Broithe

From 6 to 10, I lived in Bourton on the Water - it was just like that - I will be paying more attention here now. Oddly, I just had cause to post a picture of the Weird Hedge there, on another Forum a few minutes ago - I took this two years ago, but they look exactly as they did in 1965 - there is a prototype for everything.

I have a few brush/flails like this - They had a brief popularity in the 80s and still turn up at boot sales, they have both an impact and a brushing action, which you can 'calibrate' as you use it. I find them quite useful, although you need to be aware of the potential for dismemberment - also, most of them were plastic-bodied, but nothing has ever come apart on me. I have one mounted on an extension, to run up and down the woodburner flue. Just a thought.

Do you obtain the sleepers cut-to-size or do you cut them from sheet yourself? If you are cutting them from sheet, maybe it would be worth wire-brushing the whole sheet?

He had a brief period of activity on here, some years back. https://irishrailwaymodeller.com/profile/173-charlie-petty/

I did wonder about putting that line, it's a delicate area these days. You get yes/no, this/that sort of answers, no 'fluff' or pointless pleasantries.

I bought my first 181 off them - I had gone to a train fair to buy stuff for somebody else and it just caught my eye on their stand. I had no idea that they even existed. It is really the fundamental reason that I am here now, years later. It was a simple 'there and then' transaction, involving no logistics, and it may be the only time that I have dealt with them, although I may have bought a book a couple of years later. They are very "Yorkshire", which can produce cultural difficulties when interacting with them, perhaps.

One of my friends is involved in the fragrance/perfume/aftershave world and roped me into a 'research session' about some unisex fragrances. I was asked "Do you wear a fragrance?" - I replied that "I only wear White Spirit by B&Q", as it does 'sound like a perfume', when said in the right context. Later on, I checked, and it does exist :- Tell The Boss that you've got her a bottle of white spirit for her birthday... It seems to be only these islands where the term is used for that particular solvent.

I remember a kid at school moaning that a science question was too hard - the teacher brought in an actual exam paper that he had sat at the same age - for one of the questions, you had to estimate the likelihood that your next breath would contain a molecule that had been in Julius Caesar's dying breath. This required all sorts of knowledge, from biology, chemistry and physics. What volume is a breath, how many molecules in that amount of air, how large is the atmosphere, how much is 'lost' from the atmosphere, and how much returns, and after how long, etc, etc. I think the answer was around 50/50.

Take advantage of the 'rest' and treat it almost like a game of Hide & Seek. I've done two fortnights in the shed here - actually quite enjoyed the challenge.

I can't remember what motors you're using, but some can be moved by hand - if that's the case, then try it and you may 'break' the stiction - if the glue has seeped in there, and it is now dry, that may be enough to rectify the issue. Worth trying anyway...

I believe they were large, non-native rodents that used to live wild in East Anglia until they were finally eradicated a few years ago. Hope this helps.

I wouldn't worry too much, just don't 'go there'. I'll look out for you and start declaring that all wagon chassis should be black.

Like any of the (anti)social media, Twitter can be dreadful, but it can also be very useful, if you 'target' your involvement correctly. There will be duplication, as on any other 'platform', but that can be ignored with the very tiniest of effort. 'Follow' the right people and stay away from the nutter-end of it, and you should be OK.

What is the "First Prize Length 1959" sign about at Ballinascarthy?

Lovely! There's still a good few wall-cranes around where I live when I'm on the Big Island - relics from when the town was full of shoe factories. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.8120382,-2.1200103,3a,29.3y,33.69h,99.48t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sDN5juoQw8kRKuc7QWEAK9A!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DDN5juoQw8kRKuc7QWEAK9A%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D34.98824%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

43?

Old wheel weights are often easily available, if you have a friendly tyre shop nearby. Off-cuts from lead sheeting used for flashing can be handy, too, particularly for sticking under empty wagons. Both of these can be easily cut to suit your spaces. There is often a space issue, making the denser, lead-based, materials a better bet, but do give consideration to the toxicity issues. Deluxe Materials produce a '"lead sand" type material (although not lead) this can be poured into any space and locked in place with glue.

He gets them done at Hexham Hospital.

That reminded me of this marvellous picture. The USS Connecticut tipped this bloke into the sea as they surfaced through the ice. He took offence and proceeded to give the sub a bit of a kicking. Despite their billions of dollars worth of weaponry, nobody felt able to pop outside and look at the damage.

A chap I worked with had been on minesweepers in the early part of the war. They were detailed to sweep a Scottish sea loch for 'friendly' mines. They were not privy to the number there and it was up to them to decide when they were confident that the place was 'swept'. The swept targets were to be contained in a net, towed behind the ship. There was an observing officer, intended to ensure that their procedures were correct, but he spent his day in the wardroom, bored with the whole process. Eventually, one of the crew was sent to declare "The area is swept, Sir" "Is it? How many have you found?" "Six, Sir" Sir sobered up instantly, as he knew there were only five. They managed to release them from the net and then took pot-shots at them until the real one announced its presence, and disappeared.

Abbeyleix has only been a place that I just 'go through', on the way to somewhere else - but, today, with the Sun out and having been confined to barracks for a fortnight, I decided to venture out and have a look at the Bog Project. https://www.abbeyleixbog.ie/ The main central route through the bog follows the track-bed of the old railway to Kilkenny. I never saw it in operation, but my mother was of Waterford stock and would pick up the train at Attanagh, via a pony and trap. You can park at the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel, the last place on the left as you exit the town southward. This is an 'official' arrangement, and they run a small coffee bar there for explorers. This would be the northernmost section of track, the bridge in the distance is the southernmost in the town and is on the far side of what was the old Cork Road, before the motorway. Turning round the other way, the track curves gently to the south. Turning off the 'railway', some of the paths are also gravelled. But the boardwalk sections do maintain a sort of 'railway vibe' It would be a reasonable place to break a journey, turning off at Port Laoise and re-joining the motorway to the south. I found no other vestiges of the railway, beyond the alignment of the track, but it has been gone for nearly seventy years. Northwards, the bridges all still seem to be there, but some sections of the track-bed have disappeared from view, altogether.