The Great Storm

Agree with you about the reporters talking it up. On GMT they showed a clip of the arch fool Richard G..... making out he could not stand up without holding on to a lamp post. It would have quite effective were it not for the van and other traffic going by quite happily in the background......

Waves breaking over sea walls isn't exactly news - unless of course one were to think sea walls were built as some sort of tourist attraction!

Cheers Richard

Well, having over-stated the over-exaggerated Met. Office forecast; (they're determined never to do a Michael Fish again!); they have to try and pretend it was as bad as they said it would be, don't they !!

(Fish quote before The Great Storm - Some lady just phoned in to say she'd heard that there's a hurricane on the way - well, there's not)!

Regards, John Isherwood.

Perhaps the World needs another war, or another Krakatoa volcano, or an Alien Sighting, or a ... We've been getting "The (British) Great Storm" news on TV here in New Zealand, along with the "US Presidential Primaries" - is it a slow news day or what. Some old codger standing on his front door step looking down at the water one step down and then looking wistfully along the street. (I presume wondering if the local pub is open yet) They followed that by digging Lady Diana up for the umpteenth time looking for unidentified pubic hairs ... I'd rather watch reruns of The "Vicar of Dibley" where they discuss "the Great Storm, and "The Great Frost" and "the Great Wind" of 1952.

You don't _have_ to watch the telly; you could do some modelling.

I look out for railway clangers, like in one of the Miss Marple programs where the good guy and his girlfriend got on a train pulled by a beautiful LNER Holden 0-6-0. He'd bought an ordinary (ie third class) ticket to London, and got into a first class compartment.

Or The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain. Where there was a beautifully restored GWR carriage in completely wrong livery for 1917. Also a whole slew of Western diseasel nameplates in the booking office - which was probably somebody playing a joke on the film crew.

My wife gets grumpy if I don't spend _some_ time in her company.

Greg.P.

Mine gets him as well, but I dont enjoy the programs that either of them watch.

But had a result this morning, His nibs - who was off sick from school - asked if he could watch a train DVD.

Cheers, Simon

I use the enforced TV together time to read M/R magazines. Brought my two kids up on Thomas TV and videos - 30 years on they have no interest in railways.

Greg.P.

Am not planning on lasting that long. Today he put together a train of Stanier and Ivatt 2-6-4T locos with 2 HST and 3 CR coaches plus one coal wagon. We're getting somewhere ?

Cheers, Simon

There seems to be a need for a little fine tuning, but otherwise you're doing well. I used to take mine to the local railway preservation soc when they were old enough - 50+ babysitters and they got free rides on everything.

Yep, swapped the Stanier for a 4F and 'helped' with primer coat on kit built

We started with Thomas at Loughborough GC and now go to their Steam gala, unfotunately may miss the diesel one if I forget to mention the date. He helps dispatch trains but they still like him.

Cheers, Simon