Tuesday, 24 September 2024

Frosty (2010 - 2024)

Frosty was a rescue cat. We think he was a Turkish Angora. He was brilliant white with blue eyes and was deaf, as many white cats are. He arrived by chance in December 2019 when he was already 9 1/2 years old. As much as my wife likes cats and other animals she is a born worrier so it always seemed that another cat was out of the question after our last one passed away in 2001. Being deaf was what made it possible because he was a house cat and would not go out meaning he would be safe. Apart from an odd 10 days of suddenly hiding and only coming out for food he settled in fairly well and then in March 2020 Covid came along and we spent a few weeks at home with various bags and boxes from the office where we work and Frosty loved it, a veritable adventure playground with loads of new places to sleep. He truly became 'our' cat from then on gradually turning in to a lap cat as well, naturally favouring my wife.
We then found he would venture in to the garden, initially on a lead, then under our watchful eye and ultimately left to his own devices. Generally a brief soiree and then he would hurtle in . He hardly ever ventured from our garden, being a real home cat and we loved his ways.
Sadly Frosty started to display some health problems a couple of years ago and although he rallied with the aid of treatment from the vet the problems began to have a more obvious effect and today, after a few poor days for him, we had to make the extremely sad decision to call time. Almost 5 years has gone too quickly and the house seems quiet and empty this evening but we gave him the best we could and console ourselves that he was very happy in that time. Frosty you will be missed big time.


Thursday, 5 September 2024

Papplewick Pumping Station

Papplewick Pumping Station was built in the 1880s to pump fresh water in to reservoirs that then supplied the city of Nottingham. There were two beam engines and six boilers in situ to do this and they remained in use, basically unchanged, until 1969 when the site was decommissioned.

The site is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is open for tours and also has live steam days. We were there a week before the next live steam but one of the boilers was already lit as it takes a week to gently build the boiler up to pressure and heat the water to produce the steam required as a very cautious approach is taken to operations today.

The Pumping Station is typical of Victorian extravagance with much decorative detail that has no purpose outside of being ostentatious.


Tuesday, 3 September 2024

Ballindalloch Castle

Ballindalloch Castle, a little south of Elgin in Scotland, is the family home of the Machperson-Grants and has been since 1546 when the first tower was built. The castle has been extended over the years notably in 1770 and 1850. We went for a look last month on a damp day that turned to pleasant sunshine for a good while after lunch.
Quite a bit of the castle is open to the public but as it is still a family home photographs of the interior are unfortunately prohibited. Never the less it is worth a tour. However, the castle exterior is quite photogenic and there is a nice walled garden and rock garden providing pleasing vistas.

 

Friday, 30 August 2024

Havengore

Havengore was launched in 1956 as a survey vessel for the Port of London Authority. It has also performed ceremonial duties most notably carrying Winston Churchill's coffin on the Thames as part of the state funeral in 1965. I caught it moored in Ramsgate Harbour this week.

Friday, 23 August 2024

Boyne Castle

Boyne Castle is a bit off the beaten track. It can be found on the Scottish coast between Portsoy and Banff but it is not a recognised tourist attraction, has no parking, facilities or even signs acknowledging its existence. I spotted it on a map and some online pictures suggested it was worth a look.
The castle is off a narrow country lane without any room to park and a good walk from anywhere. If you get lucky there is room for a car at the entrance to the overgrown field that you need to walk through to get to the castle. We got lucky!
The castle was built around 1575 and is sometimes referred to as a palace. It was abandoned in 1723 and has gradually fallen in to decay since. It doesn't really appear to be maintained in anyway so will presumably collapse completely at some point.
It is necessary to exercise extreme caution in the castle as it is very overgrown, strewn with debris and has no barriers at window openings but it is never the less an interesting place to visit so long as you take care.