Look what I came across today.

[minimiller]

[minimiller]

Mr Ginger, shortly before my wife beheaded him

[Tripps]

i've just potted up a piece of ginger root today - i believe you can grow quite a nice house plant from it. Hope so.

[Stanley]

I popped into the Hospice shop for a large format book of David Shepherd paintings and found two nice shirts as well. One Vyella and the other M&S. £5 well spent.....

[Stanley]

Not me actually but Daughter Susan who banks the Concil's money in the Lloyds-TSB on Skipton Road. They have a collage of pictures on the back wall purporting to be of Barlick but she doesn't think many of them are. The staff have no information on the pics. Does anyone bank there? Can we have a report?

[plaques]

Is This the End of the Line?

For the past decade SELRAP (Skipton East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership) have been dreaming of re-opening the line from Colne to Skipton. Closed in 1970 through lack of funding the line always had the potential for reinstatement. The current thinking is that £43 million (2008 figures) would cover a single line rebuild. A final stage study GRIP3 (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) will cost £300,000. This would probably be the deciding factor in SELRAP’s ambitions. Past proposals for an “A56 Villages Bypass” from Colne towards Skipton would be far more damaging leaving any enclosed countryside open for building development.
My own view is that although a reinstated line would be most welcome the central politics are such that this area of the country is being left to wither on the vine. In effect East Lancashire has no part in the overall industrial strategy. The saddest part of this political inertia is seeing young people having to leave the area to find employment. Given one generation of this migration, and we are nearly there, the skills and future potential will have gone for ever.

[chinatyke]

Is This the End of the Line?

... The current thinking is that £43 million (2008 figures) would cover a single line rebuild.
... The saddest part of this political inertia is seeing young people having to leave the area to find employment. Given one generation of this migration, and we are nearly there, the skills and future potential will have gone for ever.

£43 million is a lot of money for a service that would be under used. Is there a bus service from Colne to Skipton? How often does it run? How many passengers are carried per day? Is this number enough to justify spending in excess of £43,000,000?

My other point is: How would it bring back jobs for the young people except for the few on the railway?

I'm old enough to have travelled that route by rail and enjoyed the ride through the countryside, but I doubt it will ever be viable and re-opened. Shame, but in my opinion it would be a white elephant.

Graham

[Stanley]

The one thing that is certain about Selrap and their laudable campaign is that they are serious. I doubt if they will go away and to quote another cliché, 'Constant dripping wears away a stone'. Don't write them off yet!

[David Whipp]

I'm wondering if the supposed development on Valley Road is just a cover for exploiting Barnoldswick's treacle. Contractors are installing large diameter pipes which could be used for transporting it in its liquid state...

[Stanley]

They've found out that the Bowker drain and Crow Nest Syke run through the site. Surprise surprise, I took the trouble to inform the original site owners that it existed when they landscaped Eastwood Bottoms. I'll bet someone remembers that but is keeping stum. I have the drawings of the drain from its source and if anyone cares to look in Harold Duxbury's evidence in the LTP they will find he mentions it. All this reinforced by what I have posted on the subject over the years. If the original drains were in good condition there wouldn't be a lot of water where they are but if the work in Eastwood Bottoms blocked either water course the flow would find another way down the valley bottom.

[Whyperion]

The one thing that is certain about Selrap and their laudable campaign is that they are serious. I doubt if they will go away and to quote another cliché, 'Constant dripping wears away a stone'. Don't write them off yet!

Update, (Feb 2014 - sorry I have been distracted by other issues )

http://www.selrap.org.uk/documents/2014 ... _Final.pdf

[PanBiker]

I will resurrect this thread for this as I have learnt something today. I have just seen a slug in our backyard tucking into a dead (crushed) snail! I had no idea that slugs were carnivorous and always associate them with just decimating greenery.

This wiki has it though, they apparently enjoy a bit of cannibalism which also includes their gastropod cousins.

Slug

[Tripps]

This site has a charming habit of colliding with something which has featured in my life. For instance today I noticed this African snails
What are the odds that slugs and snails would feature on here soon afterwards?

"They will grow to be much bigger" is a bit scary though. How much?

[Stanley]

Some of mine are 4" long this year......

[chinatyke]

This site has a charming habit of colliding with something which has featured in my life. For instance today I noticed this African snails
What are the odds that slugs and snails would feature on here soon afterwards?

"They will grow to be much bigger" is a bit scary though. How much?

I can get two quid each for them? How many do you want, at least 10 cms long?

We see them regularly in the common landscaped areas of our site. We're in the middle of a thunderstorm at the moment so I bet there will be plenty about in the morning. They must not be edible or they wouldn't last long around here.

[Stanley]

I could make a fortune.....

[Tripps]

I became aware of this development after seeing a sign for a new branch of Sainsbury's on my regular journey home from Cambridge. The architecture - repeated in other parts of the city has been described as ' Modern Brutalist' - I agree. I can't help thinking that the future mental health of the residents will be jeopardised, by their surroundings. I think the modern term for it is 'psycho geography'.

This feature particularly caught my attention - No More Bins

Definitely file this under the category of 'what could possibly go wrong'.

[Stanley]

Couldn't agree more David.... Sounds balmy to me. Keep the bin men I say!
As for the effect of brutal architecture on mental health I think it is dead right and I heard Lord Rogers banging on about the same thing on R4 yesterday. Some modern architecture is striking and beautiful and I can see the point. Much of it is thoroughly depressing.......

[BillHowcroft]

I used to think modern architecture was unimaginative until I went round Chicago on an open-top bus with a guide interested in buildings.
Now I think it's down to the vision and budget of the person who's commissioning it.
There were plenty of ugly and impractical building put up by the Victorians.

[PanBiker]

Palace of Westminster for one, it beggars belief how much they are going to spend on this Victorian white elephant. Even when refurbished after God knows how many Billions it will still not be fit for purpose. I have said before that they should shore it up and turn it into a tourist attraction, a bit like the Colosseum in Rome. Keep the clock going which is what most people associate with the building. Build a fit for purpose complex somewhere in the Northern Power House complete with 1000 houses for the MP's and the minions and Bobs your Uncle.

[Tripps]

"sounds balmy to me"

I was about to do my pedantic duty, and correct this to 'barmy', but took the precaution of checking first - seems it's OK if you're from North America. I'm not phased / fazed.

balmy / barmy

[PanBiker]

I have just dropped one of my pedantic duties over in the Seasons thread. I feel liberated.

[Stanley]

"There were plenty of ugly and impractical building put up by the Victorians." Very true Bill....
And I agree with Ian about Westminster. It's an anachronism and should be demolished except for the clock tower. It can never be fit for purpose.
David, actually 'balmy' was a typo, I would normally have used 'barmy'!

[PanBiker]

The song may not be everyone's cup of tea but there is some very clever editing gone into this clip.

Uptown Funk You Up + 66



Enjoy.

[plaques]

Dropped across this very interesting mechanical 3D animation artist Andreas Wannerstedt who has a number of You Tube videos to his name which are absolutely fascinating to watch, Wannerstedt. For those who like this sort of thing Google his name or pick up other videos from You Tube.

Static image from his video.
.

Wannerstedt.jpg