andyram

Agreed! I don't like the excessive heat either. Sadly the wet weather resulted the outing on Friday being curtailed, but I cannot fault the park for providing replacement tickets and look forward to returning there in drier (but definitely not too hot) weather.

Been less active on these pages and have just trawled through many pages of this thread. It has certainly progressed very well Andy. Great work as always, I look forward to reading about the latest plans.

Good afternoon all with generic good wishes offered to fellow ER's with particular good wishes to Dave Hunt and Gwiwer for their relative and very different struggles. I hope things improve in both cases. In the case of Gwiwer I have been on both sides of the anxiety issues and know how difficult it can be for the person on the receiving end. I suggest that time for oneself is crucial, whether it is time in a separate room for a quiet read or modelling, it helps to maintain sanity. Time to offload and talk is crucial too - and sometimes difficult to manage, but I hope that he manages to find something to help himself even if it is unloading on here. My best wishes. My apologies for the absence from these pages recently. Things have been very busy here with the shop in the midst of the "summer season". The recent Rails news has also resulted in a red hot phone line and a flood of new orders. Finally, after two years of challenging trading circumstances I am starting to believe that my very risky decision may prove to be one that could ultimately prove fruitful. I won't count my chickens just yet of course. This month could, just could, break my record as the best ever. It is certainly very close. It comes at a time when marking for the college has slowed considerably with the traditional pre-September lull. The boost in shop income may well be coming at a crucial time. Schools return here next week and Amber will head back for the first time since March. She is certainly ready for it, although certain behaviours suggest an understandable anxiety on her part ahead of the big start back. We have tried, where possible, to fill her summer with some good experiences despite the very different and concerning world we are living in. Last week we enjoyed a trip on the Severn Valley which was very well organised and probably the safest I have felt on any trip. On Friday we had booked tickets for the Yorkshire Wildlife Park but had reckoned without the weather which was bordering on monsoon conditions. We managed less than an hour before heading home like drowned rats. Credit to the park who have given us vouchers for a free return in the future. Take care, and stay safe. Andy

Evening all. I hope this post finds you well. Particular thoughts to Tony and Aditi at this time. I am sorry for having been away for a few days. Things have been very busy at home and in the shop. Excuse the shameless plug - if anyone is now missing a "pre-order" following today's news - I still have pre-order slots for most products. www.a2bmodelrailways.co.uk

A2B Model Railways is still taking orders for the Hornby 2020 range - if anyone is looking to replace any lost pre-orders. www.a2bmodelrailways.co.uk

I admit that Miss Minogue’s first offering was my first album too, a digital version still exists in my collection which my wife describes in the same way as yours does. Mine is also an eclectic mix from Queen and Bryan Adams to several albums by Miss Minogue. All three of the aforementioned artists have been seen live and all shows were amazing. Evening all and many thanks for the birthday wishes. My good wishes to all with continuing special thoughts to NHN and family. I also offer supportive thoughts to John (CB). I offer some good news today. The social media news suggests that the ex-pupil is out of the coma and making good progress. That was a good start to the day, and the day has been ok. I have received many forms of alcoholic beverages as gifts, plenty of chocolate and a thoughtful gift from Sarah - a hamper of goodies from Bothams bakery in Whitby. Some will know the special place that this Yorkshire town holds in my heart, and how it appears to be a natural opponent to my black dog which has reared its ugly head too often recently. This afternoon we had a stroll up to a nearby pub for a drink in the garden by the canal. The walk home was taken via the longer route along the tow path. A very relaxing couple of hours. A takeaway curry from one of our favourite restaurants was a nice end to day I had not particularly been looking forward to. As people have said, I hope year 46 proves to be better than some of the more recent solar circuits. Night all. Andy

Evening, morning whichever you prefer. Good to hear better news about Baby Grace - thoughts, good wishes and prayers continue to be sent. In terms of the ex pupil they remain in a coma although there are slight improvements to report. I hope the answering of prayers continue. In terms of these issues, my own issues are meaningless but I thank everyone for the supportive thoughts. The comments by iL-D are correct the people in question have even less experience of fostering than us. However, the decision is similar to the one we had taken anyway. Today (Saturday) is the completion of the 45th circuit of the sun. Maybe that is the reason for the reflective mood. Things are not sitting well at present for lots of reasons, but that is not for now. Night all. Andy

