Category Archives: History

Setback

Thinking positively, I’ve finished the interior of the shed roof. 

And primed it for one distant day in the future when the walls will be finished. 

Alas, that day has slipped even further away than I’d planned. It seems that the damp-proofing of a couple of years ago wasn’t a huge success. 

I’m now tasked with removing all of the two-year-old plaster from the offending wall (at least) and starting again. 

I’d always suspected that more laborious solutions would be needed, but I was fooled by the lack of obvious damp in the shed. 

It’s a shame that I can’t retrospectively sue the philanthropist (according to the internet) who built the estate behind our house. You’d have thought that the fact that we live on (almost at the top of) a stupidly steep hill would have discouraged further development, but the solution appears to have been to level-off the ground. Which resulted in our shed becoming something of an underground cavern. 

Sadly, since the neighbouring houses arrived at the turn of the last century, it’s somewhat late to be lodging a complaint. 

My desire to restore the shed might seem irrational. But it’s a lovely (damp) thing (with a new ceiling). 

Our house

I love our little house. And I love where we live. Neither are anything special, but for many reasons we’re happy here.

And, now, we could be about to change all of that. We’ve put in an offer on an old chapel in Newcastle.

That was two weeks ago, a quick decision after a viewing. God moves pretty slowly these days, but we’ll hear today (or possibly tomorrow) whether our offer (or one of the other interested parties’) has been accepted. 

Last night, after our third visit to the chapel, we experienced our first feelings of doubt. Not about the chapel itself, or the work involved; rather, some thoughts about letting go of what we have now. Most of those (my) doubts related to the location as opposed to the building. 

The chapel’s non-standard construction, but it has something about it. And it has lots of potential. It’s in a residential area though. And, by residential, I mean houses, houses and flats. That probably wouldn’t be an issue for most people, it could be a selling point. But. 

So, we could have another, more difficult, decision to make this evening. Unless, of course, that decision is taken out of our hands. 

Dachau

A few days ago, when in Munich, we decided to visit the Dachau concentration camp site. I’d regretted not going when last in Munich, 

Dachau, the town, is only a half hour from Munich by train, followed by a short bus ride to the outskirts of town and the site. 

It was quite a moving experience, it feels appropriate only to post a couple of pictures here. 


Aventinus

I have fond memories of Schneider Weiss Aventinus from many years ago. My now son-in-law sampled a little too much of the 12% Aventinus Eisbeck when I was last in Munich, while the 8.2% Aventinus proved to be a safer option. 

I’m now back in the Schneider Weiss Brauhaus after twelve years. This visit was only for the purposes of a single Schneider Weiss original. And it was very nice. 



As is the Tap 6 Aventinus I’m now drinking. 

Spaten

My second in command needed to pee en-route to our hotel, so we found a nice little bar. Where we found some Spaten pilsner. 


I’ve not been in Munich for twelve years, but have recognised some places within minutes. Some things have changes though; in common with Berlin, there’s a lot of building work. 

Kerning

There’s a poster, at my local bus stop, which has been irritating me for some time now. It’s lodged down the back of the timetable and, I’m assuming, can’t easily be removed. 

I could be critical of the name Circus Vegas, or, the globe of death (which is clearly a slight exaggeration), but what really irritates me is the BLAY DON kerning issue. 

My theory is that, rather than being a typographic error, this is something of a lack of local knowledge. 

As an aside, does anyone else recall the alleged wysiwyg software packages of the late 80s/early 90s which couldn’t handle kerning properly?

Doctor’s orders

I’m in transit to meet my second in command, well having a sit down while on my way to meet my second in command. In the Doctor’s Orders, a very nice micropub just outside Nottingham city centre. 

I’m having a lovely pint of Magpie IPA. Earlier, I stopped off at a Wetherspoon’s, by the canal. For coffee. 

I last called into that bar in 2005, when I was here for an Eels gig. We’d almost stole a table number (for the kitchen table), but conscience (and security cameras) deterred the theft. 

Last night, we visited Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. 

Allegedly the oldest pub in England. The only pub built into a cave I’ve ever been in. 

The demise of the working men’s club

High Fell social club, just down the road to us, closed a while ago and has since been converted into flats. I’d never set foot inside the place, but I do recall a time when such places were a (bustling) social centre in most northern towns. Social clubs had their problems, of course; they were inherently sexist until recent years and most simply haven’t kept up with the times. 

A couple of years ago, I visited Kings Cliffe ex-servicemen’s club. I can’t say it was very busy, but a band was playing and the evening must have been reasonably  profitable. 

There was a second visit last night. 

It wasn’t a busy night. 

But at least they now have a decent selection of Sam Smith’s beer. At a very reasonable £2.20 a pint. 

Alas, probably not for much longer. Surely the place can’t survive much longer. 

John O’Gaunt

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned Ye Olde John O’Gaunt before, a few years ago. 

It’s a nice pub, in Lancaster. Apparently, Oliver Reed once had a pee there. 

George Bray

While replacing floorboards in the spare bedroom, I found a small box. 

The box, now in our bin since it seems to have been partially eaten many years ago by a mouse, had contained a (coal) gas burner. At ninepence, it wasn’t cheap in 1906. Its location suggests that the house had town gas lighting installed around that time.