Hearing aids, omelettes and a black cat

Today I had a follow-up interview for my hearing-aids. The appointment was at 10:30 at the Whittington Hospital. I like the Whittington, partly for the good care I receive there and partly because its logo is a black cat (see left). This, of course, is in honour of Dick Whittington, who was Lord Mayor of London in the 14th and 15th centuries and is associated in legends and fairy tales with a black cat.

This other picture shows a piece of wall art (too grand, surely, to be called “graffiti”) at Archway where I pass on the way to the hospital.

Friday, as you may recall, dear reader, is by tradition Omelette Day, and I also needed cat food, which meant a brief visit to Camden Town. Fitting all that in was not going to be easy.

The follow-up consisted of a half-hour interview during which I was presented with three imaginary scenarios and asked how difficult it had been to cope with them before I had the hearing aids and what improvement, if any, I noticed now. The scenarios were:

1. Watching TV;
2. A conversation with a single person in noisy surroundings; and
3. A conversation with several people.

I was able to say that all three had been difficult and frustrating before and that there was now some improvement. My hearing was still far from perfect, and I still had to ask people to repeat things on occasion but the hearing aids certainly helped.

I also mentioned that when I spoke, it was like speaking with my fingers in my ears. The interviewer said she could do something about that and reprogrammed my “dolbies” on the spot. There is some improvement but the sensation persists. Maybe I will get used to it.

I emerged from the hospital at 11:05 and had to think whether I could manage to get down to Tigger in time for omelettes and pick up cat food on the way. I decided to give it a try and returned to Archway tube station where I took a train south. I broke my journey at Camden Town, bought cat food and boarded another train. I reached Tigger on the pip of noon. Not bad going.

We duly had our omelettes and chatted with our friends at the Court Cafe, then I returned home to write this blog. Yes, dear reader, I always have you in mind!

The weekend is once more upon us and we shall no doubt spend it in some appropriate manner. I shall let you know.

New picture box

In recent posts, I have mentioned my new camera. If any of you are camera buffs, you might like to know what I have bought. On the left is a picture of the model, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5.

I already had a digital camera, the one I have used for the photos I posted here, and when I bought it some years ago it was leading-edge technology. By now, however, it was looking rather old-fashioned and I felt a need to change.

I decided that I wanted a small camera, with a good zoom and a good ISO range.

Small size is important. If a camera is big, then you have to make an effort to take it with you with the result that you only take it on special occasions. If you have a tiny camera, you can put it in your bag or pocket and forget about it until you want to use it. This means you always have a camera to hand when you see something worth capturing.

I like photographing details on buildings, old clocks, gargoyles, weather vanes, etc.; I also like photographing birds and animals. You usually can’t get very close to these subjects and so a good zoom is essential. In general, too, a zoom is useful in enabling you to frame the subject nicely.

I wanted a good ISO range because I don’t like using flash. It’s makes you noticeable for one thing! I would rather wedge myself against some solid object and take a slow exposure than use flash. I therefore wanted a camera that would cope with reasonably low-light situations.

On the recommendation of a friend, I betook myself (or rather Tigger took me as I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag unaided) to the excellent London Camera Exchange where I spoke to a very knowledgeable and helpful assistant. When I explained my requirements, she showed me the Panasonic DMC-TZ5. It seemed to fill the bill admirably.

First, the camera is certainly small enough to go in my handbag or pocket. Secondly, it has a 10X zoom, which is pretty good for a camera of this format. In fact, you can go further still, up to about 16X with the “Extra Zoom” button, but you are warned that picture quality falls off at this level. Also, the greater the zoom, the more likely pictures are to suffer from camera shake even though this camera has image stabilization.

Thirdly, the ISO range is pretty good and I have already taken some low-light shots though the flash performs quite well too. The Leica lens is wide-angle and I still tend to gasp when I look at the preview screen to see how much of the scene is included. I use the zoom to home in on the subject. The zoom mechanism is very smooth and also very fast: I tend to overshoot a little too easily.

The camera of course has “Intelligent Auto” but there are many other settings, either macros (prepared settings for different sorts of subject) or settings you can choose from menus. It can even do movies with sound. The settings are fairly easy to use and there are so many of them that it takes time to get to know them all. Generally speaking, the ones you want to use most often are the quickest to get to, which makes sense.

