Cornish Mining Heritage

Cornish Mining Heritage, a set on Flickr. Click any image to enlarge

A quick dash to Cornwall for the extended weekend found us enjoying a glorious walk along the cliff-tops and valleys in the Botallack area of Penwith. One of the centres of the now defunct Cornish tin mining industry the walk is dotted with shafts, chimneys, count houses and engine rooms at every turn. Indeed there are so many, in various states of repair, the area has been designated a World Heritage Site.
The "Danger of Death" warning should not be taken lightly. To this day, not all the tunnels and shafts have been mapped. It is not unknown for a thinly covered shaft to suddenly "re-appear" with drops of many hundred feet in places.
http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/

Robots. Are they getting cleverer?

 If you comment on this blog, and in numerous other places on the web, you are asked to "prove you are not a robot" by typing into a box the letters that you can read on the screen. These are, as I'm sure you've all seen, written usually in a squiggly type pattern, or in varying sizes and/or fonts although lately I have also seen things like sums and photos of house numbers. The logic of course is that us humans can identify these not so easy to read characters, whereas a computer/robot/spambot won't be able to. Only a month or so ago I remarked how easy they were to read, never having got one wrong. Now, in the last couple of weeks I have had to re-try incorrect entries more often than I have got them right, one actually taking five attempts.  So, are these little "tests" being made harder because robots are getting cleverer, is my eyesight getting worse or, and more likely, does my monitor screen need a damn good clean?

Loughborough and Chatsworth

They even had the flags out for us (Click to enlarge)

 

Mrs Wurzel and myself slipped into history mode last weekend. On Saturday we drove up to Loughborough for my birthday present, a fine dining experience on the Great Central Railway . We arrived early and had time to visit the station in the afternoon to find it was operating as it would have done at the height  of the steam era with all staff in period costume.

We returned in the evening to be greeted  on a red carpet, and shown to our seats in the first class restaurant carriage by a very attentive waiter (steward?).  The first of 6 courses was already waiting for us, and soon the steam train was on it's way through the Leicestershire countryside. In all the journey was around 3 hours or so, with several stops, one of which was on a bridge in the middle of the Swithland Reservoir, which gave the almost magical appearance of dining whilst floating mid-lake.  In what seemed like no time at all we were back from whence we came, but there was no rush for us to leave so plenty of time to finish off the bottle of wine before heading back to our hotel (thoroughly recommended).

On Sunday we headed off after breakfast for Chatsworth House . Very busy thanks to a surge in interest due to the current TV series about it, but still plenty of room to wander around and explore at your own pace. A very impressive house crammed full of paintings and sculptures, and pretty much everything in between art-wise. In my eyes there was simply too much, there were plenty of fascinating individual pieces but the overall impression was almost too much to take in. The gardens on  the other hand were amazing, spacious but with something new (and often unexpected) to see at almost every turn.

Chatsworth House - Click to Enlarge

Just a small part of the gardens - Click to enlarge

All in all a very enjoyable weekend, certainly helped by the glorious weather, and also the discovery of The Peak District as we drove to Chatsworth, an area now on our list of places to explore in the future.

Seen On The M1

Whilst driving on the M1 this weekend (a weekend away, more details later ... possibly)  I spotted signs for The National Forest. and The National Space Centre . Having heard of neither before, I looked them up when I got home.  The National Forest appears to be a new woodland planted across the Midlands, but being about a millennium or so newer than our own, local, New Forest it may be sometime before I feel it's worth a visit. The Space Centre sign conjured up visions of launch pads and shuttle missions but appears to be not quite so impressive once checking out it's details. Like the comparison with the New & National forests maybe give it another millennium and we'll be able to watch own launches there.

