Welcome to the history room

[goldstar31]

Hi terry

Thank you for a fascinating account- or TWO!

The next daft question is more tenuous. How to separate used dental amalgam. I have a substantial amount. Of course the odd thing is mercury. The lady in question was a close relative of 'Alice in Wonderland' and therefore the Mad Hatter!
Of course Alice ( Alice Pleasance Liddell)'s father was Den of Oxford and wrote with a colleague the Lexicon. It;s Greek to me but there you are. Actually, I have photos of the family pile which suffered( ouch) from having been undermined.
Apologies but my senses of humour and trivia is somewhat clouded with the breaking news on the vaccine. My days of being a Francophile are over but I was hoping that I'd be 'jabbed' quickly enough to book a cruise.
Meantime my best wishes
Stay safe

N

 

[terryd]

Hi terry

Thank you for a fascinating account- or TWO!

The next daft question is more tenuous. How to separate used dental amalgam. I have a substantial amount. Of course the odd thing is mercury. The lady in question was a close relative of 'Alice in Wonderland' and therefore the Mad Hatter!
Of course Alice ( Alice Pleasance Liddell)'s father was Den of Oxford and wrote with a colleague the Lexicon. It;s Greek to me but there you are. Actually, I have photos of the family pile which suffered( ouch) from having been undermined.
Apologies but my senses of humour and trivia is somewhat clouded with the breaking news on the vaccine. My days of being a Francophile are over but I was hoping that I'd be 'jabbed' quickly enough to book a cruise.
Meantime my best wishes
Stay safe

N

Hi Norman,

When I lived in Luton, a major centre of hatmaking in the past, it was claimed that the term "Mad as a Hatter" came about due to the strange behaviour of workers as a result of the accumulation of mercury in the body as a result of the hat making process (allegedly 70 million hats were produced in Luton in the 1930s.

However it is also claimed that the term was derived from Ango Saxon as a result of the behaviour of a person who was bitten by an adder - Who knows the truth

Live long and prosper

TerryD

 

[goldstar31]

[QUOTE="terryd, post: 350345, member: 3769

However it is also claimed that the term was derived from Ango Saxon as a result of the behaviour of a person who was bitten by an adder - Who knows the truth


[/QUOTE]

Where these the adders which couldn't multiply until they got log tables?
Sorry- old joke from man old bloke. I felt the kneed.
Keep well

Norman

 

[terryd]

Where these the adders which couldn't multiply until they got log tables?
Sorry- old joke from man old bloke. I felt the kneed.
Keep well

Norman

I heard that they got a slide rule and then it was 'Go 4th and Multiply' - and they did!

From another old bloke

 

[goldstar31]

On flights of fancy(?) with our Sliderule we cab Shute off to a Town named Alice(!) and return to model engineering. Neville Shute Norway was a friend of 'Ned' Westbury and built models in Australia up to his death. And that- Graham - took place in a Masonic Retirement Home.

And back to that troubled family and seemingly an even more troubled author, enters an eccentric furniture dealer associated with illustrator called Tenniel and Rev;d Dodgson Theophilus Carter who at the Great Exhibition of 1851 exhibited an --- An Alarm Clock Bed.
I had to laugh

Norman

 

[GrahamJTaylor49]

On flights of fancy(?) with our Sliderule we cab Shute off to a Town named Alice(!) and return to model engineering. Neville Shute Norway was a friend of 'Ned' Westbury and built models in Australia up to his death. And that- Graham - took place in a Masonic Retirement Home.

And back to that troubled family and seemingly an even more troubled author, enters an eccentric furniture dealer associated with illustrator called Tenniel and Rev;d Dodgson Theophilus Carter who at the Great Exhibition of 1851 exhibited an --- An Alarm Clock Bed.
I had to laugh

Norman

Hi Norman, Many years ago, and I mean many years, my mother, bless her soul, sat me down and gave me a stack of books. I suddenly found that I loved reading and over the years have read many hundreds of books. From Dennis Wheatley to John Wyndham. When I was at the tender age of about 10 I picked up Nevil Shute Norway's book entitled "Trustee from the Toolroom". I read it from cover to cover and when finished I informed my mother that one day I would be a toolmaker. I have a first edition of that book signed by the author and it is one of my most cherished possessions. When I left school at the tender age of 16 I started my apprenticeship with Vickers Armstrong as an apprentice toolmaker and 5 years later received my papers as an aircraft toolmaker. That book changed my life and I have always regretted not having met that gentleman and thanked him. Reading that book was a nexus point in my life and I have a lot to be grateful for. Someone once said " if you find something to do that you are absolutely passionate about you will never work a day in your life". I have found that to be very true. I love Engineering with a passion that my wife doesn't understand and many's the time that she has said to me "either sit down or go out to your man cave and get on with the model that your working on". I have a great life playing with big industrial air compressors, motorcycles, model steam engines and firearms. Am now 71 and have no intention of retiring. Love this web site and all the comments and hints from all over the world. Keep up the good work and all please stay safe.

