WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[David Whipp]

This ladybird landed on my hand whilst I was taking pictures of bluebells.

[Stanley]

Finishing this year's stint supervising the snooker. I can get on with life now!

[Pluggy]

I watched the Snooker final as well, great match. Not quite going to the wire but exciting enough.

[Stanley]

Some of the hardest match play snooker I have ever seen. Selby kept Ronnie screwed down and broke him. A cruel game.....

[Thomo]

It appears that Ronnie was involved in an accident in the early hours of the following morning. He was driving home to London on the M1 with his six year old son in his sports car, he lost control and spun off the road, Fortunately neither of them was hurt, they could have been safer getting a room for the night.

[Stanley]

Why does all the media keep referring to the escaped thug as the 'Skull-Cracker'? It simply massages his twisted personal view of himself. Could it be simply an eye-catching headline?

[LizG]

Yesterday a retiree (in Melbourne) was on the news with a message to the thieves who stole his pride and joy, a 2006 $70,000 convertible mustang. He told them to take very good care of it and when they were finished enjoying themselves to leave it somewhere safe and give the police a call. They did just that and today he got his car back! Maybe there is such a thing as a thief with a conscience?

[Stanley]

It's a nice and charitable thought Liz!
I have been remiss. I neglected to report an act of kindness. Yesterday I had a visit from John Clayton. As usual we had a good natter about historical matters and what we were doing and it was made even more enjoyable by the fact he brought me both volumes of his new publication, 'Prehistoric Burnley and Pendle' and refused to take any payment on the spurious grounds that he had used some of my research. Needless to say I accepted them! The books are well produced, good quality and stacked with images. I told John I was too deep in Piketty on Capital to read them at the moment but have promised they are next for shaving. On first sight, get them, they are going to be a major contribution to the literature on the area.
Nice visit from a good friend....

[Stanley]

Tripped over this pic of Moh and Fred......

Heard a correspondent say that Soviet Russia lost 20million lives during 'The Great Patriotic War'. Wrong lads, nearer 35million. Still one of the least known facts of WW2.

[Tardis]

Education. Chemistry:

[Stanley]

F1, qualification today and the race tomorrow.

[David Whipp]

The new crossings on Kelbrook Road switched on yesterday morning (after much chuntering about how long it's taken... electrical problems they tell me).

[Stanley]

And about time too! Why a large school had no crossing always beat me.

[PanBiker]

Sally's Auntie Margaret's 100th Birthday that we have just attended at Neville House over in Gargrave. She has only just taken up residence there previously living independently in the Alms Houses at Long Preston until quite recently. We took Sally's mum Louise of course who is the youngest of the surviving sisters and it was nice to see Auntie Joyce who came up from Boston in Lincolnshire for the birthday bash. Joyce is a sprightly and still very mobile 90 year old. A four piece accordion ensemble with a sing song for everyone, followed by a card from the Queen, a smashing buffet, dessert and of course the cake cutting and distribution. A nice afternoon, Auntie Margaret has always been a glass half full girl which has definitely served her well.

[Stanley]

Nice to hear a good news story about an elderly person!

[PanBiker]

It's exactly twelve months to the day since we had a memorial service in Stratford for Dan and it would have been my dads 96th birthday had he been alive. RIP both.

[Stanley]

I am going to be kidnapped on Thursday to go to Burnley to have a look at Wiseman Street engine running, driven by electric power. My mate Robert and his contractor Terry Gissing are making the final decisions about driving the Jubilee engine now installed at Masson. We're getting near the end of a very big job! (I did wonder at times whether I would live long enough to see it!)

[Tardis]

Today, in 1940, Churchill made his first speech as Prime Minister:

http://www.powerfulwords.info/speeches/ ... hill/2.htm

...I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat...

[Pluggy]

I am going to be kidnapped on Thursday to go to Burnley to have a look at Wiseman Street engine running, driven by electric power. My mate Robert and his contractor Terry Gissing are making the final decisions about driving the Jubilee engine now installed at Masson. We're getting near the end of a very big job! (I did wonder at times whether I would live long enough to see it!)

Kind of sad to see these magnificent engines being turned by electric motors.

[plaques]

I am going to be kidnapped on Thursday to go to Burnley to have a look at Wiseman Street engine running, driven by electric power.

This is my photo of the Oak Mount Mill (Wiseman St) engine under steam. The steam give it that extra "smell" which may be missing if powered by electric.

[Stanley]

You're right of course P and I saw the Sutcliffe and Clarkson engine in steam when they were still weaving but Robert has spent enough out of his own pocket on the engine. It's installed to run on steam and there are boilers available but the extra cost would be enormous. The main thing is that it's been saved and at some future point, if funding becomes available, it can be put back into steam on full power. We've been working on this project now for over thirty years..... (The Whitelees engine was fitted with electric drive when I moved it and re-installed it at Ellenroad but I was lucky, I had a live steam boiler next door to it so it runs on steam now.)
I had a visit from one of my grand daughters yesterday, Yiota from Perth. A lovely girl and a credit to her parents!



See this LINK for reports of the Turkish miners trapped in a gas-filled pit and remember what the price of coal really is.

[Bruff]

This:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 97821.html

Have to say this comes as no surprise to me at all.

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

It's all so true Richard and sobering when you realise that many of the misapprehensions are a result of politicians misusing statistics or simply bending them. When Piketty sinks in you'll see a lot more articles like this devoted to dodgy 'facts' about the economic recovery. Sobering stuff!
I am being kidnapped today to consult on the electric drive to the engine at Oakmount Mill, Burnley. Nice to know some people still value an Old Fart's opinion....
The news on the Turkish mine explosion gets worse, 274 definite dead and over 100 still missing. From what is emerging it seems to have been an electrical fault triggering a dust explosion and fires, made worse by the fact that the failure of the electricity supply knocked the ventilation system out. A British mine engineer commented on the fact that it looked like a classic 19th century mine accident and whatever safety precautions were in place were not effective. The mines have been privatised and there is widespread belief that short cuts have been taken for increased profit and the miners have paid the price. If this is so it's an old story and one can only wonder why human life is held so cheap. One politician was reported as saying that "accidents were normal in coal mining". Really? It's so sad and I feel for the relatives, particularly one elderly lady whose husband was just two months away from retiring after a lifetime down the pit. Cruel....

[Thomo]

The brave family tabby cat that came to the aid of a young boy who was being attacked by a bull terrier in the US.

[plaques]

A foundation stone of "The Socialist Institute Independent Labour Party" built 1907 in Nelson. This one made me smile. I'm not sure which one is "The Bounder" I suppose in some peoples eyes they all are.