Author Topic: what I have learned today.  (Read 847462 times)

Salvatore

  • Джон Спунър
    • Pics
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2975 on: 01 December, 2018, 07:41:40 pm »
I found out today that one of my great-great-great grandfathers (or someone with the same name, same residence and same profession as one of my GGG GFs) received a "sabre cut on the right shoulder" at Peterloo.


Today I learned that there were 2 weavers called James Entwistle living in Manchester at the time of Peterloo and that the one who suffered the sabre cut was the one who wasn't my great-great-great grandfather.

Probably.
Quote
et avec John, excellent lecteur de road-book, on s'en est sortis sans erreur

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2976 on: 01 December, 2018, 08:08:46 pm »
That two great-uncles were in the first boat to go ashore at Gallipoli.
Rust never sleeps

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2977 on: 02 December, 2018, 08:40:44 am »
That two great-uncles were in the first boat to go ashore at Gallipoli.

Having spent 3 years working in Canakkale, just across the Dardanelles, I regularly used to bike around the war graves, of both sides in the conflict, and the peninsula on a Sunday.  It's still a sombre place, even in summer, and particularly so in winter.  Utter and total madness, a throwback to the stupidity of some of our forebears.  The recent Armistice commemorations were very moving in our small village, but having been around the Gallipoli peninsula, I still have a tear in my eye.  Desperately sad. Did they survive?

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2978 on: 02 December, 2018, 09:38:17 am »
That two great-uncles were in the first boat to go ashore at Gallipoli.

Having spent 3 years working in Canakkale, just across the Dardanelles, I regularly used to bike around the war graves, of both sides in the conflict, and the peninsula on a Sunday.  It's still a sombre place, even in summer, and particularly so in winter.  Utter and total madness, a throwback to the stupidity of some of our forebears.  The recent Armistice commemorations were very moving in our small village, but having been around the Gallipoli peninsula, I still have a tear in my eye.  Desperately sad. Did they survive?
My brother (who's the one who's done all the digging) and I had half a plan to go out for the 100th anniversary, but, events. (Instead I cycled up for the dawn commemoration at Wellington Arch on ANZAC day.) He got hold of a copy of the AIF 9th Battalion's First War history, written in the Thirties, and I'm ploughing my way through that now, and it's in this that the names of those in the first boat are listed.

Both survived the entire Gallipoli campaign and were then transferred to the Western Front. The younger of the two was killed at the Battle of the Somme and the elder at Passchendale (the Battle of the Menin Road). The elder had been injured, returned to the UK, recovered, and then sent back out. I have his metal trunk in my garage.

We visited the area last year and were at Robert's grave on the 100th anniversary of his death.

You have to see the (numerous) graveyards to get a hint of the scale of the loss.
Rust never sleeps

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2979 on: 02 December, 2018, 10:12:01 am »
That two great-uncles were in the first boat to go ashore at Gallipoli.

Having spent 3 years working in Canakkale, just across the Dardanelles, I regularly used to bike around the war graves, of both sides in the conflict, and the peninsula on a Sunday.  It's still a sombre place, even in summer, and particularly so in winter.  Utter and total madness, a throwback to the stupidity of some of our forebears.  The recent Armistice commemorations were very moving in our small village, but having been around the Gallipoli peninsula, I still have a tear in my eye.  Desperately sad. Did they survive?
My brother and I (who's the one who's done all the digging) had half a plan to go out for the 100th anniversary, but, events. (Instead I cycled for up the dawn commemoration at Wellington Arch on ANZAC day.) He got hold of a copy of the AIF 9th Battalion's First War history, written in the Thirties, and I'm ploughing my way through that now, and it's in this that the names of those in the first boat are listed.

Both survived the entire Gallipoli campaign and were then transferred to the Western Front. The younger of the two was killed at the Battle of the Somme and the elder at Passchendale (the Battle of the Menin Road). The elder had been injured, returned to the UK, recovered, and then sent back out. I have his metal trunk in my garage.

We visited the area last year and were at Robert's grave on the 100th anniversary of his death.

You have to see the (numerous) graveyards to get a hint of the scale of the loss.

