Bilbraborn

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Posts posted by Bilbraborn

  1. As I mentioned before, I lost my dad two years ago and my mum in 2013. I found my dad on his stairlift. He'd made a pot of tea after coming in from the shops, gone upstairs to put on his pyjamas and never got to drink that tea. His sopping was on the hall table - he'd even remembered to buy his great grand-daughter a birthday card. He left the house to us and here we now live, where we all moved into in 1953 when I was just two years of age. I feel my parents presence in every room. I know they are keeping an eye on us.

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  2. Sadly a way of life probably lost for ever in this country. To a lesser extent it was like that on the railway. As I said on another thread. I loved the old nuts and bolts railway. It was hard work and dangerous but we had to move on. Imagine if everything that burned coal in the 1950s still did.

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  3. Too right. Either cycling locally or getting the train to such as Manchester or even further. And the classes. Jubilees were about the Empire. Scots about the regiments. Not to mention the the western Halls, Castles, Granges and Manors. Then if you liked Walter Scott there were plenty of ex-LNER locos to help you out. What an education.

  4. As a lover of industrial heritage, coal mining was very interesting to me from the primitive bell pits from 2 to 3 centuries ago to the modern pits we ended with. However............

    We have to live with the times. Coal mining is a dirty and dangerous occupation. Who would really want their sons (or even daughters) working down there. I certainly wouldn't. Also...... As children we nearly all had coal fired homes but although it was warm, romantic (!?) and good for roasting chestnuts, it was also a chore. Gas and electric fires will nearly always win hands down. So now we have activists who want to stop all mining and coal burning (and even other underground fuels), but also activists who want the coal mines back. In an increasingly populated world every human being needs warmth and shelter. Somehow I don't think wind farms are ever going to provide this. What about water mills. The River Leen (yes that tiny river) sustained several water mills with old fashioned wheels with some success. The modern turbines would be so much more efficient (and less of a blot on the landscape). There seems to be plenty of water about these days. Maybe there is not enough money to be made. And I think that is where the answer lies. At the end of the day, the powers that be give not a toss about the environment, or the poor buggers who can't afford the high power bills. It's all about the money. KERRRCHINGGGGG!!

    As for coal. Maybe it is out of date. You wouldn't send a modern soldier into battle with a heavy suit of armour, a lance and a head basher would you. Modern life is not always the best but it is unstoppable.

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  5. I did have a bit of a crystal set when I was about 13/14 age but up to so many things, something had to give. My garden is my passion and de-stresser, but I'll always love steam trains, railway and other transport history as well as buying and selling collectables.

  6. From Bagthorpe Jc going north turn left towards Basford north and follow the Friargate line to Stanton Jc. Going south it should not get as far as Bagthorpe Jc but turn right at Bulwell South Jc to Basford North and carry on as above. Simples. I can still see it all in my minds eye.

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