Broithe

In my day, Little Rissington was still in action at the top of the hill - Central Flying School and home of the Red Arrows back in the Gnat days - great entertainment five days a week.

Currently up for sale, if you have a few bob spare... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-43697763

I think O'Gorman's was in Thurles - a good sprint from the station. Ballybrophy had two - Lambe's and Phillips's - both gone. Donaghmore, a couple of miles south, had three, Campion's, Phelan's and now just Mooney's left. And The Green Roads, a couple of miles north of the station is still there - all to far to be 'handy', though.

I wondered if they might be the tops of the central piers that were removed for safety, but they seem to be joined at the landward side - and the peirs don't look to have been that high, anyway. There does seem to be a sort of drainage slot below and in line with them, though.

Bus to Ballina?

I remember an event here in the 1970s, where a local chap was breathalysed and passed, with quite a low amount registering - when the copper gave him the good news, he was absolutely livid - "As a life-long temperance campaigner, I can assure you that no alcohol has ever passed my lips!" He was not at all happy at the perceived slur on his character and a cursory investigation took place, to see it the device was faulty or there was some other reason. It turned out that the orange juice in his fridge had been there for quite a while and had fermented to a small extent, producing a rather weak Cointreau substitute that he was innocently imbibing...

Chaps in khaki dustcoats, sprinting into Lambe's at Ballybrophy, where they each have two pints already waiting on the counter...

With optional third-rail shoe?

You have to be impressed by this - an event up to Japanese standards.

Great, if I am around, I will make an attempt to venture to the Far East again.

Will this be at Sleaford again in June?

Someone needs to get to the bottom of this.

Always good to see somebody smiling, happy in their work....

I thought you'd be bord by now?

Blimey, you're a right mona.

Would a left-footed one be better?

Fair enough. Usually sat on 'em - drinking tea and eating biscuits.

Would it even be big enough?

There will be a special edition in yellow, for those with an obsession for track maintenance machines?

Apparently, the Universe is infinite. There will be planets out there that already have turf-burners. Fact!

Look on the bright side, not everybody has a special day for themselves....

What was the nature of the turf used? Was it variable 'hand-won' sods or more regular machine-turf? Or even milled peat, perhaps? Is there a suitable 1/76th scale product available, or will you be able to provide a specialist substance? Turf is not like coal, where you can just crush it to a suitable size. I spent several days cutting a sod into several thousand blocks, only to find that it isn't a stable material at those sizes. Obviously, there will also need to be a specialist smoke oil.