THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Tizer]

I've always said that as the last Romans sailed off from The Isles, one of them spat over the side of the boat and said things will never be the same again!

That's a cue for something on the Anglo-Saxons! The archaeologists are slowly accepting the fact that we were wrong in the old assumptions that the Saxons `invaded' us. This is a shortened version of what was in last month's Current Archaeology magazine. (You'll particularly enjoy the last graphic, of the North Sea, and its caption.)

`Time to axe the Anglo-Saxons? Rethinking the ‘migration period’ LINK

[Stanley]

A good article Tiz and one that I agree with. Anyone who has read Cunliffe on the Atlantic economies has no doubt that sea borne trade was important over a thousand years before the Romans arrived. Stone Age flint axes were exported to Europe before then even. This trade wasn't widely recognised when the invasion concepts were being formed. It changed everything.
Love the reversed map and the Ikea analogy. Reminds me of the way Norman Davies shifted the orientation of a map of England and Europe ninety degrees to get across the concept of the Isles as a peninsula of Europe.
Two books for you, Cunliffe 'The Extraordinary voyage of Pytheas the Greek' and Davies 'The Isles'.

[Stanley]

Influenced by thoughts of today's attitude towards gifts for children at Xmas my mind goes back to the war years when there were no new toys to spend money on. There were only two alternatives, buy secondhand from adverts in the papers or DIY. One of the best presents I ever had was in about 1942 when I was six years old. My father got the joiner at General Gas to make me a wooden scooter. It was a well made affair with a couple of rubber shod wheels that I suspect were old industrial castors. I have to say it was brilliant and I used it until I got and actual bike in 1945, a very heavy bog standard Royal Enfield 'roadster' with fat tyres and weighing a ton! However, it had a Sturmey Archer three speed hub gear, a miniature marvel . I remember telling father that there was something wrong with it because it was harder to pedal in high gear than low and he gave me a crash course in gearing! That bike served me well until about 1948 when I had a serious prang on it going to school and broke the frame. That led to a miracle at Xmas when I got a proper bike, a Raleigh Clubman which soon got upgraded to a serious touring bike with dérailleur gears and Italian hubs. I thought I was a lucky lad!

[Tripps]

Campagnolo gears and Mafac centre pull brakes were very 'cool'. Thanks for reminding me.

[Stanley]

Campagnolo made very good hubs as well! We all went for them and did away with stainless steel spokes when re-lacing the wheels. They were too brittle and were always breaking.
We had the option of tubs (Tubular Tyres where the inner tube was sewn up in the tyre and you carried one folded up for a spare.) but all opted for a Michelin racing tyre instead. Blown up to about 80psi they were very good and lasted surprisingly well considering they had hardly any tread. They looked well as they had very cool tan coloured sidewalls and performed as well as tubs but with a lot less fuss. They fitted on the standard 27" rim as well.



I see they still make the same tyre, it has stood the test of time! (seventy years) Ours had less tread than this one.

[Stanley]

At the time when I was interested in cycling all was changing. For years British Cycling was dominated by the Cyclist's Touring Club (CTC) which started in the 19th century, mainly as a pressure group for better signposting. They put their own up. They ran some competitive events, all time trials and had very strict rules which stipulated fixed single gears only, they regarded gears as 'cheating'. A rival organisation rose after the war influenced by Italian and French cycling who had always taken advantage of modern innovations and whose frames and accessories were light years in front of us. This was the British League of Racing Cyclists (BLRC) and they grew fast. We used to laugh at the old blokes pedalling like hell downhill while we sped past with our freewheels (Yes, the CTC even banned them!) and ten speed dérailleur gears (all Italian made at that time, It was a while before Cyclo got in on the act and started to make them here). We used to shout "Up the League" and they didn't like it.
The League soon hosted a series of proper road races a la Tour de France but on a smaller scale and Derbyshire, which was on our doorstep, was a hotbed.
In the end our way proved to be the future, better frames and gearing made cycling far more enjoyable even if you weren't a full blown racer. At about this time I made friends with an old reprobate called Sid who ran Bradbury's cycle shop on Heaton Moor, I helped him in the shop with repairs and he taught me the basics of building wheels and doing repairs. He was also the source of good Italian accessories, I never asked their provenance, I just fitted them to my bog standard Raleigh Clubman which, luckily, had a good frame made with 531 tubing which was the new top grade. I soon had a very respectable machine, not top flight but very good.
Sid also introduced me to being a bookie's runner, taking illegal bets to a council house in Didsbury at high speed on my 'racing bike'! He also kept me going with fags and tales about his time as a 'chauffeur' in Manchester before and during the war. I say 'chauffeur' but my guess is that he was actually a getaway driver!
Happy days and very formative! I was lucky and wish modern kids could have similar experiences.
Apart from anything else, that spell of cycling improved me physically and to this day I attribute my youthful legs and cast iron lungs to all that exercise. Not a varicose vein in sight!

