Early Risers.

[Ref44]

SWMBO was discaharged from hospital after a 5 week stay following her falls. A week at home shuffling around very slowly and not particularly safely finally resulted in an admission that she can no longer cope in the house and that moving to a bungalow is the only logical way forward. Agents contacted on Tuesday, EPC and floor plan sorted on Wednesday, and most of the required photos and virtual video tour footage taken yesterday.

Today has seen the nightmare of starting to assess 33 years of accumulation in the loft (including a fair bit of unmentionable items (on this thread). It's forced me to decide on my plans for the new venue, and some fairly ruthless pruning of other items has been started. My back is now complaining about shinning up and down the loft ladder and crawling around in the roof space. A decent amount of stuff is now sitting on the patio waiting transfer to the tip. Round 2 will be undertaken tomorrow; hopefully it will be a bit cooler.

[Tony_S]

58 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

However it required me to navigate a town thronged with grockles of varying levels of stupidity (both walking and, unfortunately, driving

I read with some amusement a newspaper article shared by Chris Packham on Twitter about how the inhabitants and tourists of Henley are being terrorised by giant birds. There was a picture of a toddler with a scratched hand as evidence. I did think our local  ER representative probably would have agreed with Mr Packham’s thoughts on the article. 

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Dinner tonight was sausage toad, delicious. Time seems to be disappearing today so I've got to do a bit of catching up on RMweb.

[simontaylor484]

The mother of the boy involved has been named as Mrs Bird. I jest not

 

I haven't seen Chris Packhams comments not being on Twitter 

 

although the article I read was saying people have been throwing chicken thighs out to get them to swoop on their gardens 

 

 

[simontaylor484]

I assume it would be like waving LDC near bears or hippos 

[Tony_S]

4 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

not being on Twitter 

It is really good for birdy news!

[JohnDMJ]

9 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

It is really good for birdy news!

 

So many irrelevant tweets!

 

[PhilJ W]

7 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Ignoring the (incorrect) comment about Switzerland, it seems that you have missed the point of the latter part of my post. It was Britain’s participation in both world wars that have led to many of the problems that are unique to the UK at present. By entering alongside France to fight Germany and Austria in WWI, not only did Britain lose an entire generation of men (a generation that could have brought so much to the UK in the teens and twenties of the last century) but fighting WWI also started Britain’s decline on the world stage.
 

According to some modern historians, Britain had no need (or reason) to fight alongside the French. Had the UK stayed out, the conflict would have ended differently. With a German victory over France likely (in 1917 much of the French Army mutinied) there would have been NO “stab in the back” myth (and no Treaty of Versailles or the socioeconomic factors of the Weimar Republic) to fuel the rise of the Nazi party. And with a Western Front victory, Germany would have had no need to send Lenin back to Russia to cripple the Eastern Front and give Germany more soldiers to fight the West. By Britain staying out of the fight, Nazism would never have arisen and Communism would have remained a “nutcase” fringe political ideology.

You refer to Britain’s post WWII penury - you do realise that this was the result of a deliberate US policy (as well as poor decisions of post-war British politicians)? During the war it was only after the UK had - quite literally - spent the last farthing, that the US grudgingly flogged Britain some knackered old warships at exorbitant prices and “lend-lease’ was definitely set up to enrich the US and beggar the UK. (another point for consideration, is the contention that had Hitler not declared war on the US, the US would have only been willing to fight the war in the Pacific against the Japanese). And post-war? Britain got 26% of the Marshall Plan money and used much of that money to prop up Sterling instead of letting the pound find its own level, using the  Marshall Plan money to invest in the UK (one of the driving forces behind the Marshall plan, was to have an expendable barrier between the US and the Soviet Union. A barrier that would be generally well disposed towards the US. And in regards to US motives, let us not forget that in an unguarded moment Kissinger said “America doesn’t have friends, it has interests...”).

 

You also refer to many innovations coming out of the UK. The UK has always produced superb scientists, engineers and other talented individuals, but sadly too much British innovation has ended up elsewhere to be profitably developed. The reasons are many, David Kynaston’s books about post WWII Britain are not only interesting histories, but also explore the reasons behind the loss of innovations to abroad and Britain’s other post WWII misfortunes (did you know that rationing ended in Germany in 1950, but continued until 1954 in the UK?). Kynaston’s history books are definitely both thought provoking and good reads. 