Evening all. I am starting to catch up on one or two things and repeat my good wishes to NHN and family, I have my fingers crossed for baby Grace and also for an ex pupil who I hear, via Facebook, is currently in an induced coma in QMC although I am not sure of the reason. These incidents certainly put life in perspective. I read that Grandad Bob has been absent and I pass on my good wishes to him too. Yesterday was our annual fostering review which, following the last few months, was never going to be easy. The agency have decided, following the recent incidents, that Sarah is not resilient enough to be considered for us to have further foster placements without a series of training. Unfortunately Sarah does not feel up to facing some of these so it could be the end of our fostering career which is disappointing. Meanwhile my brother has just had a book published. Written during lockdown, it is an adventure story for 8-12 year olds. Good luck to him. I hope it does well. At least that is a positive to come from lockdown. Best wishes Andy

Evening all. It has been a while! I have probably missed so much during my absence from this site. I note thoughts and good wishes certainly need to be sent to NHN and John (CB) from reading the latest page. I wish everyone the best and hope that you are all ok. The reason for absence? That is a long story which I will try and summarise but it partly comes down to time and also the need to keep things private although I can share some of this now. As for many people, lockdown was a stressful time. But it was also very busy. I am relieved to say that the shop did ok (not sensational, but ok). Working to keep things ticking along online was one major use of time and I did become good and contactless, socially distanced delivering. It has been a while since I last knocked on doors and ran away! Secondly, there was the marking job. I think everyone started online courses in lockdown! My workload quadrupled and I could spend many hours on the computer dealing with students and their assignments. All good for income, not good for sanity or fitting in home schooling. Then there was foster child who arrived shortly before restrictions. This another reason for staying offline. Now the placement is over I can talk a little about it. The child settled well at first but online contact during lockdown proved an issue due to parents’ internet connection failing. This, lockdown pressures and then the reaction to the different nature of school when they returned in June resulted in a regression in behaviour and the child telling some lies about us. The result a social worker with a power trip reducing Sarah to tears in a meeting. The placement has now ended and Sarah is not sure she wants to continue with fostering. That is a decision for another time. But refreshed from a last minute break in Whitby and we are al feeling a little less stressed. Hopefully time will permit me to pop in from time to time. Best wishes Andy

I have been away from RMWeb due to a variety of family pressures during lockdown however I would like to reassure everyone that A2B Model Railways is open as normal. Our shop in Matlock Bath has now returned to normal opening hours and we are open every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 10.30am and 5.00pm. We are also open Sunday’s 10.00am - 4.00pm. if you want to come to the shop outside of regular opening times we offer appointment based shopping slots between 9.00am and 10.30am on every day we are open except Sunday. We also offer late slots between 4.00pm and 7.00pm on Thursdays. Our website is also available and we are now taking pre-orders on lol Bachmann Autumn 2020 announcements www.a2bmodelrailways.co.uk

A2B Model Railways reopened on Tuesday and will be opening with following restricted opening hours Monday & Wednesday (appointments only - these can be booked online with thirty minute slots available between 9am - 1pm Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10am - 2pm (appointments also available between 9am - 10am Saturday 10am - 4pm I am limiting capacity to two people or one family group at a time. Hand sanitizer to be used if handling products. Cash accepted but card payments are preferred. Our opening hours will be extended in July.

A2B Model Railways reopened on Tuesday and will be opening with following restricted opening hours Monday & Wednesday (appointments only - these can be booked online with thirty minute slots available between 9am - 1pm Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10am - 2pm (appointments also available between 9am - 10am Saturday 10am - 4pm I am limiting capacity to two people or one family group at a time. Hand sanitizer to be used if handling products. Cash accepted but card payments are preferred. The opening hours will be extended in July.

Just to confirm that A2B Model Railways are still trading online. www.a2bmodelrailways.co.uk New Bachmann and Farish buildings recently arrived.

Two more days of lockdown and more progress made. Yesterday the children joined in to paint the landscape in a green undercoat. It looks a little too vibrant at present but will soon be covered over with scatter and static grass. Tonight I have added a wash of acrylic paints to tone things down a little and create some rock effects. It is clear that the green will need covering.

