Back to my explorations of the Railway Times, now into 1838. This really does feel like a sub-optimal way of carrying gunpowder about the place….
“On Thursday se’nnight a serious accident happened on the works of the Great Western Railroad, near this city [Bristol], owing to excessive carelessness in the use of gunpowder. It appears that one of the men had just brought a fresh supply of gunpowder for blasting the rock, and had deposited a considerable quantity in his cap, which he placed near to the candle used in the blasting. One of the men in passing accidentally kicked down the candle, which communicated with the powder, an explosion took place, and five persons were more or less severely burnt. The unfortunate sufferers were conveyed to the infirmary.”
As an aside, which I think I’ve referred to before, the falling out of usage of the word “se’nnight” feels unfortunate. Meaning one week, in the same way as fortnight means two weeks, it’s a useful way of describing a period. Let’s break out Google’s Ngram that monitors word usage, I haven’t used this in a while.
It’s those pesky Victorians who forgot to use it….
I think I’ve posted this before, but these are some of the new routes from Wizz Air and this surprised and delighted me, some new cities for me to explore there (well, Debrecen, Cluj and Targu Mures).
Which? have released their annual airline survey with a relatively small number of responses far too low to make any reasonable useful statistical analysis, but from this they claim that Ryanair and Wizz Air are the lowest rated in their survey. Even by their figures, Wizz Air has one of the best punctuality figures.
They like to point out that when all costs are added together then Wizz Air are no cheaper. This seems to be forget that something around just over half the passengers boarding Wizz Air flights are going with one free cabin bag and evidently don’t want to pay the costs that airlines like British Airways force upon them. I don’t want a headline price that includes a bag as I, and seemingly around half of every flight, don’t want a bag.
Which? seem outraged that Wizz Air and Ryanair dismissed their report, although that’s probably because it’s ridiculous and nearly everyone will dismiss their report until they actually make it statistically useful. EasyJet rejected it too, but in an attempt to show their relevance Which? said:
“We’ve repeatedly found that airlines that include baggage and seat allocation in their fares can actually work out cheaper overall. Fly with anyone else, if you can.”
Same old tired claptrap, at least Ryanair and Wizz Air are transparent and give customers the chance to actually pay for what they want. I don’t want baggage and seat reservations, so why have I got to pay more? So even though BA would be over four times the price and offer me nothing more, they want me to fly with them?
It’s not clear to me why Which? don’t just suggest that if you want reserved seats, a three course meal, champagne, baggage, lounge access and a VIP tour of the cockpit from the pilot then go with a full service airline and fly a lot to get the benefits of the loyalty schemes. If you want to get to Poland for £10 then fly with Ryanair and Wizz Air which is what tens of millions merrily choose to do every single month. Choice, it’s quite powerful….
I’m aware that some of these posts are a little niche, but back to Yerevan and Armenia, with this little model of a bronze temple which dates to around the fifth or sixth century BC. This reminds me of a much more professional clay model that I made at school of a castle that I’m convinced will be worth at least £25 in twenty years (although it probably cost more than £25 in clay to make). It was also slightly more substantial than this little temple, but there’s something quite alluring about this exhibit which is about 3,000 years old and that’s also rather a long time for it to remain unbroken.
The museum notes that it was found at Astghi Blur, which was an ancient fortress located on a strategic hilltop near the village of Yenokavan in Armenia, featuring impressive double and triple stone walls that date back to the sixth and fifth centuries BC.
Back to Timișoara briefly, this is the Palace of Culture which was redesigned by Duiliu Marcu to give it this rather distinctive frontage. The building now houses the Romanian National Opera, the Mihai Eminescu National Theatre, the Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre and the German State Theatre which is all rather cosmopolitan of it.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this building (to me anyway) is its balcony, a site of immense revolutionary significance where the Proclamation of Timișoara was read on 11 March 1990. This document served as a powerful condemnation of communism, following the execution of Nicolae Ceaușescu at the end of 1989. As the nation sought a new path forward, the proclamation articulated a vision for democratic reform and political transparency. Although these liberal values faced immediate and harsh opposition from those loyal to the previous regime, the balcony remains a symbol of the moment Timișoara was declared the first city in Romania free of communism and this plaque was installed here last year.
And the centrepiece of the National Trust’s focus at this historic site, their cafe which was full of decadently priced things to appeal to decadent people. Namely Richard in our case. There was a fine selection of scones and a ridiculously priced sausage roll at £6.75.
To calm my nerves at the high pricing, Richard treated me to a plum & ginger cider.
Richard quickly transferring some money to his current account to fund his purchases. He was delighted by his scone I’m pleased to say, he went for the monthly special of the cheese and marmite one.
Anyway, as cafes go it was certainly quite extensive as well as being the busiest part of the site. It did seem to be the case that some members had driven out to the venue just so that they could visit the cafe, which I suppose is why there’s such a focus on it…..
This is the manor house at Lyveden, a site which is perhaps best known for the incomplete Lyveden New Bield. The National Trust have owned the latter for over a century, but in 2013, they also acquired this manor house. Not much is known about the manor house that Sir Thomas Tresham lived in, this one dates to after 1615 and after his death.
In my radical view, that no-one will care about as I complain about many things, I think that the National Trust has rather botched this. They’ve acquired, at significant expense, this entire property and they’ve done pretty much nothing of note to it that explains the history of the site.
