road where we ended up at the lunch stop with steamrollers, cars, tractors and all sorts.
Bearing in mind that pubs in the UK are closing at the rate of at least 5 per week (I now see 5 per day!), I guess it is like watching the Amazon Rain Forest disappear before your very eyes with absolutely no intervention from those people who can actually do something about it. Does any other country want our politicians? Oh you’ve already got your own – well-done, hope they make just as much of a cock-up of your country as ours have done here.
Our lunchtime spot was heaving with people and fortunately the food and liquid refreshment was ideal. The next journey was to get to Lechlade and get some beer tokens out of a hole in the wall (ATM), stock up with cigars and off to the Trout. I went of to get the car and be the lead to the Trout so that we could then settle down and the drivers could then have a beer or two and relax.
The evening had a couple of show engines outside generating, however with the cold it was decided to turn in after a short but rather exciting firework show let off by yours truly (by now enjoying a beer or five) and the band of happy firework starters. Amazingly not one person got hurt, maimed or killed, but we did try hard in that area.
We huddled into the pub and had food and liquid refreshment and enjoyed a raffle of all sorts, plus, courtesy of Team Barker a drop of Scottish Water, with money raised going to Cancer Research. The highlight for the evening was a monologue spoken by the humorous and ever genial Dave Wilkins
Sleeping in a living van with the door open in the cold is a novelty, especially without a fire going inside, however finally one of us got up and closed it and the heat of the bodies inside managed to unfreeze the bedding!
Next day was a bit cloudy with a bit of rain forecast. With all engines ready to go to their homes, it seemed that we were going to be the last ones, so decided to go along the main roads instead of the byroads. A sensible choice as we were able to gain a good turn of speed and it was only when we turned east, that the wind and rain decided to come under the canopy. Thank goodness Stan was wearing his big coat otherwise I would have got a good soaking steering the engine. The rain really started chucking it down and strangely enough, we didn’t see any photographers on this part of the journey – mind you everything that could go sideways with the wind, did.
After arrival, the engine and living wagon were shunted into their respective places and this type of controlling a steam engine ought to be on the course of learning with just a few inches to spare, everything was in place for the engine to be taken apart for the winter with new gears, bearings and so forth. Much burning of the midnight oil and hopefully next year King George VI will be back in action doing its job of entertaining the public with the crew from Witney.
Governments, Integrity and Banks (all in the same sentence?)
Now without any hope of the world ever being sensible ever again (yahoo!) and the leaders that have governed us for so many centuries doing what is good and not for their back pocket…
Lets go on to something that is, always has been and will hopefully continue to do so…
BEER
What right with Beer? – 1
Courtesy of the Society of Drivers and Enginemen Newsletter, and PK.
Beer, as all alcoholic drinks, is made by fermentation caused by Bacteria, yes bacteria feeding on the yeast cells, they then defecate (so the process starts long before the beer gets to your lips). The bacterial excrement is called alcohol, which is eminently better than calling it something else!
The world’s strongest beer is Samuel Adams Triple Back, which has reached 17% alcohol by volume. To obtain this level, the brewers have to use champagne yeast and the drinker has to use a Zimmer frame to get back home.
Modern Breathalysers work on a clever electrochemical principle. The subject’s breath is passed over a platinum electrode, and this causes the alcohol to bind with oxygen and this in turn forms acetic acid. In the process, it looses two electrons; a process then sets up a current in a wire connected to the electrode. The higher the concentration of alcohol in the breath, the greater the electrical current and this can be read by a simple meter to indicate intoxication levels. Now this got me into thinking that if you have a massive breathalyser on top of the pub, the fumes could then be collected in the contraption, the electrical charge could then be used positively and power the pumps etc at no extra cost.
The saying mind your P’s and Q’s comes from a time when alcoholic beverages were sold in Pints and Quarts and was meant to be a bit careful as to how much you drank. Mind you, after a few P’s and Q’s, you wouldn’t much care.
Now this brings me onto a further thought. The term Toddlers originated in England (differentiating between Scotland, Ireland and Wales where the water was clean) where we had massive industrial complexes, waste was piled into the rivers, including human excrement so there were plenty of impurities in the drinking water, so rather than die, drinking water wasn’t used. A common alternative was beer and bearing in mind that it was cheap, plentiful and the water used to make it was treated during the initial boiling process during brewing, then everyone drank it. Toddlers, just weaning off of mother’s milk were unaccustomed to the effect of beer (draught milk that is) and this coupled to the fact that they were just beginning to walk, really made them toddle. It was only in recent years that our government and boffins decided to clean up their act and the waters of England. Unfortunately, this was at a cost to our engineering backbone, - this has now gone overseas to places like India, China and others and much of the wildlife there is now being exterminated instead of ours. Progress methinks?