The camera is quite heavy for its size but I like that. I feel I have something solid in my hand. I have the wrist loop on it and always slip my hand into this first so that there is no chance of dropping the camera as I pull it out of my bag and lean over the side of a tram or peer over a bridge to photograph a moorhen!

My old camera had a small preview screen but it also had a direct viewfinder which I used all the time. Viewfinders are as rare as hen’s teeth in cameras of this format so I have had to give it up, reluctantly, in exchange for the other benefits. The preview screen is big and bright but in sunlight or in low light conditions I still sometimes have trouble locating and framing the subject.

Viewfinders have two great advantages. Firstly, if you can see something with your eyes, you can see it with the viewfinder. This is not always true of preview screens. Secondly, when you use a direct viewfinder, you hold the camera against your head and this stabilizes it marvellously. No one can take a steady picture when holding a camera away from the body. Modern cameras have image stabilization, of course, but this will always be second best. The solution is to use a tripod or monopod but then you lose the advantage of having a small camera.

The TZ5 can record photos on its internal memory or on an SD card, so I bought one of these, with 4GB capacity. That should be enough for a day’s shooting! Thinking about it, though, I finally decided to buy another card as a backup in case we went somewhere for several days and the first card filled up. I also bought a spare battery. These wonderful things recharge in 2 hours at the most and I think would last well over a day even with plenty of activity but having a spare makes me feel more comfortable.

If you have read this far, you are probably feeling pretty bored, so I will stop. For more information, just look up “Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5″ on the Web. There are plenty of sources (for example, here) as a lot of interest is being shown in this camera.

A death in the family

News has come that Tigger’s father has died. I mentioned in a recent post that Sidney was very poorly. He had to be taken to hospital a couple of times and this seemed to help a little. As he had done before, Sidney seemed to rally and step back from the brink.

When we last visited him in the nursing home, he was compos mentis and made the effort to respond to what we said but we could see he was not at all comfortable. He was taken to hospital again to sort out a “rattle” in his chest. He seemed to respond to treatment and we were informed that there was no immediate concern. Nonetheless, he died in the night.

He had been doing well in the nursing home and enjoyed telling us about the activities he was involved in such as quiz nights and making flags of all nations. He suffered a couple of health upsets but bounced back from these. The recent decline was more serious and we were expecting the outcome. Even so, it was a shock when it happened.

I have known Sidney for a relatively short time but I loved and admired him. He had an offbeat attitude to life and a mischievous sense of humour. I would have liked to have known him in his prime when he had the adventures that are now fondly remembered family legends.

A self-employed mechanic and welder, Sidney could turn his hand to many tasks. We recently found a wrought-iron gate that he had made, still in place and in use.

He had wide interests and was particularly fascinated by machines, always wanting to understand exactly how they worked. We had many conversations about the books we were reading and he showed a well-informed knowledge of many topics.

He always treated me with a friendly courtesy that made me feel part of the family. Along with the inevitable grief at his disappearance go love and gratitude for the happy memories of a man who was important in all our lives.

Crooked Spire and Tramway Village

As I mentioned in my last couple of posts, we went off to Chesterfield yesterday on a courier run. This is also Tigger’s first day back at work after the holiday and she is spending it doing what she enjoys - travelling!

Although I didn’t mention it in my blog, we picked up the package on Sunday night from the building’s security staff. It had to be delivered by noon, so Tigger took an early train in case of train delays and other problems and I followed later train on the 9:25 from St Pancras. Both journeys went according to plan and by the time I arrived in Chesterfield at 11:30, Tigger had delivered the package and was awaiting me on the platform.

We decided to put off exploring Chesterfield until later and the photo on the left of the famous Crooked Spite was taken in the evening, as you might be able to tell from the lighting. We caught the number 17 bus to Matlock where we had lunch in a small cafe called The Elizabethan.

Matlock is a pretty town in beautiful surroundings, and well worth a visit, but it still wasn’t our final destination. This was the Crich Tramway Village.

It is impossible to do this place justice in a few words. In brief, a group of enthusiasts have managed to buy and rebuilt a collection of old trams, lay track and run the trams. Visitors can ride the trams, attend various exhibitions and get a close-up view of numerous trams in various states of repair. The tram in the photo is the first of two that we rode.

The second tram we rode was open-topped. We had a long talk with the “conductor”, who was a very knowledgeable enthusiast with a wealth of knowledge about trams and their history. I very much enjoyed riding the trams and admiring the word that has gone into their restoration.