So lock down means working from home with A2B Model Railways operating online and over the phone at present. This has given more time for modelling. Another project has just been started (maybe a new thread coming soon), but there has been some more progress with this 009 layout. It has been brought home in order to allow work to continue. The track was tested and some dead spots were found. It seems that the glue had not been sufficient and some of the track had moved resulting in a poor connection. The track was amended and tested until full and continuous running was achieved. Then further glue was added, the track pinned and the layout tested when dry. All seems to be fine now. Today I took it out into the garden and added the remaining covering of plaster bandage to the corners of the layout to create the small cuttings. It may be small progress, but it is progress. Who knows whether Matlock Bath will see a summer season this year anyway!

Looking good Phil. I am sure I have seen that Baldwin somewhere before.

Afternoon all and my continuing good wishes to you. Decision made this morning - foster child is no longer at school so we have both children at home from now on. Lockdown day 1 - we have made the most of the good weather to be out in the garden. A very pleasant morning with the girls playing with the bubbles, chalk easel and on the bikes. Now we are in the kitchen doing creative activities, making Giraffe pictures - an idea shameless pinched from Jason Manford's Facebook page of all places. They will go up in the front window when they are finished to brighten things up for passes by. Business wise I have had a couple of enquires this morning. One is for some Peco products. Unfortunately they have announced that no stock will be dispatched for the next three weeks. Nothing wrong with that, and perfectly understandable, but to add to the same note that all bills should be paid as normal is a little bit of double standards - we want your money - but won't / can't supply you any goods! I may even partake in some modelling later depending on whether I can get the last couple of assignments marked in reasonable time. Stay safe Andy

Evening all. Thanks for the good wishes. My thoughts go out to you all but especially those who have lost, who know people who have passed away today. Sad news and puts things into perspective although I admit to feeling lower than a work’s belly right now. I heard the “lockdown” news whilst out delivering a loco to a customer this evening. As with all deliveries I have done this last week or so I knocked on the door, left the parcel on the step and retreated to a safe distance. The news was not unexpected. That means working and trading from home for the foreseeable future. The marking money takes on added importance, but difficult to concentrate with wife and daughter around. No chance of any space - Sarah is struggling to cope already and is insisting on sending foster child to school still (she is eligible because she has a social worker). As the person who does the driving to school and back now, I feel it is an unnecessary journey especially as I am not going to the shop. Sarah states she could not cope with them both in the house 24/7and needs to protect herself. Row number 1 ensued. There have been others but I won’t bore you with the details. To compound things, thanks to the panic buyers , we are now dealing with a cat with an upset stomach. The shops had sold out of his food and only had fish flavoured food left. He had to have it because he was hungry, but we know it disagrees with him. Result = sickness, diaorhea which manages to stick to his fur! He is feeling sorry for himself and we have lots more cleaning. Thankfully we have managed to secure some the correct food so hopefully he will be back to normal soon. Life won’t be back to normal for some time. At least we are healthy. Stay safe Andy

it is mad isn’t? I was closed yesterday as I normally am at this time of year but saw the photos everybody from the town was sharing. Many retailers in the area took the decision to close after yesterday’s madness.

Hi Polly Yes I include website details on the opening time signs on door and all publicity posters in the windows etc. I can’t say this has resulted in much of a difference. Time will tell if restricting myself to online, telephone, Skype sales will have result in a significant enough rise in these areas. There are so many established online retailers around who people understandably turn to first. Stay safe Andy

CORONA VIRUS UPDATE Following this weekend's madness in Matlock Bath I have made the difficult decision to close the doors of the shop for the time being. The level of people coming into Matlock Bath this weekend has been ridiculous considering the latest government advice. I feel that remaining open as a physical shop would be irresponsible at this present moment. A2B Model Railways remains OPEN FOR BUSINESS via the website, telephone and SKYPE orders Contact me via SKYPE on kingston129@hotmail.co.uk

