Beautiful Panorama

This lovely picture was taken today by John Blyth:

click to enlarge

Taken from the station footbridge looking north it shows, left to right, Settle Primary School's Rugby pitch (ye Gods) with Buckhaw Brow in sunlight above it.  Pen y Ghent is on the far horizon dead centre.   Our water tower is to the right of the main station building.

Pointing the Way

When we had the water tower surveyed we were advised that re-pointing overall was absolutely not necessary.   The lime mortar from 1876 was tough as nails.

A curious exception was the walls below the 10 foot high cast iron framed windows.   There, particularly on the west face of the building, the lime mortar was almost dissolved away, allowing draughts and dampness to penetrate.   Today it was remedied in fine style by Steve Roberts:

You can see the problem in the two un-pointed courses below the window, above where Steve is working.   And below - the result on one of the four windows that were affected.   The staining on the window outer sill stone indicates the presumably chemical reaction that was taking place from the run-off water from the windows.   Another super job on the tower by Steve.

 

Pannal Water Tower revealed

Watch Channel 4 at 9pm Thursday March 31st to see Carol and Maj's magnificent restoration of Pannal water tower.   They bought it at auction a day or two after ours was on TV.   We had the odd problem to overcome but nothing like theirs.

A smashing result for two lovely people.

Midland Green Locomotives - and water towers

For some reason I get into occasional hot water from railway experts who insist that Midland Railway locomotives were red, not green.  Well if it keeps them happy and stops them breaking into places (my Mother-in-Law's expression) that's fine.

We found green, red and cream paint beneath later paint layers on our tank so took our lead from that rather strong evidence.

Having a bit of time on my hands I decided to nail this once and for all.   It seems that all Midland Railway locomotives were painted green until 1883.   Our tower was built in 1876.

Here is a picture of one of the green ones:

And another:

Here the artist has taken liberties with the LMS bit.   The LMS didn't start until January 1923 by which time the engine would have been red.

The authority on such things is Midland Style.   Page 71 of the 1975 Edition states: 

...... in September 1881 class 1492 2-4-0 No.1500 and nine other locomotives were experimentally painted a dull red. The object of this was to find a less fugitive, more economic and more distinctive colour than the green. The outcome of the experiment was the development and adoption of the famous crimson lake which became known as “Midland red”, although its official description at the time was oxide of iron. The Locomotive Committee minute of 2^nd November 1883 which ordered that all Midland engines were to be painted the new colour also stated that the estimated saving would be £2,000 a year. The last Midland engine to be painted green was 0-4-4T No.1636, completed at Derby in July 1883

I shall trouble you no further with this.   Promise. 

Exploding Universes

Seven year old boys and their grandpas have a very special relationship.   And so it has been today.

Junior Grandson Ben raised the issue that is common amongst all mankind - including you.   Farting. Now, come on, there is no point in denying it.

Ben's main source of written information, after the Daily Telegraph of course, is the Beano.   There the subject crops up from time to time apparently.   In Ben's case the Beano is augmented by YouTube as information needs may dictate.   Knowing (I think) our English Rose of a daughter YouTube access will have parental controls of the highest order but toots (Beano generic terminology) slip in, or out,  below YouTube's radar.

Given Ben's 2016 awareness he was able to give his Grandpa a full blown lesson.   Top if the list is The Exploding Universe.   The average person has just four of these in a lifetime.   Ben, a prescient and very intelligent young man is bracing himself for six in total, one of which is history.   Exploding Universes are absolute happenings so there is no such thing as a half-Exploding Universe.

Not so with the next category below EUs.   Jeffs.

Jeffs are the mainstream and are subdivided almost limitlessly.   1/32nd Jeffs exist it seems but for simplicity it can be kept to full, three quarter, half and quarter Jeffs.  Ben confessed to a half-Jeff in Sainsbury's.

Anything below a quarter Jeff ranks as a mere pop  - with a lower case p you should note.

I asked Ben the ultimate question that must nag away at everybody from time to time.  "Do you think the Queen ever has Exploding Universes?"

"No", said Ben solemnly.   "Women are different.   They might do Jeffs but you rarely hear them.   Perhaps just once a day".   He went on to explain that middle aged women do few of them but girls and the elderly (61 plus apparently) do more.

So now you know.

Ben, you and Grandpa both have a lot to learn.

Flying Fandangos

Half way though my chemo course I find that, mercifully, the only side effect, apart from occasional fatigue, is sore feet.   This is a common side effect, often accompanied by sore hands.   The answer to the sore feet problem is emollient ointment, supplied by the hospital, and going easy on the feet, of course.

Yesterday I had to journey from Leeds to London, then from Kings Cross to Marylebone and to Gerrards Cross where I would have to walk the best part of a mile dragging a wheelie suitcase.   After a good deal of soul-searching about footwear I decided on - wait for it - sandals and socks.    This, I read, is the ultimate and unforgivable fashion no-no.

Furthermore,  yesterday was Flat Cap Friday, a sacred feast when Yorkshireman are urged to wear that iconic piece of headgear.   Who devises these special days incidentally?

Anyway, I decided to go for it and sod the consequences.   Flat cap, sandals and socks will be the next fashion craze, trust me.   You read it here first.

Nobody, as far as I could tell, looked at my feet, perhaps transfixed by the cap.   No child said 'Look at that man wearing sandals and socks mummy'.

There comes a time in life when you can get away with things -when you couldn't give a flying fandango what people think.

Amen

Settle on the Roof

In brilliant sunshine today we (me and signwriter Eddie Ralph, who sign-wrote our wagon) painted the word Settle on our enormous flat roof.   This is anticipation of TV coverage of the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race, stage 1 of which finishes at Settle on 29th April.

After that it may provide information to lost aviators, balloonists and literate pigeons.

Here is fearless Eddie on the roof under a clear blue sky:

 click to enlarge

... and drawing out the letters in chalk:

 Eddie's van is a work of art in itself.   It isn't in need of a wash as it may at first appear:

 ... it is beautifully lined in timber effect paint:

 ... and shows distinct evidence of sign writer's sense of humour:

 ... and here is our roof sign.   Still needs a second coat of paint but it looks the business.   Each letter is 9 1/2 feet high and four feet wide.   The font is Eddie sans serif.

 ... and just in case you think we bottled out of the letter S:

The sign should be very visible from Castleberg Crag above Settle, seen here from the roof:

Second coat of paint now applied.   Bit proud of this.   Took some getting I can tell you:

Might climb Castleberg and get a picture.