Footpath policy and a WW2 British workhorse.

 Monday 24th April 2023

I am continuing with my daily one mile walk from home and breathlessness is improving slightly. I had a follow-up appointment last week from my stay in hospital last January and the consultant was encouraging. I think it will be a long haul and I have doubts about tackling much serious ascent in future.

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Below is an extract from my blog during the coast to coast grid line walk I did with Bowland Climber back in 2020 which presciently foretold of an article on  the BBC News website the other day copied below and which I welcome as they think along the same lines as I have for some time.

ISunday 12th January 2020 - Skipwith Common to Froggathorpe (SE 755 373)

If Skipwith Common had been the best part so far our next two and a half kilometres of road walking on the A 163 to Bubwith was the worst. There was only a narrow grass verge and a fair amount of traffic but thankfully it was not as intimidating as we had been anticipating.

From Bubwith we were able to follow the disused railway track which was much more attractive than many I have walked on. North West tonight a few evenings ago had an item announcing the improvement to the planned round England coastal path. I have walked on most of the section they described from Morecambe up to Arnside and beyond and apart from one or two short missing  links I see no need to spend lots of money unnecessarily "improving" existing ancient tracks which seemed to be implied. Much better to seek out sections of our country where at the moment there is no alternative but to walk long distances on busy roads and so provide alternatives enabling linking of paths providing for longer continuous routes. This adoption of the railway track is a good example to follow along with negotiating permissive paths with landowners and the like.

The green footpath is the old railway line used here to good advantage.

This is the section we had to walk uncomfortably on a main A road, the sort of place where effort put in may have negotiated a permissive path through the fields.

CLICK HERE to read about a new path in the Lake District provided along the lines I am advocating.

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I am well on with a new model. The Hellcat was finished to a reasonable standard but I jibbed on the possibility of an aircraft carrier deck presentation.

The fairly detailed engine, featured in the photos below, is not seen when the model is completed but I see little point in going to the effort of making a good job of it for it not to be seen and I have plans. I don't intend to include the field gun but will likely make it up later as a separate item.

The chassis appears to be a bit foreshortened by the camera. It still has the rusty exhaust to be fitted and the tyres and outer wheels to be attached

Ford V8, side valve, water cooled, petrol, 85h.p.

4 x forward, 1x reverse.

Just to show the scale against a highly reflective 50p piece

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Lancaster Canal and Katie's sunflowers.

 Thursday 30th March 2023 - Borwick. Lancaster Canal

Thursday walks with Pete continue but not all recorded here. Two weeks back our reduced distance walk took us to the Lancaster canal north of Borwick on a cloudless but chilly day. 'Twas good to be out.

Neither Pete nor I claim to pay much attention to how we dress on these occasions, just the usual  walking clothes.

Back at Café Ambio, which is part of the prestigious purpose built livestock auction mart, we had just finished our chocolate Guinness cake. A couple from a neighbouring table were leaving and came to chat, 

" How many have you bought today then?" they asked.

Pete and I looked at each-other and realised that we must have been mistaken for livestock buying farmers. I was not sure whether to laugh or worry.

Tewitfield Methodist Church, Not much action there

Does Pete look like a farmer?

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KATIE UPDATE

Katie and Mum had a trip to London during half term. Amongst a crammed itinerary they visited some of the art galleries.

I think the two pencil sketches were done earlier - Katie has been mugging up on how to draw faces.

The next photo is Katie in action at one of the galleries, and then a copy of Van Gogh's Sunflowers done on the iPad at the gallery in situ in front of the painting.   CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

Hellcat 1

Tuesday 28th March 2023

 

Medical issues abound from several directions at the moment but not for discussion here. My distraction policy continues with a daily one mile walk from home and my model making.

My latest project is the Hellcat fighter plane  used by the Americans towards the end of WW2 mainly for the war in the Pacific and to a lesser extent by the RAF which this kit caters for. The Hellcat was used extensively from aircraft carriers. I may try to pose my model on the deck of a carrier, but I'm not sure quite how at the moment and it may not be possible to make it look convincing, especially if I want to keep the overall scene to a reasonable size.

My dictionary defines hellcat: A spiteful, violent woman. Not a bad name before those responsible for appending names to aircraft and cars ran out of imagination - see this link for a bit of entertainment:

CLICK HERE

The photos below are mainly for information and I have made no great effort to refine them.

