Tem is Over

Yes, 13:00 today was an important deadline, all of my course work had to be uploaded to the university web site. Term was over!!! Time to relax. My absence from the blogosphere over the last few weeks has perhaps been down to not relaxing. I found the process of essay writing difficult to say the least. The information age is the student’s friend, but he should be wary, the sheer scale of the information available is mind blowing. For instance I was able to read unpublished university theses by subscribing to a British Museum site. Distilling this down into a coherently argued 3,000-word essay was challenging to say the least.

I have learnt much over the last ten weeks. The first is that my note taking must be better and more consistent. I need to plan my time better and probably get down to the assignments earlier. This will be especially important next year as I must make the most of Marion’ absence in the States to get a good start on the work. It is also very easy to disappear down rat holes, I would see an interesting article and read it, even if it was not directly relevant to the subject at hand. It has also been a humbling experience, I thought that I was knowledgeable about Victorian Railways, it turns out that I had a high level of ignorance. I am aware that I have also become very boring on the subject. Apologies to my family and friends.

What is worrying is that the bug has taken me over. So today even as term finished I am looking forward to next term’s reading list and topics being placed on-line, later this week. I can then get down to exploring the more dusty corners of Amazon’s offerings.

Wild, Wet, Windy, and Cold for Good Measure

It is clearly now winter, the weather has turned cold, it is windy, and very wet. I have noticed that my walking has declined, there are now simply less daylight hours to get outside, and even if I was so inclined the driving rain will probably put me off. On the bright side I am spending more time in the gym. I am working quite hard on my end of term essay, more of that later, but going to the gym and exercising hard during the middle of the day is really good. It cleanses the mind, gives me ideas, and makes the afternoon’s work much easier.

To get out of the house we went on spec to the cinema on Friday night, we watched Bridge of Spies newly released that day. Firstly let me thoroughly recommend this film, it is really good entertainment, the two hours in the cinema went really quickly. The story although well known is played with verve, the cinematography is superb as you might expect with the directors and writers. The acting is interesting in that a stage actor and a film actor, take the two main roles, watching the contrasting techniques is fascinating. It really evokes the Cold War era.

This weekend was our grand daughter’s birthday and in addition she was performing in a show. So it was with the rose tinted spectacles of all grandparents that we watched her dressed as a reindeer and Frosty the snowman and sense the gathering excitement as the birthday approached.

So back to that essay, this is the real thing and what I will be marked on at the end of the first term. I have done a huge amount of reading and have many ideas; it is now just a question of getting it down on paper in some sort of structured way. It is a different sort of pressure than work, there is much more personal pride at stake so the pressure is I think more intense. Still onward and upward, it has to be submitted in exactly one week’s time.

To end with an interesting and little known fact. When the first trains travelled between England and Scotland they had to be stopped at the border for the travellers to be searched. This was because the duty on spirits between England and Scotland was different and there were fears that people would be smuggling cheap whisky into Scotland!!!!

A Holiday in South East Scotland

We have been enjoying a family holiday on the South East Coast of Scotland. We usually have time in Northumberland at this time of year, however on the suggestion of our daughter we hosted a family get together at the weekend and have stayed on for the rest of the week. We are staying in an ultra-modern beach house in Coldingham Bay, so modern that it was described in the Mail Online as a carbuncle. I though rather like the nickname that the locals have given it, Tesco-by-the-Sea.

We had a great weekend with three generations of the family. We provided the house, the children made sure that there was plenty of food and booze. The grandchildren just turned up and were their usual entertaining selves. As the house is almost on beach great fun was had building sandcastles, playing beach cricket, and in Thomas’s case building a bonfire. It is a delightful unspoilt spot, except for the carbuncle of course. It was also a great house as there was plenty of room for everybody. On Saturday evening there was the added bonus of a firework display on the beach hosted by the local school for which we had ring side seats.

Since the activity of the weekend Marion and I have been relaxing and exploring an area that we do not know well. There are some great cliff top walks, quite demanding as they go up and down into and out of unspoilt little coves. The views from the tops of the cliffs are quite stunning, north to the Fife Coast and down the coast as far as Bamburgh.

The coastline is dotted with small workaday fishing villages like St. Abbs and Eyemouth, where there are still large working fishing fleets. In land we have driven to Coldstream and our find of today Kelso. This is a place straight out of the pages of Country Life. I spotted at least three shops where you could buy hunting, shooting, and fishing gear. We saw a man going about his business in plus fours, while the wearing of tweeds was obligatory. Never mind we found a great local pub; it served fantastic beer from the local Tempest Brewery (the barman was very free with his samples). The lunch was really good made from first class local produce particularly the local fish.

