The Night Mail

[bbishop]

24 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

is that this thing?  Defies the Whyte notation.

 

Yes.  Gorgeous, isn't it.

[AndyID]

The Republic of Ireland came into existence on the day I was born. Some might say it's merely a coincidence but I'm not so sure.

[zarniwhoop]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

I was born 653 years to the day after Edward the second. How spooky is that?

 

Dave

Does that include the lost days from the change to the Gregorian calendar ? 😀

[br2975]

9 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

To be honest, I do feel a smidgen of pity for any purple haired millennial bobby coming up against a street wise and battle hardened copper like yourself.

 

I could well see you amusing yourself by quoting - chapter and verse- legislation from the 1890s (and never repealed) and then working your way up through the decades to 2001

 

If you can organise the video, I’ll organise the popcorn.

.

 

You're on !

.

As a young PC, I found great comfort in 'The Town Police Clauses Act of 1847' within which there were items that could see virtually anyone up before the beak !

.

Some examples of offences contained therewithin are/were;

.

Wilfully and wantonly disturbs any inhabitant, by pulling or ringing any door bell, or knocking at any door, or who wilfully and unlawfully extinguishes the light of any lamp

.

Flies any kite, or who makes or uses any slide upon ice or snow.

.

Cleanses, hoops, fires, washes, or scalds any cask or tub, or hews, saws, bores, or cuts any timber or stone, or slacks, sifts, or screens any lime.

.

Rides or drives furiously any horse or carriage, or drives furiously any cattle.

.

Places or leaves any furniture, goods, wares, or merchandize, or any cask, tub, basket, pail, or bucket, or places or uses any standing-place, stool, bench, stall, or showboard on any footway, or who places any blind, shade, covering, awning, or other projection over or along any such footway, unless such blind, shade, covering, awning, or other projection is eight feet in height at least in every part thereof from the ground

.

Publicly offers for sale or distribution, or exhibits to public view any profane, book, paper, print, drawing, painting, or representation, or sings any profane or obscene song or ballad, or uses any profane or obscene language

.

Yet another 'war story'

 

At the back end of the 1970s  my shift were 'parading' for duty (a militaristic term no longer acceptable in policing, where the term 'briefing' is now used) just after 7:00am at Ely (Cardiff) when the whole area became engulfed in thick, choking, dense smoke. with visibility on the mainroad outide at almost zero feet..

Almost immediatley a fire appliance crawled out of the smog, passed the nick and turned into a side street.

I put my hat on, and  ambled across to find a local resident had decided to burn  his old three piece suite, in his front garden.

The local Trumpton were in the process of extinguishing the conflagration.

I 'put the householder 'on the book' - for "setting a bonfire to the annoyance of residents and passengers" and returned to write up the summary file.

I handed the papers to the acting Chief Inspector  who retorted "why have you put a sixty year old bloke on the book......haven't you got anything better to do with your time ?"

My Inspector butted in "He's the father of  that little Steven John ****"

"In that case....." added the Chief Inspector "I'll authorise proceedings"

.

As I type, the so called 'little sh*t" referred to above - Steven John **** is serving life for murder.

[grandadbob]

4 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

I think I was told by my mother, that all the babies born on the same day as Charles got a present of some sort.

 

Jamie

 

Yep, I believe it was a food hamper.  I was due on the same day but didn't surface until a couple of weeks later.....Mum never forgave me.  ☹️

[Winslow Boy]

3 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

 

Yep, I believe it was a food hamper.  I was due on the same day but didn't surface until a couple of weeks later.....Mum never forgave me.  ☹️

 

That would explain a lot.

[Winslow Boy]

4 minutes ago, br2975 said:

.

 

You're on !

.

As a young PC, I found great comfort in 'The Town Police Clauses Act of 1847' within which there were items that could see virtually anyone up before the beak !

.

Some examples of offences contained therewithin are/were;

.

Wilfully and wantonly disturbs any inhabitant, by pulling or ringing any door bell, or knocking at any door, or who wilfully and unlawfully extinguishes the light of any lamp

.

Flies any kite, or who makes or uses any slide upon ice or snow.

.

Cleanses, hoops, fires, washes, or scalds any cask or tub, or hews, saws, bores, or cuts any timber or stone, or slacks, sifts, or screens any lime.

.

Rides or drives furiously any horse or carriage, or drives furiously any cattle.

.

Places or leaves any furniture, goods, wares, or merchandize, or any cask, tub, basket, pail, or bucket, or places or uses any standing-place, stool, bench, stall, or showboard on any footway, or who places any blind, shade, covering, awning, or other projection over or along any such footway, unless such blind, shade, covering, awning, or other projection is eight feet in height at least in every part thereof from the ground

.

Publicly offers for sale or distribution, or exhibits to public view any profane, book, paper, print, drawing, painting, or representation, or sings any profane or obscene song or ballad, or uses any profane or obscene language

.

Yet another 'war story'

 

At the back end of the 1970s  my shift were 'parading' for duty (a militaristic term no longer acceptable in policing, where the term 'briefing' is now used) just after 7:00am at Ely (Cardiff) when the whole area became engulfed in thick, choking, dense smoke. with visibility on the mainroad outide at almost zero feet..

Almost immediatley a fire appliance crawled out of the smog, passed the nick and turned into a side street.

I put my hat on, and  ambled across to find a local resident had decided to burn  his old three piece suite, in his front garden.

The local Trumpton were in the process of extinguishing the conflagration.

I 'put the householder 'on the book' - for "setting a bonfire to the annoyance of residents and passengers" and returned to write up the summary file.

I handed the papers to the acting Chief Inspector  who retorted "why have you put a sixty year old bloke on the book......haven't you got anything better to do with your time ?"

