pilgrim

you say it was called 'Henry' ... I am suspicious of that - was his real name perhaps --'speckled Jim' ???? and if so we now know the alter ego of VIc Patterson !!! and that's not a bad thing as I do like a large dose of healthy cynicism - its what keeps local councils in check!!

I had a cinquecento in the 70's and it was wonderfully eccentric like a roller skate and with an engine but would still run on one cylinder and a cable starter that pulled two brass terminals together. Indeed I bought the child a panda for her 17th last yr - wonderful all round visibility, 40 mpg, safe as it is very slow lol (but surprisingly fast when it gets going) and only £30 a yr road tax and with 4 doors!! oh and typical Italian style -- in the rosso collection there is a free bar - in the middle of the room was a table for folk to stand around and chat and have somewhere to rest their glasses and ashtrays. it has distinctive Ferrari style as all they did was park an F40 and put a table top on the roof!!

lol steve t don't know if you saw the very short-lived story in one of the red banner tabloids a few months back that tried to run a story 'outing' one of the family. what a non-story that died as it should have. everyone knew and it wasn't news. I still have a pullover he designed and made for me many yrs ago (he and a friend had a fashion business). it has never been 'worn' in the true sense as I was told it was only meant to be draped over the shoulders with the arms crossed over the neck!!!

ah all things come to he who waits ....its a passage of time thing...

was in the parish today and saw no snakes - possibly because of the weather - but I did (or should that be did not?) notice any significant pigeon population - is this because of the culinary deviance of Vic? J'accuse!!!!! (CL - does that pigeon lay choccy eggs ? if so can ya send me a breeding pair)

my apologies mercury, I assumed he was Italian as it stuck In my mind that he was associated with pinnafarina. as an aside = having spent many yrs in Italy and knew the Agnelli family who owned fiat and a large lump of Ferrari .I was often at the marinello rosso collection and was invited to a pre release press day (free drink included) for the Fiat tipo. I had to reach for another bottle when I saw in wonderful tacky chrome letters on the back of the pre production mock up of the turbo diesel model -the following; Fiat Tipo TurD I really should have said nothing............................

oo the grauniad -- the worlds most difficult crossword as they cant typeset and ergo all the clues are wrong -- oh and they did manage to publish the wrong days clues for that days crossword once. don't ya love a challenge lol <--sticks to the times - don't read it just do the crossword (and a word on balance -- the times is published by the same folk that do the Sun-- as ever newspapers sell by the brash headlines and folk buy what they want to read so they feel comfy.) its a life choice and no disrespect.

and they still call it a mini?? these later abominations have the same wheelbase as a 90 series Landover-- and that's mini??? it all went downhill when they stopped having a bit of string to open the doors and sliding windows that seemed to be factory fitted with green mould -- British engineering at its best (oops it was styled by Alex Issigonis --ahem Italian -- and was ground breaking in its time (seem to think it was the first transverse engine front wheel drive in mass production) - Armstrong and all the other great Tyneside engineer/industrialists would be rotating in their graves at a faster rate of knots than the than the Turbinia seeing what is regarded as the best Britain has to offer now lol (not forgetting the 4x4 version with the ground clearance of a snail) oh and many yrs ago a car got stuck in the underpass tunnel from whitley bay to the sands as the tunnel had a kink in it -- ii think that was a 68hp Hillman imp (er and it was a police car) as an aside to the above -- ii think the 'Darwin Awards' are due soon and I do so like them!!!

was referring neither to thee nor me when I posted that CL - as I am 'pile free' although I am in the parish later today and hope its not something in the air down there.

oo the rend in morpeth -- many times spent there and the café upstairs next to smailes and crawfords-- happy days but I have worked out the reason for the irrational and unprovoked onslaught tother day - it was Sunday and therefore we must blame the Anglican church and the government for the Sunday trading laws - i.e. -- Sunday - no chemists open -ergo no preparation H and having piles (of that ilk) is enough to make anyone liverish... long may they continue for some .... (since there seems to be a musical slant to that - how about goldfinger?? if they really itching) anyhows I was in the parish yesterday and will be tomorrow and for next few days and I will purchase locally at the many and varied local shops owned by interlopers from far afield - ah this England - this sceptred isle - where pigs heads are put on synagogues doorsteps and 3rd April has been publicised as punish a Muslim day - it makes ya proud to be British... when are we going to pencil the annual festival of Kristallnacht?? oh and don't forget the marches for solidarity planned by muslims in Newcastle and the long standing free food at any gurdwara - oh and the mosgues that have opened up food support for the homeless -- far more than any Christian faith. as the bard said (roughly) in every bed of roses there's a prick -- or was that thorn -- same thing -sort of -maybe hamlet touched upon it in the bit about outrageous fortune - or maybe not I await to be shot down -- but be warned I am not an easy target!

only sharing 'facts'