 

I am very proud of my British heritage and although I don’t view the UK’s past (or present) through rose-tinted glasses and I can be very critical of many things in the UK; I am utterly appalled by how many in certain social enclaves and “bubbles” in today’s Britain are so eager to trash, denigrate, ridicule and belittle everything “British”. (you don’t see the Italians beating themselves up because as recently as 1700 years ago, the Romans owned slaves!!!...)

 

Being self-critical and self-reflective are one thing, committing the equivalent of cultural and social suicide is something else...

It wasn't to fight alongside the French that Britain entered the Great War. It was to defend Belgium which Britain had agreed to by treaty. In fact if one French soldier had set foot on Belgian territory he would have found himself facing British soldiers. It wasn't until later in the war that French soldiers were on any Belgian territory and then only under special circumstances. If Britain had stayed out of the war it probably have developed as you described but other factors would make it a very different society. The development of our democracy for one thing. One result of the war was female emancipation. Would this have happened in 1919? probably not (though it was bound to come but may have taken longer). There was also technical developments such as aircraft that were forced forward by war. War is also one way of keeping the human race in check. If all those young men hadn't died and carried on to produce offspring what would the world population be now? 

[PhilJ W]

19 minutes ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

So many irrelevant tweets!

 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Ref44 said:

SWMBO was discaharged from hospital after a 5 week stay following her falls. A week at home shuffling around very slowly and not particularly safely finally resulted in an admission that she can no longer cope in the house and that moving to a bungalow is the only logical way forward.

 

 

Could alterations and aids in your present house be an alternative perhaps?  The SWMBO of Bear's buddy next door is an Occupational Therapist, and I believe this involves assessing people in their homes with a view to such alterations etc.  Is a week long enough - perhaps a little longer may see benefits?  In any case I hope it works out for you both.

 

8 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

If Britain had stayed out of the war it probably have developed as you described but other factors would make it a very different society. The development of our democracy for one thing.

 

Also, if Germany had  won WW1 they may well have gone on to think "Well, we did alright last time so let's have a crack at another country and see what else we can get...."

[Compound2632]

  

4 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

However it required me to navigate a town thronged with grockles of varying levels of stupidity (both walking and, unfortunately, driving motor vehicles) to alevel sufficient to merit the title of 'effin' clown town'. (with due apologes to the previous ownership of that term)..  Quite why people like to sit eating and drtnking outside a caff right next to one of the principal vehicle arteries through the twn (with no alternative route sensibly available) is utterly beyond me.

 

I sympathise - having driven through Henley from the Wargrave direction last Monday on the way to do some serious grockling around Turville. (My knee's still giving gyp from the climb up to the windmill.) Went home via Christmas Common and Nettlebed.

  

4 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Nice drive home via a road which is great to drive on - when there is nobody in front of you.  Alas I had to follow a laggard in some sort of Vauxhall.

 

That was quite probably me. Probably stuck behind a lycra'd cyclist doing 27 mph - the Zafira doesn't have the acceleration for that sort of overtaking.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Compound2632

[laurenceb]

4 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

 

Sankebite - cider & lager and reputedly exceedingly vicious stuff.   I'm somewhat worried about something I find, even on the 'net', that is called 'Bass ale' which appears to come in a bottle or tin.  Bass IPA came in a bottle, Bass on draught was, as a draught beer, what many would call ale - looks like language has taken yet another step backwards (or maybe it's just the beer?) .  Quite how anybody can brew a Burton beer properly anywhere except Burton (with the exception of a place to the east of Newport, now defunct) amazes me because the secret of most proper beers is in the water.

 

 

Usless info Bass is still brewed in Burton,- By Marstons

[Ozexpatriate]

24 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

If all those young men hadn't died and carried on to produce offspring what would the world population be now?

With the exception of the Soviet Union during WW2 it is remarkable how little the terrible cost of both world wars did to restrain global population growth.

