Today,  I read a truly wonderful piece of straight-from-the-heart prose, penned by a Social Media friend, Bruce Biddulph.

In this piece, Bruce managed to articulate every bit of thought, feeling and gut instinct that has reverberated in my heart and head through most of my adult life.

As a survivor of the Thatcher Years, the betrayal of Blairism and the storm of awakening that preceded and followed Scotland’s Independence Referendum, the barely describable insanity of Brexit and the Maelstrom of trigger happy “Free Market” Fascism that ravages our world today, these words chime powerfully with me as a statement of intent and a rallying call.

Please read Bruce’s words and ponder the sentiments therein.

In my opinion, these words would be worthy  of the great John MacLean.

I’ll allow Bruce’s words to speak for themselves now for although my perspective is Scottish, they transcend borders, just as that great man’s did.

“…Let me tell you where I come from. My interest in heritage and history has deep roots in my political and social standpoint. I watched as our centuries of work, the work of hands and great minds, were destroyed by the hands and minds of people who never broke sweat in their lives. They are my enemy.

I watched as a society of engineers and do-ers were cast onto a sacrificial fire that was no sacrifice at all to the financiers and the admin crews of pen-pushers. I watched as once cohesive communities and long-term bonds of social and democratic balances were ruthlessly torn to shreds and people with true grit and integrity hit the bottle, threw the towel in, emigrated or plain died of broken hearts.

I watched as our towns were torn up, our way of life made a mockery of in television shows designed by utter freakshow people who rose to the ascendant and corrupted life to the max. I watched a sure and promised land became a wilderness overnight.

That process was not done by the men and women I knew, it was done by men and women I never met. Yet the men and women I knew, went to their graves sadly, as surely as the sad remains of their centuries of work and learning were to be and still are, reposed in the graves they welcomed.

Today I dont see junkies, alkies, wasted youth, detritus, I see humans devoid of opportunity to use their hands and minds in full productive and pride-inducing activities. I see people told they are lost, they are nothings, they are nobodies and its all their fault.

They are told that riches alone define your worth, and those riches must be a number of zeros, that how you get those zeros matters nothing so long as you attain them. That is the lesson they are taught and that if they cannot obtain or have obtained them, then they are nothing but animals requiring penning into slave labour or as useful idiots, if they can perform neither task to the satisfaction of the zero-makers then they may as well go the way of the real makers of the past and be done with it.

The zero makers, I despise with every fibre of my being. They alone are responsible for all the fashions of our times, the shuffling of labour pools, the very pollution and cheapening of life values to the point they would watch even the ground they hope all non-zero people would fall into, burn.

They are my enemy, and their footsoldiers my weary adversaries. I will always be a friend to the dispossessed, the disinherited, the real people who you can look in the eye and tell would take a welcome break from hopelessness and would rebuild even though they are nothing and with barely a hope left and who everyone else turns from in their safe disgust. The real people, who if you were in a forest all alone, and without bread, would rush over the hill to seek sustenance if you were too weak to move.

The zeros people would have you perish.

That’s where my moral line is drawn from. And my philosophies, hopes and fears, my dreams, my obsessions, my spraying of alternatives, flows from.

And yes, I cant survive this world of zeros. But to no grave will I go without a fight against the world financier and corruption of life… “

And now you know where Bruce stands, you also know where I stand.

“Having been some time in preparation, a splendid model is guaranteed for all. “

Sorry, John! 😉

Mine is still to arrive but this excellent review from the Dean Park gang tells you what you need to know about this fine model.

Waiting enthusiastically for postlady now!

At last, with the last fence panel installed and the raised bed at the rear of the garden built and filled, the final pieces of the puzzle have been put in place and the big project is complete.

My garden has been transformed over the last three months and it’s the sort of place I just want to spend my time in as much as possible. Even tonight, I spent a couple of hours redding our the soil to get rid of the stones and debris left over from the backfill and the contents of the composter which I just dumped in with another big bag of compost and another of topsoil.

I’ll spend the winter improving the soil in the bed and hopefully get some good stuff growing in it next year.

After I finished tonight’s task, I just sat out for ages with a tea, enjoying the place. I feel like I’m on holiday whenever I sit out there now!

