North End Platform

 Finally got round to finishing the small deck area outside the sliding window door of bedroom 1 at the north end of terminal 2.  The ground slopes steeply and it is almost sunless.  A shady outdoor retreat therefore on one of those rare very very hot days.

Frame made from scaffolding parts with decking boards bolted to them with stainless steel chunky U-bolts.   Covered in that green stuff that fruit and veg men use to display their wares.  The cast iron corner posts for the railings are original Midland Railway ones that once held railings onto the bridge that crossed the water tank,  It finishes off that bit of the garden neatly:

 

I should add that the deck is not connected in any way with the main building.  It is free-standing.

Talking of the Midland Railway, Pat is now its Chairman.  Yes really - The Midland Railway company no longer exists since the railways were nationalised 100 years ago.  FoSCL's astute solicitor, Edward Album, bought the MRC Ltd when the line was under threat of closure all those years ago - 'just in case' it might be useful one day and to prevent scallywags from buying it.  It has been resurrected and Pat is its Chairman!

Cheeky

 Just found this for sale on E-Bay:

click to enlarge.

I doubt it will be a best seller.

Gardening the Modern Way

 That's my excuse anyway.  The steep embankment below the Wendy House / Man Cave / Terminal 3 and its amazing sun terrace is only safely accessible by abseiling down and hanging on to heavy duty chains securely anchored into the ground.  Gardening it is a problem.

The plan is to encourage the carefully chosen shrubs to spread and cover it.  Meantime we would have unsightly bare areas of rocky soil and clay.   One answer nowadays is to let nature decide what should grow there.  This has been remarkably successful this year as what might have been deemed to be weeds have flourished and allowed to flower - attracting bees and butterflies galore.  Roses too have appreciated company.

Not at all bad actually.  Because of the slope, you cannot get very close to the planting so what matters is the overall effect.  You can see the roll-up sun shade over the terrace in the top picture and retracted in the lower one.  An exceedingly good buy which shades from the sun and protects from any rain, much extending the usefulness of the terrace.

The fence that runs along the middle of the banking is made of 3 x 8foot long scaffolding tower panels, formerly parts of Gordon the Gondola, camouflaged by trellis.  For the history of Gordon the Gondola do a search for Gordon using the line below the Blog's title picture.

The slope has gone from wilderness / problem area to most attractive and useful part of the gardens, full of interest and varying textures.

Water Crane Magnificently Repainted

 A prominent feature in front of the water tower is our water crane.  I had painted it soon after it was installed and I confess I did it in something of a rush.   It looked OK for a while but has got into quite a state, as can be seen in the title picture to this Blog.  Members of the Last of the Summer Wine gang of volunteers at the signal box had most expertly repainted the identical crane alongside the box which made ours all the more shabby in contrast.

My scaffolding-climbing days are numbered or over so I was reconciled to just living with it. Then, lo and behold, I was told that the Last of etc ganged had decided to paint ours too!

Every detail absolutely perfect.  Special thanks to paint brush maestro Chris Clarkson.

Nephew David is a World Record Holder

We are immensely proud of our wonderful nephew David Kay .  Yesterday he entered the Guinness Book of Records for the longest Space-Hopper bounce - fourteen miles from Rossall to St Anne's pier to raise funds for the local hospice.  It was invigilated by Guinness scrutineers and received well deserved TV coverage too.  At the end David was 'knackered' (his word) and never wanted to see a Space Hopper again in all his born days.  Several burst beneath him, pitching him backward with ignominy.  He started at 8am and finished at 1am next day.  In practising he had only completed one mile.  An amazing feat of endurance and dedication to a cause.

Well done David - you DID IT! 

Typical of the shy little cousin with whom Lorna grew up, David has blossomed into a magnificent adult of whom any family can be proud.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1432666979643494402

Tim's Tandem and Russian Vine

 See          

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4704550027062614413/2362451362171990397

and

Tim's amazing Kew House in London

for the story of Tim Lucas - top London architect and engineer who designed the supporting steelwork below Terminal 2.  On Saturday he and his daughter Alex (12) stayed overnight in T2 as part of a coast-to-coast tandem ride between Bridlington and Morecambe.  Tim had not seen the finished Terminal 2 and pronounced himself delighted.  Head-on is the least impressive aspect of a tandem bicycle but here goes:

Believe me, it is an impressive machine from sideways-on!  It actually folds in half so it can go on trains or in a car.  It was built in Holland where they know a thing or two about bikes.

The picture was taken in the open bay at the west end of the navvy hut which is quietly becoming covered in the much maligned Russian Vine, at its floriferous best just now:

Another New Photograph

 This cropped up on Twitter, I think.  It is said to depict a 'Peak' locomotive and train at Settle en route to Leeds CENTRAL station.  I wonder if that can be correct.  Anyway, there's the water tower in the background.  Date unknown but maybe 1960s?