FORGOTTEN CORNERS

[PanBiker]

But does the car test have a reversing section?

Reversing around a corner is no longer on the test

The 3 reversing manoeuvres are
parallel, at the side of the road;
in a bay, by driving in and reversing out, or reversing in and driving out;
or pull up on the right-hand side of the road, reverse for two car lengths, and then rejoin the traffic.

When I was on field service we had to do an S reverse to get into the back yard at Colne Road off George Street.

No 1 is easy.

No 2 do it all the time at Aldi.

No 3 Do it all the time on Bessie street, (and uphill)

The creep on the automatic gearbox is a godsend though

[Wendyf]

Some people in cars and small vans have difficulty turning round in the yard outside and I always worry when larger vehicles are expected but lorry drivers are so much better at it!

[Big Kev]

I reverse onto my driveway but only from one direction. There's a stone wall directly opposite and Skipton Old Road is narrower than the length of my car, I prefer to have the driver's side of the car facing the stone wall when reversing in. It can be done from the opposite direction but it's much easier to judge the distance between the osf than the nsf.

[Tizer]

The creep on the automatic gearbox is a godsend though.

Getting a car with an automatic gearbox is one of the best things we ever did. No wonder the yanks think we're fools for driving manuals!

[plaques]

Yesterday was testing time for me. Although I try to avoid going down Windy Bank in Colne I'm always aware that because of the parked cars any passing on this stretch is sometimes impossible, Sure enough three quarters of the way down a lady driver insisted that it was OK to come up. Total impasse, It became clear she didn't know how or wouldn't reverse 10 yds back into a side road. Back up Windy Bank. (Chelsie Tractor) until the road was wide enough to pass. A van driver at the bottom saw this pantomime and was kind enough to wait until I drove down again.

[Big Kev]

Sadly some drivers can't see a couple of feet beyond the front of their vehicle, it's even more fun encountering one when your vehicle is 8ft wide and nearly 55ft long
Thankfully I only have my little Skoda Yeti now.

[PanBiker]

It always amazes me on single track roads with passing places how many drivers are not aware of where the last one was. I met one moron in North Wales the other year, I could actually see the passing place he had just passed and knew that my last one was a lot further back, I had vehicles behind me and he had none. We were coming slightly downhill and I could see other drivers ahead had already clocked the problem and held back for his expected move. He sat there looking at me as if it was my problem. I had to get out and tell him he only had to reverse 10 yards at the most.

[Stanley]

Here's a bit from me memoir that qualifies now as a forgotten corner. The back story is that the 1968 Transport Act has removed all the petty regulations that had killed the 4 wheel trailer. When all this happened they were very rare....
All this was very well but I now had a major problem. I’m not going to go into the technicalities too much but reversing a long wheelbase wagon and a four wheeled trailer with a short drawbar is like playing three dimensional chess. The problem is that if you are backing in a straight line, the rules you are playing under reverse themselves every time the vehicle moves to one side or the other away from dead straight. Of course you couldn’t steer dead straight so you had trouble. The secret was to reverse in a gentle curve so you were on the same lock all the time, all you had to do to steer was vary the lock. Another problem arose here, the nearer you got to your target the straighter your steering became and any pot hole or rut could steer the front axle of the trailer and throw you off course. That’s enough about that but take it from me it was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do as a driver.
Richard had a load for me out of Paisley the following day, 32 lying off cattle so I went to Gisburn Auction yard where there was plenty of room and started practising. The first thing I did was drive in a circle on full lock to see how much the back wheel track of the trailer cut in on the wagon. It was amazing, less than two feet! Then I had a crack at reversing, I spent about an hour and a half and whilst I had improved, I was by no means expert. What was worrying me was the fact that Paisley Market was in a back street lined with parked cars and it was sometimes a problem to get in with a wagon, never mind with a wagon and trailer a shade under 60ft long, I suspect I had a disturbed sleep that night!
The following day dawned cold and clear and away I went to Paisley. The trailer wasn’t slowing me down much and I was making good time. As I climbed up to Tebay on the M6 I was pulled in by the police on to the junction. Mystified I climbed out and asked them what the problem was, it turned out that all they wanted to do was have a look at the outfit! I told them it was the first day out and they congratulated me on the turn-out. I don’t think this would happen now but a lot of the police drivers in those days had done some time on wagons and appreciated a nice outfit. Another thing was that there were virtually no wagon and trailer outfits on the road at that time and we were a curiosity.
As I was going up the A74 past Lesmahagow I heard a Country and Western song on the radio, I couldn’t believe it! I had never heard this song before, the words were “Give me Forty Acres and I’ll turn this Rig around!” It would have been impossible to find a more appropriate song to describe how I felt as I neared Paisley that morning. It took me another fifteen years to find a recording of that song but I still have it and every time I play it I am taken back to that morning, wonderful!
I arrived at Paisley and turned left down the back street to the auction entrance. My heart fell into my boots, there were cars parked on both sides of the road and barely room between to drive the wagon, never mind turn. I stopped at the gate and went into the yard to see what room I had. Luckily there were two docks empty next to the wall on the left, this was the easiest target I could have asked for but I would be backing alongside the wall on my blind side. What made things worse was that the other drivers had heard on the grapevine that I had the new outfit and I had an audience! I lit my pipe, tried to look professional and climbed in the wagon. I drove forward, got the outfit on a nice curve and reversed straight in to the far dock in one move! I climbed down, unhitched the trailer and backed the wagon in alongside. When I went on to the dock expecting congratulations all round I got a shock, the only bloke there was the banksman who drew the cattle. He gave me thirty shillings, I looked at it and asked what it was for, he said the drivers were taking bets as to whether I would get in and he had backed me and won a packet! I told him it was a fluke and he must never bet on me again! One funny thing happened that day. Before I loaded I went for a mug of tea and a bacon buttie to a café on the high street. I was wearing my clogs and as I walked up the little brew to the main road two lasses who were stood there nudged each other and commented on the fact I was wearing build-ups, a shoe fashion that was in vogue at the time.

