TheSignalEngineer

I can't believe how cold it feels here tpoday. Two matches to spectate today. Sammy has played for two clubs which have teams in different leagues. Current main club asked him to fill in for the U13 this morning, only a few balls with the bat as it was the last two overs. Got six runs off 5 balls before getting ensnared in a run-out mixup with one ball left then bowled two overs for 6 runs in a 12-run win. This afternoon he played in the other league for his old club U11 side. He took two wickets in two balls whilst bowling two overs for two runs and with his partner put on 35 in their allotted 4 overs in a 25 run victory. Absolutely frozen but at least the rain held off until the last over. Been there etc. The Wells Fargo Kitchens Unlimited eejits employed by the builder of our house made that mistake with the dishwasher. Fortunately having trained in fitting and maintaining equipment in impossible to get at places under signal boxes, by making use of the two millimetres remaining clearance I was able to get the weight off the front feet and retract them by inserting a very thin old bicycle spanner and tapping it with a hammer. The new machine rests on two strips of marine ply slightly higher than the floor. No cake being available today I resorted to my own brand of snack bar. It is a high energy thing I concocted for use on backpacking and cycling trips after trying several commercial versions. It starts similar to a cake recipe but uses dark muscovado instead of sugar which has about 300 calories per 100 grams. 2/3 of the ordinary flour is replaced by various grains, mainly porridge oats but can also include rye flakes or polenta flour. Dried fruit, nuts, seeds and choc chips up to about 50% of the weight of the other ingredients are mixed in. It is usually spiced and/or flavoured with salted caramel or other tasty stuff and before baking the top is covered with rolled oats. It is cut up into 50-60 gram portions when cool. Delia has a similar recipe which she coats in chocolate which is OK in Winter but can get a bit messy when out and about in hot weather.

Sounds a plausible explanation, Mike. V10 was indeed the 2.40pm ex-Birkenhead.

Somehow manager to dodge to rain so the washing is up to date, but it was absolutely freezing in the wind outside so garden work abandoned in favour of potting up in the conservatory. Hope it's warmer than last week for the grandsons' cricket tomorrow. Donor coach for the next vehicle in the excursion stock arrived today so that's three in the queue now. Must try to get a few hours on them this week. The talk of fancy lofts reminded me of a vicarage my Dad had about 40 years ago. The loft had a window in the gable at each end and a fully planked floor. It had a table tennis table up there when he moved in so we made good use of it during our visits.

Bit cold here today. Mrs SE had a hospital appointment this morning. Nothing unknown or not under control found so she was relieved. Sunny this afternoon on the allotment and fortunately the wind was being blocked by a building to the northest of my plot so shirt sleeve order for the duration. Let's see what tomorrow brings as I think three days in hiding may be required as all the c*ckwombles head for the hillsand clog up our roads. May even have to resort to some muddling when the G word is finished.

Evening Awl Owl. Spotted this chap near to the railway bridge in Brabyns Park, Marple. Has been around quite a lot in this tree during the spring but disappeared for a while before returning a few days ago, so I took the 300mm lens on Grandad duty this afternoon.

There looks to be quite a large goods yard or coal yard to the left. To the right there is either a road or station approach, which could be slightly lower than the railway judging by the lamps.

My even more crude method is to compare the length of the springs to the distance between them.

Not just a preserve of the WR. There was Johnson 2F at Monument Lane c1960 with the outline of its LMS number clearly visible.

Blisworth was my original thought but that has already been discounted.

You can go, but you won't get back without a tow/push.

Was going to report last night but the footie on TV sent me to sleep. Had our first trip to the sea since last September with a ride round the Sefton Circular cycle route. A long section of it follows the CLC Southport line which was closed in 1952. Hard work coming back along the beach from Crosby as there was a brisk NE wind blowing and the temperature felt like sub-zero. Considerably less lorry traffic on the M60/M62 since our last visit pre- Covid/Brexit times. Avoided all of th e showers that were about but was raining from Sale on the way back so kit cleaning and stowing had to be done this morning. Although it was nice and sunny the wind chill was about -2c. I got so fed up with mine that I put a hard-wired network switch direct from the main hub located where it could be connected to all entertainment gizmos plus a spare connection for a laptop. That also seemed to improve the performance of remining items which rely on the wifi. Had several of those lately, usually originating from .be addresses. Bikes now cleaned from yesterday and dried off. The one I used was an old Orange P7 hardtail from the days when they still had steel frames. Actually because of the strength of a good steel frame they are no heavier than alloy and less prone to cracks etc. I fitted it with gravel tyres for use on the smoother trails and it goes really fast. It needs a new rear mech but fortunately with the current supply situation I have one in the spares box which I think is the correct size. Investigation and fitting will have to wait for a warmer day.

Back around 1970-73 we were dropping a lot of pole routes on secondary lines and installing buried cable. Around Bloxwich the trenching machine kept running into coal seams just below ballast level. The coal on Cannock Chase caused us plenty of trouble not just because of subsidence but underground fires which were common in those days. A driver stopped at Hednesford one day and told the bobby that the distant signal was on fire. A bit difficult as it was a tubular steel post. On investigation the post was hot and was acting as a chimney for an underground fire in a coal seam. Easily cured in the short term by moving it 100 yards further out and fixing the arm at caution.