? If I am being referred to as hector I am honoured - - a Trojan prince and greatest hero of Troy - 1st born of Priam and Hecuba. I was being 'light' in most of my posts but it appears that any irrebuttable statement of fact (that is facts - not opinions) that don't meet with perceived wisdom is not acceptable. What I do not find acceptable is the regular unfounded xenophobia displayed, which a shame on all who think that way. in the meantime I am off to buy some crème eggs - made in Birmingham by Kraft, an American company. But perhaps all will be made clearer with the official Cadbury story of the crème egg.. https://www.cadburyworld.co.uk/schoolandgroups/~/media/CadburyWorld/en/Files/Pdf/factsheet-easterbrands

ops forgot to add - as an aside http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43336409

btw -- doolally tap - the Indian transit camp in the days of the raj where folk went a 'bit distracted' hence the significance of tapping the head to indicate a 'bit touched' -- oo summat else we got from them foreigners lol

this was actually posted by an acquaintance of many years who is a 'druid' and I thought I (or should that be one?) would share the moment. I am open to all thoughts and opinions, however I would like to see a truly genuine and attributable original 'Christian' festival date. I never inspect crème eggs - (nearest stockist is the village shop and then its 22 mile round trip to contrast and compere with another vendor and I have better things to do)- I do not have the patience or the will to delay the enjoyment (and the spotty hens may give brown eggs but they def not choccy) in a similar way that brown cows eat green grass but only give white milk -- there's a song there somewhere..... The only knock on the door I dread is from the Mormons or Jehovah's types -- although having both a certificate of ordination and articles of ministry helps -- I can wear those like garlic and silver bullets against those intruders and be happy in my own world.

but on a final note --can there be any better thing at the end of a long day than a hot bath and a cream (crème??) egg?? hedonism at its best!!!

Shankhouse.. I recall the Folly had some nice wrought iron legged bar tables with round wooden tops, at least one of which had a chess/chequer board marked on the top with a drawer underneath for the pieces. Opposite the Folly was the post office/corner shop/bakery run by a woman called (I think) Mary and the baker was her brother who had been in the navy as a cook. I also think that Shankhouse was one of the founding member teams of the FA and that they were entitled to cup final tickets! There also used to be an overhead coal transporter on wires like the one on the Get Carter film (Cambois) which ran along the road from Shankhouse up towards Cramlington HIgh Pit (the two pits between High Pit and the Bay Horse pub were called the Betsy and the Anne (where the football field is now)

ya what?? I have enough trouble recalling who I am without interlopers taking my 'good' name in vain

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43115485 http://www.nature.com/articles/nature25738.epdf?referrer_access_token=KhrIR6dVnJidvexUDFvrUdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MvCgRpafo1l7XRALArFgCO6vOi1SAh6jgQaefsnzZX1pGLIas5jRPHdWo7nCUK_NDOU3EOuvXbOrokXtSkYpMwwyPp1RX8x9L3YKpE-avBD7y8BMXJGkh-s2PAa-PuH7eNTFa6q49J-9KIzGu5-MiDgnmambg8wFefQuLC3N4ALA%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.bbc.co.uk nuff said .. not only were the British (ahem) no younger than the ice ages but then the ones that are sooooo 'British' today are even newer newcomers - them damn foreigners get everywhere!!! (younger than Stonehenge am I -- I think there's a song there...) so when does an indigenous population become a separate entity?? how long does that take? and what defines it? I cant see anything in Britain that is younger than Victorian values which is the perceived profile. so we have it now -- the British -- new lads on the block and making up their past for credibility?? off ya pedestal and read Tim Chickens speech and think of how 'new' and mixed we are -- and if ya doubt that read the old testament and consider the 'race memories' in that. (the transition from hunter gatherer to farmer etc)

so how do you fit in the indigenous folk that have word for - one- two and the all else is many ?? ooo and when is the us/uk definition of million/billion gonna be decided?

I seem to think that the main requirement is copious amounts of marmalade sandwiches??

perhaps the demise of the use of 'one' and its replacement with 'I' is the first example of 'txtspeak' - replacement of the word with the number, although I always felt the use of 'I' is much more self centred and of less worth than the more self effacing 'one' there are many examples of a paragraph written with additional letters, where you have to count the repeated letters and many people are unable to see them at all. which sheds an insight on how we take in visual keys and understanding.

and I call the child many names --most not acceptable in the more delicate circles of society --although I have found that the titled friends of ours have a greater grasp of the more basic language than most others lol

I can spell I just cant type and anyways I have always been of the opinion that if you spell the same word the same way every time you show a distinct lack of imagination lol -- spooner malaprop et al -there is no better joy than mangling the English language in the right way. although I do despair at the child's a level English - in the huge lack of vocabulary and the absolute dimness of what they are saying and where the words originated from - and that includes her whole year group - at times I feel as though I am speaking a foreign language -- er oh yes I am its English lol