FORGOTTEN CORNERS

[Stanley]

The man wearing the hat is John Henry Pickles, Richard Drinkall's farm man at Yew Tree Farm West Marton. John and I worked closely together and he was a lovely man. I was surprised this morning when I realised that this is the only image I have of him.
I remember one day I was in the Byre at West Marton watching John milking and the beast I was stood next to kicked the milking cluster off. I automatically stepped in and replaced it. John started laughing and said "It's not the first time you've done that!" I told him not to tell Richard or he'd have me doing relief milking as well as waggon driving. He took notice and Richard didn't find out for years.....

[Stanley]

It's 1969 and I am setting off from Demesne Farm at Newsholme with 16 big heavy beasts for a dealer called Harry Laight at Droitwich. This was a typical day's work for me. On the way back I would call in at Beeston Castle market in Cheshire to pick up the calves that David Drinkall had bought there.
I have a good story about Harry Laight.... He was a very old-fashioned dealer, he was operating in exactly the same way his father had a century before. His farm man was his servant and so was I. He had one good habit.... he gave me a five pound note as a tip every time I delivered a load of cattle with no injuries or other damage. One day when he did this I told him I was getting a bit concerned about this as I was expecting the fiver every time I came. He considered this for a minute and nodded, he told me he knew exactly what I meant....
He never gave me the fiver again! I told Richard Drinkall about it and he laughed. I could even see the funny side of it myself.....

[Stanley]

Three years later I had graduated to the biggest wagon in Barlick and the most miles annually. But the world was changing and 12 months later I was firing the boiler at Bancroft Shed. Driving for a living was a young lad's job and the trade was changing. I reckon I got out just in time.

[Stanley]

Nice pair of shoes! Ellenroad 1987. Those were the days!

[Stanley]

I still have the shoes but climbing 240ft stacks is off the agenda these days.... This was in 1986 at Ellenroad.

[Steeplejerk]

Wow 40 years ago

[Stanley]

Yes Tom, that's my reaction as well..... I'm 90 next month. How the hell did that happen?

[Steeplejerk]

hope you're having a big party

[Stanley]

No Tom, nothing like that. I shall just keep my head down and hope nobody arranges anything demanding!



A bit of old Barlick. Tom and John Pratt, off for a bit of thistle mowing I think in 1953.

[Stanley]

This windmill was made by Newton Pickles and when he lost interest in the project he gave it to Jack Grayson who was a loomsweeper at Bancroft Shed.
Jack had a later gruesome claim to fame. He lived on his own with a large number of cats. When neighbours got worried because they hadn't seen him for a while they contacted the police who broke in. As they did so the cats who were starving and thirsty made a bolt for freedom and the police found Jack dead. The cats had been surviving by eating him....... So we had man-eating cats at large in the Havre Park area of town....

[PanBiker]

Jack had another claim to fame also. He claimed to have heard radio traffic from the USS submarine Scorpion after it's loss. it went missing in May in the Atlantic and was declared lost in June 1968 after an extensive search, it was lost with all crew. It has subsequently been successfully located. He had US Navy brass and technicians descend on his house for a statement and to inspect his radio equipment which was ex WWII surplus fed by a rudimentary wire antenna system.

Personally having visited a RN communication centre and know of the massive wire arrays and very sensitive receivers that are used for VLF communication, I find it very hard to believe that he could have successfully resolved a signal on his rudimentary setup. Got a write up in the syndicated press though!

USS Scorpion

[Tripps]

Another reason to doubt his story

VLF (Very Low Frequency) communication allows submarines to receive messages while submerged because its radio waves can penetrate seawater up to tens of meters, supporting strategic command for nuclear submarines with slow, low-bandwidth data like Morse code, not voice. Submarines use large, land-based VLF transmitters, often employing trailing antennas or buoys for reception, but must surface or deploy antennas for higher-frequency, two-way communication, making VLF a critical one-way link for stealthy command and control.