WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tripps]

Thanks for that response which, I think, confirms my thought that it has become more common in the last few years. I think it's a Radio Four thing - similar to Melvin Bragg's use of the 'present historic' tense.
Isn't it nice to have somewhere to talk about such nonsense.

[Tizer]

Yes, the current linguistic gymnastics of the politicians is entertaining, especially when an interviewer like John Humphrys is repeatedly saying "Just give me a yes or no answer, please". George Osborne was on this morning and he's one of the most Humphrys-resistant of the lot, a very cool customer and as slippery as they come. Mind you, he did admit he made a mistake with the pasty tax.

[Stanley]

David, talking about the language is definitely not silly, so you carry on asking the questions....
Like Tiz, I am interested in how the language changes over time. Some instances are obvious, think of Joyce Grenfell in one of her sketches about George saying "Aren't we having a gay time!" Think of the social changes that have outlawed 'gollywog' and the 'N' word....
What is more subtle is the way the conventions of polite language have changed. Take political interviews a la John Humphrys and George Osborne. It has become accepted practice for politicians to ignore questions they don't want to answer, responding with a plethora of vaguely related facts and when challenged saying "I have just answered that" I think part of it is their need to appear 'in control' and 'masters of the situation'. It would not do to give a simple and truthful answer like "Nobody can forecast the future" or 'We can't legislate for future circumstances". Worse still would be to say "We have to decide which q we want, Trident or a properly funded NHS" because given a clear choice like that I think we all know what Joe Public would say. So, huge amounts of effort are thrown at maintaining a cadre of spin doctors inventing new weasel language and outright lies.
Shining examples of constructive thought like Peer Review have no place in the amorphous world of smoke and mirrors which dominates all PR, advertising and in particular, politics. It says a lot about the basic honesty of the systems we tolerate in government. Herr Goebbels and the 'Big Lie' are alive and well.....

[Stanley]

Polling Day! Vote early and frequently! Good weather which usually favours the working class voters......



My Jumbo kitchen toll died and so I installed a new one. At £4.50 they look expensive but are good strong towels and this roll will last 6 months, less than 80P a month....

[Tizer]

A great video here of 92-year-old Spitfire pilot Joy Lofthouse having another go! LINK

[PanBiker]

BBMF Lancaster has suffered an engine fire whilst airborne but has been safely landed. BBMF Facebook site has more information :

BBMF Facebook Site

[Stanley]

The way the election results are looking....
Later.... I've decided I am depressed so I shall look after myself and count my blessings....

[PanBiker]

It's the 70th Anniversary of VE Day.

A beacon on Weets was being planned to take part in the National celebration of the anniversary but the project to make this happen has failed through lack of support.

Decimation at the Polls.

Enngine fire on BBMF Lancaster "Thumper".

I'm going for a walk,not a lot can go wrong with that.

[Stanley]

Only bright spot is that Chubby got in!
Just noticed Jack sat looking at me, very forlorn. Realised I had forgotten to feed him! Now that is really serious.....

[Tizer]

Tell him it's austerity!

[PanBiker]

You declared Richards win 4 hours before they started the count though Stanley.

I was thinking that the way the media election bandwagon more or less got the prediction for the outcome bang on. It may be easier and a lot cheaper if in future we just let them have a program on election day and then just declare a result on the morning after. It would save all that messing about at polling stations and the run up that it would seem everyone hates.

[Stanley]

I predicted he was a shoo-in.... Glad he did it.
I found that another of my friends only has one eye. It's amazing how many people there are out there. Makes me feel very lucky I have the chance of one and a half!
I watched part of the Question Time election inquest on TV last night and what struck me was the high proportion of yesterday's men on the panel. The young people in the audience certainly picked up on this and Paddy Pantsdown, Alistair Campbell and Francis Maude were not amused.

[Tizer]

Here is an interesting BBC article on Australian opal and the new Global Heritage Stone Resource (GHSR). "This is a designation being devised by an international group of geologists. The intention is to name and define those stones deemed to have particular significance in human culture." LINK

In recent years both amateur and professional geologists have tried to gather, record and publicise information on the types of rock used as building stone, road stone, railway ballast, rock armour (as used to protect the coast), sculptures etc. This is great because it boosts our knowledge of the built world around us, which in turn increases our respect for that environment and it also provides fun and interest when you know some detail and history of the rock. An example is the beautiful pink granite-type rock luxulianite which is found near the village of Luxulyan in Cornwall and was used for the Duke of Wellington's monument at St Paul's Cathedral. Another example is Portland stone, a Jurassic limestone quarried on the Isle of Portland since Roman times and now used in buildings worldwide. Many local authorities in Britain are now commissioning booklets or leaflets which will help you identify the types of stone used in the buildings and other stone structures in your town or locality.

[Bodger]

what was / is the stone used in northern england to make roofing slates, sandstone ?

[plaques]

what was / is the stone used in northern england to make roofing slates, sandstone ?

The ones to be seen around Colne came from local very small flag stone quarries. These were thin seams of sandstone that could be split very easily. Because of the limited size of the quarries they were soon worked out. You see them dotted about all over the place on the old maps.

[PanBiker]

A lot of grey slate as well on the terraces.