A Sad Passing

On Wednesday evening we had to have one of our cats, Hubble,  put to sleep. A blocked bladder caused a very rapid deterioration from fit as a fiddle on Tuesday morning to no hope left (or only one, but that required a lottery win to pay for it ) by Wednesday evening. Much as I find cats very much a far second to dogs in terms of affection it was still an emotional moment when the decision had to be made. I stayed with him throughout the process , and it struck me that at 50 years of age I have seen dead bodies before (animal and human) but this was the first time I had seen anything actually die. A small injection in his leg and he, very peacefully, simply took one last breath and settled his head down comfortably and quite literally passed away. All over in about 30 seconds No fuss, no pain, it was clearly the kindest thing to do. I really can not understand why euthanasia for humans is so taboo, under the right circumstances it has to be a better option than continued suffering.
His twin brother Bubble is no doubt  going to miss him - he appeared to be trying to rouse Hubble  before we had to take him to the vets so, if cats are able to, he probably understands what has happened.
A thank you as well to the vet, she dealt with what can never be an easy situation in a very efficient but compassionate manner.
R.I.P Hubble :(

Hanging Gardens of Bursledon

Didier Drogba's penalty hitting the back of the Bayern net signalled more than just the end of the the football season (with apologies to L1 & 2 play-off participants still to come).  It also signalled the start of the dreaded  "can we make the garden look nice" season .

So yesterday was a combination of walking around a local NGS garden that was open to the public, searching for inspiration, and wandering aimlessly around a local nursery trying to guess what plants in a 3 inch pot are going to look like in a month or two's time. (Dead probably, but let's stay positive).

Ended up with half a dozen different plants which I have forced into our 2 hanging baskets outside the front door. Mrs Wurzel was happy with the effort so that's 1 brownie point to my name.  Apart from last years pumpkin episode any attempts at gardening do not usually end up as intended, so I am not expecting a Hanging Gardens of Babylon Bursledon but if either basket ends up looking anything  like the one below I will be reporting back with pride. Come to think of it I'm sure they've picked the same colours so who knows?

Meanwhile .....

..... back in the World of Wurzel it would appear that absolutely nothing has happened. Well I seem to have neglected this for 5 whole months anyway. Pick one or more of the following for the reason

a) Lack of inspiration

b) Too busy

c) Forgot password

d) Been in a coma

e) Wife has only just paid the ransom to the Somali pirates  .

Now I've rekindled the urge let's see how long I can keep it up for this time. First step, change the background picture from beer to coffee, seems more appropriate these days. 

Next step, write something interesting.  That may have to wait till tomorrow. And the interesting part may be stretching things just a bit too far.

Not That I'm One To Complain ............

............ but in an effort to avoid the crowded car park and queues at the checkout I offered to do the Xmas "big-shop" online

Click to enlarge

               

'kin useless :(

EDIT Now I've got into site and no delivery slots available from Tuesday 20th till the morning of 27th
Double 'kin useless

Time To Dig Out The Thermals

Following a glorious autumnal day (see Sunday's post), today, only two days later,  it appears winter may finally have arrived. For the first time this year I had to scrape ice from my car windscreen this morning. Not quite to the extent in this photo but ice nevertheless.

Time to dig out those hats gloves and thermals

Autumn

Autumn, a photo by Wurzel on Flickr.

Autumn

Saved By A Spanish Super-Hero

Last week I had a very enjoyable week in Spain with the family. Not content with sitting on the beach all week, one day we took a drive up into the mountains of the Sierra de Espuña. Whist there we came across the village of Aledo seemingly clinging to the edge a steep slope just asking to be explored. Our hire car was a Seat Ibiza, not the biggest of cars but certainly no micro-mini, and as we drove around the almost medieval looking village the streets, presumably designed for donkeys not cars, became narrower and narrower. Soon we had literally inches to spare on either side, and just as I was contemplating folding in the wing mirrors we came upon a right angled left-hand bend. The picture below is one I have found online, I can't be certain but I am pretty sure it was this bend, with us approaching from the right and turning towards the camera position.

The picture, if anything, makes the road look a lot wider than it did at the time, and as I tried to negotiate the turn I soon realised I was wedged - any further progress would result in a crumpled right front bumper or left wing (or both). I wasn't worried about causing a traffic jam, the whole village was deserted, presumably on afternoon siesta. Reversing though simply wasn't an option, and I was already thanking my lucky stars I had been talked into the extra insurance at the car hire desk.