We are now battening down the hatches as a storm is forecast for tomorrow. No problem, I shall walk in the morning and we will have some lunch out.

The Blog is Back Again

I have found it very difficult to blog just lately, the ideas have not been coming and I have been very busy adjusting to the demands of my academic course. However I am starting to manage things better so I thought that it was time to get back to writing.

I am finding my studies a real pleasure, I am studying something that I am really interested in and enjoy. Also there is not really the pressure of exams and nothing is riding on this other than personal pride. My problem is sometimes that I go off at a tangent and read beyond my brief. This can of course be time consuming. I find that I have to adjust to the digital age, particularly in my note taking. It is a lot easier to read a PDF as I can transpose the notes straight to my computer. Reading a book is slower as I can read and write, however I cannot read and type on my computer.

The course material is excellent, I really only have one issue and that is the participation of my fellow students. Every week we are posed two questions and are supposed to blog about them, commenting in turn on other people’s contributions. The first couple of weeks this worked well and there were some lively discussions. However since then it has tailed off and there are only two or three regular contributors. I find this a pity as I miss the interaction with fellow students. I have a sneaking suspicion that the majority are just reading and preparing for the end of term essay.

Still I am learning a lot, and really it is teaching me how little I knew even about things local to me. I am finding the story behind Whitby in the nineteenth century fascinating. Here was a small town argued over by the grandee’s of the North Eastern Railway, and no less a person than George Hudson that were fundamental to its development.

So now that I have started to get into a routine I will endeavour to blog more.

Railway Studies and Playing Trains

As I have already blogged I am undertaking some post graduate studies, this has already led to some comments from my family along the lines of “Nerd” and “Obsessed”. To confirm all of this I have spent the day in York, studying and playing trains.

Firstly I was at the National Railway Museum; it really is a spectacular national treasure. Although it has many full size exhibits I rather like the ephemera associated with railways. There are fantastic models that have been made of engines and boats, and the silver ware and crockery used by the railways. They exude a confidence that these were the great industrial combines of their age.

The museum also has a good library of railway books; particularly some obscure journals that I use on my course. As it is free to use and has good Wi-Fi it is a natural place to go and study. I have an advantage over all of my fellow students in living within easy reach of this facility. It must be a lot harder living abroad to undertake this very British study, even in this era of e-books.

The other big bonus of today was hidden away in the corner of the museum. There they have a large model railway dating from 1905 that was used to train the signalmen of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and it’s successors right down to Rail Track in 1995. It is a fantastic working period piece. Everything works, and even at model pace you really experience the pressure of working in a signal box, particularly for me because it is double track, and I am only used to single track with passing places. My thanks to the volunteers who guided us through using it.

It is the Grandchildren

Well we have just put our two grand daughters to bed, what a day. Their parents were off for a weekend at a luxury hotel so we were volunteered to look after the girls. Absolutely no hardship!!

Firstly I now regret staying up talking with a glass of bourbon to 1.30am. It was no preparation for the 7am start when two faces appeared round the door. Now we had promised the girls some time on the beach with buckets and spades, probably you should make such a promise after seeing the weather forecast. It was a brisk easterly wind straight off the sea, mixed in with rain.

Still undeterred we ventured on to the beach, there was nobody else there except dog walkers and one wind surfer. It was great, we ran around, dug holes, built sand castles, and for some mysterious reason buried two footballs. However after ninety minutes the girls were becoming cold, so the idea of a picnic in sub-zero temperatures was abandoned in favour of having it in front of the kitchen fire. Multiple ham rolls disappeared in no time at all. One child had a bath while the other was read stories.

I think all parties were happy to play indoors, where the barge of the Sylvanian families met Pirate Island. It appeared to be a holiday for the Sylvaniains in an island paradise.

Time for tea and a disappointment, we walked to the local fish and chip shop where it was proved that I could no longer out-run a six year old. However it was shut for holidays so no matter we had to drive for our traditional tea. The best moment however was when the three year old on being asked what she would like responded, fish and chips (so far so good), with scraps!!

Well after a mountain of fish and chips with mayonnaise we all donned our night wear for a film evening. It was great we watched Shaun the Sheep the movie. It was hugely successful as it had the entire audience in fits of laughter. It was a brilliant films hugely well crafted with something for all ages. It was like a silent movie as there was no dialogue, just music and sound effects.

Then after the usual, but this time very muted protest it was to bed. I can now hear the zzzzzing coming down the stairs. We are having an early night after a really lovely day. It is fantastic having grand children.