Evening all and once again my hope that you are all staying safe and healthy. I have only just made it onto RMWeb today so I have not had chance to catch up on many posts. My apologies. The sun has been shining and much of the day has been spent in the garden catching up on various tasks. The lawn has had its first cut of the year, some of the bushes trimmed and the backlog of weeding begun. There was a brief walk over to the local supermarket this morning due to a need for cat food. It was busy, but not overbearing and the shelves seemed well stocked. Sadly, it appears the guidance from the government seems to have been well and truly ignored. I saw a lot of photographs of how busy Matlock Bath was today. It seems other National Parks and open spaces were equally busy and many have now made the decision to close. It is a decision I have sadly made too. I can no longer justify keeping the shop open to the public for the time being. I intend to head over there as normal this week, and work there so that I can handle any online or telephone orders but the door will be locked. Since the large percentage of my takings are from over the counter sales, I am very concerned about how things will progress. I can only hope and pray that the upturn in sales from non face to face avenues will continue. I have started a video diary on Youtube of the experiences. The link to yesterday is included below: Stay safe Andy

Evening all. Good wishes to everyone and I sincerely hope that you are staying safe and healthy. I have not had chance to catch up with the last day and half of posts - I hope I have not missed anything. A strange day today. I arrived at Matlock Bath this morning to an empty car park. I was only the car in the station car park, and anticipated a quiet day. In a way it was, with people through the door being about a quarter of the normal total. Thankfully some of those who ventured in spent well, and there were those who did support via website and telephone. The irony is that this week has managed to exceed the corresponding week last year. I am sure that it will prove be the calm before the storm however and things will drop off. I feel less comfortable with continuing to open the doors in the current environment and I am thinking about the prospect of online sales only for a period -whether these will prove enough is questionable. The sooner the details of the government's support package and eligibility comes through the better for me and many others (assuming eligibility of course!) The latest casualty of this situation is our booked meal on the Great Central. A member of staff from the booking office called today to inform me of their decision. It is understandable and a new date has been provisionally booked for August. Hopefully things will have settled down by then, but there are many who will suggest not. Lots of prayers being said for everyone right now. Stay safe Andy

Evening all and congrats to Mick NB on completing another year of “bliss” / “his sentence” (delete where applicable). Good wishes shared to all ER’s with hope that the virus has not come to stay. An update from here. We have had it confirmed that foster child will be entitled to attend school so, from Monday, it is one in and one at home. The school will no longer provide transport to the child’s contact sessions though so that is two more additions to my timetable. A good book or magazine will be needed for the ninety minute wait in the car park. Today was the second day of the reduced opening times. Matlock Bath was much quieter today than on Tuesday. Fortunately there were some online and telephone sales so some funds have come in. Unfortunately my favourite cafe has joined the ranks of those who have decided to close so no more delicious cakes or breakfast sandwiches for a while. Their decision to close is perfectly understandable of course. Tomorrow my thoughts will turn towards former colleagues in schools. Some may feel teachers are going into isolation or having an extended holiday. Not so, many will be in teaching those who still attend school. They will also be updating online learning resources whilst all the time feeling that whatever they do will be inadequate. It will feel like unfinished business because the year stands to incomplete. Thoughts also for all those students working hard for A Levels, GCSE’s or even SAT’s who will not get the chance to properly finish the job. Sad times. Keep safe Andy

Evening fellow ER’s and good wishes and hope that all are staying safe and healthy. Am I the only one who gets a sense of foreboding daily at around 5pm? These news conferences seem to bring more and more bad news. Today’s was to be expected and it remains to be seen how long the schools remain shut. I suspect that they may not reopen until after the summer. At present we await news from both schools. Our daughter will certainly be off, and she was distraught at the news, she loves school. As yet we are unsure if foster child falls into the vulnerable category and will be able to attend her school. Time will tell and we will deal with either outcome. Both children are of an age that I have recent teaching experience of so there may be a retrieving of old teaching resources from the garage. Today was a day off from the shop. Sarah decreed it was essential to head into the city centre for required supplies. These included duvet covers, clothes for the children, toys, flannels and pet food. In my opinion only one of those was essential and could have been located without braving the shopping centre. Cross words were exchanged! That said, it was a surreal experience. Clearly people in Derby are generally following the guidance. Whilst shops remain open, there were very few people around. If anyone has experienced Primark on a usual day (I hate the place), the comparison to today was unbelievable. It really felt eerie. At present, the plan is to head to the shop for a few hours after the school run tomorrow. If nothing else I can isolate and do the marking. Two customers are due to phone or Skype about possible orders so that is something. A call to the insurers about whether would cover me for any enforced closure is also on the agenda. I am not confident. Like many business owners I am awaiting more details about the government support program. That, I believe, is due next month. Stay safe. Andy