My Inspector butted in "He's the father of  that little Steven John ****"

"In that case....." added the Chief Inspector "I'll authorise proceedings"

.

As I type, the so called 'little sh*t" referred to above - Steven John **** is serving life for murder.

 

Genetics and Environment. The poor lad never stood a chance. Good evidence I would have thought for his appeal.

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Since there are now far fewer overseas posts, the number of officers entitled to receive a part of children's school fees is quite small. Even before that, though, there were not many officers sending their children to private schools. In my career I knew very few.

 

Dave

 

So in your career you knew very few privately educated officers. You had a very shelter life.

[br2975]

6 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Genetics and Environment. The poor lad never stood a chance. Good evidence I would have thought for his appeal.

.

Answering a knock at your front door, stabbing the visitor, then going for a walk and leaving him to die - doesn't leave much doubt in the mind of the jury.

The same bloke who (in my pre-police days) 35 years earlier,  I saw pull a flick knife on a Tottenham Hotspur supporter.

And on another occasion I called on him to take a witness statement, and noted his pick axe handle behind the front door, and jam jar of battery acid atop his tv...........yet he gave the statement and his arch enemy went down for 5 years for abducting and raping a prostitute.

.

An  everyday story of my parishoners.

 

 

[pH]

A frustrating half hour this morning trying to photograph trains. I chose to go to the wrong corner of a wide wye. The train holding there didn’t move more than 20 yards in that time, so all I got was a head-on, long range shot. In the meantime, on the far away leg of the wye, behind trees, I missed an unusual combination of ‘foreign’ units on a doubleheader and another ‘foreign’ unit as a mid-train helper (quite unusual in itself) on a long grain train.

 

Oh, well!

[Winslow Boy]

6 minutes ago, br2975 said:

.

Answering a knock at your front door, stabbing the visitor, then going for a walk and leaving him to die - doesn't leave much doubt in the mind of the jury.

The same bloke who (in my pre-police days) 35 years earlier,  I saw pull a flick knife on a Tottenham Hotspur supporter.

And on another occasion I called on him to take a witness statement, and noted his pick axe handle behind the front door, and jam jar of battery acid atop his tv...........yet he gave the statement and his arch enemy went down for 5 years for abducting and raping a prostitute.

.

An  everyday story of my parishoners.

 

 

 

A good barrister have him out in five.

[AndyID]

Billy (the cheapo shear) has now joined his mates Abe (the Lincoln welder)  and Ed (the compressor) in the shop/shed.

 

Billy shears 16 gauge (60 thou in old money) mild steel without too much trouble. He can even shear 1/8" mild steel but only when very well connected to a concrete floor and powered by a gorilla.

[pH]

9 minutes ago, AndyID said:

… powered by a gorilla.

You keep one for that purpose?

[AndyID]

7 minutes ago, pH said:

You keep one for that purpose?

 

Of course not. I rented him from Gorilla Rentals.

[pH]

1 minute ago, AndyID said:

 

Of course not. I rented him from Gorilla Rentals.

Does he come with his own tape for attaching him to the shears?

[AndyID]

2 minutes ago, pH said:

Does he come with his own tape for attaching him to the shears?

 

That wasn't necessary. Turns out he was a really nice chap (as gorillas go). A few extra bananas did the trick (although I did mention I could always get a couple ra beres from Paisley instead.)

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

So in your career you knew very few privately educated officers. You had a very shelter life.

He was in the trade dear boy, not a Regimental fellow nor man for whom the sea called from beyond the playing fields of Eton.

 

A lot of those who went to a private school, and then joined the army, were often not educated beyond being able to eat with cutlery and mumble through a mouth full of plums.

[AndyID]

9 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

A reminder that not all children grow up in fortunate circumstances.
The following is a true story:

 

 

"When I was a child, my father cheated and didn't love my family.
Later, my parents divorced.
Soon my mother died in a car accident.
My brother and I could only live in my grandma's old house.

Grandma’s sister was an alcoholic.
The whole family lived on my grandma's savings.
Grandma recently died.

My Uncle Andy is barely keeping himself out of jail from day to day.

My brother left home and won’t talk to us any more.
Dad, now 73, had to go out to work to support the family and eventually
he is going to want me to do the same thing.”

Yours sincerely,

Prince William

 

It is an unenviable role but would you prefer someone like TFG?

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, grandadbob said:

 

Yep, I believe it was a food hamper.  I was due on the same day but didn't surface until a couple of weeks later.....Mum never forgave me.  ☹️

A food hamper was something to be had in 1948 what with rationing.

[J. S. Bach]

7 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

I was born 653 years to the day after Edward the second. How spooky is that?

Dave

Spooky, I do not know but you go to play with far neater toys! 😺

[J. S. Bach]

BTW, did someone mention green panniers?

 

 

One day, when I have a layout .....................................

[jamie92208]

7 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

A good barrister have him out in five.

Would that be a 'criminal' barrister.

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

9 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Ah, on my screen they all look black; or could it be that the sight of a green pa**ier is too much for my brain to allow me to register?

 

Dave

As a Medical Professional I can categorically state that we have a pill for that….

8 hours ago, bbishop said:

Yes.  Gorgeous, isn't it.

and in your case Bill, several

[iL Dottore]

7 hours ago, pH said:

A frustrating half hour this morning trying to photograph trains. I chose to go to the wrong corner of a wide wye. The train holding there didn’t move more than 20 yards in that time, so all I got was a head-on, long range shot.

 

Oh, well!

Thank you for your coded message pH.

Whilst we in our little association are quite happy to encourage new talent, you’ll have to do better to join Gli Amici degli Amici as a freelance assassin.

[iL Dottore]

9 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

Would that be a 'criminal' barrister.

 

Jamie

As some would say…

 

Aren’t they all?