Oztalgian

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Posts posted by Oztalgian

  1. Has the sun set on solar power?

    in Technology

    Posted

    Colly0410 #37

    I remember the FV432 very well, used to work on them when I was at COD Chilwell. They had a Rolls Royce K60 multi-fuel engine so almost never failing to proceed.

    It is a day to be noted here in South Australia as we have shut down our last coal fired power station. Watch this space for the power outages next summer when the wind powered generators cannot support the demand and we have to use power supplied via an interconnector from Victoria which ironically generates most of its power from brown coal and they do not have enough spare capacity to supply SA.

    Bet my spherical objects that the only thing that will be guaranteed will be that our power costs will increase.

  2. Nottingham Bombed

    in General Chat about Nottingham

    Posted

    It was just over a month ago that it was the 75th anniversary of the daylight raid on Ransome and Marles at Newark on 7th March 1941, 41 people were killed.

    Does anyone know if any other places in Nottinghamshire were bombed? I remember my granddad telling me that many of the local collieries were linked underground in case the winding gear was hit at one colliery the men could get to the surface through another mine. Were any of the collieries or the Trent valley power stations targeted?

  5. How the years fly

    in Obituaries

    Posted

    DJ360 #22

    Sounds are very evocative of memories and like you I love to hear the sound of the Skylark, or the Blackbird in the dawn chorus, the first cuckoo of spring, the hoot of an owl.

    Industrial sounds also make up part of that memory, the noise of the slag as it lands from the overhead ropeway buckets on to the pit tip, the sound of the "blower" hooter at the local colliery, the sound of a Gardner engined bus struggling up the local hill, the rattle of the Co-op or Northern Dairy's electric milk floats, the chug of a John Hawker barge as it plows down the Trent.

    Each one of these brings back good memories of simpler times

    • Upvote 3

  6. Leicester City Champs

    in Sport In General

    Posted

    Rather Derby, Sheff Wed, or Hull than some southern club. Come on guys the North has to stick together. If I remember correctly two blokes who led Forest to the highest level were originally from the Baseball Ground.

    Is there any truth in the rumour that they have found a new use for sheep in Derbyshire.........................................Wool.

    If Derby do get promoted then we can hope that it puts a rocket up the Reds a**e, management and players for next year.

    • Upvote 2

  7. Windows 10 At Last !

    in Computer Help Forum

    Posted

    After listening to all the doomsayers and doubts about whether Photoshop would work I put off upgrading from Windows 8.1 but after getting so frustrated by endless updates that the stupid machine could not complete and before helicoptering the computer off the balcony I thought I'd try upgrading to Windows 10 as a last resort.

    The update took about an hour and a half and like they said everything was where I left it and so far no issues. I have disabled all the send everything back to Microsoft features and the other annoying stuff I do not use. All my MS Office 2010 files were still there and as I am extensive user of Excel I made a back up just in case.

    Should have done it earlier.

  8. Leicester City Champs

    in Sport In General

    Posted

    Good to see Leicester winning the EPL and not one of the big four. Well deserved.

    As much as it pains me to say it, good luck to Derby County in the play-offs

    It is now time for the Nottinghamshire clubs to lift their game

    Forest - Glad the season is coming to an end as they were plummeting toward the relegation zone

    County - Had the season been any longer, a possible relegation proposition

    Stags - Started with so much hope for a chance in the playoffs but it fizzled out toward the seasons end.

    As a diehard Forest fan who always keeps an eye out on what the other local clubs are doing we can only hope for a better outcome next season

    • Upvote 1

  9. Useless Comparisons

    in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !

    Posted

    Last night I was watching a documentary about the 1980,s and it showed footage of the Mt St Helens eruption. The narrator made the statement that the blast was 5000 times that of the Hiroshima A bomb.

    A totally useless piece of information as I have no frame of reference.

    Another one on reservoirs or storage tanks, "can hold up to 85 Olympic swimming pools worth of ......."

    Just put the volume in litres or gallons then I'll know how much it contains.