Suddenly a dark curly haired Spaniard appeared in front of the car. There were 4 of us in the car, none saw where he came from . He was just there as if by magic! In rapid, incomprehensible to us, Spanish he gave me instructions, signalling with his hands which way to turn the steering wheel, whilst dancing from side to side inspecting the sides of the car every couple of inches. I still don't know the Spanish for stop, but language wasn't a barrier, I sure knew when he was telling me not to go any further.

After half a dozen or so manoeuvres we were round the bend. I stopped so that I could at least wave him a thank you. But he was gone. There was hardly room for the car to have even passed him, yet he had simply vanished. Not one of us saw where he went.

He may have only been wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, no cape or mask, but to us you were our Spanish Super-Hero. If by some chance you ever read this, a big muchas gracias. If you even exist at all that is !

Gone for a while .... back soon

Pumpkin Picked

A quick update to my earlier post my first attempt at growing a pumpkin has been picked, weighing in at a decent 35lb 12oz .

Charity begins at home

In a few weeks time I am off on holiday . My weeks routine of rest and relaxation usually involves getting stuck into a good book or two, whilst in bed, on the balcony or at the beach. To avoid the overpriced book shops at the airport I generally pay a visit to the local charity shop and select 2 or 3 paperbacks . The advantage is twofold. Cheap enough, usually 50p each or 3 for £1, it doesn't matter if I don't enjoy them or ruin them by dropping then in the pool and once read I don't need to bother bringing them home. Also the purchase price, albeit a small one, goes to a good cause.
Today, in a spare 5 minutes I popped in and selected 3 clearly second hand paper backs. I handed them to the lady behind the counter and delved into my pocketful of change as she rung in £1.50. Ah well, clearly the 3 for a £ no longer applied. Then she picked up the second book and rung in another £1.50. Then done the same with the third before asking me for a total if £4.50.
I was so shocked I handed over a fiver and, mouth agape, silently accepted my 50p change .
When I got outside I checked and indeed all 3 had £1.50 pencilled inside the cover. This despite being second hand and donated freely, and one of them still bearing its  original brand new price sticker of £1.99 or 3 for £5.
I have no objection to donating to good causes but this is simply taking the piss. This is the same shop where I once saw a man's shirt in the window priced at £4.99, still in its original Asda wrapper marked £2.99. Indeed charity begins at home, but in future I will stay at home at buy my holiday reading on Amazon.

Heavy Plant Crossing ?

A few months ago I was out with several friends when one announced that we should have a pumpkin growing competition and produced a handful of small brown envelopes each containing  a single seed. (A risky procedure in a crowded pub) I thought I might as well play along and took one.

Not being a gardener - the occasional lawn mowing is about my limit - I went out into the back garden, made a small hole in the ground with a bit of twig, dropped the seed in and covered it over. Except for the occasional watering during a dry spell (you remember, back in April/May when it didn't rain for ... well a couple of days) that was my sole contribution to what followed.

After a couple of weeks a shoot broke through the surface roughly in the area I remembered burying the seed, leaves quickly followed, and day by day it proceeded to get bigger. As the plant spread along the ground, several yellow flowers appeared and eventually what was clearly a fruit (or is it a vegatable? or a gourd?) started to appear. The pumpkin visibily increased in size by the day and the plant carried on growing untill last week it had reached about 12ft in length and had run out of garden as it was now up against the fence and could go no further.

This is where the things took a strange turn (if you'll pardon the pun). As you will see from the video below, unable to extend any further the plant has decided to make a left turn and is now growing at right angles across a concrete path. Meanwhile the pumpkin continues to expand.

I've no idea when it is time to harvest my "crop", I assume it must be around Halloween time. It should make a few pies, some pumpkin soup and a decent Jack-o-Lantern by then, but it does leave me wondering how big the plant might have got if I'd looked after it.

Next year I'll be changing my name to Jack and planting a bean stalk!

...And Relax !

The school holidays are over. 

As a kid they seemed to go on for ever but never for long enough. As an adult I hate them twofold.

Firstly because my shop's business includes selling school uniforms, which builds to a peak of frantic stressed parents panicking because the "back to school" day has caught them unaware. Year after year I take a secret smug satisfaction in having sold out of an item that a parent needs "now" because Little Johny/Jane starts school in five minutes and nobody told them what day they started / what uniform they needed /  where to get it. Despite 99% of other parents in the school knowing all this, of course it's never their fault. And why they think if they repeat the words "What am I going to do now" over and over again I'll be able to magic one out of thin air I've never understood.

