THE FLATLEY DRYER

[Stanley]

That's interesting Ian. As I am sure you know, the latest theories on lightning propagation are that the PD between a point on the earth and the clouds increases causing the strike, in effect it's the opposite way round to what we see. I've never been as close as that but was lucky enough to see a wonderful display of Ball Lighting near Long Preston once. Very impressive and when I told a man who is expert on these things he was very envious. He and his colleagues study these things and none of them had ever seen the phenomenon. I can remember the same smell.

[Stanley]

The most spectacular lightning strike I ever saw was at Old Trafford cricket ground. Thinking about this reminded me of the days when I was a Junior member (my dad was a full member) and went down there every Saturday.



There were some wonderful old players about just after the war and this bloke springs to mind. This is Dick Pollard, fast bowler extrordinaire. He was famous for his stamina and his nickname was 'Th'owd chain horse'. I last saw him in the 1948 Lancashire match against Australia, other players were Bradman, Miller, Barnes, Lindwall and for Lancashire Cyril Washbrook, Ikin and Roberts. Names that many cricket fans would give their eye teeth to have seen.....

[Stanley]

When I was a lad a common feature of any General Election campaign and some local ones as well was the ubiquitous loudspeaker van touring the streets and exhorting you to vote. I suppose the absence of them these days is a consequence of the growth of social media.

[Stanley]

These big set piece TV 'debates' or rather 'opportunities' for politicians are all very well but I can't help wondering how Clem Attlee would have come across against Churchill in 1945.......

[Stanley]

One trade that has completely died out now is the knife-grinder. They had a bike with a grindstone mounted on the front which could be driven by a band running round a rim attached to the back wheel. The bike was put up on a stand which raised the back wheel and the knife-grinder sat on the bike and drove the grindstone by pedalling. They did a good job, were always welcome and had a good living.
Ernie Roberts once told me about a Barlick knife grinder who didn't have any equipment, he used to take the knives round the corner and sharpen them on a convenient kerb stone! The last knife-grinder I ever saw was in Rochdale in the 1990s, he had a van with an electric wheel in the back and his customers were chefs in restaurants.



I found this image of an Italian knife-grinder on the web.

[Stanley]

I've always said that I was very slow when it came to learning how to sharpen things. I suspect I am not alone. It's so simple isn't it, just thin the edge down and the finer and smoother the edge is and the better it cuts. That applies to scalpels and razors cutting soft materials but cutting different substances means different approaches. In some cases a slightly serrated edge is better. I can't tell you all the secrets, it would take too long and I don't know all of them anyway! All I can say here is that if the edge you are using is fit for purpose it's a joy to use and much safer.

[Tizer]

We experience a great variety of knives in the kitchens of holiday cottages, some very good, others awful. Bread knives, in particular, are very variable.

[Stanley]

One of my pet hates is serrated blade knives.... Bread knives in particular. All they do is make messy crumbs!



My magnetic knife rack on the wall out of the reach of children. You might wonder about the table knives.... They are the old fashioned stainless steel that is high carbon and take a good edge. They are as sharp as razors..... The old boning knife doesn't get used much but it's a lovely blade. Incidentally scissors are easy to sharpen and used with care an abrasive nail file makes a good tool for the job.

[Stanley]

In those far off days when I was a keen Cub Scouter nobody saw anything wrong about going round with a 6" sheath knife on your belt. How things have changed!

[PanBiker]

As a lad I was often out that by today's standards as armed to the teeth. Multi bladed pocket knife, sheath knife on the snake belt as Stanley mentioned and if in chubbing season a hand axe shoved in there for good measure. Difference of course all these were practical tools and no malicious use intended at all.

[Moh]

When I was a lad a common feature of any General Election campaign and some local ones as well was the ubiquitous loudspeaker van touring the streets and exhorting you to vote. I suppose the absence of them these days is a consequence of the growth of social media.

If you hadn't been to vote they would come and collect you in a car.

[PanBiker]

You will still get that service from the Labour Party in Barlick if you have been identified as a Labour voter and have not managed to get to the polls.

[Stanley]

And Winston Churchill compared Labour to the Gestapo.......
When I was in my first school some pupils would miss coming for a few days because they had no footwear. Years later my sister found a letter from the headmistress, Miss Hogg, asking the Corporation Education Department to buy a pair of clogs for one pupil. I wore boots but clogs were still very common.