Trams are not the only exhibits. Some buildings have also been rescued, like this pub. The “village” presents like the high street of a small town at an indeterminate time in the past. There are shop fronts with displays of old products (these are currently under development), a printing shop and an ice-cream kiosk.

The pub, incidentally, operates as a pub when the village is open and there is a restaurant on the upper floor though we did not try this ourselves. (Unlike us, eh? )

Here are a few more items that caught my eye:

 

Goldfish in the horse trough	Splendid lion on top of the pub	The Herbert Slack 87 Gavioli Military Band Organ

Leaving the Tramway Village, we had to return to Matlock by bus.

I thought you might like this picture of us waiting at the bus stop.

Here are some photos taken in Matlock, showing what a picturesque town it is, well worth a visit on its own account.

We returned to Chesterfield, took some photos and then went to the bus station. At that time of day (after 7 pm), the frequency of buses was diminishing. We realized that if we waited for a bus, we would miss the next train so we hailed a cab and returned to the station in style.

To conclude, here are a few more pictures of Chesterfield. The most difficult part is deciding what to leave out because the whole area is very beautiful and there are picturesque views everywhere you look. We shall return!

Amberley

We were supposed to start early today but it didn’t quite work out that way. I think we are quite tired from this week’s unremitting programme of excursions. Nor is it over yet as Tigger is making a courier run to Chesterfield tomorrow and I Will of course be going too.

We left home at about 9:30 and caught a bus to Kings Cross. While I went off to buy cheese baguettes on Kings Cross Station, where they are cheaper than in the more upmarket shops on St Pancras Station, Tigger continued thither to buy tickets for our trip.

The plan was to catch the Brighton train and change at London Bridge. The train was diverted, however, and missed London Bridge out altogether. We therefore stayed aboard to Three Bridges and changed there, catching the train for Amberley.

Have you heard of Amberley? Don’t feel too badly if you haven’t. Not many people have. As far as I can see, Amberley consists of a railway station, a bridge over the River Arun, some mobile homes and a clutch of pubs near the bridge. There may be more to it than that but if so, I have yet to find it.

So why did so many people beat a path to Amberley today? There was once a chalk quarry here and a lime burning works with its own railway joining onto the main line but these workings are long gone. What brings people to here today is the Amberly Working Museum that occupies the site.

What you will see if you come here depends of the day you come. If you are lucky, some of the artisans - such as the blacksmith or the potter - will be working, demonstrating their skills, selling their wares and perhaps taking commissions.

You will also find old buildings, either restored or in the process of being restored, some native to the site and some that have been carefully demolished elsewhere, brought here and lovingly rebuilt, like the Fairmile Cafe.

There is plenty to interest the technically-minded as well with large exhibits showing the history of power generation or the telephone service. There are many vehicles from cars and vans to buses and railway rolling stock. You can ride around the site on the miniature steam train, an old bus and, today, a cart pulled by a steam roller. Rides are free but donations are accepted.

Special exhibitions are also held and today it was veteran and vintage motor cycles. Owners had come from far and wide, bringing their precious machines. According to the published programme, there were 86 entries.

As it was a bank holiday, the place was crowded. It might be better to go at another time though there might then be fewer living exhibits active.

There is a cafe called the Limeburners’ Restaurant where we had a late lunch. By 4 pm, we were tired and ready to go home. Accordingly, we caught the 4:19 train to Victoria. The station, happily, is right next to the museum and connected to it by a pathway that used to be the chalk chary railway line.

Below are three of the photos I took in and around the museum.

A mixed day

We had a mixed day today but it worked out fine in the end. First, I had to go and fetch Freya from the cattery. When I got to Liverpool Street Station, I found it closed because of engineering work, so we had to do part of the journey by tube. Here is Freya in her cage on the Victoria Line. She doesn’t like the tube much because it is so noisy and rocks from side to side but she took it quite well today.

Of course, she had to tell us all about her holiday and told me off for letting off the flash in her face. (That she managed to close her eyes between the flash going off on the shutter closing shows how incredibly fast cats’ reactions are.)

After brunch, we went down to the Thames and bought tickets for this cruise boat. With those tickets you can get off and on the boat as often as you like but we stayed on, going round and round (and dozing off a couple of times - well, it has been a busy week!) until we had had enough.