So. What now?

Well, there’s the impending rebuild of Shed One at the side which I’ll shortly commence the groundwork for.

And also, as summer starts to fade, attention starts to turn to the inside of the house; as usual, my hand has been slightly forced by the failure of my old washing machine last week which caused a minor flood in the kitchen!

Previously, the floor had been tiled but these had their limitations as a result of being laid on a wooden floor. I’ve decided to use a different floor covering once the floor is fully dry and the old grout/ cement removed.

I’m slowly working round the whole house, improving and upgrading, room by room but I had intended leaving the kitchen until last. This incident has allowed it to jump the queue!

In spite of this, there have been stirrings of my modelling interests again, particularly after a visit to Railex NE at Blyth two weeks ago.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show which had a very strong local flavour and featured a whole host of excellent layouts including a superb recreation of South Pelaw Junction. Having had a long standing interest in operations based around the Tyne Dock-Consett ore operations, this layout fair grabbed my attention as these photos will prove.

Having also just gone back to DCC control again with the acquisition of an NCE Powercab controller, it looks like modelling is going to head off in a new direction this autumn too!

I think that’s probably worth a post of its own though. Until then; that’s yer lot! 😉

Last post, I told you about losing Abi which as you can imagine was a very sore thing to bear.

I’m one of those people who deal with situations of that nature by harnessing the energies generated in as creative a way as possible; so it was that with spring already into its stride I set about the long overdue process of making my small and neglected garden into a nice place to be.

Two months down the line it’s still very much a work in progress but I’m very pleased with the story so far. It’s been a lot of hard work but now having much more time for such things under my current work arrangements I’m really enjoying the process of making the small space available into a space where I just want to spend every daylight hour when I’m not behind the wheel!

What I do need to stress though is that some aspects of the job would have been pretty much impossible without the help of the two best mates I’ve ever had the honour of knowing. You know who you are guys so thanks!👍🏻

The scope of the project was initially fairly modest – to create a little slabbed area in front of the conservatory (henceforth referred to as The Dog House!) and refresh the stone which was tired after 14 years of indifferent care.

The first part of this I achieved, learning a few new building skills along the way.

This was intended to be the main piece of the project.

Storm Hector had other ideas…

While I sat in the Doghouse with my tea that windy morning, the place was rattled by a powerful gust that was in truth more like a blast, followed by a sharp crack as  I gazed on the disappointing sight of my fence unexpectedly keeling over onto the adjoining pavement!

What started as a modest garden project to keep me occupied had suddenly expanded into what was, in my terms, a fairly hefty bit of civil engineering!

A check with the insurance company confirmed, as with every other occasion I’ve called on their services after a storm that I was on my own (again-makes mental note to read small print in future before wasting good money on worthless policies).

After an hour’s cursing and grumbling, I flipped into crisis management mode and got into clearing up the mess whilst formulating my next moves.

I quickly decided to treat this as an opportunity rather than a disaster; long term, I had fancied replacing the now 20 year old fence with concrete post/wooden slat fencing but was going to do so when funds permitted.

This situation forced my hand a bit and once I accepted I was going to have to use the plastic for long-term gain, I got the ball rolling, called in some help from ‘The A Team’ (cheers again guys) and got the material ordered!

After a lot of hard graft on a couple of very hot days we got the posts planted and panels fitted.

Some of the posts had bunker-like foundations and what a job was had getting them out – some superhuman effort from the guy with the Kango won the day though!

Now all the panels are in bar one which requires a bit more work due to its situation but nevertheless the garden is now secure and the new fence looks brilliant!

As always, these projects can take on a life of their own and such is the case with this one as various ideas for improving what was inside the fence hatched, often with the benefit of a couple of extra heads throwing their ideas in!

The result is a levelled and expanded stone area which will eventually include a couple of new raised beds which will allow for a wee bit of extra food to be grown; probably useful when the Brex-shit hits the fan!

There’s still a lot of work to be done but even now it’s a joy just to sit out in such a nice spot as at this time of year and particularly in this summer of legend it’s a wee suntrap – perfect for stockpiling Vitamin D.

Once that last rear panel is in, a raised bed is going in along the back which will truly lift this aspect.

