THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Stanley]

Nonsense Maz. Looking back they served me well and still do. Just because there's snow on the roof it doesn't mean the fire is out!
In the 19th century when long dresses were universal it was ankles that got the attention. In our day it was knees and shortly after with the advent of hot pants it was bottoms. Where will it all end I ask myself!

[PanBiker]

Coming back from our walk the other day through Valley Gardens and up the path to the Croft. We gave way to a young lass, (I would say in her early 20's), who was a lot quicker than us. She had the shortest LBD on that I had ever seen, she was going up the steps in front of me and I can tell you her dress didn't leave very much to the imagination, it was well above stocking tops even though she wasn't wearing any!

Good job I am not easily shocked, had to have a sit down in the yard when I got home, that hill always buggers me up.

And the girls in their summer clothes, in the cool of the evening light....

Springsteen.

[Marilyn]

I’ve been there, worn the dress, had the suntanned glow, had the cheeky smile, the tiny waist and the hormones.
( got hurt,....learnt my lesson...never again)
I am happy to be getting old. Peace at last!
I am blessed with a beautiful son though...

[Stanley]

Ian, I have often noted the phenomenon. In my younger days the standard dress for girls, in fact the uniform for many of the 'better' schools, was the Gym Slip with black stockings and sensible black knickers and in those days that implied suspender belts. It made their legs look thin and 'sparrow legs' always came to mind. In contrast , then as now, all us lads were dressed like young business men, the only concession to the weather was Gold piped blazers with brass buttons in summer.
The lads still all look like office workers and there must be a strict dress code. I wonder how it is applied to the girls.... Is anyone checking?

[Stanley]

I was contrasting our old ex-WD tents with Ian's state of the art equipment in the camping topic and that took me back to the days when St Paul's choir went camping every year on a piece of land owned by the church at Llandulas in N Wales. A local haulier took us down there with all our equipment on the back of a flat bed lorry and picked us up to bring us back. We sang for our supper with an anthem in the local church at Evensong on the Sunday while we were there. Happy care-free days in the the glow of the end of the war. I don't know who started the tradition but it was a lovely treat. (LINK)
I remember we used to go 'fishing' in the stream that ran through the village and I caught a good trout by accident, all we had were bamboo poles. I foul-hooked it in its gills. It was the only fish we ever caught.

[Stanley]

I was swapping war stories with my ex-wagon driver mate Steve yesterday and I noticed that the car parked alongside us had a flat tyre. This was bad news for his neighbour who had joined us (All socially distanced!) as it is his wife's car. This got Steve and I on to the fact that even though we are retired we still continually diagnose motors as they pass us. This was an essential skill in the days when we were driving, both of us before the days of computerised diagnostics. The smallest noise or change in behaviours alerted us and I think that this skill has died today. People don't realise what is happening until the vehicle actually breaks down. Our aim was to get to the trouble before that happened.
I heard a noise one day as a van drove on to the Pioneer car park and as I passed it I told the driver that I might be wrong but I suspected his near side back wheel was loose. A couple of days later I saw him again and as I walked past he shouted "Clever Bugger" and told me that despite thinking privately that I was a nosey old fart he had tried the nuts and sure enough, they were loose. He asked me how iI knew and I had to tell him something about my history. I think he was impressed. Steve knew the sound I was talking about and we had a good laugh.
Knowledge like that and a memory bank full of recorded sound might qualify for Flatley Dryer status.

[Stanley]

Thinking about listening to sounds... Nowhere was this more important than in the engine house if you were looking after a mill engine. This was why a condition of the engine insurance was that there must be a full time 'tenter' in attendance whenever the engine was running. I got to the stage where I was super sensitive to sounds and have told many stories about that. A previous tenter at Bancroft had written 'Silence is Golden' in aluminium paint on the dressed stone at the side of the big window. That's why it was accepted that the tenter always had an armchair in the corner where he sat and listened when he wasn't walking round checking his oils. There were many jokes about the tenter dozing off and yes, this did happen but believe me, if there was an unusual noise you woke up immediately, the listening was embedded in your subconscious.



Daniel did this pic of me one day as the engine was running.

The faculty never leaves you. I once jumped at a sudden sound and the bloke who was with me said "My God, you're nervous aren't you?" I told him, no I was just aware and had to tell him why. Forty years after leaving the engine house, this is still true.



Joan Smith did this pic of me running the Ellenroad Engine in 1989.

[PanBiker]

Subconscious hearing comes naturally to parents of young children as well especially when they are babies. Our Carla would not be breast fed so ended up on formula, she also had a leaning to projectile vomiting which meant she often needed feeding multiple times through the night. Sally and I took turns and we would both would wake up when it was our turn a few seconds before she stirred in her cot at the side of the bed. Pick her up before she vexed too much and do the routine.

