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The thing they somehow fail to mention about HS2 is that it's not really as simple as being about a stupid vanity project to knock minutes off a journey to/from London, but rather there's a major capacity issue. Whist your building an extra railway line, it might as well be a modern, fast one. Doesn't mean you have to like it though Tim!

My first ever job was with the NCB as a school leaver. When I went for underground training I worked with a pit pony called Star. He was well named, he was a real character and super intelligent. His "load" was two of the tubs as per my photo, if you tried to trick him by adding a third he wouldn't have any of it, he just refused to move. He could also tell if you had an apple in your lunchbox before he could see it.....?

Awfully glad to hear that. ? On reading about the pit ponies I went off for a look for some photos on the web, The b&w is a lovely one but the colour one is really interesting - it's in Wales (seemingly) and it's of a pony called Sultan.

Mark, It's worth looking at a geological map of the valley running from Watford down to West Drayton and beyond, draining the Colne, Fray and Chess. It's gravel with lots of peat and one long run of marsh and bogs. Useful road crossings were rare - at Watford and Uxbridge. In the early 1980's I was part of a development group building houses at Harefield, ground conditions caused lots of problems with foundation design, machinery movements (particularly piling derricks). Sub ground water, running streams - I recall one Irish worker starting a pump to try and pump out a foundation trench.........he could not understand why the level never went down...... Merry Christmas. Mike.

Little wagons on rails like this maybe?

Yes often which is why I use a surveyor with a sensible head Yes fully welded and a 20 mm sacrificial wear bar stiched in place which if needed can be replaced

and don’t forget the one about feeding waterfowl bread causing angel wing

Yes those Rotary Sails may have a resurgence.then Ships would be directly Powered by 'Spin'?

The manufacture of the ferries will have a carbon footprint as will the end of life disposal even if they are powered by renewables. So not completely "green" despite what the marketing says. Ooo wind powered ships that is a good idea Now if they were made out of trees using hand tools they might just be able to be considered as green.

I would have thought that what we really should be saying is "Well done, CRT, for completing a complex job at the time you pronised, rather than looking for criticisms." Maybe, that is too much to ask for on this forum of experts! Howard

It is and it is stunning. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sultan-the-pit-pony

The cow said I could walk across her field for free but said the bull may charge later!! ??

Stop that LadyG!

Is this a caption competition? I love them!

But it will be already built by then . . .

Yes they are, everything has a layer of foam, including the underside of the gunwhales inside.

Depends whether it was "shaft" pit or an "adit/level" pit. Shaft pits obviously had a vertical shaft from the surface down to the coal seams, so the ponies would drag the drams along underground lines to the shaft bottom, where the drams would be pushed into the cages and lifted to the surface. Those are the mines with the tall steel winding gear above them, typically seen in the Rhondda Valleys. Adit/level mines have tunnels that are not vertical but go either into the side of a hill or slope down towards the seams. The slopes can be quite steep. Sometimes the ponies might pull the drams out of the mine but if the level was steep often they had a winch to pull them to the surface. Many of the mines in the Forest of Dean are adit/levels. EDIT. Drams are what we from South Wales called the wagons. Other regional names may apply.

No, they dragged the drams to the cage bottom, from where the drams were hauled to the surface in the lifts.

Had they been reading the Brexit thread?

Perhaps, now they're owned by Lloyds, BWML will let me pay my mooring fee via Direct Debit. A revolutionary concept in 2018, I know...

30 foot springer v bottom has eight foot added

Was that necessary ?

They are not dragging an anchor, they are magnet fishing for trolleys and bikes.

Looks to me like the base plate is fully welded along the bottom, then a round reinforcing bar is welded along, like a sacrificial edge, hence the spaces.

Years ago the ex father in law sailed as chief engineer on a 7 masted ship from Japan to the UK, he did a year on board, at the end it was a roaring success. so good that BP bought it, removed the masts and fitted engines! The big companies dont care about being green, they just want your money dont get sucked in

With out wanting to get in in to a head ache inducing argument about it but the flip side of the is that people often close their minds to the things they don't like and refer to it as spin. Anti-vaxxers are adamant that the need to vaccinate their children is spin Flat earthers are adamant that the one about the earth being round is spin (no pun) We tend to believe the long established companies because they are know factors in our minds, so.... The gas and oil industry would have you believe climate change is spin British Gas would have you believe anti fracking is spin. There is very little the human mind can't convince it's self of when it suits us.

Very true, same goes for so much, If only we could rely on getting information free of commercial propaganda and spin without having to dig for it. We are immersed in a whole world of misinformation from industry, banks, shops, manufacturers and anybody who seeks power and money from us. Meanwhile the truth tends to come from a few scattered badly funded sources and people continue to make poor decisions.

The 1989- 1990 Crabtree ones in Jarrah are still going so I expect you'll be OK for a few years yet. Mind you, modern Chinese made stuff is nothing like switchery used to be. These days even MK is pretty nasty by 90's standards. N

Very spammy. ? There are electric ferries all ready up and running in both Norway and New Zealand both of which are powered by renewables not coal or oil.

When i was 20 i used to live on my boat when i was 30 i used to live on my boats when i was 40 i used to live on my boat but bought a house for security when i was 50 i sometimes lived on my boat, sometimes overseas. when i was 60 i used to live on my boat in the summer when im 70 i ll be a person who used to live on a boat..

The base plate is welded both sides being turned over after the first weld it is fully welded to the old base plate prior to the new sides being added so the bottom is double welded this tightens up the base plate We find it doesn’t sag and there is no need to plug weld the bottom to the old base plate all of the pressure is downward

Actually the AX rating means the switch is rated for reactive loads like fluorescent lighting (although still mains voltage) ive been using an architrave light switch for our gulper for over 8 years and it’s fine so given a pull switch is less than £2 from screwfix I’d keep it simple and use one rather than bugger about with a relay at 2 quid you could buy two and still save money compared to buying and fitting a relay others will disagree, but your choice - KISS principle applies...

No, Winn us no MuG Phil

Had this fellow posing the other night

This is what we love as well , taken at fiskerton on the river witham