THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Tizer]

While you two survive relatively undamaged into old age one young guy has caused himself injuries by blowing his car up (and him in it) by smoking after spraying an `excessive' amount of air freshener in the cabin. It pays to be more careful... LINK

[Julie in Norfolk]

Almost one for the Darwin awards!

[Marilyn]

Stanley, I saw your earlier post about " Christmas Boxes". In years gone by, we always gave the postman a cold small bottle of Beer to put in his bag and " enjoy later". Similarly with the Bin Men and the Milkman. We even used to buy a bottle of wine or Port for our Doctor!
We don't do it now, as it is so easy to offend people.
These days for exampl my Doctor is West Indian and I have no idea of his beliefs and I would hate to offend him.
We never see the bin man ( singular these days) as everything goes up on the mechanical arm, job done, no human touched my bin.
The post man gets a wave if I see him, but I wouldn't recognise him if he took his helmet off!
No milk man these days...
No Butcher these days...

[Stanley]

Maz, I have a fiver in my pocket for when I next see the streetsweeper.
Tiz, I always said those things are dangerous. What could smell so bad it needed that treatment?
Morning Julie!

[Tizer]

Maz, I know what you mean about having to be careful not to offend people. Stanley's streetsweeper probably appreciates £5 but many people would think you were making a joke about them these days. We find the best thing is to simply show you respect them by saying thanks for all they've done and wishing them a great Xmas...and speaking to them all year round rather than as `a duty'. We make a point when we're out and about of commenting positively on people's work, whether it's council staff or someone just tidying up their garden. They always look pleased, probably because hardly anyone else says anything. Also, you often get into conversation and learn a lot - it's amazing what other folk know!

[Stanley]

I always do all of the above. I talk to the lady who cleans the lavatories in the Pioneer Car Park as well. (I am no stranger to pineapple chunks...)
I only ever got one 'public service' Xmas Box. It fits well in this topic, couldn't happen now.
At the dairy we worked all the holidays. I was on my way back home from Fole Dairy in Staffordshire near Uttoxeter (I see it has been redeveloped now as homes), and called in at the services on the M6 for a pint of tea and a bacon buttie on the way home. In those days they had separate transport café's for drivers at most services and when I ordered the lady said the manager was coming down to see me. He landed five minutes later accompanied by a chef wheeling a trolley with what turned out to be a mini Xmas dinner under a domed dish cover. It would have been churlish to refuse. Every driver (not many of them) got the same treatment. I think Fortes were running it then.
I doubt if this would happen today.....

[Stanley]

One of the things that has struck me over the years is the way the whole system of national administration dies over Xmas. The only organisations that are in high gear are the churches and charities.
The time when this didn't apply was during the war, it was business as usual, forget isolated incidents like football in No Man's Land the reality was business as usual.
Today we are in a different kind of war, an economic one, and it strikes me that a bit of War Mentality could be a good thing. Time marches on and this is no time for resting. Is any work going on? Or is the Civil Service gazing at its own navel and mulling over the PM's comments about reorganisation.
Business as usual is the rule for our emergency services, it should be the same for politicians and the Civil Service.

[Stanley]

There was a time when goods were less plentiful when the modern phenomenon of discounts and sales was unknown. If you wanted a Mackintosh raincoat in Stockport you went to Lekerman's in Underbank and paid the price they were asking! My mother used to take me there for mine and it was always bought too large, "To give him space to grow into". Can you see that happening today?
I can't remember clearly but I suspect the concept of sales started in the big stores in Manchester, easily accessible from Stockport by public transport.Today of course discounting is the rule, not the exception and it makes you wonder about cut-throat competition, what does it do to profits?
One thing is certain, the modern system doesn't promote certainty or security. Gone are the days when family firms could trade profitably for generations whist offering good value and service to their customers. I regret this but don't see any way we can get back to this golden age. This is the main reason our high streets are failing. A successful system?
As is often the case I have to ask the question, is what we have to report progress?

[Cathy]

I was watching a program this week about the John Lewis & Partners department store. It said that they are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with their ‘We will never knowingly be undersold’ policy. Also that their employees/partners used to receive bonuses of about 14%, but their last bonus was only 3%.

[Stanley]

Yes, even such a democratic model as that is under stress. Such a shame....

[Tizer]

I've been reading a book about the history of the river traffic on the Severn, the Severn estuary and its tributaries and canals. There have always been dangers from floods. There is a story about a Mrs Williams who was crossing a bridge upstream on the River Usk in 1797 during a flood and the bridge collapsed, taking her with it. She managed to hold onto part of the wooden bridge and was carried a long way downstream. When she reached Newport some men on the dock heard her yelling and bravely put out in a boat and rescued her before she ended up in the estuary. The story ended by saying that two weeks later she gave birth to a healthy baby. So those men rescued two people!

[Stanley]

That story rings a bell Tiz. I think I may have seen it somewhere in Samuel Smiles Lives of the Engineers....
(Incidentally, if you have never read Smiles on the Engineers, get hold of it and enjoy!)
I heard a piece yesterday on R4 about a school that Today have been following and yesterday they went back and asked the children their opinions on elections, they had also written manifestos for their views. I think they were all under 9 years old and was astounded by the perception and clarity of their ideas which were all good!
This got me to thinking about the way we acquire knowledge. In my day, after education it was reading and the Public Library was the place you started. I have recounted many times how, when I discovered the concept of non-fiction books I decided to read all the books in the library and started on the shelf nearest the librarian's desk. That section happened to be on lighthouses and to this day I have a good working knowledge of the subject.
But, going back to those kids and their manifestos, in many cases they don't have the benefit of public libraries today, so many have closed. Add to that the influence of electronic technology and I have to ask what is it that has helped them to this quite astonishing level of awareness?
I have to conclude it is the school. its leadership and brilliant teachers. This must be bottled and issued to all other schools immediately!