But frantic as it all becomes, it's a necessary part of business. My second, but much bigger "hate" is the fact that my wife works as a teaching assistant. Not only can she spend the beautiful summer days lazing around sunbathing in the garden (well not this year obviously) she gets to have 6 weeks of lie ins. Accustomed as I am to having a nice "wake-me-up" cup of tea brought to me in bed (who are you calling spoilt ?) I spend the summer weeks getting myself up and - shock horror - having to make my own cuppa.

Now it's all over for another year - normality is resumed.

What A Difference 37.5 Years Makes

2nd February 1974

Old Division 1

Ipswich 7 Southampton 0

What footballers used to look like

Saints had travelled to Ipswich (if my memory serves me correctly it was a Saturday night time match for reasons I can't remember) and put up not much of a display at all in a 7-0 thrashing which I listened to in my bedroom. Much later that night, possibly into the early hours of the morning, I awoke to the noise of the party that my parents were hosting. I started to wander downstairs in my pyjamas to see what all the noise was about only to find my way blocked by none other than Eric Martin, the Saints goalkeeper who had let in 7 earlier that evening, and a few other players from the same team.

I was incensed (or as incensed as a young half asleep child in his pyjamas can be when unexpectedly coming across one of his heroes in his own home) and started ripping into Eric telling him what a disgrace it was that they were out enjoying themselves after playing so badly and letting the team down blah blah blah.

Eric calmly stopped his conversation with his team mates, drew on his fag, dipped two fingers into what I (probably naively) assumed was lemonade, and with a quick flick of the wrist shot  drink into both my eyes, whilst uttering, in his broad Scottish accent, the immortal words "Fuck off kid"

So I did.:(

Fast forward 37.5 years

16th August 2011

Championship (Old Div 2)

Ipswich 2 Southampton 5  

Modern day version

We've played each other and beaten each other many times since, but last night we finally gave them the long awaited thrashing in revenge. Listening on the radio the final scoreline flattered Ipswich. But more importantly is the total professionalism of the players nowadays. The club has been through a terrible few years, it's actual existence being in doubt only just over 2 years ago. Since then the club has been transformed from top to bottom and the whole ethos is reflecting in the way the team plays. Back in 74 a professional footballer was just a very good footballer (this didn't necessarily apply in Southampton's case) who got paid to play. Now they have so much scientific research into their fitness and diets there is simply no comparison.  I doubt any footballer with any respect for his profession would be caught smoking nowadays, although I'm sure they still partake in the odd after match lemonnade or two (all in the interest of team spirit of course).

In years gone by a Tuesday night Saints away game was a home banker whoever the opposition. Now our 9th consecutive league victory has smashed club records and had me casting an eye on the all time record (6 more needed for that). A 7-0 thrashing by any side simply seems out of the question at the moment.

There was one similarity with 37 odd years ago though. I once again listened to the game in my (considerably bigger) pyjamas. Some things never change.

Carlsberg don't do Saturdays ..................

..............But if they did England cricket would go top of the world, Southampton would go top of the league, Pompey would lose at home after missing a last minute penalty and I would win the lottery.

Clearly Carlsberg can only influence sporting events.

That's It - Times Up

The deadline has been and gone. The annual obsession that Fantasy Football has now started. The cut off time for making changes to my start of season line-up has passed. I am stuck with the team I have (apart from the allowed one a week transfers). Not a ball has been kicked in earnest yet, but my team already bears little resemblance to my original selection. With one game featuring two of my players called off, one player sold, one listed as injured and four listed as doubtful there's already been a lot of head scratching and tinkering going on.

The next 9 months will be full of statistic studying, watching games I have no interest in, regular checking of rival players teams, a tweak here or there and no doubt wholesale changes within the rules of the game. For what reason? None, other than the satisfaction of picking a team capable of beating mates in our private league. 

My biggest complaint about premiership football is the sheer predictability of it all. But if that's really the case how come I can never win the damn game !

The Week That Was - Why?