[Stanley]

Kev is right about interesting encounters at times. The best weapon I had was my vacuum flask. If I met a car on a narrow road and they didn't realise that they had to reverse I didn't argue, I lit my pipe and poured a cup of coffee. If I then produced the morning paper and started reading that did it. It never failed.



Kids having a picnic on the side of the canal in 1979. Do kids still do things like this? Go out for a walk and a picnic with never a mobile phone in sight?

[Stanley]

Greenberfield lido in 1958. I doubt if we will ever see this again!

[Stanley]

Once upon a time the cottage pig was standard all over the land. Fed mainly on household scraps and waste and slaughtered in the autumn the pig was a valuable source of protein during the winter. Add a few hens and you had the makings of a good breakfast every morning. This example was at the Black Country museum.
The reason the cottage is a funny shape is that it is one that was rescued and rebuilt at the museum after becoming a victim of mining subsidence, very common in Dudley and surroundings districts.

[Stanley]

There was a cottage pig in a sty at Blist Hill and I always introduced my US students to the current incumbent.
Pigs are such intelligent friendly animals, I love 'em!

[Stanley]

I can't think why but THIS came to mind this morning.
Have a look at THIS Wiki biography of Conrad Veidt a German who fled Hitler's oppression and had a career in the UK and the US as a prolific film actor. It was the song that stuck in my mind, almost a parody of the German accent. Very few will remember him.... So, a forgotten corner.

[Stanley]

In his book 'Martons Both at the millennium, David Nelson notes that
Amos Nelson moved into New Gledstone in 1923 and in 1926 his first wife died. He subsequently married his secretary, Harriett Hargreaves, the daughter of his land agent. He gave parts of the estate to his children by his first marriage; the dairy to his eldest son Joe. Marton House to his second son Ralston. Land at East Marton to his third son Pemmy, and the Cross Keys to his daughter Hetta. Marton House became a convent school and later became housing.
I remember when Marton House was a convent school. Nuns lived there and the establishment was linked to the chapel at Broughton Hall which until 1930s when St Joseph's church in Barlick was built, was the centre for Catholic worship in the area, a tradition that went back to the days when the Tempests had the hall and were a Recusant Family. A lady from Barlick was the gardener there and cycled there every day.



Gisburn Road in 1908. The Catholic Sunday school was already established and the retaining wall for the land where St Joseph's was to be built is in the course of construction.

[Stanley]

A long forgotten corner is the lane that leaves the main road at the top of the hill at East Marton.



It is abandoned now but leads to Ingthorpe Grange and goes forward to join the road from West Marton to Gargrave. It would also be a useful route at one time to take to go forward over the hill to Newsholme and the Ribble Valley.