[Stanley]

I used to be fascinated by the Corporation gulley cleaners which came round regularly emptying and thoroughly cleaning the gulley grates. I underline the word because they didn't just dip in and have a quick suck like today's contractors do. They actually bottomed each drain and tested it with a water flush before they moved on.
I get the feeling these days that the contractors have a target number of grates a day. The consequence of this management is that on a wet day we have hundreds of grates not accepting water. I have long advocated walking wet weather grate inspectors who should only go out on wet days and note all blocked drains. Unfortunately this seems to be outside the remit of today's drainage managers. They have quotas to fill and practical management like this would 'lower their efficiency'.

[Stanley]

The local councils used to employ street sweepers extensively before the days of mechanical sweepers. More rural districts employed 'length men' who were each responsible for all aspects of maintenance including drainage and hedge and verge cutting where necessary. We still have a town sweeper in Barlick but he is an exception rather than the rule.
This policy meant that there was employment for many 'unskilled' workers and meant that they had the dignity of employment and were not a charge on either the Poor Rate or national benefits. I put unskilled in inverted commas because this was always a matter of opinion. In the 1960s I remember a length man on roads round Blacko where I picked up milk every morning and so had the opportunity to watch how he worked. He would arrive on scene early in the morning, drop his bike on the verge, walk down his length for as while and drop his raincoat on the verge, a bit further on he dropped his bag. Then he went a bit further and started to work his way back from where he had finished the day before. When he reached his bag it was time for lunch, he reached his raincoat just as it started to rain and arrived at his bike at going home time. Unskilled? He followed a variant of this routine every day, kept his length tidy, was there to spread salt on the bends in winter and in general did a good job with no visible supervision. There was a lot to be said for this method of working!

[Tripps]

They actually bottomed each drain and tested it with a water flush before they moved on.

I remember them, but not in such bright colours.
I noticed this was the state of one of the local grids yesterday. Perhaps I'll go to the Parish Council and be Mr Indignant. - Or plant some wild flower seeds?

gridfull.jpg

[Stanley]

What a good idea! Do it David.....

[Stanley]

Triggered by a post in the news topic by Tiz on immunisation take-up my mind went back almost 80 years. In those days we were all aware of the childhood diseases like measles etc because we saw the results all round us. Measles in particular frightens nobody today because they haven't seen what it can do. Scarlet Fever is extinct. My mother needed no persuasion to keep us up to date with our jabs despite the lack of modern communications. Then when I went in the army I had another set of jabs, we were protected against everything.
If today's mothers saw a dedicated infectious diseases ambulance (in my time it was the yellow 'fever wagon, a common sight on the streets) collecting children on a regular basis perhaps their attitudes would change and nay-sayers on social media would have less influence. One thing is certain, if take-up isn't improved they may yet see the consequences and that might be the incentive that's needed. A high price to pay!

[Tizer]

It now emerges that Amazon have being selling anti-vax books for years and still do so.

[Stanley]

I saw that report. All they are interested in is profit. The same thing applies to nutrition, how much income do they get each year from the likes of Deliveroo and Just Eat?
Fast food used to be fish and chips and pie shops. Nothing could have been healthier. Today I believe it's one of the biggest dangers facing us. Just think of the strategic reserve that well stocked larders in every home are against disruption of the supply chain. It doesn't exist now in the majority of families.

[Wendyf]

i found this list of wool byproducts and their uses in a catalogue for a Bradford Centenary Exhibition in 1947 which must have belonged to my grandad.

[Tripps]

Fast food used to be fish and chips and pie shops. Nothing could have been healthier.

Really? they're both top of my forbidden foods list, but I occasionally weaken and have a Morrisons lattice top pork pie, which are lovely.

[Tizer]

Those wool processing by-rpoducts seem to have been patented in 1901. I found a badly transcribed (scanned but not corrected) document on the web from a US agriculture publication called `The Digest'. I've copied below as shown on the web page...
From The Digest, 1901
By-Pro du cts Bradford, England, cable to. New York Journal
Of Wool C..?ease of Commerce, October 20: The Sewage Department,
: -which specializes- in the utilization of grease
from wool, announces it has patented. five new products within the
past 12 months. These include Grujol, a crude soap; Varwolsix, a dry-
ing oil; Scrojol,' a pure anhydrous soap, powder; Lanalose, a new paint
medium; and Lanaloid, a semi-plastic compound..". ..
LINK

[Wendyf]

Esholt was the sewage works, which made a profit by selling the products extracted from waste water. Crujol was used exclusively by British Rail as axle grease.