Returning to the subject of pies, I noticed in some results at a previous British Pie Awards our local butcher on whom Hilary Briss in The League of Gentlemen was based was Highly Commended in the Speciality Meat and Game Pie class.

Well, despite feeling like I was sitting on frozen vegetables the cricket was a worthwhile exercise. Playing what is said to be the strongest team in the league both lads did well with the bat. Especially good for Thomas as he is only just turned 9 and was playing for the 11s. He didn't get out in his allotted overs and did a dive for the crease on a quick single that was worthy of the IPL. When he bowled the opposition were in a good position but he only gave away 5 runs from 2 overs. Sammy came back on with three overs to go and the match slipping away but then took 3 wickets in one over including a spectacular one-handed c&b. In the end they sneaked a famous victory. Getting back was a different matter. Cricket club to daughter's house normally takes six minutes but today it was nearly half an hour. It appears that someone magnet fishing in the canal at the end of the road hooked a hand grenade and the police had sealed off the area. Garden centre was visited and muddling supplies collected. There were plenty of customers around while I was there. One of the local clubs is hoping to put on a small show later in the year venue permitting. Now for a slice of toasted fruit loaf with spiced blackberry jam and a coffee before the next task.

Thirty overs gone and I have resorted to the blanket.

Where I am sitting watching the cricket it's nice and sunny but a brisk northeaster is making it feel like about 2c.

Unfortunately after the big flood and redevelopment the old Italian cafe moved out and the garden centre opened their own inside. Pity as their coffee and cakes were worth a visit without any other reason. The people from the old cafe moved to a shop near Waitrose, I don't know if they are still there. I first met Trevor from the Hazel Grove club when we worked in the same office about 50 years ago.

Cooler and a bit cloudy this morning. A small step towards normality this morning as the grandsons have a cricket match and I am nominated kit man for them as SiL is otherwise occupied. Then I need to call at thr garden centre so I may go to see if the M*d*l shop is open as I have run out of a couple of sizes of Evergreen strip.

Still got one of those in the kitchen

I only ever got as far as a bit of piano playing but was quite good at musical theory, probably as I was good at solving puzzles especially involving number patterns. As far as sport was concerned the only thing I was good at was rifle shooting when i was in the cadets, although my claim to fame at school was when I somehow got drafted into a rugby team one games afternoon despite usually being about no.25 in the pecking order for the XV and usually ending up running the line. I had the distinction of scoring a try whilst unconscious, having picked up a loose ball which landed at my feet following a scrum, clutched it to my chest and dived for the line. Unfortunately one of the other team clattered into me and I collided with the post. I was knocked out but apparently I spun round and landed beyond the goal line on top of the ball which I was still clutching to my chest.

I'm with iD on the design of a pie. Ideally you should just be able to pick it up and eat it like a pasty. That's a bit difficulty if it doesn't have a pastry bottom For the definitive answer I consulted the Rules of Entry for the pie trade's competition, The British Pie Awards. The document contains the following stipulation "3. All Pies in all Classes of the British Pie Awards must comply with being ‘a filling wholly encased in pastry and baked’. Entries which do not comply e.g. lattice topped, fruit topped, potato topped, samosas or any fried products etc will not be submitted for judging."

For those early BR modellers who like pick'n'mix liveries I have just been reading some Railway Magazines from 1955. In the loco notes there was a comment that 6910 Gossington Hall had been seen at Paddington on 4/10/1955 in BR lined black livery but a green tender still lettered GW and carrying the GWR crest.

Having been Grounds Secretary at tennis clubs with artificial grass courts I can confirm that they are very time-consuming and expensive to maintain in top condition.

Parents go through plenty of that. It's surprising how quickly they can go from OK to quite poorly and back again. Our first was about six weeks early and spent two weeks in the Special Care unit before his temperature stabilized. He was then on demand feeding as he couldn't manage more than a couple of ounces at a time. At nine months he had one of those lethargic spells for about 36 hours, then whilst cuddling him he fell asleep on me for four hours. I couldn't move by the time he woke up but he seemed fully recovered and just wanted to play for the rest of the night. It was then time for work and all I wanted to do was sleep.

Reminds me of a time on a busy road through a village I lived in. It was the days when lorries were supposedly limited to 40mph on single carriageway roads where National Limits applied. We were being plagued by HGVs travelling at around 56mph through the 40mph section and on into the 30mph area from the country end. The Police told us it was too dangerous for them to do speed checks on the section concerned so we decided to prove otherwise. Our son owns a transport planning and road safety consultancy, so has all the necessary gear. We dressed up in HiVis, parked the car in a safe spot with a good view along the road and got out his speed gun and camera. First two lorries shot past the 40mph sign at near to 60mph and obviously got on the CB radio as all of the rest crept by at no more that 35mph. The Inspector who had responsibility for road policing in the area was a bit miffed when presented with my table of vehicle types, direction and speed demonstrating that we had no problem in doing the job, so why did The Law?