[Stanley]

One of the results of the shortages of the second world war that is forgotten is the fact that sweets were severely rationed and at times almost vanished from the shops. Woolworth's addressed this problem and had some very good natural substitutes. I remember particularly dried apple rings and the soft shells of locust beans after the beans had been extracted. They sold dried liquorice root as well but best of all was a small shop called Mather's at the bottom of Huntsman's Brow in Stockport. They occasionally had fresh liquorice root and it was wonderful. If you ever get the chance, try it, it's a lovely fresh taste. All forgotten corners now except for the Canadian dried apple rings. I think you can still buy them. If you find them, try making an apple pie with them......

[Tripps]

Severe case of 'distance lending enchantment' I'd say.

From my recollection - the Locust bean cases tasted as bad as they sound, and liquorice root is far from a total delight.

The ration which lasted until about 1953 became a target for consumption, and is probably why my teeth - those that remain - are not a pretty sight.

PS just did some surfing after remembering tha we called it 'Spanish' , and that there was a hard strong version like a stick of rock that my Grandad took as a chest medicine.

Found this - warning:-

Pontefract Cakes, the small round black sweets stamped with an image of Pontefract castle, date from 1614 and were sold as a cure for stomach problems.
Famously liquorice is a laxative, but it also contains a range of B vitamins and zinc and manganese. It is a natural antibiotic, good for sore throats, coughs, arthritis, excema and shingles. If you suffer from high blood pressure then avoid liquorice, it might be the death of you!
Pontefract was the centre of the world’s liquorice trade, a town built on liquorice you might say. In 1760 one local grower began adding sugar to his liquorice and manufacturing sweets.

[Stanley]

David, perhaps you didn't get the best locust beans or liquorice. I really did enjoy them and would eat them all again today. You're right, Liquorice is a forgotten corner. I repaired the treacle boiler for the little factory in Swan Number Two Mill, Bolton that made the Maxylin Giant flyer , a liquorice tube full of sour sugar and I love 'em. I saw what went into them. Spanish (Concentrated liquorice) from China, cornflour and cane sugar and molasses from Tate and Lyle. The owner used to give me boxes of them and I soon got addicted. You can still get them, be a devil and try them. Bugger the blood pressure!
(Funny thing is that when I was making him a new treacle boiler I wanted to put stainless steel scrapers on in place of the old cast iron ones but he said no, it would affect the taste.)

[Tripps]

One of life's many mysteries from childhood - including when did Sherlock Holmes live; he travelled by horse and carriage yet crossed the country by steam train - was what was the relationship between Liqorice Root and Liqorice All Sorts, and Pontefract cakes? They tasted quite different from each other to me. I never asked anyone, and the Interweb thingy didn't exist so remained ignorant. I still don't quite 'get it', and I'm not really sure how to spell it.

Never heard of Maxilin Flyers - and me a regular shelf scourer at Home Bargains

I recall John Betjemans poem on the subject. "The strongest legs in Pontefract" That's quite a claim.

[PanBiker]

I like liquorice stuff as well. I went through a phase of being an Imps addict at one time. I built a radio in one of the tins once.

[Tripps]

I think this qualifies as a bit spooky.

I had a trip to Home Bargains pencilled in (first visit since March last year) for this evening, and when I saw the Liqorice connection I firmed it up.
Strong liqorice taste, but the filling isn't up to much. To show no cheating the calendar gives the date.

Liqorice Flyers.JPG

[Stanley]

Hee hee! I like it David. You and I were both watching riveting TV and chewing on a flyer. Never seen them in packs like that, we have them in bulk here in Barlick and they break them down into fives for £1.
You're right about the filling being slightly less fizzy compared with the old ones.....

[Stanley]

The Jungle Cafe on Shap Fell in the 1950s. This was open 24X7 365 days a year and was killed when the motorway opened and took the traffic off the fell. Today the whole route is a forgotten corner, used only by local traffic and grass grows in the gutters.



A typical day on Shap, winter 1950. You can see why the Jungle was such a good business over the years.

[Stanley]

The top of Newtown and the end of King Street in 1890. What always strikes me about these old pictures is that despite the unpaved road everything looks so tidy because the buildings were 130 years younger than today.

[Stanley]

Same corner in August 2012. Interesting how things change over the years.