We disembarked at St Katherine’s Dock where this famous sculpture of a girl swimming with a dolphin is sited.

One of the reasons for coming here was the Mala Indian restaurant. They do the most beautiful mulligatawny soup and a lot of tasty vegetarian dishes.

Needless to say, we had a very enjoyable dinner.

We left by the gate of St Katherine’s Dock that is decorated by a pair of elephants, one of which is pictured here. They date from the days of the ivory trade but I prefer not to think of that. They are beautiful elephants and can be enjoyed for that reason.

We returned home, tired but pleased without day. Freya met us excitedly at the door, saying “ech-eck-eck-eck…”, which is her special greeting to us. On the way I took a few photos. There is something magical about the city at night when the lights begin to stand out against the dying sunlight. Here are two of those photos.

Along the Sussex coast

View out to sea from Beachy Head

Today, we continued our holiday by heading south, this time to Brighton. I lived there as a child and each time I visit the town, the experience is a mixture of old and new.

The Clock Tower, beautifully restored and glittering in the sunlight, is one of my favourite sights. I still remember a childhood dream about it.

We didn’t stop in Brighton, however, but walked down from the station (past the Clock Tower) to the seafront and caught bus number 12A. This takes you east along the coast (with many forays inland to serve the communities on its route) to Eastbourne. It was a beautiful day and at the start of the journey I enjoyed looking out of the window at the beautiful countryside and sea views.

Unfortunately, the seat was hard and not suitable for a long journey and I began suffering from a serious case of - forgive the expression - bum-ache. There was nothing for it but to get out at Beachy Head. Not that that was any hardship as Beachy Head is a beautiful place to visit.

Perched on the cliff-top near Eastbourne, Beachy Head has long been a favourite with suicides (there is a prominently displayed notice advertising the services of the Samaritans) but for the same reasons, it offers wonderful views both of the sea coast and the rolling Sussex countryside, lushly green and dotted with sheep. The picture above right shows the view towards the east, with Eastbourne with its pier.

As you can see from the previous photo and this one, the day was sunny but hazy. I was impressed with the heart-lifting beauty of the landscape and the frolicsome lambs.

We caught the bus again and completed the journey into Eastbourne. This little seaside town, a sort of sleepy cousin of Brighton, had done well out of the legend that it is the “sun trap of the south”, a claim to be taken with some scepticism. Nonetheless, it is a pleasant town and well worth visiting.

As you probably know, I like photographing the animals and birds I meet. I am also one of the few people who love town pigeons. I was keen to try out the new camera by getting a close-up of a pigeon. It became nervous at the attention I was giving it and took off just as I clicked the shutter release. I suppose we should regard this as a failed attempt but I think it has a certain amusing charm!

I did eventually get a pigeon portrait but this was in Brighton where the feathered scavengers are a lot less worried by human attention. This one was relaxing in the sun on a terrace where people were walking to and fro. It was completely unworried by my activities in photographing it.

If you go to Brighton, you of course have to take a photo of the Pier. So here is the obligatory photo of Brighton Pier. I always gnash my teeth when I say “Brighton Pier”. Why? Because all older Brightonians knew it as the Palace Pier and resent its renaming.

If there is one bird that can rival pigeons for my affections it is gulls, especially herring gulls. I love to watch them fly, for they are superb fliers and can land with utter precision on a pin-head, even in a gale. I wanted a close-up of a gull and I think this one turned out quite well. Note the beady eye watching what I am up to.

After a day of movement, we were happy to take the train home to London. But tomorrow is another day. Who knows what we will get up to? I know what we are getting up to on Tuesday, by the way: we are going to Chesterfield. Tigger has a courier run to the town of the Crooked Spire and we are going there together. We bought the tickets this evening.

My beautiful launderette

Well, not mine, of course; just the one we use. And we used it today but, before that, we had other things to do.

The first thing we had to do was visit this place. If you live in London, you might recognize it as the Whittington Hospital, where I was fitted with my “dolbies”, aka hearing aids. I needed new batteries for them. As you can see, it was another dull day with showers.

Tigger came with me, just as she had accompanied me on all other visits, but this time she made me find the way from Archway tube station myself because she knows I never pay attention when I am with someone and then get lost when on my own. I pretended not to know where I was going but led us straight there!

After this, we felt we deserved breakfast. Well, remember, we are officially on holiday. So we bussed it to Kentish Town and to Café Renoir. This photo is taken from the interior with my new camera. You may think it isn’t a very good photo but I call it “experimental”, so there.