The box-art of most scale models is usually of a high standard. Apart from the reflection I have obtained this lives up to that reputation.

The Hellcat was powered by an 18-cylinder
 Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp
 radial engine

The front end of my Hellcat before the hub for the propeller is added. The body is still in the green plastic of the kit with some overspray in grey from primmer applied (that enables imperfections to be revealed and repaired before proceeding with painting the body colour.)

Now with a full coat of primer. The colour in real life is light grey which the camera has failed to interpret here. The wing,/tail alignment is correct but appears here to be askew because the model is tipped to one side and the whole being foreshortened

The next process is "post-shading." That involves airbrushing the panel lines on the underneath with black which will show through faintly when the final coats of body colour are applied producing a sort of weathered appearance. It is a difficult technique requiring airbrush precision. I have done it once before with only moderate success so I am hoping for improvement this time.

I have high hopes for my "robust" plan "going forward."

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Another little niggle on the subject of sports commentary.

For a few years now it has become commonplace for commentators to refer to a particular player who was part of a winning team  in the past by saying, for example:

"He/she won the world cup in 2001" inferring that it was their  sole effort rather than the player just being part of the team.

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Wall Anxiety conquered

Friday 10th March 2023

See previous post.

The drystone wall was separated from its base with the sellotape still attached underneath and I was able to lift it bodily onto my model.

The scene is purely fictional, and I know, before the informed jump on me, that any self respecting drystone waller would not be using a cement mixer. In any case the Tempo was of German origin and also used in in Russia and Ukraine I think, and on what kind of terrain I know not. This diorama has been a learning curve to get me into this aspect of modelling and has no pretence at an authentic scene.

I have struggled getting this video onto this post - I hope it performs.

Guinness cake and "wall-anxiety"

 Wednesday 6th March 2023

I am still struggling with breathlessness which has not improved much and I have no inclination to catalogue the ongoing medical attentions, but if improvement is achievable it is going to be a slow process I reckon. I am doing a daily walk from home of 1.3 miles there and back. I am ok on the flat but the slightest uphill is demanding.Walking has been the mainstay subject of this blog since I started in 2009. Now, after 1463 posts it looks as though the flavour will change.

I am still walking on Thursdays with Pete - he walks even slower than me and we confine ourselves to mainly flat tarmac, usually linear, three quarters of an hour each way, and around 2 miles. and then back to Café Ambio for tea and cake. In my last post I was called to task by Gayle for not showing a photo of the recently introduced sumptuous Guinness-and-chocolate-cake. That was because I had noticed the absence of the almost obligatory photo of tempting Spanish cuisine on one of their recent posts. Mick and Gayle are currently on an extended trip in Spain with Bertie, their super motorhome. Here you are Gayle - fresh from last Thursday.

SUGGEST CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

My model making is marching on if my walking isn't. I have become more interested in placing models into a scene (diorama) and this is calling for learning new skills. The three-wheeler Tempo mentioned in my last post is going to be placed as a decrepit drystone waller's vehicle parked up on a track where he is repairing a wall. As the cement mixer came with the kit it will also be included.

I started with a block of polystyrene packaging and cut some pieces to represent grass banking rising above a track to the wall. Although the vehicle is of pre-war German origin my knowledge of tracks is more tuned to the limestone country of the Yorkshire Dales so there is no pretence at authenticity, just a compilation from my own imagination. The rough outline was glued with PVA glue. A product called Sculptamold (a name giving possibilities for my brother's wild imagination) was daubed on and fashioned into a  more convincing grass banking and also creation of a rough, stoney limestone track. The track was painted and small bits of genuine limestone scattered in secured by PVA glue. The banking was given an under coat of green but this will be covered with grass. That is a whole new technique. You can buy grass ranging through 2,4,6,9mm. That is applied using a static grass applicator, my latest acquisition. This allows the grass to be scattered through a sieve with a wire from two AA batteries with a metal nail at its end. The nail is inserted into the glue which causes it to charge the scattering grass so that it stands up vertical.  unbelievable!

It is possible to get a slightly less than fatal electric shock if you are not careful according to the Ebay retailer who has produced a detailed video of how to proceed with this contraption. If there are no more posts here you may guess what has happened.