As every one knows by now parts of England suffered some of it's worst civil unrest in living memory. There's no point going over it again, we've all read about it, we've all seen the pictures, some readers may even have been directly affected. The question that needs answering is who was to blame. Absolutely no doubt in my mind, the people that took part. Plain and simple.

The bigger question, and the one that needs serious action to resolve, is who is to blame for those taking part thinking that it is ok for them to act in such a manner. Unfortunately the answer, in my opinion, is all of us. The majority apprehended so far appear to have been in the late-teen age group so are what could loosely be described as  a generation. Keeping (as best I can) political bias out of the following list, this is a generation that has grown up with (in no particular order):-

• Parents that have been allowed to shirk their responsibilities in teaching their children the difference between right and wrong and the true meaning of respect for themselves and others. Children have grown up thinking that they can act as they like without any responsibility for the consequences (some even seem unaware that actions have consequences)
• Teachers who are unable to force a child to behave and/or knuckle down and learn because they may be accused of infringing the child's "human rights".
• Schools wasting more resources on the disruptive minority than the majority who are there to learn.
• Police who must be sick to death of apprehending criminals (especially juveniles) only to see the courts hand out the softest of punishments (if any at all) sending out the message that breaking the rules doesn't really matter. And afraid to take split second decisions when urgent action is needed for fear of later prosecutions if anything goes wrong.
• A system of benefits and tax credits that have almost enslaved a portion of society to non-employment. Even those that genuinely want to work find that to take a job means that due to loss of benefits they would actually be worse off.
• Unrestricted immigration which means that many that are prepared to work find that jobs have already been filled by others coming here from other countries.
• No sense of true leadership in the country. Agree or disgree with her policies can you think of any PM, or MP even for that matter that has truly given the impression of being a Leader capable of being in charge of the country since Thatcher?. The expenses scandal also lost a lot of respect for the government, many seeing it as "them getting away with it"
• Concentration of academic acheivement at the expense of vocational training. Admittedly everyone has the same opportunity in our education system, but there are some who are simply not capable of (or not interested in) academic acheivement. They may well be capable of laying bricks (just one random example) and earn good money from it but where is the vocational training in schools to help direct them down a more suitable path?
• A growing culture of instant gratification, an "I want it and I want it now" attitude.  Reward without effort. We've all seen reports of how much the likes of (for example) Wayne Rooney or Rio Ferdinand earns How many that aspire to his lifestyle have been shown the dedication time and effort it took them to get to the top of their profession to be able to earn it.
• The banking crisis has caused economic difficulty which can breed resentment. The banks had to be bailed out, the alternative would have been far worse. Yet I have never seen an official version of why, set out in a simple everyday language to help people understand the situation. Lack of understanding fuels resentment
• An environment where "political correctness" often over rules common sense, and the "rights" of criminals seem to take precedence over the rights of victims.

I have long said that allowing a section of our society to grow up with the attitudes of those seen causing the problems this week is a bigger threat to our country than any terrorist group.  Maybe this week was the wake up call the country needs. I said above we are all to blame, what I meant is that, in general, we have all allowed the  above factors to happen with no real protest. Maybe the country as a whole needs to be a bit more pro-active when it is clear that things are going wrong with society, instead of moaning about it amongst ourselves but effectively burying our heads in the sand. Although I am now treading on dangerous ground, some would say that is exactly what has been going on this week.

What are the answers? I don't have them. It's often said that National Service bred respect and responsibility. I can't see that ever being reintroduced, but maybe some form of Citizenship test should be passed before a child is considered an adult?. Punish parents for the actions of their children? Maybe parents need to pass a test before they can actually have children.? It should be ensured that no-one who actively wants to work should be worse off by taking it. No-one should be able to simply avoid work (out of choice) and live off the state without contributing something back. And above and beyond somehow a sense of community, of togetherness, or responsibility and respect to ones neighbourhood needs to be installed. Maybe the Krays and their like had the right idea all along?

It's important to remember that despite the huge media frenzy over the disturbances those taking part are still in the vast majority in our country. I'd like to think that the picture below of one of the many clean up operations by volunteers still represents the true England.  But, if problems continue to be ignored, for how long?

Broom Army photo by @Lawcol888