Despite being on holiday, we decided we really had to tackle the laundry which was well overdue, hence the photo at the top. This is our favourite launderette because the machines are in good condition and there is rarely one out of order. This is important because it takes a bus ride to get there.

As usual, we set our three machines spinning and then went to this lovely cafe on the next corner, Café Restaurant Valencia. In winter we have hot chocolate or tea but in warmer weather like today, freshly squeezed orange juice. We were even able to sit outside as the rain held off.

By the time we had finished the laundry, it was getting on for 5 pm so we decided it was time for lunch. Just across the road is the Balfour, a beautifully refurbished restaurant. We had watched the work being done on it and were curious to try it out.

Having taken the washing home, we set out once more because Tigger, who also has a new camera, wanted to buy a battery charger. We eventually found one and popped into Starbuck’s in New Oxford Street. This photo is taken from inside the coffee shop. Yes, I know, it’s another experimental one.

Maybe you will like this one better. It’s a picture of the evening sky seen from Pentonville Road on our way home. I rather liked the red blush of evening sunlight against the menacing rain clouds.

There is beauty even in the urban jungle.

Steaming through Kent

Yesterday (Wednesday) was the third day of our 3-day Kent Rover rail ticket, so although the weather was wet and chilly, we felt compelled to make use of it. We arrived at London Bridge station on the dot of 9:30 so as to benefit from cheap fares into Kent.

We had been thoroughly rained on during the journey to the station and it was altogether shaping up to be a miserable day but we kept out spirits up as best as we could.

We had a definite end in view and eventually achieved it but only after an initial hiccup. We were heading for Hythe and our plan was to take the Dover train and disembark in Sandling, where we could presumably take the bus to Hythe. Bad idea. When we emerged from the station, in heavy rain, we found it was well outside the town and, as far as we could see, there were no bus stops^*. So we set out bravely on foot for a wet and windy 30-minute hike which ended in the temporary respite of a coffee break in the Castle pub on the village green.

The high point of the wet walk was meeting the lamb pictured on the left. Sheep are usually nervous animals and run away from people but the sheep of Sandling seem unusually relaxed and actually came up to the fence to say hello. This little black lamb was very keen to meet us.

Having sought the advice of locals, we were able to catch a bus into Hythe. By then the sun was showing though the weather alternated sun and rain for the rest of the afternoon, becoming decidedly wet and miserable in the evening. This ornate drinking fountain caught my eye. It is rather beautiful.

Our destination was the Hythe station of the The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. This is a miniature steam railway that, despite its small size, carries passengers over a respectably large network. A ride on the steam train is a child’s dream come true - even if the child is a grown-up one like me! The picture shows one of the scale model engines which is powerful enough to haul a long train of carriages. Very impressive.

The original plan was to travel the whole network, returning to Hythe but service was restricted so we had to make do with travelling the whole route from Hythe to Dungeness and then back from Dungeness only as far as Romney.

The train takes you through some beautiful and varied countryside, enough to keep me gawping happily, first on this side and then on the other. The train paused at Dungeness for quite a while, long enough to go to the little cafe and shop for tea and then spy out the countryside from the station platform. Dungeness at first sight seems a flat, bleak region, the last place city-dwellers like us would choose to live in, but there is also a strange charm and attraction about it. We must explore further.

Returning to Romney, we took a bus to Folkestone. A walk through the town - familiar to us since we spent Christmas here a couple of years ago - led us to the station where we caught a train back to London. Thus ended three days of Kent travels. We saw many interesting places and sights as well as adding to our list of destinations to explore in more detail another time.

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^*The bus apparently does go past the station but I have no idea where it stops. Maybe it is “hail and ride”.

Surfing the silver rails in Kent

As I mentioned, we are currently on holiday. We cancelled our trip abroad because of the state of Sidney’s health and have been travelling around Kent on the 3-day Kent Rover railway ticket.

Yesterday (Monday) we went to see Sidney and found him very poorly. “I feel very unwell,” was his only comment on the subject. We chatted with him briefly and he bravely responded to what we talked about but it was obviously a strain so we left him to rest. We will go and see him again later in the week.

Kent has some lovely places to visit. Rochester and the Isle of Sheppey are favourites of mine, though to see the remoter parts of Sheppey you really need a car.