[Stanley]

One of the things that has changed is the requirement to pay for a Dog Licence if you had a dog. It cost 7/6 and if I remember rightly at one time was dearer than a Marriage Licence but that might be a flaw in my memory. It was abolished in 1987 because by that time it was widely ignored and wasn't worth enforcing.



The two shilling stamp required for a licence in 1904. Quite expensive in those days!

[Whyperion]

Reverting to Sales, it was often United Drapers (later to become Debenhams) and its local competors who started this. Various items would indeed go on sale, in apparel it could be items of last seasons ranges , often in sizes that had been less popular, describing items as 'seconds' was another thing, often got my mother-in-law buying them, this could be anything from a pulled thread, missing button, or I think one batch of stockings bought in probably from a manufacturer of where the heel had got mis-made or the wrong thread weave used, similar would be done for bed linens and so on. 'Big Ticket' items like furnishings were always priced high in order to make the sale prices look attractive - and of course the companies were still making profits on the sales. On Electricals the sale items would be again either the previous model or the low-spec one where the sales assistant with time to upsell a better version of accessories or an insurance contract.

[Tizer]

One of the things that has changed is the requirement to pay for a Dog Licence if you had a dog.

And don't forget railway tickets for dogs... (An expensive dog!)

[Tripps]

Makes me wonder when the spelling of licence (noun) changed from license to licence. From the evidence above it was after 1904. Nowadays license is a verb. In the USA they haven't yet changed it.

[Stanley]

I have always worked on the assumption that the 'c' was used for the noun and the 's' when it was used as a verb but I see examples of both usages. I think either would be judged 'correct'.

[Stanley]

The second half of the 19th century was a time of great change. Several things were happening amongst which was the enormous increase in capital circulating in the economy from the profits of the the 'Factory System' and manufacturing generally. There was a high demand for labour and people from rural areas were attracted to industrial centres by the higher wages. The availability of opportunities for child labour encourage the birth rate and urban populations expanded rapidly. Housing and services didn't keep pace and we see the growth of the sums, epidemics due to bad hygiene and a general deterioration in the health of the working classes.
The Crimean War (1853 to 1856) was a turning point because it was realised how many of the eligible recruits were in such bad health they were unfit for service. This wake up call triggered action because it was seen as a threat to the income of the richer classes. We saw the Factory Acts and action on improvement of the slums by installing mains water and sewage systems and later by providing open spaces for 'Rational Leisure'. This triggered a reaction in the most wealthy, remember they had no mains water or sewers, and they branded these policies as 'Municipal Socialism' because of course the worst areas were tackled first, the slums, and not the homes of the wealthy.
Eventually even the richest realised that the consequences of poverty, the diseases, were no respecters of wealth or privilege, they attacked them as well. Attitudes changed and the improvements became universal.
Barlick as usual was late to the party but by 1910 we had mains water, sewage and Letcliffe Park. Today we still ride on the back of those improvements and we would do well to guard them well.



A typical vista on Letcliffe.

[Stanley]

Today's burning question is where did the old cloggers get their supplies of Alder wood for the soles? I am going to have to do some digging!

[Tizer]

It likes to grow in damp places.

[PanBiker]

A typical vista on Letcliffe.

With the beck on the right and Taylor Street at top right, I reckon your picture is Valley Gardens and not Letcliffe.

[Stanley]

Bloody Hell Ian! You're right! I have looked and it's wrongly labelled in my archive. Sorry about that!



Try this instead!

[Stanley]

Today's example of something we have lost from the past is quite surprising.
One of the things that will have grabbed the attention of anyone who listens to BBC radio regularly is the number of times connection with a correspondent or informant is lost mid-stream. It happens with annoying frequency and in my mind more often than used to be the case with old fashioned copper telephone lines and cables. One would expect with the improvements in digital communications we have seen that such connections would be more reliable but that isn't the case.
I don't know if the same is common on other channels because I am a Radio Four listener! I did hear a whisper at one time that the BBC had sacked the contractor who installed their new all singing all dancing technology because of its poor performance but so much money had been spent on it and physical alterations to their old systems that they had no choice but to carry on with what they had, administering it in-house. I don't know if this is the case but it would certainly be a credible explanation.

[Stanley]

When I was at school 80 years ago a great deal of emphasis was placed on neat, legible handwriting. We started on slates, soon graduated to pencil and paper and then on to dip in pens and ink made by mixing powder and water. Each class had an 'ink monitor' who's job it was to make sure that all the ink wells in the desks were well supplied with ink. The exercise books we had were ruled with three lines for every line of writing and the loops on our handwriting had to touch both top and bottom lines. The style was known as 'Copperplate' and there were strict rules about the formation of individual letters.
The consequence of all this was that by the age of 9 when I went into big school I had a very stylised (and not very good!) handwriting and it gradually changed over the years to a more rounded style to the extent that much later I had to change my signature at the bank because it had changed completely.
Today a combination of age and reliance on computer keyboards has essentially destroyed my ability to write in a tidy hand. I'm afraid my teachers from Hope Memorial School would have a very poor view of my writing skills. My favourite fountain pens lie neglected in drawers.
I suspect my story isn't much different from others of my age group. It's to be regretted but at least my present output is perfectly legible!

[PanBiker]

Still the same 60 years ago Stanley at Gisburn Road. I was ink monitor on occasion along with nib monitor who issued a new push on nib for the wooden pens each week. We also had blotting paper monitors who cut up large sheets of blotting paper into around 4" squares. The sheet's were pink, blue, white or green. All our exercise books had a ruler on the back down the edge and had multiplication tables and other useful information on the inside covers. You had to be careful not to "cross your nib" during the week.