A few years ago, the Family Scrobs were on hols in The West Country, and having a very pleasant time.
One of the trips away from the holiday home, was to Lynton and Lynmouth, where the catastrophic flooding happened in the nineteen-fifties. There's plenty about that on old Pathe News bulletins (also see Scrobs passim http://scroblene-webley-bullock.blogspot.com/2011/03/act-of-kindness.html). It is a great place to visit, and one of the stars of the show is the funicular railway between the town at the top of the cliff, and the harbour below.
A trip on this railway is a must for all visitors as well. The workings are so basic, it's amazing that more isn't made of such a simple engineering solution! Water is pumped into a tank in the car at the top, which descends to pull up the car from the bottom, which has no water in its reservoir. They almost meet half-way, then proceed to each of their 'stations', and the whole procedure restarts.
There's a similar arrangement in Hastings Old Town up East Cliff, and several others dotted around the country, so the nerd in me asks why don't I visit every one of then, and do a Panorama Special on the subject?
I'm sure the awful BBC could use some decent prorammes instead of the dross they plonk out now!
We were there some years ago and you are right - a trip on the railway is a must. Victorian ingenuity and good fun too.
ReplyDeleteWell, I’ve never been but now it’s definitely on my to-do list - thank you!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately you’ve now saddled me with this ear worm, so the least I can do is share it...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_QKthjBIfsk
It is good fun, isn't it Mr H!
ReplyDeleteSuch a simple design and they probably recycle the water as well!
That's gorgeous, Macheath, thank you so much for the link!
ReplyDeleteI see someone posted there only two weeks ago, so we're 'on the right track'!
It was a theme for some long-forgotten advert on TV once, but I just can't remember what it was for - hopefully something Italian!
Schwarz spices, 1970s - ‘Schwarz it, Schwarz it, that’s the thing to do’
ReplyDeleteAbout as Italian as a Dr Oetkers pizza, I suppose, but they were less sophisticated times.
Macheath, - Scrobs here (disguised as 'Michael')...
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this! Schwartz spices used to be in pride of place at our Waitrose, but some carmudgeon in Bracknell (big place for the store) has decided that this has to stop!
As for pizza, I prefer the ones used by Waynetta Slob, which were 'less-high', and so helped the lovely Kathy Burke become an icon of beauty here - well, we just loved her really...
We'll be doing the 'Just one Cornetto' song soon, much to the annoyance of my gorgeous elderly neighbour, who was someone at Mafeking or elsewhere...
Well, that'll be somewhat of a relief for your neighbour - ha! As for ingenuity, may I refer you to all those from the distant past who we tend to think of having less brains than Pooh Bear. From the Stone Age onwards we acquired the knowledge to make tools, various types of metals some of which were used for practical use or for exquisite jewellery, the first artistic expressions of every day life via the cavemen paintings, the techniques used in building the pyramids and erecting the statues on Easter Island, good old Archimedes and his screw, Leonardo da Vinci's pioneering inventions of the parachute, the helicopter, an armoured fighting vehicle, the use of concentrated solar power, a calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics and the double hull to name but a few. As they say "Necessity is the mother of invention" but I'm not holding my breath for a reliable Covid vaccine any time soon as most of our whizz kids have left our septic isle and gone somewhere else for a better life and pay. In the meanwhile, our dedicated NHS staff keep plodding ever onward with no imminent pay rise whilst our MP's give themselves a pat on the back and a substantial and frankly undeserved salary hike. I am not best pleased to say the least!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea 👍
ReplyDelete