 

Even the massive excess deaths due to events like the 1930s Ukraine famine* and the 1950s Cultural Revolution in China** did apparently little to impact global population growth. Estimates of excess deaths from the 1918 influenza pandemic vary wildly. (Wikipedia states a range of 17M - 100M. The National Geographic Society in 2020/08, estimates 50M.)

 

* Stalin's purges, gulags and the Ukraine famine are estimated between 6M - 7M to as many as 20M excess deaths

** Estimates vary from perhaps 40M - 78M

 

For comparison, estimates of total WWI fatalities also vary dramatically. Some are as high as 40M, the National Geographic Society, (2020/06), estimates 15M (including the Armenian genocide).

 

Most readily available online charts*** of 20th century global population growth show no decline (and fairly consistent growth) during the first half of the 20th century. What is quite dramatic is the sustained increased growth rate after 1950. It makes me wonder just how much difference medicine, particularly the introduction of antibiotics, made to population growth.

 

*** I would be interested to see a very detailed chart with year by year data.

[Mark Saunders]

On 02/06/2021 at 17:37, PhilJ W said:

6 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

With the exception of the Soviet Union during WW2 it is remarkable how little the terrible cost of both world wars did to restrain global population growth.

 

Even the massive excess deaths due to events like the 1930s Ukraine famine* and the 1950s Cultural Revolution in China** did apparently little to impact global population growth. Estimates of excess deaths from the 1918 influenza pandemic vary wildly. (Wikipedia states a range of 17M - 100M. The National Geographic Society in 2020/08, estimates 50M.)

 

* Stalin's purges, gulags and the Ukraine famine are estimated between 6M - 7M to as many as 20M excess deaths

** Estimates vary from perhaps 40M - 78M

 

For comparison, estimates of total WWI fatalities also vary dramatically. Some are as high as 40M, the National Geographic Society, (2020/06), estimates 15M (including the Armenian genocide).

 

Most readily available online charts*** of 20th century global population growth show no decline (and fairly consistent growth) during the first half of the 20th century. What is quite dramatic is the sustained increased growth rate after 1950. It makes me wonder just how much difference medicine, particularly the introduction of antibiotics, made to population growth.

 

*** I would be interested to see a very detailed chart with year by year data.

 

Or is it the number that survived due to the medical advances but the habit of producing children did not!

[The White Rabbit]

1 hour ago, simontaylor484 said:

not being on Twitter 

 

1 hour ago, JohnDMJ said:

So many irrelevant tweets!

 

One of the few things David Cameron said which I agreed with: "Too many tweets make a tw*t". 

 

 

[The White Rabbit]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

It wasn't to fight alongside the French that Britain entered the Great War. It was to defend Belgium which Britain had agreed to by treaty. 

 

(and others' posts on previous pages which I can't quote, sorry)

 

It's difficult to analyse intentions and the likely consequences of alternative paths in history but I would suggest:

 

British policy has usually been to prevent the domination of Europe by one power/country (whether France in the revolutionary/Bonapartist wars, Wilhelmine and/or Nazi Germany or any others). 

 

The violation of Belgian neutrality being the 'cow's belly' for British entry into WW1 may have been a convenient excuse - I think it's far more likely the government was worried about the growing economic power of Germany, their naval development and the behaviour of their government (nobody likes unpredictability in a nation-state). Like any great power seeing their power waning, they wanted to stop this and joining the 'party' on the French side was seen as a good way to achieve this. Sadly, few decision makers had the necessary knowledge of modern warfare to advise this was a very bad (and very expensive) idea. 

 

Without the BEF at Mons, then there probably would have been no 'miracle of the Marne', Paris would probably have fallen to the German troops and the Schlieffen Plan would probably have worked. However, with the German army triumphant on land and the German navy looking very threatening at sea (whether literally or as a force in being) then Britain would have been faced with the loss of her world dominant status. I would speculate that the senior people in government feared that France losing another war to the Germans would lead to this and that Britain would sooner or later have to face an aggressive Germany without reliable allies (@polybear's scenario) - not a desirable situation. 