 

[Dubi]

Hi Norman, Many years ago, and I mean many years, my mother, bless her soul, sat me down and gave me a stack of books. I suddenly found that I loved reading and over the years have read many hundreds of books. From Dennis Wheatley to John Wyndham. When I was at the tender age of about 10 I picked up Nevil Shute Norway's book entitled "Trustee from the Toolroom". I read it from cover to cover and when finished I informed my mother that one day I would be a toolmaker. I have a first edition of that book signed by the author and it is one of my most cherished possessions. When I left school at the tender age of 16 I started my apprenticeship with Vickers Armstrong as an apprentice toolmaker and 5 years later received my papers as an aircraft toolmaker. That book changed my life and I have always regretted not having met that gentleman and thanked him. Reading that book was a nexus point in my life and I have a lot to be grateful for. Someone once said " if you find something to do that you are absolutely passionate about you will never work a day in your life". I have found that to be very true. I love Engineering with a passion that my wife doesn't understand and many's the time that she has said to me "either sit down or go out to your man cave and get on with the model that your working on". I have a great life playing with big industrial air compressors, motorcycles, model steam engines and firearms. Am now 71 and have no intention of retiring. Love this web site and all the comments and hints from all over the world. Keep up the good work and all please stay safe.

Good morning Graham,
I was quite intrigued by your post because my Mother also led me into the world of books. The first book I can recall was the Indian Rubber Men by Edgar Wallace and of course the usual books, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Lorna Doone, the Three Musketeers and many, many others but the book to have the greatest influence was The Frogmen by Waldron and Gleeson. Which was compounded by the TV program Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges that introduced me to the underwater world and many of my age. A world that has been my life and still is because going from my younger years as a Underwater Photographer to a designer of Wet Submersibles and still diving and still Turning!

Coming back to the subject of books, Neville Shute is also one of my prime authors. I read a Town Like Alice in the early 1950's while living in Singapore with my parents. In those day's the injustice of the Japanese
Occupation in Singapore was very much alive. My Armah told me how her parents and neighbours had been treated by the Japanese during the occupation. I know that one family member was incarcerated in the Changi Jail, another is buried in the Kranje War Commission grounds and from time to time I visit him when in Sing.

I must confess that I was not aware of the "Trustee from the Toolroom" but it is now on my list.

Have a peaceful Sunday and stay safe. Dubi

 

[goldstar31]

Good morning Graham,
I was quite intrigued by your post because my Mother also led me into the world of books. The first book I can recall was the Indian Rubber Men by Edgar Wallace and of course the usual books, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Lorna Doone, the Three Musketeers and many, many others but the book to have the greatest influence was The Frogmen by Waldron and Gleeson. Which was compounded by the TV program Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges that introduced me to the underwater world and many of my age. A world that has been my life and still is because going from my younger years as a Underwater Photographer to a designer of Wet Submersibles and still diving and still Turning!

Coming back to the subject of books, Neville Shute is also one of my prime authors. I read a Town Like Alice in the early 1950's while living in Singapore with my parents. In those day's the injustice of the Japanese
Occupation in Singapore was very much alive. My Armah told me how her parents and neighbours had been treated by the Japanese during the occupation. I know that one family member was incarcerated in the Changi Jail, another is buried in the Kranje War Commission grounds and from time to time I visit him when in Sing.

I must confess that I was not aware of the "Trustee from the Toolroom" but it is now on my list.

Have a peaceful Sunday and stay safe. Dubi

I'm a member of Royal Air Force 31 Squadron( the Goldstars) Squadron who( Before my time) literally rescued prisoners in the Far vEast after dropping supplies in the Burma Campaign.
Much of it is recorded in Norman Frank's book "First in the Indian Skies"

It's bit off course for my later time but my father in law was with the Squadron at Imphal.

Again on Trustee from the Tool Room is supposed to be modelled on Edgar T Westbury. He is well worth a Google.

As for the Squadron Memorial, it is in the National Arboretum with a seat for us old wearies to sit and reflect. As sole executor and sole beneficiary of I bought the seat in what would have been my late wife;s earnest desire to recall her father and all those who served the Squadron back to before the formation of the Royal Air Force when 'an airman had to sleep with his horse'
I make no further comment on that bit!