[Stanley]

Exactly Ian, it gets to be automatic. Surprising how many people can't believe that it's possible.

[Stanley]

I've always believed that a large part of my relaxed attitude to the troubling aspects of life is working with my hands, it's why I have a shed and make and repair things in there for a couple of hours a day. In this day and age such behaviour as therapy and escape is Flatley Dryer territory as electronic games and TV watching becomes the norm for relaxing.
This morning I became aware of Craftism (LINK) and found that once more I was perhaps in front of the curve. I've never gone as far as this lady but I clearly recognise her thinking. I suspect it might chime with a few of you as well, we all seem to have interests that demand manual participation. Have a read and see what you think.

[Tripps]

Have a read and see what you think.

I've had a quick look. Interesting - and at first glance there seems to be something in common among the participants. For me it would be too boring - that's why I don't like walking - takes too long for the view to change - I need more. I call it Grasshopper Syndrome.

For obvious reasons they would never get any exposure on mainstream media- unless they edited the participants to meet modern norms.

[Stanley]

Like you David I couldn't live with some of the ways to achieve tranquillity but I recognise the principle. I can get the same calming effect from a good book!
On the shed... I watch Youtube videos of other machinists and have picked up many good tips by doing so. However, they all seem to use the latest digital read outs on their machines and I begin to realise that I am classed as 'Old School' because I do all my measuring manually with non-digital methods like steel rulers and dividers. I still read Vernier scales which is definitely 'Old School' country and qualifies as Flatley Dryer. Programming digital aids seems to me to be akin to pure Numerically Controlled machining and takes all the fun out of it!
I have always said that the level of skill is best measured by how few tools the craftsman uses. That was what I admired so much about Newton Pickles. As I get older I realise that I use so few of the tools that are available to me, I use my favourites and that seems to work. I fear that I can be included in Flatley Dryer category!
Newton's father, Jonny, was famous for being a calliper and comparison turner. He noticed one of his turners one day and said "Is that one of them new-fangled micrometers Lad?" (He knew all about them of course but was making a point.) The Lad said "Yes Mr Pickles but don't worry I'll finish off with the callipers". Johnny chuckled and went on his way, point made.

[Stanley]

One of the reasons I like fitting so much is because it is exactly that, making one part of a machine fit another. This means that almost always, the actual measurements vary from those on the drawing. In the case of an individual machine like a steam engine this doesn't matter, only the overall standard of fitting. This all changed with mass production where every part fits every other machine and is why with old machines new parts always had to be made to suit the machine. No such thing as 'off the shelf' spares.
So, in the old days a 'fitter' was a skilled machinist, he had to be to make the parts fit. Today a fitter is just a mechanic who installs or 'fits' a new part on to a standardised machine. Whenever anyone describes me as an engineer I always demur and say I am just an old fashioned fitter, in my book it was an honourable profession!
As I said yesterday, Flatley Dryer territory!

[Stanley]

Can anyone remember where they saw "White pine of the highest quality"?Funny the things that stick in the mind. It was of course on boxes of Swan Vestas, "The smoker's match".
Then there were the little known facts on the boxes of 'England's Glory' matches.
You still see collections of cigarette cards fetching good prices at auctions. I remember my dad giving me his fro his 'Players Navy Cut, cigarettes. And does anyone remember the explanation of the origin of the bearded seaman used it the trade mark for Player's? There was even a reprint of the original logo on the back of the slide in the packet in monochrome.
All Flatley Dryer country now...

[Stanley]

When we think of cleaning house the Ewbank Sweeper and then the Hoover spring to mind. However there were other inventions. Shortly after 1900 it was possible to have a centralised vacuum pump and ducting to the various rooms, all the housewife had to do was plug in the suction tube to the connection in the room. I first came across this in a description of such a system at Newfield Edge, for many years the rented home of Billycock Bracewell. The vacuum pump in the stables was driven by a Stirling heat engine fired with coal.
From 1920 onwards the house also had 24 volt lighting powered by a set of batteries in the cellar of the engine house at Bancroft Mill, the glass tanks and tubes of the batteries were still in place when I ran the engine and Eughtred Nutter in the office told me that when he was a lad working as office boy at the mill one of his weekly tasks was to go round collecting the weekly payment for the service from houses near the mill.
Flatley Dryer country!

[Tizer]

...For me it would be too boring - that's why I don't like walking - takes too long for the view to change - I need more. I call it Grasshopper Syndrome.

That's because you're not taking full advantage of your observational powers. When in the 1990s I ended up with something like `long-covid' after a bad bout of respiratory disease I had to give up most of my travelling and was `local' except for a few trips to Cornwall or the south coast. But I discovered the benefits of what I call living at high resolution. Pay more attention to the details of your surroundings, wherever you are. Think about them, not just as you see them now but how they would have been in the past and might be in the future. Learn to how identify more plants and insects, rocks - lots of different building stones are used, architecture from cottages to skyscrapers, the cloudscapes, and many, many more things. That's why I like walking.

