Canny lass

Knowledge is not a heavy burden to bear - not even the useless variety!

Photo taken 9th May. I think it was about normal weather for the time of year. (Mind you, we had two days of snow the 13th and 14th!).The narcissus (not a daffodil) is called a 'Whitsuntide lily' here and comes a bit later than the daffodil which is called an 'Easter lily'.

... and say hello to the quintuplets! On their first outing today with no sign of an adult. They seem to have adopted me, accept nuts and climb all over me if I sit down beside them and they are hungry. I saw mum nest-building under the barn roof a few weeks ago so I think they've been born in there. Delightful little creatures!

The cleaning squad. Fizzy the pheasant and his little helpers - the squirrels Nutkin. Keeping things spotless under the birdfeeders.

Visitors to my garden during isolation: Harry, the gardener. doing a great job on the dandelions, and, unfortunately, the daisies!

Cerebral gymnastics time! 1. How many milk teeth does a child normally get? 2. Which number comes next: 61, 122, 183, 244? 3. The first pop video was used to promote which single that first topped the charts in 1975? 4. Which US president was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth? 5. What is the SI unit of work or energy, named after a British physicist? 6. Which dish normally consists of cooked rice, flaked fish and hard boiled eggs? 7. What is a hornbeam? 8. Who was the younger brother of Cain and Abel? 9. Who starred as Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe in TV’s Wycliffe? 10. In the RAF how many squadrons make up a wing? 11. Linonophobia is the fear of what? 12. Which symbol denotes a battlefield on an Ordnance Survey map? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Reuters, now one of the world’s biggest new agencies, began in 1850 – using pigeons. Answers on Thursday!

Wouldn't mind one of those in my garden! Love it! The whole design just screams BEDLINGTON, from the terrier to the winding gear!

Thanks Eggy! Good film. It definitely wasn't this that I saw. Same shape and possibly size (hard to tell from a photo with nothing to compare it with). However, it definitely wasn't white. it was yellow, same as the Euclid trucks. I remember going to see it with my father and brother together with half of Netherton Colliery and their grannies! I understood it's 'walking' to be something of a 'one-off' occasion on the day. Netherton Lane was lined three-deep from Raisbecks Garage and half way to Nedderton Village to be able to witness the event!

That's perfectly correct except for the date. This site was at the top end of the colliery rows stretching from Fail's farm (Blue House farm) as far as North Ridge. This was in the late fifties before the works on the other side of Netherton Lane.

Answers to last week's quiz: 1. Magna Carta 2. The Central Line 3. Ena Sharples 4. Pansy 5. Head to foot 6. Crimean War 7. Winston Churchill 8. Pancakes 9. Blood and Fire 10. Australian 11. An Electric guitar (Used by Jimi Hendrix) 12. Four New quiz tomorrow.

Are you taking bookings Eggy? I've got a big party coming up next year!

That site, on the south side of the B133 between West Lea and Nedderton Village, was in use during the late 50s, early 60s and was mined by Wimpey. I remember that they had on site a small building, towards the West Lea end of the site, where they retreaded the huge tyres from the Euclid trucks. My brother worked there for a while. He used to come home with burns all over from the molten rubber. I'm not sure just how far south the site went but it was a huge site. I also have a strong recollection of visiting the site to see one of the huge machines "walking". I think it may have been 'Big Geordie', but I'm not 100% on that.

Pencils at the ready! Here it is: 1. Original copies of what can be found only in Salisbury Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral and the British Museum? 2. On a London Underground map which line is coloured red? 3. Which Coronation Street character was played by Violet Carson? 4. Which type of flower is sometimes known as heartsease? 5. What does cap a pie mean? 6. Which war was fought 1853-1856? 7. Who said “When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite”? 8. Which food item is used in an annual race at Olney, Buckingham shire? 9. What is the motto of the Salvation Army? 10. What nationality has Wimbledon champion Rod Laver? 11. What is a Gibson Flying V? 12. Of how many islands does the Autonomous Region of Madeira consist? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Nelson’s body was brought back to England for burial pickled in a barrel of brandy to stop it decomposing on the way home.