If you haven't been to the Gallipoli peninsula, you might like to.  It's easy to get from the airport to Canakkale (Pron: Chanackaley) by bus (almost every hour, takes about 6 hours) and since it's a holiday area for the Turks, there are loads of hotels outside the main season.  Eceabat (pron: Edgeeabat) is about 20 mins across the straights on the ferry, and there are smaller hotels there - and they run battlefield tours.  Car hire is easy too - you need at least a day to explore the battlefields.  I'd go in May. April and Anzac day and August it is rammed.  The Turks are very friendly, many speak some English, and I have nothing but affection for them.  They are very well aware of their history, but also very respectful of ours.  The terrain itself is fairly inaccessible - as the Allies found out; scrubby, hilly, dusty and dry in summer, but the main sites are accessible by road or track, as are all the graveyards.  It's all very sombre, somehow, even on the hottest summer days.  Even now, 10 years later, I still shudder when thinking about my many visits there.

There are some good books on the campaign which help to understand what happened, where and when.

Troy, Asos and other major historic sites are all within an hour's drive of Canakkale on that coast.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2980 on: 02 December, 2018, 02:18:49 pm »
Harley Benton machine heads aren't worth shit.  I had one give up the ghost during my last build, and another went this morning while I was fiddling with the guitar set-up prior to sending it off. Too late now to get a different brand.

You get what you pay for.  I bought cheap when I was experimenting and had no trouble, though, so I saw no reason to change. Bugger. :(
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2981 on: 02 December, 2018, 03:29:15 pm »
Oh aye, the other interesting thing I learnt recently is that kakis are of the ebenaceae family, which includes the species used for ebony. The astringency in unripe kakis comes from tanin, whereof ebony contains a great deal. You can ebonize woods that are less rich in tanin by painting them with iron acetate. You can even do it by steeping pale softwoods in tea first, though the effect is pretty poor.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2982 on: 02 December, 2018, 04:31:53 pm »
Yesterday I happened by chance to see a rowing race and noticed that rowers' shoes are attached to the boat on a permanent basis and furthermore they do up in a manner sufficiently odd to make SPDs seem normal.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2983 on: 02 December, 2018, 04:33:04 pm »
Yesterday I happened by chance to see a rowing race and noticed that rowers' shoes are attached to the boat on a permanent basis and furthermore they do up in a manner sufficiently odd to make SPDs seem normal.

IIRC rower40 OTP has SPD pedals on his boat.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2984 on: 02 December, 2018, 04:49:06 pm »
These didn't come out. The rowers removed their landside footwear and wriggled their feet into black things looking a bit like Crocs with a sort of buckle to adjust for size. They were all fixed in the boat permanently, part of the boat not footwear per se.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2985 on: 02 December, 2018, 05:26:40 pm »
These didn't come out. The rowers removed their landside footwear and wriggled their feet into black things looking a bit like Crocs with a sort of buckle to adjust for size. They were all fixed in the boat permanently, part of the boat not footwear per se.

As an ex-rower (and rugby player - which explains why I'm a rubbish cyclist - I haven't been Chris Froome's weight since I was about 16), the shoes are attached to a cross beam (the stretcher) which adjusts fore and aft.  You adjust the position to get the position of the maximum effort of the stroke where you want it - to be consistent with the rest of the crew.  The fore and aft position also affects the point at which the blade enters and leaves the water, and the whole crew need to be doing this at the same time.

When you get into a boat, you put your own shoes under the sliding seat - or they get handed in to go shorewards until you get back to the landing stage.


rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2986 on: 02 December, 2018, 07:42:42 pm »
From Wikipedia:

Quote
In 2006, Muslim groups complained about the release of a blow up doll named Mustafa Shag, claiming that the doll was offensive to Muslims
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

TheLurker

  • Goes well with magnolia.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2987 on: 02 December, 2018, 08:13:25 pm »
Humbrol enamel thinners will remove dried on splashes of EzeDope from spectacle lenses, don't ask, without removing the lens coating.
Τα πιο όμορφα ταξίδια γίνονται με τις δικές μας δυνάμεις - Φίλοι του Ποδήλατου

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2988 on: 03 December, 2018, 07:52:04 am »
Humbrol enamel thinners will remove dried on splashes of EzeDope from spectacle lenses, don't ask, without removing the lens coating.