[PanBiker]

You're right Tiz, when I go out walking I find wonder in every step. Whether the ground below, (how firm how soft) on the hills and lanes or the view which changes all the time if you look hard enough. I like to name the farms that come into view and the more distant hills as I gain height. I look at the beasts I pass. Yesterday it was Swaledale and Herdwick sheep, Belted Galloway cows one of which had the cutest calf you could imagine. Down to the farm cats on vigil around the lanes, the smell of the countryside from mowing to muck spreading. It's all there to be enjoyed if you use all your senses.

[Marilyn]

We have such a lot of bird life where we live. I still gasp every time a cloud of brightly coloured parakeets or lorikeets or budgerigars suddenly erupt from a nearby bush when we are out walking. Spectacular. As is the arrival of thousands of Cockatoos each year in November, turning the tall trees white with their bodies.
Or the noise of frogs in the nearby creek. Or seeing a koala asleep in a tree.
I like sitting and watching people too, though haven’t done that for quite sometime.
No, there is nothing boring at all about walking!

[Stanley]

My my David! They have piled in on you! Courage mon brave! The problem is easily solved. Give your walks a purpose, a good idea would be to get a small pocket book of birds, local architecture or even one of those dreadful described walks. The principle is the same, to actively enquire as you walk and yes, to observe and not just look. In other words, cultivate being a nosey bugger! It takes a bit of practice but it works. The world needs more lerts!



Here's an example. Despite it being a lousy, wet windy afternoon I had a purpose on my afternoon walk, this pic of the new setting for the Jubilee Fountain. Taking notice, recording and commenting. Besides, the walks are good for you! So don't go into a fret about it, take a different approach.

[Tizer]

There are lots of street trees in our town and we like identifying them. That's shown us there are many unusual ones and most peole pas them by and don't realise what they are missing. For instance we often see Crataegus prunifolia, prune-leaved hawthorn. It has the rough bark of hawthorn and red berries but the leaves are, as the name implies, more like plum leaves than hawthorn leaves and very glossy; and the berries are bigger that normal hawthorn. We were so impressed with it we planted one in our garden!

[Stanley]

Very true Peter. There used to be a tree outside the police station in Settle that thousands walked past and never realised that it was actually two different species that had grown together and fused into each other. I was told about it and went into the station and asked the desk sergeant, he told me all about it. I have a pic somewhere but can't find it!

[Stanley]

Over the years things change and gradually enter Flatley Dryer country. When I was a lad a prevalent belief existed that it was dangerous to cut nails or hair on any day of the week except Sunday. The reason for this was that witches could use nail parings or hair in potions designed to be part of spells which had magical powers. These were decanted into bottles and if possible incorporated into the walls of a victim's house. Such 'Witch Bottles' are quite frequently found during building operations on old houses. HERE'S a Wiki article on the bottles.
The thing that interests me is that even in the twentieth century the belief had survived. I have always said that we should never underestimate the power of folk memory. I also believe that even in Myths, there is almost always a kernel of truth and we should never dismiss such things out of hand.
One warning, if you do find one don't taste the contents. If you read the article an expert did and said it was port wine. Later analysis showed it was urine!

[Stanley]

One of the biggest Flatley Dryer candidates in our area must be the Colne to Skipton railway line. For years I have watched and applauded the efforts of SELRAP the campaigning group. (LINK)
At one time it was a vital link between Lancashire and the West Riding but just at the point when there was the start of enough demand to revitalise it, Doctor Beeching stepped in with his report on the economic viability of many local lines and it was closed.



Much of the track bed is intact but the important bridge at Foulridge was demolished after I did this pic in 1982.
On the whole I think that it will eventually be reinstated as it makes so much sense for both freight and passengers as traffic on the roads becomes even more of a problem. I hope so, it seems such a no-brainer in strategic terms.

[Big Kev]

There would need to be a bit of re routing through Foulridge, there are new houses in the way for some of it.
There would also need to be a lot of 'building up' of either the track bed, or the road, to replace the level crossing at Earby. Not sure what other 'obstacles' would be in the way. Personally, I feel it's a non starter particularly since the recent 'working from home' culture has proved successful for many businesses, still can't work out why HS2 is being pushed on either. There was argument for the line to be used to transport wood pellets to Drax power station, not sure that would be viable either.

[Stanley]

All valid comment Kev and you could be right. My gut feeling is that it's going to be containerised freight by rail instead of road that is going to grow in the future. The present levels of road freight are choking the roads already. Time will tell.