 

'La Manche' defeated Bonaparte's ambitions. But, at least since 1588 and the threat posed by the Duke of Parma's forces, the fact is that if an efficient foreign army was landed largely intact and in good order on British soil, then defeat would only be a matter of time. The Royal Navy's defeat in the Channel or North Sea would inevitably lead to invasion and ultimate defeat. With the growth of the German Navy, it looked like the German state was either intent on invasion or using it as a threat to extort concessions unacceptable to the British government. 

 

Given time, another option may have been found. But the events of 1914's summer didn't give many people time to think at length. As AJP Taylor has suggested, it was dominated by the requirements of railway timetables. Decisions were taken because the makers were afraid of the alternatives and the expectation of these being limited or removed by the passage of time. 

[Coombe Barton]

... and preparing to fill divots ...

 

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2021/06/05/cases-still-on-the-up/

[Erichill16]

44 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

. What is quite dramatic is the sustained increased growth rate after 1950. It makes me wonder just how much difference medicine, particularly the introduction of antibiotics, made to population growth.

 

I seem to recall being lectured at university many years ago that food hygiene improvements especially pasteurisation had a much bigger effect then medical advances.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. Tea has brewed and about to partake of supper. The supper is a portion of one of Tess Coes 'finest' pork pies with a few pickles. 

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[Gwiwer]

Evening all.

 

One extremely tired Gwiwer checking in before flaking out.  Seven hours at the wheel today most of it at full motorway speed saw Dr. SWMBO duly transported to and from her friend.  The socially-distanced through-the-window farewell was, apparently, an in-the-porch hug.  After 25 years of friendship and anticipating that this would be their final meeting I wouldn't have expected anything less.  A stoic Dr. SWMBO sat quietly in the car on the way back.  

 

I managed to get a few indifferent pictures of a well-known spot as we drove past - and then over - one of Bristol's more famous structures.  For my efforts I was rewarded with fish & chips tonight which went down well.  

 

We are, I am assured, going to the G****n C****e in the morning on the grounds that "It's a shame to have the car and not use it".  I can agree with the logic.  I have a problem with the willingness to go to such a place, mingle (even if at as much distance as can be managed) with others but the all-out refusal to be taken out for as little as a coffee and cake outside a cafe.  

 

 

 

[Erichill16]

Evening All,

Not been about much today so apologies if I’ve missed anything important.

Polybear, sorry to hear about your mum as I have realised through your posts how fond you were of her. My issue is minor in comparison,  my swallowing issue is due to an allergy. The  allergen is not know and it’s impractical to determine so I have to take oral steroids to reduce the swelling and alter the dose according to symptoms. When it’s bad I daren’t eat out as the consequences aren’t pleasant and  I can get ‘things stuck’ three to four times per meal. 

A day of waiting about for others but the result has been that we’ve had Sydney for most of the day. Took mil (aka The Human Encyclopaedia) out for a picnic and did a bit of gardening. Been pleasant here weather wise, no rain, and I’m still outside lounging on the patio furniture. 
Non of the m word done for weeks now but a bit a planning has been done.

Hopefully the friend I have who is in the construction game will be coming around tomorrow to help me with some quotes I’ve received for the new business. I thought the first quote I received  was expensive but it’s only two thirds of the other two! Fine tooth comb needed.

Getting a bit cool now so think it’s time to go in and wish you all a goodnight,

Robert

[Erichill16]

Just had a quick look at the going’s on in ER land.

Ref44, I hope you get your situation sorted, it’s going to be a hard job.

Q, I hope you’ve had a great day and the weather has be favourable.

I don’t want to get involved in the ‘great British inventions debate’.......but,

most of the items, Concord, the Harriers, Centurion tank, Inter City 125 and the hovercraft are either mainly out of service and 50 years old. Think I’d better get my coat, tin hat and run!

 

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Tony_S]

We had a nice visit from the Enfield branch of the family. Before they arrived a neighbour had been dismantling more of his old fence but said he would stop while we had visitors. I thanked him but said he didn’t have to stop as they would be so busy eating they wouldn’t notice anyway. After the family departed I went out and could see an Ivy stalk/trunk was going to impede replacement of a fence panel so I sawed it right back. I sent a message next door to let them know. Apparently our neighbour was going to ask if he could do something about it tomorrow! 
Tony