That was either a leap of faith, or an act of desperation.

hulver

  • I am a mole and I live in a hole.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2989 on: 03 December, 2018, 02:02:57 pm »
That there's a new version of "Jeff Wayne's musical War of the Worlds" with Liam Neeson doing the narration.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2990 on: 03 December, 2018, 02:50:56 pm »
I have the remastered original on CD.  My dad still has the vinyls with the big booklet - wonder if that's worth anything now?
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

hulver

  • I am a mole and I live in a hole.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2991 on: 03 December, 2018, 03:37:32 pm »
I have the remastered original on CD.  My dad still has the vinyls with the big booklet - wonder if that's worth anything now?

Same. I used to love looking at all the artwork when I was a kid.

I don't think it'll be worth much, I think most people owned a copy in the 70s.  ;D

I had a quick check on ebay (there are a lot for sale on there) and it looks like the ones that actually sold go for about £10-20.

TheLurker

  • Goes well with magnolia.
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2992 on: 03 December, 2018, 08:50:06 pm »
Humbrol enamel thinners will remove dried on splashes of EzeDope from spectacle lenses, don't ask, without removing the lens coating.

That was either a leap of faith, or an act of desperation.
Yes. :)
Τα πιο όμορφα ταξίδια γίνονται με τις δικές μας δυνάμεις - Φίλοι του Ποδήλατου

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2993 on: 04 December, 2018, 10:12:36 pm »
That the first escalator in a London tube station was a helical one in Holloway road station that was never used by the public, probably due to safety concerns, and was lost for many years. It was designed by Jesse Reno, the creator of normal escalators and predated a standard escalator in a tube station by 5 years or so - 1906 and 1911 respectively. The remains that were discovered in 1988 (1993 according to a different article) are now at the London Transport Museum Acton Depot, which has 3 open weekends a year.

As far as I can tell, it is the only spiral/helical escalator ever to have been built in the UK. There are recent ones elsewhere, notably Las Vegas.

And the first escalator in the UK was opened 16th November 1898 in Harrods, where staff would wait at the top to revive nervous customers with smelling salts and cognac.
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2994 on: 05 December, 2018, 07:59:24 am »
That the first escalator in a London tube station was a helical one in Holloway road station that was never used by the public, probably due to safety concerns, and was lost for many years. It was designed by Jesse Reno, the creator of normal escalators and predated a standard escalator in a tube station by 5 years or so - 1906 and 1911 respectively. The remains that were discovered in 1988 (1993 according to a different article) are now at the London Transport Museum Acton Depot, which has 3 open weekends a year.

As far as I can tell, it is the only spiral/helical escalator ever to have been built in the UK. There are recent ones elsewhere, notably Las Vegas.

And the first escalator in the UK was opened 16th November 1898 in Harrods, where staff would wait at the top to revive nervous customers with smelling salts and cognac.

... and at the Nordstrom department store in San Francisico there is a series of curved escalators that follow the gentle arc shape of the massive atrium - a weird sensation first time you use it.

Rob

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2995 on: 05 December, 2018, 10:52:19 am »
That someone involved in the building of our Doctors surgery website uses the term "crow mile" as a measure of distance, as in "those who are more than a crow mile from the local pharmacy in a rural area are known as "dispensing patients"..."
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2996 on: 05 December, 2018, 05:41:44 pm »
That the Welsh for "Piece to camera" seems to be "Piece to camera".
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2997 on: 05 December, 2018, 10:07:42 pm »
I am size S (small, in fact the smallest available) in the Joe Browns shirt range.  This is rather odd as I am 5'10", nearer 13st than 12st, and have to buy 42" jackets to fit my General Marvin Bombthebastards shoulders.  I think they cater for the outsize male.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

ian

Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2998 on: 05 December, 2018, 10:40:56 pm »
As a prelude to buying a pair of shoes (a hateful task), I checked my existing collection for a size reminder. I run from 7 to 10. Helpful it is not. It's a conspiracy to save the high street I tell you.

Torslanda

  • Professional Gobshite
  • Just a tart for retro kit . . .
    • John's Bikes
Re: what I have learned today.
« Reply #2999 on: 06 December, 2018, 03:55:15 pm »
Have been perusing some Londoncentric motorcycle vlogs - Royal Jordanian & Baron von Grumble if it matters - and it would seem that any black Ford Galaxy within the M25 belongs to Addison Lee . . .
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.