What right with Beer? – 2 (also from SODEM)
Things that are difficult to say when you are drunk
Ø Innovative
Ø Preliminary
Ø Proliferation
Ø Cinnamon
Things that are VERY difficult to say when you are drunk
Ø Specificity
Ø British Constitution
Ø Passive-aggressive disorder
Ø Transubstantiate
Now for the things that are IMPOSSIBLE to say when you are drunk
Ø Thank you, but I don’t want to sleep with you
Ø Nope, no more booze for me
Ø Sorry, but you’re not really my type
Ø Good evening officer, isn’t it lovely out tonight
Ø Where will you leave your wellies?
Ø Oh I just couldn’t – no one wants to hear me singing
Ø Thank you, but I won’t make any attempt to dance; I have no co-ordination and I’d hate to look like a fool
Ø I must be going home now as I have to be at work first thing in the morning
What right with Beer? - 3
A few years ago when we could go down to the pub and have an uninterrupted chat about all manner of things without children running through the bar screaming their heads off, able to have a gentle smoke and sup a few glasses of ale and a landlord who stuck up for you…………
Some 18 years ago, six friends were in a pub running through the various steam locomotives that had been great performers on the British Railway tracks and they all came to the conclusion that the only one that they could actually agree with was the Peppercorn A1. Now due to the fact that the railways in Britain had decided to feather their own nest (oops, get rid of stations, track, land, locomotives, rolling stock and other ancillary equipment to make the railways pay their way), the famous A1’s had all been scrapped. Now its amazing, but with a couple of beers (hence the title) the talk than came around to actually building one!
Yes we’ve all been there – said something and then regretted it afterwards but this group of drinkers decided in the cold light of day that their idea was a truly terrific idea and they could prove to the world what a great engine it had been! As an aside to the idea they also thought that as the locomotive was not to be a replica, it therefore would have the next sequence of number in the series – that being 60163.
We’ve all been there and many of us who read the Update will also know that we have restored and rebuilt various bits and pieces and then taken them out and shown them off, but to start from scratch……? Sharp intake of breath……..! Yes I know that there are many people recreating various steam engines, such as Burrell crane engine, Hindley, Garrett and Burrell steam wagons, Foster tractors, but they are relative to a gert big massive choo choo train, but to start from the drawings and then go on upwards to a bloody great locomotive, then that does take the biscuit!
Yes I know its also been done in the US at Promontory, where the two recreated locomotives that were in the photograph that joined the West to the East were built at a cost of $1 million, but they also had a lot more workshops still with skilled engineers being able to make the bits and pieces, plus it wasn’t designed to rumble down mainline railway tracks without breakdowns, plus it was sponsored by the Government too.
The result from this particular project was to be whether the drawings were actually accurate too, because as we all know, especially engineers, the drawings might work on paper but do they do the same in practice? Well the answer is “no” or should I really say, “not always”. All the more amazing too as the money had to be found, the project marketed and then to find the places where the job could actually be done. Much of it in the end was done in people’s back gardens where cranes had to be hired to turn the larger bits around with the jib hanging over someone’s house - Cottage Industry gone mad it seems!
The head of the marketing seems to have been Mark Allett, who was the main person for getting funding, ‘cos without the money, nothing was going to happen. I’m not going to go into the details of how it was built as you can go to their website http://www.a1steam.com and find out for yourselves, however one thing that has come from this project is that the UK and what has been said is that the opportunity of building a large boiler was not possible in the UK; that in the end had to go to Meinengen in Germany. Brilliant news too, because I see in the press that there are moves afoot to make a special place in the UK where these boilers can be made from scratch, especially as there are many large boilers that will need doing is due course and why not actually get a central place that is geared up to do this and teach apprentices how to do it all again.
A1 Tornado
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mkKEURaKY0M Newest Rail Loco built in UK
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HR2azEr0o3g&feature=related
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=S7e5siN2F3Y&feature=related showing Tornado with a great head of steam and none of those damn steam leaks that appear on other locos.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bfxmw7-pKxU&feature=related
The locomotive has now been painted from its striking grey colour to Henry’s colours from Thomas the Tank Engine. It looks lovely, but doesn’t stand out anymore like it did.
What’s right with Beer - 4?