Back to the aforementioned drystone wall and the rocky bits on the road. On a recent walk I was able to get to a location on Arnside Knott that I know of where I collected a bagful of tiny pieces of limestone. These have been used some for that road but principally to make the drystone wall. I made a mould from Lego bricks and lined it with Sellotape then put in the stones and flooded with PVA glue slightly diluted. That has taken two days to cure and today I removed the Lego. Some of the glue is still not set but it is nearly there. The wall is sitting on Sellotape stuck to a baseboard and I am not sure how I will be able to lift it without disintegration. I am sure readers will be as anxious about this as I am but you will have to wait for the next post to hear of the outcome.

  

The track will likely get a coat of matt varnish but it still needs a scanty addition of some grass here and there. The banking will also be grassed and the wall sat atop (I hope)

Removing the Lego was a step into the unknown but I got that far without collapse. I am not sure about the next stage.

The wall is sat on Sellotape. The glue is still  damp at the bottom. When all is dry removing the wall from the Sellotape and transferring to the model will make the sorting of the Leaning Tower of Pizza seem like a piece of cake. The wall is purposely broken down - its repair is the mission of my drystone waller.

I

Millside and Tempo micro modelling

 Thursday 24th February 2023 - Millside - from SD 452 839

My longest walk since before Christmas - 1.4 miles !

At last we are getting weather acceptable enough to resume my Thursday walks with Pete. This route was only mildly undulating and Pete who is now 88 and with some slight return of his rheumatoid arthritis walks even more slowly than me even with my current breathlessness. So I was able to enjoy this saunter in relative comfort - going up any kind of hill is a different matter.

The second half of this outward walk was part of the six mile route I used to run over the top of Whitbarrow to Lords Seat and returning by this pleasant quiet lane. Having only previously run here before, and on those occasions pushing myself for the final sprint to the finish to try and beat my previous time, I had little chance to observe the scenery in detail. Today I lapped it up enjoying the clear blue sky and sunshine and the promise of spring in the air. I did  do that run in just under the hour (ten minute miles including a stiff climb up onto Whitbarrow plateau.)

We walked as far as Beck Head where an attractive stream gurgles out from the limestone which on my first acquaintance years ago lead me to research the possibility of caving activity and that proved to have happened. There is a record on the Geograph website HERE with a much better photo of the emergence than my distant snap today.

Notices requesting respect for the local toad migration were evident.

We finished off with our regular Café Ambio visit including their recently introduced chocolate and Guiness cake - it has a mildly soured cream topping to represent the familiar tight foam top you get on the  real life pint, fab!

The stream emerges from the limestone at the furthest point you can see , the point of entry for the exploration

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Model News

I am well on with this quirky Tempo three wheel pick-up of German origin from the 40s.

The scale is 1/35 making it a tiny model almost requiring the skills of micro surgery. The kit includes a cement mixer to be carried by the truck and I am hoping to represent that with cement residue clinging and general appropriate "weathering."

The body is only 4cm. long

The engine in two parts at the moment and still in primer. It is only about 1cm across the block and what you see here includes, with the two sections, 12 individual parts in its assembly.

Contentment was not the initial objective

 Friday 17th February 202

I have just posted a comment on Bowland Climber's blog and then thought it was worthy of using as a post here for those who don't read BC's blog - if you want to see the full context  CLICK HERE

https://bowlandclimber.com/2023/02/17/keeping-it-local/

“contentment is the prime objective” – your quote. A conclusion I came to about an hour ago after watching a documentary on Porton Down, It was presented by Michael Moseley, a scientist who is a gift to TV producers as a natural presenter. I usually watch Moseley’s programmes with enthusiasm. Unfortunately the Porton Down thing was so harrowing I had to switch halfway through, but feeling a bit guilty about jibbing on something that is so profoundly serious and relevant to our existence as humans.

I found “contentment,” partly sullied by the guilt, in a benign Scottish TV documentary about an outdoor gent trekking down Glen Etive with a sporty young girl, running, jumping into rapids with no heed of Elf And Safety, and then cycling to the head of Loch Etive,

Unfortunately there was no panning shot to The Slabs.

A little rant while it is in my mind

I notice that when government ministers, and especially prime ministers visit workplaces for a self promoting publicity opportunity, they can't help going macho, perhaps emulating that culture now identified as endemic amongst certain public services. What I am getting at is the business of doffng the tailored suit jacket, and rolling up the sleeves, just halfway up the forearm of an immaculate white shirt. Our erstwhile blond p,m. was typical, but I was disillusioned to see Starmer doing the same the other day. I can understand what they are trying to demonstrate but in my opinion it just makes them look silly