    One used commonly here in Oz when referring to lakes or dams is "has xxx times the amount of water in Sydney harbor". How useful is that? if you have never seen Sydney Harbour or if the tide is in or out.

  10. Prefabs..

    in General Chat about Nottingham

    Posted

    Scriv #14

    Thanks for the link, great article. Now I know that the prefab I lived in was a AIROH.

    That geezer from Grand Designs would have a dicky-fit, a complete house produced in 12 minutes, only four hours to erect and a cost of 1610 quid. Plus the cost of land and installation of course.

    Where did we go wrong?

    Growing up in a prefab I never thought that one day they would be "heritage listed"

  11. Prefabs..

    in General Chat about Nottingham

    Posted

    The prefabs that I lived in for the first 20 odd years of my life were single storey, detached or semi detached. They were wooden frames (that came on a truck) erected on a polished concrete slab. The exterior walls were aluminium clad, can't remember if the roof was aluminium or iron. I think the interior walls were hardboard with cover strips over the joins. The walls were wallpapered with "Anaglypta" and then painted. The windows were steel framed and the only form of heating was a coal fire in the living room which heated the water. The bedrooms were always icy in the winter except the one that had the airing cupboard, my brother had that one, bugga.

    In later years the whole of the lower half of the walls were replaced as the cladding had corroded, smokeless fuel fires, central heating was installed and the windows and door frames were replaced with UPVC.

    The last update was to remove all the external cladding and replace with brick walls and tile the roofs.

    For houses that were built for temporary accommodation in the 1950's they are still going strong

  13. Things you don't see anymore

    in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !

    Posted

    Compo #3460

    What a great photo of someone's pride and joy. A lot of work gone into that one by some enthusiast.

    I seem to remember that on some models of Crestas the speedometer showed green up to 30 mph, changing to orange between 30 and 70 mph and then to red above 70. It looked like it was some form of rotating cylinder thingy.

    • Upvote 1

  14. 'Elf and safety

    in General Chat about Nottingham

    Posted

    Nelson: "Order the signal, Hardy"

    Hardy: "Aye aye sir"

    Nelson: "Hold on, that's not what I dictated to flags. What is the meaning of this?'

    Hardy: "Sorry sir!"

    Nelson: (Reading aloud) " 'England expects every person to do his or her duty, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or disability.' What gobbledygook is this?"

    Hardy: "Admiralty policy, I'm afraid, sir. We're an equal opportunity employer now. We had the devils own job of getting 'England' past the censors lest it be considered racist."

    Nelson: "Gadzooks, Hardy. Hand me my pipe and tobacco."

    Hardy: "Sorry sir. All naval vessels have been designated smoke free working environments."

    Nelson: "In that case break out the rum ration. Let us splice the main brace to steel the men before battle."

    Hardy: "The rum ration has been abolished , Admiral. It's part of the governments policy on binge drinking."

    Nelson: "Good heavens, Hardy. I suppose we'd better get on with it .......... full speed ahead."

    Hardy: "I think you'll find that there is a 4 knot limit on this stretch of water to protect the maritime environment."

    Nelson: "Damn it man!. We are on the eve of the greatest sea battle in history. We must advance with all dispatch. Report from the crow's nest please."

    Hardy: " That won't be possible, sir."

    Nelson: "What?"

    Hardy: "Health and Safety have closed the crow's nest, sir. No harness; and they said that the rope ladders don't meet regulations. They won't let anyone up there until a proper scaffold can be erected."

    Nelson: "Then get me the ship's carpenter without delay, Hardy."

    Hardy: "He's busy building a wheelchair access to the foredeck Admiral."

    Nelson: "Wheelchair access? I've never heard anything so absurd."

    Hardy: "Health and Safety again, sir. We have to provide a barrier-free environment for the differently abled."

    Nelson: "Differently abled? I've only got one arm and one eye and I refuse to even hear mention of the word. I didn't rise to the rank of Admiral by playing the disability card."

    Hardy: "Actually, sir, you did. The Royal Navy is under represented in visual impairment and limb deficiency."