Just to let you all know throughout the world, the beer houses, or pubs in the British Isles are closing at a rate of five YES THAT’S 5 PUBS PER WEEK. Reason being that the breweries are not all owned by brewers, but Banks and other money institutions. Simple answer, get smoking back into pubs and allow us to make our own choices. There are far too many people out there intent on destroying people’s livelihood. All I can say is if you are in a village, then try and get your next-door neighbour to go with you and have a beer or five. That will have increased his or her clientele by 50%. Do that on a regular basis and you never know, you might have a place to go to next year. If you don’t, you’ll have to think of another reason for getting out of the house.
Crunchy Crunch
Have you noticed that when the goody-two-shoes people decided to stop smoking in pubs and bars, the world went up to maggots?
England’s Pride
Not much of that left nowadays, pride that is in old Blighty, except for a rather splendid pre WW2 Decap Antwerp 121 key instrument. An instrument that was imported back in the 60’s from Grymonprez & Zoon who had bought up many instruments to pass onto new owners. The UK being rather bereft of mechanical dance organs was a perfect place to go to and sell these instruments as there just wasn’t any competition and many people wanted something other than a Trevor McGrunter to buy.
Even the music coming from overseas was more in keeping with modern tastes and the mellow tones of these dance and café organs was more palatable to a newer group of people that had become interested in mechanical music.
The importer and agent was Mr Charles Hart up in St Albans and I remember seeing the collection at the ripe old age of about three or four and the instruments just looked huge, but then I wasn’t that tall at the time www.stalbansorgantheatre.org.uk Yes Mr Hart bought and sold countless instruments to people in the UK as well as overseas across the Pond. In those days there was no freedom of passing between any borders, so duty also had to be paid on anything sold and a % of it was paid to Customs & Excise in import duty to keep them in a style that they had grown accustomed to. If I remember too, export duty in the shape of tons of paperwork was also applicable, so in Mr Hart’s favour, he was one of those remarkable pioneers that made life easier for the rest of us to move within the world, because without them, our lives would be now be in an even darker place.
Yes, many organs were imported and we, the listening public were the beneficiaries as the word soon got around that these instruments were for sale and all you had to do was go and see the man, choose your instrument, hand over the money required and there you were, now the proud owner of a musical, in-tune instrument.
As a consequence, some of the instruments stayed behind and formed the basis of a collection that covered mechanical music, plus two theatre organs were installed. Now as we all know, all bits and pieces that get used, have (or ought to have) a maintenance schedule, however in time, even with tlc (tender loving care) and tuning etc, there comes a time when you have to bite the bullet and say “its time to actually do the deep down stuff that we’ve been putting off for years”
That time had come and the organ was dismantled so that an offer of a £300 ride to Antwerp could be undertaken. All was set for a particular day, and volunteers were there to help load up the carcase of the organ and various other bits and pieces, when horror of all horrors, the haulage company decided to back down on their agreement and not transport the organ. This put the St Albans Dance Hall into a quandary as a slot had been placed with via Roger Mostmans and Decap Antwerp and now that the instrument had been dismantled, it meant that the hall was now down on one major instrument. The decision was made to transport the instrument behind three cars and take it over themselves. Yes it cost a lot more than the original quote, but at least they knew that it had arrived there safely without damage. The Antwerp department did their stuff and the organ was brought back to the UK and reassembled again especially for this day of playing to the Public.
Now with all openings, if you can get someone who is of importance, then all the better and this time, the Mayor of St Albans, Councillor Bert Pawle officially came to start the organ again – in fact a perfect choice especially as he stayed rather longer than anticipated and then realised that he had another engagement that evening and had to go! Not before saying that it would be nice if the council could help fund the restoration of the Steinway Piano. Now that sounded very positive to me and obviously this is a council that realises that if they support the infrastructure, then their town will be on a Trade Route, and if that ends up as tourists, then so be it.
The Organ struck up and played a cross selection of classics, classical, traditional and some dance music. A good all round assortment of music. During half time, dance organ specialist Peter Craig took over the microphone and spoke about all of the 121 Decap organs that had been made, their history and their eventual fate. Amazingly there are still many of this genre around, however they have spread themselves throughout the world with some in the US and one in Japan. The talk, with photographs was interesting, educational and at times amusing, so thanks to Peter for letting us in on the many secrets of the 121. Maybe a book one day?
The organ then after all of the other bigger instruments had had a little play, struck up again and this time the music was back into the dance style and some cracking arrangements were found and played through the keyframe by Andrew Smith.
All too soon, the evening came to a close and we all had to take our separate ways home. I certainly wish the St Albans good success for now and in the future and the collection is open Sundays and for conferences etc. Just give them a call and check out the website.