Travelling down each day, surfing the rails and coming home again at night is tiring but it is fun. Mostly is goes according to plan but enough goes wrong to make it interesting!

Here are a few photos snapped en route.

Session House, Maidstone	Building facade, Maidstone	Old clock, Rochester

Stone face, Rochester	Pigeon, Chatham Station	Town clock, Sheerness

Just in case you are wondering, the mooted courier run on Monday did not materialize. We are not too unhappy about this as we have been doing plenty of travelling off our own bat!

A day in Dengie

Yesterday (Saturday) started with an early-morning trip to Chingford. Although we have cancelled our holiday for the reasons given here, we still decided to take Freya to our friends at Cat Vacation where she spends holiday periods. This is because we might have to dash down to Margate at short notice and even spend some time there.

Returning Londonwards, I met Tigger at Liverpool Station where she had already bought train tickets for today’s expedition. It took two trains to get there but we eventually reached our destination: Burnham-on-Crouch. About the first thing we did was to have lunch in the Cabin Dairy Tea Rooms. (You may have noticed our proclivity for visiting tea rooms.) This one seems a favourite with bikers, for some reason.

We didn’t stay in Burnham very long because the plan was to buy day rover tickets on the buses and travel around. I did, however, photograph this rather nice clock tower while waiting for the bus.

I should perhaps explain that Burnham and the other towns we wanted to visit are in that part of Essex known as the Dengie Peninsula. It is a pretty region with small quaint towns set among green farmland but always within reach of water, bother the rivers and the sea.

Tigger worked out that for the next part of our journey, we needed to change buses at Cold Norton. I asked our rather taciturn bus driver to put us off there and got a brief nod in answer. This is where he dropped us: in front of the Norton pub on the outskirts of the village. I am not sure whether Cold Norton has what you might call a centre but if it does, we never encountered it.

Realizing we had an hour to wait for our connection, we decided to walk the two miles to Purley where we could pick up a bus at the Post Office. After a long hot walk along a country road we reached Purley, as shown by the photo. There is a Post Office, too, but it was closed.

The bus at last came and we continued our journey, reaching Maldon. I like Maldon: it is a very pleasant little town with a lot of attractive features. This is a local swashbuckling hero - the Earl of Brithnoth - stuck on the side of the church. He led his Saxons in a battle to repulse the Vikings and lost. A typical English hero. Here are some more views of Maldon, not necessarily touristy ones but things that caught my eye.

We again took a bus, this time to Southminster. We had been here before but didn’t tarry on this trip as our purpose was to catch the train to Shenfield where we picked up a connection for Liverpool Street. All that remained was to catch the familiar bus home to Islington.

We are now officially on holiday until May 5th, but there is a possibility that Tigger will undertake a courier run this Monday. (There’s dedication for you! Nothing to do with the fact we enjoy gadding about all over England, of course!) If it happens, I will report it here.

The sheriffs and knitters of Nottingham

This post was written “live” on Friday April 25th but posted today.

I am writing this on the train. We are in Nottingham today on another courier run. Tigger had to take the 6:30 train and I reluctantly booked a cheaper ticket at 9:30.

I took the photo of this couple in St Pancras Station. The one wearing feathers is a female Harris hawk. They are there for pigeon control. I asked how many they catch and was relieved when the answer was “Oh, none.” The presence of the hawk is sufficient deterrent.

The train has left on time and there are no reports of problems. Tigger has already let me know that she has delivered her package safely and notified base. Might this turn out to be a trouble-free day? Time will tell.

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The journey was uneventful without any hold-ups. Tigger was waiting for me at the station we set off to explore without more ado.The photos below show some of the sights noticed on the way.

When we arrived at the Council House (which I think corresponds to the town hall in other cities) we found that a free exhibition was being held, so in we went to see it. The edifice was built in 1929 and it is rather splendid. They are justly proud that none of the cost has been met from taxes. Instead, the building includes an elegant shopping arcade, income from which enabled a mortgage to be taken out and repaid over 60 years.

The interior decor is splendid. An intriguing feature is the many tassels hanging from lamps and other features. We were invited to guess what they were made of. I suggested silk but I was wrong: each tassel is a solid casting of brass.

The exhibition featured historical views of the roles of Lord Mayor and Sheriff. There were also copies and facsimiles of charters given by the various monarchs from the 1100s to Queen Victoria.