That brought on a real pang of home-sickness!

Great pity! it would have made the next bit of the research a lot easier! I've been looking at old maps the last couple of weeks. New report soon.

Sorry it's a bit late! Answers to last week's quiz: 1. Prostitute. At 85 yo she was the oldest prostitute in the UK, possibly in the world. 2. As 3. Pudding Lane 4. Keith Moon 5. The Ulna nerve 6. Thelma 7. General Pinochet 8. Binnacle 9. A tree 10. Queen Mary 11. 16 or 7 both are acceptable. Each cow has 4 stomachs –or one stomach with four compartments (depending on which line of thinking you follow. Each horse has one stomach 12. 2001 New quiz tomorrow!

There's many a true word spoken in jest - but I'm not saying which word(s) it is!

Tonight's quiz: 1. What was the profession of Sheila Vogel Coupe? 2. What is the chemical symbol for arsenic? 3. In which street did the Fire of London start? 4. Which drummer with The Who was renowned for dumping Rolls Royces in swimming pools? 5. What is the proper name of the funny bone? 6. In the TV series The Likely Lads what was Bob’s girlfriend called? 7. Which former Chilean dictator was arrested at a west London clinic in October 1998? 8. What is the name of the box in which a ship’s compass is stored? 9. What is a Honey Locust? 10. What was the Queen Elizabeth’s sister ship? 11. How many stomachs have 3 cows and 4 horses? 12. Which year did the terror attack on World trade Centre take place? I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Ducks only lay eggs in the morning.

Answers to last week's quiz: 1. 37 2. Christopher Robin 3. Recto 4. A Midsummer Night’s Dream 5. Pope John Paul II 6. Martin Luther King 7. Hamilton 8. Three 9. A Rusty Nail 10. Vulpine 11. Mary Ann Nichols 12. England and Australia New quiz tomorrow!

Consider your wrists well and truly slapped! You've no idea how many times I popped in for a good laugh yesterday.

Thank you AllanUK! There are two Hollymount Cottages taken up in the 1911 census, both small dwellings with only 2 rooms housing families of 3 and 4 persons. In both cases the enumerator gives the address simply as "Hollymount" as does one resident, George Gilroy. George notes under number of rooms: "Cottage: two rooms". The second resident, George's next door neighbour, Robert Todd, gives his address as "Hollymount Cottages". The cottages appear to be situated next to the main house. The first section of which now has dwellings of 2-4 rooms numbered 2 -12. The next 9 dwellings are given the address Hollymount House though some of the residents write Hollymount Hall. I think you are probably correct in assuming that they belonged to the house and I believe the first set of dwellings may have been situated in the rear part of the house while the second set were in the front part nearest the gardens.

Here we go again! 1. How many compartments are there on a British roulette wheel? 2. What is the name of the boy who features in the Winnie the Pooh series? 3. What is the right-hand page of a book called? 4. Mustardseed is a character in which of William Shakespeare’s plays? 5. By which name was Karol Józef Wojtyla better known? 6. The song Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder was a tribute to whom? 7. What is the capital of Bermuda? 8. How many horns did the dinosaur Triceratops have? 9. Scotch whisky and Drambuie make which cocktail? 10. If dogs are canine and horses are equine, what are foxes? 11. Who was the first victim of Jack the Ripper? 12. Which two countries play cricket for The Ashes? I’ll bet you didn’t know … There are more than 17 miles of corridor in the Pentagon!

Answers to last week's quiz: 1. Bolton Wanderers 2. Megalomania 3. Stephen 4. St James’s Palace 5. Madagascar 6. 2 hours 7. Toad 8. Heroin 9. Wall Street 10. Lady in Red 11. Ava Gardner 12. Lead New quiz tomorrow!

There'll be no living with him for next few days!