Lest We Forget
Robin Greenaway
Well-respected, and early preservationist, Robin Greenaway passed away on the 22nd October. He was a co-founder of the Thames Valley Traction Engine Club and gave encouragement to it as well as the TVTEC supported steam rally Knowl Hill until its demise a few years ago. In fact, if there was a show going on, he was one of the first to go and support it, and the countless times I’ve seen him out and about on various road runs, including a local one to me coming out of Picket Piece.
He was normally seen with either his 6” Burrell road loco or maybe the Fowler Tiger tractor, or maybe the big Marshall or….. the list was endless, the same as his knowledge. Even his ploughing skills were pretty darn good and I remember seeing him doing a bit of straight furrow ploughing behind I think a pretty rare Sanderson tractor.
I tended to meet him at various sales and the last time I was able to chat to him was whilst looking at a Walsh & Clark oil powered traction engine and we were working out how the reverse gear operated.
Thoughts go to Jean his wife and his family and friends.
Esmond Kimbell
He was a long-time member of the Road Locomotive Society and had been past president too. He was in his 101st year and had been working with steam locomotion for most of his life. I remember meeting him when Jeffery Shackell hosted the Appleford celebration of when the race took place and gave a solid start to the preservation movement. Mr Esmond Kimbell was, even at that time, one of the dwindling group of participants from those early days and was a massive mine of information and he was able to sort out the wheat from the chaff (stupidity from the nonsense).
Our thoughts go to his friends and family.
David Hirst
After a long illness, David finally passed away in the early hours of 7th December. Bearing in mind that we shared the same village for all of my life, he was one of the first people in the steamy movement who took me under his wing. I used to go to his and Jean’s house and thumb through rare catalogues, advertising blurb regarding Yorkshire wagons or something equally rare. He took to sourcing the odd Fodey (Foden lorry to the rest of us) for people who wanted one. He also put people in touch with each other so that they could get their engine finished and many the time I’d wander up to the yard and he’d be under one of the firm’s lorries doing maintenance and all would stop for a natter – lunch time was the best time for that bit of fun. If I remember rightly, most of the fleet of J Hirst & Sons were Foden lorries and would have been one of the biggest fleet of Fodens in the South of England.
Very much a man who didn’t understand barriers between people (or anything else for that matter) David and Jean travelled throughout Europe taking their engines, or someone else’s engine on the trailer to some obscure part of the Continent to partake in some festival or other and the stories - yes I have been privileged to hear plenty of stories in their kitchen, none of which I’ll repeat here, but I’ve had plenty of tears of joy! He didn’t understand the phrase “It can’t be done” either and gave me plenty of encouragement with whatever I was doing and enough cheek to last a lifetime.
I guess I could ramble on for ages, but I’ll just remember seeing him at Dordrecht a couple of years ago when he had just come through a particularly difficult time and could hardly move. He’d been prescribed a different type of potion and it was working well. We were all standing beside the Foden Samantha, and a strange noise came from it. The next second, there he was sitting up in the cab sorting it all out with a massive grin on his face. Nothing spectacular about that really except that he’d hardly been able to move a two days before and there he was up in the cab.
We’ll miss you. Our thoughts go to Jean and the rest of the family, the grandchildren and the massive amount of friends throughout the world.
Continuation
Four Fodens and a Funeral
The Funeral took place on Friday 19th December and I’d been contacted by Stephen Hirst as to whether I had “The Dorset Flag” a tune derived from Sloop John B, an old sixties song from the Beach Boys. This tune has a lot of association with the steamy movement and was purloined by Dr Busker with additional words by Allan Lloyd; I hadn’t got it so managed to do it in just a week – during that time the organ was tuned by Paul McCarthy – in fact it was only the reeds which as all of you musicians know are actually in tune and the rest of the organ is out, but is easier to retune the “offending” pipes as there are not normally quite so many of them!