Best Wishes

ex Corporal Atkinson N
i/c Technical Library
Royal Air Force

Hendon

The Hyde

London NW9

 

[terryd]

Hi Norman, Many years ago, and I mean many years, my mother, bless her soul, sat me down and gave me a stack of books. I suddenly found that I loved reading and over the years have read many hundreds of books. From Dennis Wheatley to John Wyndham. When I was at the tender age of about 10 I picked up Nevil Shute Norway's book entitled "Trustee from the Toolroom". I read it from cover to cover and when finished I informed my mother that one day I would be a toolmaker. I have a first edition of that book signed by the author and it is one of my most cherished possessions. When I left school at the tender age of 16 I started my apprenticeship with Vickers Armstrong as an apprentice toolmaker and 5 years later received my papers as an aircraft toolmaker. That book changed my life and I have always regretted not having met that gentleman and thanked him. Reading that book was a nexus point in my life and I have a lot to be grateful for. Someone once said " if you find something to do that you are absolutely passionate about you will never work a day in your life". I have found that to be very true. I love Engineering with a passion that my wife doesn't understand and many's the time that she has said to me "either sit down or go out to your man cave and get on with the model that your working on". I have a great life playing with big industrial air compressors, motorcycles, model steam engines and firearms. Am now 71 and have no intention of retiring. Love this web site and all the comments and hints from all over the world. Keep up the good work and all please stay safe.

Hi Graham,

I too have been an avid reader for almost all of my 73 years, I must admit to procrastinating for most of the first four. I was able to read before the age of 5 and as we hadn't many books my mother took me to the local branch library to get a ticket for loans but the librarian said that they don't give them to children until over 5 and they could read, at which point my mom took a book off the (childrens) shelf which apparently I proceeded to read - I got my ticket. I don't remember the details of the transaction but I remember vividly standing in the library as it was in a large veranda style glass building in Coseley park, it must have been horrible in extremes of weather in there. But to get to the point I read most of the classics early including 'A Town like Alice' but didn't get to know 'Trustee From the Toolroom' until about 10 years ago and I loved it.

Mind you most of the time I loved reading non fiction books about just about any subject and it was the choice between Engineering and Entymology but the steam locos that trundled and sped past on the Stour Valley section of the West Coast main line between Tipton and Deepfields in the Black Country that decided for me and I served a full apprenticeship before working in the toolroom for some years.

TerryD

 

[Steamchick]

An Engineer turned clock and model maker, from my local ME club, decided to make a steam plant - fuel tank, burner, fire-tube boiler and slide-valve engine, that would fit into a matchbox. Ran for 5 mins on a shot of lighter butane. He made a dozen or so jets and burners to get the best... Smaller than a cig lighter jet!
K2

 

[Dubi]

I'm a member of Royal Air Force 31 Squadron( the Goldstars) Squadron who( Before my time) literally rescued prisoners in the Far vEast after dropping supplies in the Burma Campaign.
Much of it is recorded in Norman Frank's book "First in the Indian Skies"

It's bit off course for my later time but my father in law was with the Squadron at Imphal.

Again on Trustee from the Tool Room is supposed to be modelled on Edgar T Westbury. He is well worth a Google.

As for the Squadron Memorial, it is in the National Arboretum with a seat for us old wearies to sit and reflect. As sole executor and sole beneficiary of I bought the seat in what would have been my late wife;s earnest desire to recall her father and all those who served the Squadron back to before the formation of the Royal Air Force when 'an airman had to sleep with his horse'
I make no further comment on that bit!

Best Wishes

ex Corporal Atkinson N
i/c Technical Library
Royal Air Force

Hendon

The Hyde

London NW9

I wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas and with a lot of luck a better 2021.

 

[Dubi]

Hi terry

Thank you for a fascinating account- or TWO!

The next daft question is more tenuous. How to separate used dental amalgam. I have a substantial amount. Of course the odd thing is mercury. The lady in question was a close relative of 'Alice in Wonderland' and therefore the Mad Hatter!
Of course Alice ( Alice Pleasance Liddell)'s father was Den of Oxford and wrote with a colleague the Lexicon. It;s Greek to me but there you are. Actually, I have photos of the family pile which suffered( ouch) from having been undermined.
Apologies but my senses of humour and trivia is somewhat clouded with the breaking news on the vaccine. My days of being a Francophile are over but I was hoping that I'd be 'jabbed' quickly enough to book a cruise.
Meantime my best wishes
Stay safe

N

I wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas and hope you find 2021 a much better year.

 

[goldstar31]

I wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas and hope you find 2021 a much better year.

thank you for your Festive Greeting and may I join you and everyone else a safer and threfore happier New Year

Keep Well

Keep Safe

Norman

 

[Steamchick]

Happy new year all. May 2021 bring you the pleasure you desire without heartache.
K2

 

[AlexNillson89]

Wow, this chat is just awesome, I have learned so many new things here, I just can't believe it! Thanks to everyone who dropped something here, it's super interesting!

 

[goldstar31]

Wow, this chat is just awesome, I have learned so many new things here, I just can't believe it! Thanks to everyone who dropped something here, it's super interesting!

Apologies Alex,

I
My old eyesight gives a split image in my right eye and nothing much happens in my left one.

So I got confused with York an New York in framing a reply. Please accept my apologies but may I continue to send sincerest greetings and best wishes.

Norman