[Stanley]

It's easy to forget the bad conditions that existed amongst the poor in those days. I can remember seeing kids playing in the street barefoot and dressed only in a vest 100 yards from the best shopping street in Stockport. There was a lot of very poor housing in the centre of the town, archetypal slums. Mean shoddy terraces that were crumbling. This was before the days of the Welfare State and the only safety net was Parish Relief and private charities. Thank God those days have gone!

[plaques]

Probably the best attended event was the Church jumble sale. It made Harrods Christmas sale look like a Teddy Bears picnic.

[Stanley]

I loved them P. My mother used to take me and I can still see the old ladies rummaging through the clothes and almost coming to blows if a choice item was found. She used to take me to the Whist Drives as well. Very serious stuff especially if you made a mistake and reneged! All exciting stuff and all gone now.

[Tizer]

In the last few days there has been a news story about someone who bought a ring ages ago at a charity sale for a few quid and has been wearing it much of the time ever since. It had a large diamond look-alike stone set in it. A friend persuaded her to get it valued and the reply was that it's a genuine diamond worth at least £300,000. It was put into an auction and raised over £600,000! (I don't know whether the lady kept the money or gave it to the charity.)

[Stanley]

I saw a ring like that on Flog It. It was a five stone diamond ring and the lady had worn it ever since she got it for a tenner I think in a charity shop.
On a smaller scale.... I was given a miner's lamp for Xmas last year by a friend who got it in a house clearance. I told her it was the Holy Grail of lamps, a deputy's re-lighter, A Protector Lamp Co. GR6S which goes for about £150. She said that was fine and she was glad it was a good one.

[Stanley]

One of the consequences of living a long time is that due to inflation the prices of things get to the point where they look ridiculous. If I were to go out and buy the equipment in my shed today it would cost many thousands of pounds. I can remember collecting the rent from a house we owned in 1950 and it was 6/6 a week, that's 32.5P in today's money. What would the rent be for a three bedroomed modern semi today? Mind you that probably works out to be in the Crumblies favour as we are naturally constrained by today's prices and live a lot more economically. Bad though the pension is, I can save money on it during normal circumstances as long as I live moderately, don't have holidays and keep out of the pubs. I would never dream of gambling or taking out a loan at 1300% interest! Unfortunately these things are seen as normal today. I can still remember, shortly after Wilson made his 'pound in your pocket' speech, saying in the pub that before long a packet of 20 fags and a pint would cost more than a pound. I was laughed down but it happened...... How much would that cost today?

[PanBiker]

I can still remember, shortly after Wilson made his 'pound in your pocket' speech, saying in the pub that before long a packet of 20 fags and a pint would cost more than a pound. I was laughed down but it happened...... How much would that cost today?

About £11.00 -£12.00

[Tizer]

I chance upon this web site yesterday whilst following my interest in mineral ores. It should prove useful to anyone interested in all things copper and copper alloys: `The Oldcopper Website' LINK

[Stanley]

Which highlights another big change over the last seventy years..... When I was a lad.... if I wanted to find out about some particular thing I had to go down to Stockport Library and search the shelves. Now all I have to do is type a keyword into a search engine and I am immediately sat in the biggest library in the world with my coffee and pipe! My new book 'Move Fast and Break Things' is very good on the development of the Internet. No wonder it has completely changed all forms of learning and Journalism in particular. Do you remember the large format illustrated books like 'The Wonders of Flight' that gave us our first insights. Not surprising we were avid readers!

[Stanley]

Thinking about the fire in the flats in London I am reminded of the old style fire engines with the large wheeled independent escape ladders mounted on top. There were no sirens, there was a large bell that was rung by one of the firemen.



An old Lincolnshire fire engine.

[Stanley]

Remember the Green Goddess? Very common during the war and held in reserve long after by the government for emergencies.

[Stanley]

Police cars had no sirens but a large chrome plated bell on the front (I wonder where they all went?) In Stockport they were all large Wolsleys and I remember how their tyres roared when they were travelling at speed on Wellington Road which was paved with granite setts.



Here's a 1935 Wolsley Wasp used by the East Riding force.