[Tripps]

Esholt was the sewage works,

It was also the original site for Emmerdale Farm from 1977. We visited when my lad was at Bradford University.

The Original Emmerdale Village:
Every year Esholt village attracts crowds of Emmerdale fans from both the UK and overseas. The village was chosen as the backdrop for Emmerdale Farm in 1977 and filming took place in Esholt for more than 20 years. Visitors can take a stroll around the area and see some of the more famous landmarks such as the church, post office, tea rooms, playground and Zoe Tate’s vet!
Stop to have a drink in the most famous working pub in the UK ‘the Woolpack’, hosted by numerous landlords including Amos, Mr Wilkes and Alan Turner. Today it is the only ‘soap’ pub where you can get a drink.

[Tizer]

The trade name `Crujol' makes some sense as it's a crude fraction and it's `oily'. I'm not sure how they came up with `Scrojol' though.

[plaques]

Why I finished up here I don't know. Got dragged along with the crowd I suppose. Well at least I can boast that I've never seen one episode of it.
.

[Wendyf]

We used to enjoy Emmerdale in the early days when it was a story of Yorkshire farming folk.....

[Stanley]

David, fish and chips and pies were all natural ingredients cooked just as you would at home. That was what made them healthy. Modern chip shops use oils that can be of dubious origin. Commercial pies are a mystery!
Quite right Wendy, Esholt was where the sewage works for Bradford was and much of the effluent was from the wool-scourers cleaning the wool. Lanolin was extracted from the sewage and was used for the purposes above but also as an ingredient in cosmetics particularly lip-stick. Huddersfield did the same. In the war fat was collected on lead plates in the flow of effluent and used for soap and margarine also. Where there's muck there's money!

[Whyperion]

Yes, what is the SCRO root of word - maybe just a word to be unique, but it as been applied to 'purified' strands - so more processing removing other ingredients or what. I was hoping http://www.soapmakingmagazine.co.uk/blo ... -products/ would help me, but it doesnt.

[Stanley]

During my time spent working for Rochdale Electric Welding we frequently worked at renderers and fat refiners as high pressure steam is essential for them. One of the strange things about going into a works as a contractor is that you become invisible and we witnessed many miracles! Out of date butter from retailers and 15 year old EU intervention oils were combined, processed and went out of the factory gate as 'baker's shortening' with a 6 month sell by date on them. Cheese from the same sources was transformed into Mozzarella for pizzas and in the worst cases, maggot infested food processor's waste became 'protein derivatives' for use in pet foods.
I have transported 'Best Scotch Number One Pale Skin Oil' in rusty 40 gallon barrels from skin yards where there were signs on the wall all over the place proclaiming 'Beware of Anthrax' to firms making Margarine and toilet soap.
This was a long time ago of course and one hopes that these practices are no more but don't be too sure! I'll take a small bet that these trades still exist but they won't be advertising themselves. This is the reason why I feed my dog on best mince, not much dearer than pet food and far more reliable. You see the results in overall health and vet's bills. It is also why I have a healthy distrust of food processors who have to watch the price of their ingredients. Think of all the waste products from poultry processing plants and slaughter houses. Ask yourself what happens to it in an era of high energy prices when the only safe way to dispose of it is incineration at high temperature.

[Stanley]

This drawing in Dorothy Hartley's book reminded me of John Williams, grocers on Heaton Moor in about 1946. Bulk butter had started to come in again from Denmark in light wooden carrels lined with greaseproof paper. The barrel used to be set on the counter and cracked open and butter was cut out of the solid block, patted into shape on a marble slab and wrapped as needed. The only concession to hygiene was to caver the butter with paper overnight. Sugar was loose and weighed out into blue paper bags. Why was sugar always in blue bags?
Many other things were in bulk, the packaging industries hadn't yet got into their stride. Argentinian corned beef came in very large tins and was cut off the block on the counter. All biscuits were loose and so was some flour.
Funny thing is that we didn't all go down with food poisoning! Perhaps we had immune systems that could cope and that may be why we Crumblies have less allergies etc. today.
Everything today is pre-packed and 'hygienic' or so we are told. Yet there are more infections and complaints? A bit of a puzzle!