MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

Try this one....

[Gloria]

Can't remember what I've used it for, but, it is inserted, given quarter anti clockwise twist and it's unlocked.

[Stanley]

You are on the right track Gloria, what was it that was locked?

[Gloria]

Lockers under horse box?

[chinatyke]

Wasn't it something to do with adjusting/removing door hinges on old cars?

[StoneRoad]

That's a carriage key - used to open / lock "budget locks" on railway carriages.

Budget locks can be used on any number of types of locker doors, eg in boats or tool boxes in workshops ...

[Stanley]

You're all close enough to right. This particular one was used to open the Bonnet locks that held the two wings of the hood shut on the old design of motor. Many closures used in vehicle bodies used the same simple latches.
Next one?

[Tizer]

Can you tell me the location, the name of the building and why it's there?

[Stanley]

Now this is annoying! I have seen this somewhere and it is escaping me. Is it connected with safety at sea for mariners. Was it a refuge for stranded fishermen?

[plaques]

Probably totally wrong but I keep thinking of the Russian V (Sweden + Finland) war in about 1555. This would then be a fort in the Gulf of Finland. Built to keep the Russians away during the winter when everything was frozen over. I rate this guess at no more than 1% chance.

[Tizer]

..Is it connected with safety at sea for mariners. Was it a refuge for stranded fishermen?

Yes, well done Stanley.That's a good start but can anyone tell me where it is and who built it? There's a very interesting background story!

Plaques, you're right - not about Finland etc but that the chance of being correct was about 1%!

[StoneRoad]

Tower of Refuge, Douglas, Isle of Man.

Erected by order of Sir William Hillary in 1832, after several shipwrecks

[Steeplejerk]

Douglas ,Isle of Man ??

[Tizer]

Good try Tom but Stone Road beat you by a minute and also gave the name of the man who built the tower!

Here's a `backgrounder':
The location is Douglas Bay, Isle of Man. The building is the Tower of Refuge and it's situated on Conister Rock, an island in the bay that is submerged at high tide. There's a very interesting back story about Sir William Hillary who was responsible for the Tower being built and who led to the creation of the RNLI.

I've copied the following from here: LINK
Sir William Hillary moved to the Isle of Man in 1808 and began to know the dangerous waters of the Irish Sea which surrounded Douglas Bay. In around 1824 he conceived the concept of a life boat service manned by a trained crew. The idea was new, but soon prompted the creation of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

It was not till Hillary took part in a rescue for a Steam Packet vessel and was washed overboard that he realised the coast was too far to swim to, yet a place was needed for sailors to wait for rescue. Soon after an idea Sir William Hillary had became a reality. Designed by John Welch the Tower of Refuge, as it came to be called, was completed in 1832. Situated upon Conister Rock in Douglas Bay a granite haven in the form of a small castle took its place as a lifesaver for sailors. Built at a cost of £254 of which almost half was paid by Hillary himself and the other by subscription. The tower was kept well stocked with fresh water and bread, ready to offered shelter from the weather and sea.

In 2008 the tower underwent extensive maintance work. The DOT had already installed a new landing platform early in the year and by summer the rest of the tower was scaffolded and being worked out. The exterior part of the tower was re-pointed and lighting installed. The tower is about 12.5 meters heigh and 52 meters around its circumference.
----------------------------------------

Hillary was what we British like to call `a character', in other words something of a rogue who got into all sorts of scrapes and experiences. It's worth reading his entry in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hillary
He was often in debt but what the entry doesn't say is that when he died in 1847 and was buried in St Georges's churchyard, Douglas, he was still pursued by his creditors - they dug up his body and sold it for dissection!

[Stanley]

Not about the tower but the fishing boats.... If you punch this LINK in on Youtube it's a series about a young lad rebuilding a very similar boat, 'Tally Ho', a yacht based on a pilot cutter and very similar to the ones in the pic. If you like big woodworking this is well worth looking at!

[Tizer]

The image came from this book: LINK It has two pictures on each page, each with a caption, and the book works its way around the British coast covering mainly the era from about 1880 to 1910. I enjoyed the details in the images, such as a photo of Portmadoc showing the quay covered with big piles of stacked slates waiting to be shipped out. Also the captions offer interesting facts such as that the main cargo shipped through Runcorn docks was china clay from Cornwall on its way via canal to the Potteries and coal in the opposite direction. (And talking of Portmadoc, I didn't know that it was called that after a man with surname Madock who built the harbour). For anyone interested in boats and the sea the captions are full of obscure (at least to me) terms for types of boat and items of equipment (cuddies, nobbies, luggers, fifes etc).

[Stanley]

I see it's Print on Demand.......



A bit of an obscure one for you, some detective work needed! What can you tell me about this......

[Tizer]

The sign says it's the `Question Mark Bar' and it looks like it's in America and it's having cladding added to the walls.

[Stanley]

You are on the right track Tiz, I'll leave it one more day and then come clean. Clue, it's in Patterson, NJ.

[Tizer]

Ah, in 1913 it was known as the Nag's Head and was where the striking silk mill workers held their meetings. Interesting! LINK

[Stanley]

You are close enough Tiz and that's a very good article. Ethel took me to Paterson in 1980 and I have more pics than you can poke a stick at!. The Question Mark Bar and the striking silk weavers came together when at a meeting there the International Workers of the World was formed. See this LINK for a history of the Wobblies as they came to be called. The tradition in Patterson is that the original concept came out of the bar and the militant textile workers. There is a very good book..... Originally published in 1969, Melvyn Dubofsky's We Shall Be All is the standard book and well worth reading. Remember Paul Robeson's song 'I dreamt I saw Joe Hill last night.....', Joe Hill was a WOBBLIE martyr.....

[Stanley]

Can anyone tell me what this is and where it can be found?

[Stanley]

No takers?

[Gloria]

It's in New York and has been used in many films and tv series.

[chinatyke]

210 10th Avenue, NY

https://www.mapquest.com/us/new-york/em ... -303989927

Isn't Yahoo! good?