2025 - good grief!

It looks like I've had a busy year - 55 posts on 'ere including this one. Views are up as well, except they aren't as a lot of traffic has come from some dubious places with ok sounding names, if you're a blogger as well you've probably seen the same. It's all a bit odd, this blog is hidden from search engines (which means no spam comments), so what's the scam here?

Anyway, I seem to have developed a habit of making a new controller every year, and 2025's was a bit more interesting as I made it 'dual fuel', able to run either off the mains or an onboard 9v battery. Very useful!

One of my prouder moments has been building a little van in 006. I'm less proud of the fact that Drystone Moss still isn't finished. Maybe in 2026 it will be. I have however finished my first 006 loco and built some more stock for it to pull.

I've also taken an interest in live steam, specifically Mamod, which has seen me acquire and steam a few engines (and accessories) including a loco which has been stripped and is slowly being re-assembled. At the moment it's too cold and windy outside for a steam-up.

Sticking with larger scale stuff, I've also been playing around with SM32. This is something that I haven't touched in over 20 years, and it's a scale that I enjoy working in. I have gone a little mad and built no less than 6 harvest waggons, mad because I have nowhere to run anything. But, I enjoy the process of putting them together from cheap materials, and 16mm is a nice change from 006.

There's been some interesting oddities on the bench, a Gaiety N2 which came from a charity shop and needed a full rebuild with new parts made on the lathe, a super rare Saltford Models plateway loco which need a little help but now works, and, a Tri-ang Battlespace plane launcher (great fun!).

Towards the end of the year modelling tends to tail off for a while, I start winding down and tiredness takes over, not helped by doing a manual job. I use the time to recharge and reflect, what I should be doing however is tidying and finishing.

Away from the workbench I've re-started my outdoors blog Getting Out (link in the sidebar, and here) which covers outdoorsy stuff like stone bothering, mountain biking, and my ongoing obsession with drainage.

In the photo above the bike sat on Drystone Edge, the inspiration for my Drystone Moss pizza. I need to finish making some rocks like the ones above for the pizza then I can get it finished. 

Rescue dog Polo joined the household back in February, turning our lives upside down. Quite literary. He was a real handful for the first few weeks, pushing our patience to the limit. He's a young street dog, a Brittany Spaniel from Spain, so coming to the UK and living in a house with two people he didn't know was a massive shock for him. He's grown to be very fond of us, as we are of him, and he's now settled into the house and our routines. Around the home he's absolutely fine most of the time, but he is very nervous outside, walks tend to be short to keep his stress levels down. Time and patience works wonders, as did consulting a vet behaviourist. He really is a lovely little dog, although he does tend to jump on me in the mornings if I try and have a lay in! He's also our third rescue, the others unlike Polo settled in very quickly so we were a little caught out. At the moment he's the only dog in the house, that may change next year.

Every year I like to try something different and learn something new. This year I taught myself to do Sudoku, I can usually finish the easy and medium puzzles in the Metro and on a good day with time aplenty I can also finish the hard. I've also been learning Morris Dancing, with local Borders side Powderkegs. This is something that I've wanted to try for a few years, so earlier this year I cycled over to Whaley Bridge to watch them dance at the canal basin. My plan was to watch, then after their set ask about joining in. However, before I had chance to speak to them I was approached by a couple of dancers who noted my interest and asked if I was interested in joining. This was ideal as I wanted to see what type of people they were before having a go, I'm generally not a club or 'people' person. Anyway, I took a card and mid September saw me going along to their first practice session of the season. The odd thing is, I don't dance. I don't even go in the moshpit at gigs (I'm usually on the edge pushing the mad buggers back in). I didn't even dance at my wedding (although there is a memory of being on my back on the dance floor, heavily drunk). And I'm very shy and introverted and quite un/anti-social. But it seems that a lot of Morris dancers are introverts so I might just fit in (which would be a first, I've never felt like I've fitted into any social group). My first 'dance out' was on Boxing Day, at a pub in Whaley Bridge. I took part in two dances (Upton Skirmish and Ragged Crow), which went well enough for a first go in public. Next year I'll be learning more dances, dancing in public and hopefully getting more polished. I also need to dig out the Singer and make a rag jacket and bellpads, which I may feature on the blog if there's any interest.

I'll sign off with another photo of handsome boy Polo;

See you in the new year,

Paul.

Land of Iron

Land of Iron is a museum in Skinningrove celebrating the areas ironstone mining and steelmaking history, and is listed as something to do on a wet day if you're staying in North Yorkshire. Today was a wet day in North Yorkshire, so we booked our tickets (this was my wife's idea) and off we went. 

Outside the museum there were a few things that grabbed my attention;

Should've packed a tape rule and notepad...

To be honest I would have liked to have seen some info on these exhibits, but then I'm probably not the typical visitor.

Once inside there's an interesting and well laid out room with displays on the industry, the mine, and, perhaps most importantly, the social history of the area. Mine tours are on the hour, and its recommended that you arrive half an hour early so that you can view the displays beforehand.

Once the tour starts you're handed a hard hat and taken into the mine buildings, starting with a talk about the ventilation system and a demonstration of the type of fans used, without proper ventilation mining would be impossible. Then into a tally room, and another talk, and a taped story, about the tally system and the roles of miners, loaders, etc.

After that we were taken down through a haulage tunnel;

We didn't go too far into the workings, the shaft was capped off just behind where I was standing when I took the above photo due to the water level inside the workings, but it did give a general idea of how the shaft would have looked and worked. Outside we could see the rain pouring down...

Our next stop was back inside the mine buildings, with a demonstration of how the rock would have been drilled (by hand!) and blasted using gunpowder and a squib in a section that replicated a section of the underground workings.

The guides were friendly and knowledgeable, as you'd expect, and the tour interesting. I reckon that most readers of this blog would get a lot out of a visit, we certainly did.

Paul.

Minninglow quarry crane

Yesterday we took a trip to Minninglow cairn, and on the way there we passed an old quarry with a rusted out crane next to the High Peak Trail. So, naturally, I took some photos;

The booms, which I assume would have been wooden beams, are unsurprisingly missing. I can imagine the wood being removed and repurposed.

The crane would have been hand propelled by means of the handle on the side.

Showing the hand crank assembly used to move the crane along its rails;

Two rails, deeply embedded in the grass, can be seen on a terrace above;

I didn't measure the gauge, I don't usually carry a tape measure in my pocket. Maybe I should.

From above;

An overview of the quarry;

It's an interesting study in rust, the colour being very dull and even with only subtle variation.

Paul.