We got talking to an alderman, splendid in green jacket and red sash. Hearing how enthusiastic we were about the decor and appointments, he proposed taking us on a tour of some of the less public parts of the House and a very competent and amenable guide he was.

With another couple. we visited the apartments of the Lord Mayor and the Sheriff. The Sheriff of Nottingham is of course well known as the villain of the stories of Robin Hood. What is less well known is that at that time there were in fact not one but two Sheriffs, one for the English part of the city and the other for the Normans. It would have been the latter who was the enemy of Master Hood.

These days, both roles have been combined in a single person and the two ceremonial maces have also been welded together to form a single object.

We also visited the Council Chamber where Tigger was permitted to sit on the Lord Mayor’s throne. While visiting the Mayor’s suite, Tigger was also allowed to put on one of the mayoral gowns. It suited her, I think.

In the past, the Lord Mayor and the Sheriff lived in their apartments in the House and this explains why these are so comfortable and well appointed. This practice ended in the 1960s, I believe, and is unlikely ever to be revived.

The kindness and affability of the alderman was reflected in other people we met and contributed to the good impression of Nottingham we bring back with us.

There are many places worth seeing in the city but our time was limited and we will have to return to see more. After a rather disappointing lunch at a Turkish restaurant, we took a bus (number 10) to Ruddington to visit the Ruddington Framework Knitters’ Museum.

Until today, I had no idea what Framework Knitting was. It has almost disappeared, replaced by modern industrial garment making and, as far as I know, there remains only one company today using the methods and producing specialty goods.

Framework Knitting was the production of garments and fabrics using machines. It was a cottage industry and entire families worked at it. They were poorly paid and had to rent the machines and maintain them and make replacement needles at their own expense. Machine operators would work for 16 hours a day and children would be involved in supporting tasks but even so, these families lived in poverty.

The special feature of the Ruddington site is that it consisted of a group of 4 cottages, occupied by families who shared facilities. It is therefore well preserved and at least one frame machine has been restored and can still be operated, though for demonstrations only.

The visit was entertaining and educational and the staff were at pains to explain everything to us and to encourage us to explore the workshops and cottages.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a cup of tea in the tiny cafe and enjoyed a long conversation with the lady who guided our tour of the site. This was another example of the friendliness that we met throughout the day.

Back in town, we climbed the hill to the castle. As it was closed, we had to make do with seeing it from the outside. Then we walked down to Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. According to the management, this pub is “the oldest inn in England” and takes its name from the no doubt apocryphal story that Richard the Lion Heart’s crusaders (having gathered at the castle up the hill) called at the pub before setting out.

Returning to the station, we just missed a London train and consoled ourselves with tea and coffee while awaiting the 19:07 for St Pancras.

Although we only explored a few places, we explored them well and it feels like a substantial day out. All being well, Tigger will be sent to Nottingham again soon or we will manage to go there under our own steam.

I am writing this on the train, looking forward to getting back to London and rounding off a good day with a pleasant supper.

