WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

It grieves me to report that a valued member of the team has given notice and will be shuffling off this mortal coil very soon.



The right hand member of this pair gave notice a year ago when the sole detached from the upper as the stitching failed. Brian Birro cemented it back on and it has clung on until now. It started creaking badly and it was obvious that separation was imminent so I got Brian to do another rescue job before I got them soled and heeled again. I got it back yesterday and gave it a trip[ out this morning. The creak is still there and it is going to fail again. I shall wear them until it happens and then ditch them. I bought these brogues almost 50 years ago and they have done well. The uppers are as good as the day they were made. However, there is another matching pair in reserve so I shall not have to go out shopping. I wonder how much they have cost in repairs....?

[David Whipp]

...a fraction of buying new?

[Stanley]

At about £150 a pair for boots of this quality, no contest!

[David Whipp]

Quite.

What's attracted my attention is the power cut affecting Barnoldswick this morning.

Our power went off briefly twice earlier; the second time as I'd just got everything up and running again on the PC after the first crash...

Some parts of town are off; up to 3 hours before repair.

[David Whipp]

Yesterday evening, it was the Barnoldswick in Bloom Awards.

Here are some of the Award winners.



And here's a short Visit Barnoldswick video: Bloom Awards Video

[Marilyn]

Well done!

[Tizer]

David, you've got some blooming good people in Barlick!

Bodger, I hope they are right about the identity of the `Neanderthal abstract carvings' but I do think archaeologists have a tendency to jump to conclusions. You can get some surprising patterns and structures in rock without human activity and I suspect geologists would be a bit sceptical about the `cross-hatched carving's' origin. An example is the perfectly round `stone cannonballs' that have been found in the past on the beaches of southern Britain. A lot of people insisted they were cannonballs but they've arisen in the same way as other large pebbles, by constant abrasion as they roll back and forth on the sea bed.

[Thomo]

The power cut wasn't much help here in the back office either, fortunately we still have an old fashioned telephone in the system. 1st call was from Lt. Cdr. Michael Hutchinson at Buckingham Palace, to advise me that HRH the Duke of York had written a message for the weekend event, this came as a PDF, the hard copies of this and the book foreword are coming by post. The BBMF news is now updated to the 8th of September and puts 2 Lancaster's here at 1240 on Saturday, we may see them again on Sunday at about 3.15 pm en route from Morecambe to Holmfirth.

[Tizer]

Trust Thomo to have TWO Lancasters!

[Thomo]

Qui recte vivendi dim prorogat et rusticus horum dum defluat amnis.

[Big Kev]

The BBMF news is now updated to the 8th of September and puts 2 Lancaster's here at 1240 on Saturday, we may see them again on Sunday at about 3.15 pm en route from Morecambe to Holmfirth.

Is there any truth in the rumour of a fighter escort? I also heard someone mention a Vulcan but dismissed that as unlikely.

[Thomo]

No truth in that at all according to the BBMF, and the Vulcan overflew the town 2 weeks ago on its last flight of the season,

[Stanley]

In my efforts to fill my reading time I have belatedly discovered the delights of online videos. I have been trawling interesting subjects and find it's a good substitute for books.... But as soon as I can see again I'll be back into my reading!

[Big Kev]

No truth in that at all according to the BBMF, and the Vulcan overflew the town 2 weeks ago on its last flight of the season,

Thank you. I can now respond to rumours from a position of knowledge.

[Stanley]

Nice to see in the BET this morning that common sense has prevailed and Young Lyle's attempt to torpedo David Whipp has failed. On the letters page he comes under more attacks for his latest publicity grabbing stunt of protecting our countryside by opposing small scale wind turbine projects. Mind you, in his view, any publicity is good publicity so I suppose he has gained his objective. However, he may learn that it takes something a bit more concrete and useful to win over the hard headed voters, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has him sussed.
I see that our MP says that prospects for school leavers are good. Really? Has he looked at the youth unemployment figures lately? Does he recognise that even this measure doesn't give the full scale of the problem. Are these jobs he is talking about proper jobs with good conditions? Not impressed!
09:00. See http://globalnews.ca/news/1545484/34-co ... in-bosnia/ for news of 34 miners trapped 1500ft underground in Bosnia. The price of coal!

[Stanley]

Big tent at 10:00. Must scrub up!

[Tizer]

Qui recte vivendi dim prorogat et rusticus horum dum defluat amnis.

Any more of that language and we'll have to start calling you Horace!

[David Whipp]

Stanley's scrubbed up self was just one of many things to catch my attention today...

I've rarely seen so many people in Barnoldswick... (regrettably for the grounded flypast)... the Heritage Exhibition being a huge success (well worth all the effort)...

...and this evening, a magnificent performance by two folk musicians, Richard Grainger and Chris Parkinson at the Rainhall Centre. The show is repeated tomorrow afternoon (Sunday) at 2pm. I urge people not to miss it!

There are limited seats for this free entry performance on a first come, first served basis. Doors open at 1.30pm.

[Stanley]

It was a well organised event. Pity I could only see the larger exhibits! Hard luck with the weather....

[David Whipp]

Weather was brilliant today for second day of the Heritage Weekend.

The rescheduled fly past by the Lancasters also brought people out this morning...

Visit Barnoldswick Lancaster flypast video

[Thomo]

Thank you David. "I just love it when a plan comes together"

[Stanley]

A trace of ground coffee in a pot of tea makes it taste bitter... Don't ask me how I found out!

[Thomo]

It was on this day,100 years ago that the first Man from Barnoldswick lost his life in the Great War.

PRIVATE, WALTER McLEOD JOHNSTONE.
Service No. 7538 of the BLACK WATCH.
Born in 1880 at Culcheth Lancashire, Walter was the second Son of Henry George and
Eleanor Johnstone, his Brothers and Sisters being John Hartley, Charles Henry, Jessie
Campbell, Martina Eleanor, Elizabeth Nora and Amy Dora.
Walter was killed on the 8th of September 1914 in France and is buried at the Sablonniers
New Communal Cemetery. He also saw service with the Black Watch in the Boer War, he
was the first local Soldier to be killed.

[Tizer]

Seeing Thomo mention that Private Johnstone had served in the Boer War then in the Great War makes me think how much change such soldiers would have seen in their equipment and materials during their service time. One simple example is that they would have started their service life in brightly coloured uniform and then seen the change to khaki and camouflage. I don't know what the Black Watch wore in the late 1800s but many British soldiers died in the early years of the Boer Wars still wearing bright red uniform and providing an easy target for the Boer snipers. Cavalry still rode into battle on horseback with sabres drawn at the start of the Great War but eventually became the tank regiments - I wonder if there were any instances of horse cavalry fighting alongside tank cavalry, I wouldn't be surprised!

[Marilyn]

a new Royal Babby...