The gate will be replaced by a new one at the side in due course, but the old crumbling shed at the side (not the one you see here) is being replaced first!

I’ve learned a lot of new skills as a result of this project such as slabbing and concrete mixing/ screeding and I’m sure they’ll come in handy in the next phase where the new, bespoke shed takes shape. I’m lucky to have knowledgable mates to learn from.

AND FINALLY…

Some of you may have noticed a wee feature; I have a line of solar bulbs above the seating area.

The line is supported by this…

… a genuine ex-Waverley Route telegraph wire insulator, found lying in the dirt next to the line where it passed behind the old engine shed at Kingmoor.

When found, it still had the mounting spigot attached but bent and unable to be removed without destroying the insulator itself.

Nevertheless, having had some suggestions from my mate, I devised a mount that would allow me to re-purpose this find.

It comprised of a length of plastic conduit, boiled and bent at a 30 degree angle, bracketed to the shed front.

All those years playing about with and butchering Airfix kits in my youth paid off there!

Anyway, that’s enough for the moment, work to be done but only after I sit out here in the sun for a bit longer! 😊

Cheers!

Many of you who know me personally will know that I lost my best friend, Abi on May 20th this year following a short illness at the grand age of 14 years and almost six months. Anyone who has ever had the honour and privilege of a dog in their life will know just how this feels and there have been tears enough in recent weeks. Eventually, acceptance comes and life must ultimately continue.

I felt however that her long and overwhelmingly happy life deserved some commemoration and I thought this would best take the form of a post featuring some of her best photographs, accompanied by some little anecdotes where appropriate.

Abi was surely one of the most photographed dogs in the world if the number of images I appear to have is anything to go by, there was rarely an adventure we shared over those years that didn’t have a couple of snapshots!

It wasn’t all adventure of course and she was certainly a fan of her bed!

She loved a good bone in her younger days too!

Although most people recognised Abi as a Staffie (from her paternal side), her mother was a Lurcher and she had definite Greyhound/Whippet physical characteristics which I think you can readily see here. She certainly had a bit of the chaser about her when she saw a small animal, although she was very fond of cats, being in the company of two for a while.

Abi loved our trips up to Whitrope and our walks along the old Waverley line and I’ve lost count of the times we made the trip down through Ninestanerig Cutting down to Riccarton Junction.

The Waverley of course became a big part of Abi’s life and for a while, she became a proper “railway dog”.

Not only was Abi fully trained in Permanent way inspection…

She was also as far as we can gather, the world’s first Lookout Dog, trained to bark upon sensing an approaching train.

(DISCLAIMER – SOME OF THE ABOVE MIGHT NOT BE STRICTLY TRUE…) 😉

Of course, it wasn’t all work and she was known to let her hair down a bit at parties!

Right up to the last year of her life, Abi enjoyed pretty much perfect health although she had an occasional incident, one of which required her getting stitches following a bite from another dog who wasn’t on her Christmas card list. This is her feeling sorry for herself for the humiliation of having to wear the cone of shame!

Not only was Abi a regular at Whitrope, she was no stranger to train travel and has had an A1 and Royal Scot for haulage as well as 37/4s on the Cumbrian Coast. Her favourite though was steam heated Mk1 stock, hauled by a boiler fitted 37 025 at Bo’ness…

She really was the most photogenic of dogs and there are so many more I could share. However, one image, I think really encapsulated the force of nature that this wonderful creature and companion was; I took it on holiday in Glencoe with her in November 2007 as we were walking up the glen behind Ballachullish. It was a nice, bright morning with pockets of low cloud on the mountain flanks. Abi had gone on ahead of me, sniffing and exploring as was her wont all her life when she reached the crest of a ridge and something caught her attention – I got the phone up quickly and just snapped and when I saw the result, I knew it was the definitive photograph of her. If she had an autobiography, it would have to be the cover shot and ever since I have called this image her ‘Monarch of the Glen’ moment…

I hope this wee celebration of her life in pictures has given you a flavour of what she was about if you weren’t lucky enough to know her personally.

Would I do it all again if I could? You bet I would – thanks Abi, it was the highest honour to be your friend and keeper!