Steal away to Sheffield

Eureka Discovery Centre, Halifax

As recounted in my previous post, I arrived at St Pancras Station in plenty of time, had coffee and a biscotti in the admirable Camden Food Co cafe there and went aboard my train. This left on the dot at 9:25, as scheduled. I settled down to enjoy the journey. I was confident it would go as planned. There had been problems with the last trip but lightning doesn’t strike twice in succession, does it? A few minutes later, I received a call from Tigger to say that she was stuck outside Derby. Her train eventually trundled into the station but passengers were told that owing to a “suspected cable theft”, trains could not continue further north. This diagnosis was later changed to “signal problems between Derby and Chesterfield” (well, if someone nicked their cable, I suppose that would make the signals wonky…). Either way, the situation was serious as the proposal had to be delivered by noon. I was puzzled by the fact that no announcement of problems was made on my train: the manager went on cheerily telling us that “This train is for Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield, where this service terminates”. One of the “Onboard Team”, as they call them, spent most of the trip in my carriage but just as I made up my mind to challenge her on the issue, she disappeared. The journey continued without incident until we reached Derby. In the meantime, I heard from Tigger that she and two others had shared a cab from Derby to Sheffield. The train company had laid on rail replacement buses but these would take some time to arrive and it was urgent for her to get to Sheffield. On arrival, Tigger offered to pay but was told by the driver that the trip was free, courtesy of East Midlands Trains. EMT had not announced this to passengers - obviously it was cheaper to send most of them by bus - but those who had had the nous to ask had enjoyed a free cab ride! Something to bear in mind next time your train falters, eh? At Derby, passengers got into the train and all seemed normal but I did notice quite a lot of station staff with walkie-talkies consulting in groups. Uh-oh, methought. At last came the announcement: we would be delayed while we waited for a replacement driver. Eh? Why do we need a replacement? To cut a long story short, pieced together from a series of announcements, each giving the merest snippet of information, the signal problems, however caused, had delayed the arrival of the train from Sheffield, whose driver was supposed to take us there. So a replacement driver had to be brought in from wherever they keep their replacement drivers. When will public companies realize that the best way to gain the public’s sympathy and patience is to tell them the full story right away at the outset? I eventually reached Sheffield only 29 minutes late, though it felt a lot more because of the uncertainty and worry. There I was reunited with my beloved Tigger, who had delivered the proposal in good time and was now free to enjoy Sheffield and environs. I might just add here that the formidable reputation Tigger is acquiring for getting the job done is making her very popular indeed and we already have three more courier runs in the offing, two immediately and one next month. We also learnt today how much money a successful proposal is worth to the firm. The figure made me gulp. It shows how important it can be for Tigger to deliver the document on time. So what did we do with ourselves for the rest of the day? You are no doubt agog to know. (Wake up, at the back there!) We bought South Pennines Day Ranger train tickets, which give unlimited travel within a certain area. I think these tickets are quite new as some ticket inspectors didn’t seem to know quite what they were. That may be why no one challenged us when we accidentally travelled outside the permitted area a couple of times… We visited the following towns, though we did not explore them all: Manchester, Huddersfield, Bradford, Halifax and Todmorden. Todmorden? Oh, yes: Todmorden. If any Todmordenites are reading this, please forgive the dig. I doubt whether many people “dahn sarf” will have heard of it but I found it a charming town, with a character all its own, with beautiful buildings showing traces of its history, all set in the stunning Yorkshire countryside. We shall definitely return there again. Below is a selection of the pictures I took as we travelled around. Yorkshire is a delightful and beautiful part of the world and its towns, set in the green and varied landscape, have their individual characters which make them worth visiting.

View from Todmorden station	Todmorden cat	Todmorden town hall

Art by the canal	Antique shop front	Huddersfield from the station

Piece Hall gate, Halifax	Old and new arcades, Halifax

A jaunt to Sheffield

It is 6:45 am and Tigger has just left for St Pancras station, where I will follow in a couple of hours. The famous document did not reach us until 1 am but once we had it in our possession, the count-down could begin.

The day is overcast but bright and I hope the rain holds off. St Pancras is only about 15 minutes away but I will leave in plenty of time. While waiting, I can explore the new St Pancras station which is really quite impressive.

(See next post for the continuation.)

Yorkshire, ho!

We heard today that the tender we delivered with difficulty to its recipient in Birmingham on Thursday was successful. Tigger’s company won the bid.

This is obviously good for the company but it is good for Tigger too. At the very least it means that her efforts were worthwhile but at the same time it enhances her reputation as someone who gets the job done efficiently and reliably. In fact, she is coming to be regarded as a sort of company mascot whose participation in ventures brings good luck!

All this in turn means we can look forward to be given more courier runs. In fact, we only have to look forward as far as tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow we are off again! This time, our target is in the city of steel, Sheffield.

As the deadline is early tomorrow, Tigger has to take the 7:25 from St Pancras. At that time in the morning, tickets are available only at the full price. This is too strong for my little purse, so I will be travelling up a couple of hours later, when my ticket will cost a fraction of the full fare. We will meet up at the station or some other suitable venue. By this time, Tigger will have delivered her package and the day will be ours to spend as we see fit.

I often wonder how many miles we clock up doing these courier runs. It must be quite a few. Thanks to the wonders of modern travel, we can make a return trip to any major city in a day - trackside equipment failures and other obstacles permitting, of course. Then again, the unknown is part of the fun: the unexpected can always conspire to jog us out of any feelings of complacency.

So what does tomorrow hold? Tigger has an idea or two of trips we can take, so perhaps we can explore beyond the city itself this time.

As I write, the authors of the latest tender are still working on it. A courier has been booked to bring it to us after 10:30 tonight. Let’s hope he doesn’t get lost like the last one!