Engines that were there was the Foden of David and Jean Hirst, “Samantha”, the next to arrive was the phoenix of Turbo Vincent, “Freddy”, rebuilt in phenomenal time from a non-existent pile of bits and the other two were the Foden Cider Tanker of Jo Dovey ably hauled to the village by a tractor on a trailer as the goods certificate had run out on the engine’s normal low-loader, and finally the D type timber tractor of Robert and Claire Bullen. The day was just perfect – a bit of a chill, dry and clear. With the village filling up with many names and faces from all over the planet, the engines did a fly though past the pubs to go to the house and pick up the shipment for its final resting place. Danny Dovey’s trailer was used as the funeral haulage bier and the convoy took David through his village. After the service in the parish church, the coffin was taken to the grave, when the whoopee whistles were blown as he was being lowered into the grave. Shortly afterwards the organ struck up whilst the people came back to have an appreciation of David’s life. The sunset was truly great and the final bit of fun was a leaky fusible plug finally giving up the ghost and depositing water over the floor! Even 20 minutes later, there was still enough steam to do a final toot on the whistle from Samantha whilst being towed back to the yard – who said you couldn’t keep a good man down.
From Shane Seagrave
Albert Chiappa
It came as quite a surprise to me, and many enthusiasts I have spoken to this evening, that the death of Victor Chiappa's only son, Albert has gone unreported, until marked by an obituary in this week's World's Fair newspaper.
Although he did not follow his famous father into the world of mechanical organs Albert still retained an interest in the business. Following the death of Victor, in 1993, Albert was reluctant to disperse the 125 year-old firm's assets and continued running Chiappa Ltd., of which he was co-director during the latter years of his father's tenure as head of the company. Thus organ owners worldwide were still able to buy superb arrangements for the popular French scales (46/48, 65, 89 & 98-keys) from their unequalled library of music stencils.
It had been Albert's intention, he once told me, to restore one or more of the several historic French fair organs in store at the famous Eyre Street Hill works. They had been acquired by his father over many years and were largely used for a source of spare parts when renovating other instruments.
With the passing of Albert, I feel we have now lost the link between the firm and his father, by whose remarkable foresight and tenacity, Chiappa Ltd., is still in existence today. I had great pleasure in Victor and Albert's acquaintance from our first meeting in 1975 and during the subsequent modest business dealings I had with both of them over the years since.
Albert died on December 9th 2008 after a brave battle with cancer.
RIP.
Ed Postscript: Without the Chiappa company existing and helping, many of the old original showmen with their instruments, they would have most likely been consigned to the scrapheap. The organs could go to London and as there was a good supply of pipes and all of the ancillary bits and pieces already on the shelf, a fair organ could be in and out of the factory in the shortest possible time. They also managed to standardise the scales and thereby make the cost of new music more cost effective, rather than make music for the unusual scales. Remember that the music at that time was being cut and arranged by hand and therefore being made as a unique piece of music for that particular instrument
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/16128716
This is a lovely site showing organs in their natural surroundings, mainly in the front of the Bioscope. http://www.fairground-heritage.org.uk/newsite/learn/learn-organs.html
Further details about bioscopes in the latest Mechanical Organ Owner’s Society magazine Vox Humana http://mechanicalorganownerssociety.weebly.com/
On of the things that seem to continue to happen are…
Thefts
Unfortunately and it has been going on ever since God was a boy; theft takes place, but you’d have thought that in this close knit community of preservationists, these things just wouldn’t happen; mind you in the bird world, people still steal eggs, much to the detriment of the species as they can wipe out a whole flock, but nevertheless it leaves a pretty bad taste in your mouth. In fact how many whistles have been stolen over the years off many a traction engine or railway locomotive – ah makes you wonder who did it, why they did it and then who was the idiot who bought the items? I’m rambling now, but I think you can see the point now…
Stolen 1
Two Savage cockerels, two Haynes horses, four horse poles and one platform rod were stolen from Duncan Price’s yard at Pershore in Worcestershire on the night of the 24th October 2008. The family has restored a set of Gallopers (Carousel) over five years and this year was to be the first outing. Family member Emma Price has asked whether if anyone hears of or sees these items to please give her a call on +44 (0) 1905 453261.
Stolen 2
It seems that at the Stotfold Mill http://www.stotfoldmill.com/ working weekend, someone stole one of the brass works number plates from John Saunders Fowler K7 whilst the crew were having lunch. Now this one is ridiculous as the number 14247 is emblazoned on the brass, plus the name John Fowler etc. It is worth loads more in its original state, but people also melt down this kind of booty too, sometimes for their own reasons. Mind you, if they were at a working weekend, then they were also part of the preservation scene. Makes you wonder doesn’t it. A substantial reward is offered to anyone who can provide information to the recovery. Contact the Bedfordshire police +44(0)1234 841212 or direct to John Saunders on +44 (0)7850 542984. As this email goes around the world, do keep you eyes open especially as the plate might not end up in a normal sale.
Stolen 3
Twyford Waterworks near to Winchester in Hampshire have stolen a quantity of Victorian chequer plate steel sheets, however |
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