Contributor Leaderboard

Good to see our youngsters getting involved with the NCC tree planting initiative. On a very cold and windy day too!!!!!

Hi folks!..and to add my tuppenceworth,I used to go over after school,with my schoolmates and the Hollymoonta gang,and watch Bucyrus Erie [as we called him ,cos his name was on a huge plate up on the side of the machine,mounted on the first gantry],we didn't know,at 10 years old,that it was the firm's name!] [that was in 1954-ish]. These two Draglines were reported in the press,[Evening Chronicle etc],as being the two largest walking draglines in the whole of Europe,as was the Acorn Bank Site cut. At night,in the dark,we used to snipe almost on top of the gang who were building it,and it's a wonder we weren't blinded by the welding arc's,cos to us,it was a bonny bright blue light!!...we just used to lie on the ground and snipe ever closer,and watch the arc,fascinated! It had a 50-ton bucket. Now,Alan,when it comes to disputes..[silly disputes an aal!],aa had an argument wi one of me pit marra's,now deceased,[R.I.P. TOM],one day when we were sitting getting wor baits,amang aal the waata and clarts,doon the Three-Quarter drift,at Bates. We somehow got on aboot the Acorn Bank site,and Tom said he worked there,before gaan doon the pit. Aa just remarked hoo we kids used to watch the Euclids bouncing like they were toys,when Bucyrus Erie dropped his bucketfull of stones into the back of the truck,and big stones used to smash doon onto the canopy above the Driver's cab. That was like a red rag to Tom..he adamantly argued and started getting real ratty,saying the Draglines never filled the Euclids,it was done by the face shovels. Whey naturally,a argued back saying a used ti watch them man.... Tom shouted ....Aa used ti work there man Bill..ya getting mixed up....so a backed off,cos a hate arguments and ill-feeling...[this was in the 1980's] Whey,Tom passed away a few years ago,and then at Christmas,a year or two back,I got a DVD which had been transferred from old Cine-film,and it was amateur footage of the Acorn Bank site..[a Sixtownship DVD a think]. Then a started researching aboot the site,and guess what,it explains hoo the Dragline bucket was overloading the Euclids,and damaging the bodies ,so a special hopper was designed and erected,so the bucket emptied it's load into the hopper,and a guy loaded the Euclids safely..and I remembered the name of the hopper,cos aam a guitarist!! It was called a .....HENDRIX ...hopper!! It seems that Tom must have worked at the far end of the cut,where Bucyrus Erie [1] ,was working,and that was a thousand yards away from Bucyrus Erie [2]..and they only had the one hopper. Trivial story,but Tom was starting to get violent in his attempt to convince me I was wrong. At the end of the day,it didn't matter who was right ,cos it was history long gone!,but this is hoo misinformation spreads. My friend's Dad was one of the Dragline operators,a fella caaled Mr Humble,Bob and Les were his two Sons,who were my mates. There was no security in them days,no watchman or owt like that,no fences or barriers of any kind,on Sundays we kids used to either walk or ride wor bikes,doon inti the cut,and play on the Draglines feet,which were 44 feet long and 8 feet wide. We played in the Euclids seats,mekking on we were driving....whey,ye dae when ya ownly aboot ten or elivin yeors aad ...divvent ye?! One thing I read,recently,which really interested me,was the footprint pressure of the central hub which the crane sat on when in operation....2500 tons weight,[if I remember rightly!]..and the pressure on the ground was ....5pounds per square inch!! Incredible engineering..like an elephant,s gentle footsteps from such a heavy animal! I sat one day,for fun,and calculated it out in my head,and it was spot-on..even with simple Maths! [another trivial story!] Maggie,thanks for posting the pics,brought back many happy memories..that place was part of my childhood!

As the population gets bigger = more children = more schools = all new schools will have to be built away from the town centers = children will have to be driven to school = after 2035 all school will have to have 'drop off points' and 'charging points for electric cars = the world will be a better place - for some. What about those parents that don't have a car to drive their kids to school ? How far into the future can local planning committees plan and get whats best for the area? If the world of automation explodes there will be more people out of work and have time to walk their children to, and from, school. Then the authorities can change how schools teach the children - let the ones who can't be driven to school stay at home with their out of work parents and get taught, online, at home. When will we ever have a perfect solution to any challenges this fast paced progressive world is throwing at as? I know - WWIII, or a pandemic, and that should reduce the population explosion. Or will it. After WWII they introduced Family Allowance, for the 2nd child in the family, so that parents would have more children and therefore more money coming into the home and then when the children grew the parents would encourage them to buy their own home, have a family and get their children educated = more schools = more.............................. When will the merry go round ever end? Not half pleased your the councillor Malcolm, it must be like going round in circles. Retirement doesn't seem that bad - at least you have more time to look for soup spoons.