[Big Kev]

My terraced house has grey slate on the main roof, the small kitchen had a flagged roof. This has been replaced and the flags used in the backyard.

[Stanley]

P is right about the small flagstone resources around Colne and one at Foulridge. The beds were usually quite thick and often used for splitting blocks deep enough to make slopstones. The main source of good grey slate nearest to us were around Bingley and the slates were brought in by canal. When the railway reached us blue Welsh Slate became the standard. You can date the houses in Barlick by this, if they are blue slate they are post railway. The heavy slates used in the mills and some pavements were Rossendales. They had a big slate industry but the slate didn't cleave into flat flags, the surface was rippled so they planed them flat with a single point tool. If you see a light coloured flag with evidence of regular ridges on it, it's a Rossendale. Good stone came out of the Barlick Quarries at Tubber Hill and Salterforth Lane. Very deep beds and much was sawn. Jack Platt once told me that when he worked for Sagar's the stone from Tubber hill could be sawn at over 6" an hour. The same stone from the lower quarry on Salterforth Lane could just about be cut at 4" an hour with the same saws.
The best and most expensive slate was Coniston Green. You can see some good examples on New Gledstone Hall and its associated buildings. Lutyens specified Coniston Green for them all.
One thing that fascinated me about grey slate was the sizing. They appear to be random but aren't and they all have names. Billie Entwistle was a good slater and he had a slate rule copied from the one of the man who taught him. It was simply a flay wooden stick with an iron peg in one end. You popped the peg through the nail hole and sized the slate using the notches on the road which looked random but they weren't. There are two reasons why slates should always be stacked on their heads (nail holes at the bottom), it protects the tail from damage and makes them easier to measure with the rule. By the way, the original hangings were by oak pegs, not nails. I always intended to copy Billy's rule but regrettably never got round to it.....

[Tizer]

That string of posts demonstrates what I meant - there's lot to interest us in our local surroundings, both natural and built. The more you find out the more interesting it becomes. Churches often have geological information too, not just in the main structure but in the interior decoration and gravestones too. Sometimes we recognise local rock being used in our towns, other times it's imported - from elsewhere in the UK or from farther afield. Now we see a lot coming from the Far East but even William the Conqueror imported Caen stone from France and used it for fine detail in the Tower of London (and Thomas Cromwell imported more in the 1500s to improve the Tower). And of course the hard bluestone ( a dolerite) used at Stonehenge came from Wales, although the other stone type was largely local.

It frustrates me that so many TV programmes show us magnificent buildings and wonderful landscapes but don't say what type of stone we are looking at. One of my favourite programmes is `Coast' but even that is guilty of leaving us in the dark. We've been watching the Coast series on Australia and would love to know what the various rock types are in those fabulous scenes. At least they told us that the `Remarkable Rocks' are granite LINK. The granite of Dartmoor might have looked like that if it had suffered the same amount of erosion (but it can nevertheless boast the Cheesewring LINK!)

[Stanley]

I agree about geology. Knowing what I know now I would have sought out more knowledge about it because rock fascinates me almost as much as metal, closely relayed of course... Many stones have unique qualities and were moved long distances. The granite used for roadstone in Lanarkshire is a dark pink and I have an idea it was used for surfacing the Mall in London. Shap granite cast as concrete flags was used all over the country.



This beautiful stone used at Ardnamurchan comes from the Isle of Mull. Hard as the hobs of hell, you'd think it was cut and laid yesterday.
I was struck yesterday as I made my handle for the toolpost what marvellous therapy working with your hands is.... Completely forgot about politics. There is something quite beautiful about making something that's fit for purpose....

[Tizer]

There's a lot about granite building stone on this building conservation web site: LINK

[Stanley]

A good and interesting article. One specialised granite quarry was Ailsa Craig which concentrated almost entirely on producing curling stones. I think that just about all surviving stones originated on the island off the Ayrshire coast.
My late friend 'Science' Clark had a specialised business dropping the faces of quarries using a Halco-Huist portable rock drill. (The dust got him in the end). One of his regular contracts was dropping the face at Shap Granite. He was popular because he was very flexible on the regulations which governed the depth of the shot holes, the regulations prohibited going below quarry floor level. Science made sure he went deep enough to take the toe out at the bottom and leave a flat quarry floor, a big advantage to the operators. He hit a problem when it transpired that when they blew the face it disturbed the flat bed type in a printing works in Carlisle which must have been on the same strata. The solution was for the quarry to warn the works when the face was going to be blown so they could protect the type in the presses.

[Stanley]

I got word this morning that my friend John Harrison of Kelbrook died peacefully on April the 24th after a long and distressing illness. A good man, I shall miss him. The pic is of him at Old Stone Trough Farm in 1977. Happier days.......

THIS caught my attention. The price of coal. Turkey's record on industrial safety is shocking.

[Stanley]

The attack on Nigel Farage from inside UKIP. Some very sore losers there!

[Stanley]

See this LINK for the updated Wiki entry on the system. I was alerted by Private Eye yesterday to the fact that in the closing days of the coalition it was quietly sold off. The ageing infrastructure is now controlled by a Spanish firm.... Getting rid of more responsibility? This is the system which supplies RAF bases and important government installations with fuel.