    Nelson: " Whatever next? Give me full sail. The salt spray beckons."

    Hardy: "A couple of problems there too, sir. Health and Safety wont let the crew up the rigging without hard hats and safety harnesses and they don't want anyone taking in too much salt, it is not good for their blood pressure."

    Nelson: "I've never heard such poppycock. Break out the cannon and tell the men to prepare to engage the enemy."

    Hardy: "The men are a bit worried about shooting at anyone."

    Nelson. "What? This is mutiny."

    Hardy: "It's not that, sir. It's just that they are afraid of being charged with murder if they actually kill anyone. There's a couple of legal-aid lawyers on board watching everyone like hawks."

    Nelson: "Then how are we to sink the Frenchies and the Spanish?"

    Hardy: "Actually, sir, we're not."

    Nelson: " We're not?"

    Hardy: "No, sir. The French and the Spanish are our European partners now. According to Common Fisheries Policy we should not even be in this stretch of water. We could get hit with a claim for compensation."

    Nelson: "But you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil."

    Hardy: "I wouldn't let the ships diversity co-ordinator hear you saying that sir. You'll be up on a disciplinary report."

    Nelson: "You must consider every man your enemy, who speaks ill of your king."

    Hardy: "Not any more, sir. We must be inclusive in this multicultural age. Now put on your Kevlar vest; it's the rules. It could save your life."

    Nelson: "Life! be damned. Whatever happened to rum, sodomy and the lash."

    Hardy: "As I explained,sir, rum is off the menu and corporal punishment has been banned."

    Nelson: "What about sodomy?"

    Hardy: "I believe that is now legal, sir."

    Nelson: "In that case .............................kiss me Hardy."

    • Upvote 11

  15. What Did Your Dad Do After The War?

    in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !

    Posted

    As ANZAC day draws to a close here in Australia, the day we remember all those who served and especially those who made the supreme sacrifice.

    The playing of The Last Post always makes me remember my mum who served in WWII with the WRAF and lost her brother at Dunkirk who could never listen to that haunting piece of music without shedding a tear. Her father served on the Western Front in WWI.

    My Dad was in the Royal Artillery and saw service with the BEF at Dunkirk, and then in North Africa and Italy. When he returned he worked at Ransome and Marles at Newark before going dahn t' pit until he retired.

    Their medals, Certificates of Service, Pay Books, Identity cards and wartime photos etc. hold pride of place in a display cabinet in our family room.

    Lest We Forget

    • Upvote 4

  16. The coal man

    in General Chat about Nottingham

    Posted

    Before the sacks of coal we had our coal delivered by a Bedford three ton tipper truck. The load tray was divided into three, a ton of coal in each. It was tipped half on the corseh and half on the road and you had to barrow in to the coalus.

    Time progressed and we then got it delivered in bags most often by a Foden flat bed truck with posts and chains to keep the coal bags on. Even then after delivery you had to go out with a shovel, broom and bucket to pick up the coal that they had dropped.

    I was not particularly careful when picking the last of the coal up and often got a lot of stone chips off the road in with the coal which crackled and spat when you put them on the fire.

    • Upvote 1

  17. Mushy Peas?

    in General Chat about Nottingham

    Posted

    Just love Spam Fritters with HP sauce on the side

    You can have an entire meal, main course and sweets a'la fritter here

    Ordering Potato fritters down under will depend on which part of the country you are in, sometimes called potato cakes or scallops.

    Pineapple fritters, a slice of tinned pineapple in batter

    Banana fritters a whole banana in batter

    Dagwood dogs, a Frankfurter in batter.

    Not seen that Scottish staple here yet "fried Mars bars" or the like.

    • Upvote 2

  20. Notts County

    in NOTTS COUNTY

    Posted

    Oh! dear, Oh! dear, belted 5 - 0 by the Stags.

    Apart from the Stags having a mathematical chance of reaching the play offs (probably not realistic) it has not been a good year for Nottinghamshire's three league teams.

    Hope Notts CCC can do us proud and good on the Panthers.