They’ve got one room painted in bright colours which is a very potted history of the estate, but it seems that they’ve primarily taken the opportunity to build themselves a substantial cafe, numerous offices for their own usage and some empty rooms. There is so much potential for more imagery, deeper histories, maps and just information about the site.
I got free access as I’m a National Trust member, but this site costs around £13 per person to get in and that gives access to the exterior only of the unfinished building, along with entry into this former manor house. If a family came here because a child was interested to see the former manor house, I’d suspect they might feel conned by the cost of entry. It’s £33 for a family and although I know the National Trust price entry highly to get people to join, this feels like they’ve taking advantage at this point.
“Very little to see for the money, only 3 rooms open in the manor house, one used to sell books, one for the cafe and the other painted a garish magenta colour had a few info boards on”
I don’t disagree with this review….
What appears to have actually happened is that the National Trust has acquired this property to operate as a cafe. Lovely as that is, it would be nice if they gave some sort of priority to the telling of history and explaining what is happening at the site.
Absolutely interesting, but does this have to be shoved at the bottom of the stairs?
Anyway, in fairness, I’m not entirely grumpy and I liked this exhibit. Although I wasn’t overwhelmed with things to look at in the house, other than the fine selection of scones.
They had some books for sale in a room that I felt was really being used as an overflow area for the cafe.
No expense has been spared with the television that they’ve put in the fireplace.
Anyway, the next post is about the cafe, as I think that’s what the National Trust would like visitors to focus on.
My friend Richard loves scones and I love historic properties, so that meant we decided to go to a National Trust property for the day in mid-January. We opted for Lyveden New Bield, which is located near to Oundle, so roughly it’s somewhere inbetween Corby and Peterborough.
Lyveden New Bield was conceived in the late sixteenth century by Sir Thomas Tresham, a wealthy Northamptonshire landowner and devout Catholic. Tresham designed the building during a period of intense religious persecution under Queen Elizabeth I, intending for it to serve as a secret oratory and a powerful symbolic expression of his faith. Tresham’s vision was partly for a nice summer house when not as his main manor house just down the road, but it was also for a physical manifestation of his religious devotion at a time when taking part in Catholic services was a criminal act punishable by imprisonment or even death.
Full credit to the builders of this structure, it’s still in really quite decent condition centuries on, despite never having had a roof. Unfortunately, there’s no public access to the interior now, the National Trust have decided that it’s too risky.
The planned main entrance to the house. Construction on the New Bield began around 1595, but the project was never brought to completion as the work came to an abrupt halt following Sir Thomas Tresham’s death in September 1605.
Just months after Thomas’s death, his son and heir, Francis Tresham, became embroiled in the Gunpowder Plot, the failed Catholic conspiracy to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament. Francis died in the Tower of London on 23 December 1605, just before he could be executed, and the family’s estates were subsequently heavily fined or confiscated. Deprived of the funds and the leadership necessary to finish the intricate stonework and roofing, the house was left as an empty shell, preserved exactly as the builders had left it over four hundred years ago.
The site remained a ruin for centuries, eventually passing into the care of the National Trust in 1922. The survival is something of some note as it would have been easy for the building to be demolished at any time, or for it to be repurposed into a cattle shed or something.
I had to take this photo through the hole in the locked gate, but I did want to go and explore inside…… It’s not clear if the National Trust will ever allow entry again, they say that the closure is temporary but they don’t seem to be rushing to resolve the problems of what they claim is falling masonry.
Back to mid-January, when Richard and I decided that we needed a little adventure and we opted for Burton upon Trent and the Ibis Styles there.
The corridor arrangement is clever, as if someone stains it then it’s not really evident. I’m fairly confident that this was the actual reason for this design as I can’t see anyone picking this by choice.
Richard was very excited that the room he had booked came with a kitchenette. I was pleased that mine did too, but solely as I didn’t want him having a better room than me (I’m not petty). As an aside, I personally don’t like these kitchens in rooms, they’re a nightmare to clean properly for the staff and require substantial maintenance for something that many guests aren’t going to want. Keeping a microwave and every piece of cutlery and crockery clean isn’t an easy thing to do, I can’t really see why they want to burden themselves with this.
Someone rather unkindly used AI to put a bottle of wine in the fridge and pretended that it was a welcome gift. Actually, on that point, there was no welcome gift, but I won’t labour that matter. Anyway, Richard was stomping about the place as he didn’t get a gift of wine but luckily I was able to reassure him before the manager was called. It would be helpful for Richard’s stress levels if people didn’t do this, but at least I calmed the matter down before there was a diplomatic incident. It was a good job that I was there to be honest.
There was a modern looking bar area, all rather comfortable.
It’s quite a clever mix of retro and modern, although it hadn’t exactly inspired hundreds of people to come in.
I would have preferred a wider range of beers, but in fairness, they have Pedigree which is an important beer locally so at least they’ve made an effort to have a local option.
As for the hotel in general, it was all clean, welcoming and well maintained. Richard didn’t end up having an argument with the manager and there were no noise issues either internally or externally. It’s a relatively new hotel and it faces competition from an IHG hotel literally next door, but it all seemed well managed.
This is the final bar billiards table in the Norwich league that I haven’t played on, with the exception of the table out in South Walsham. It’s the table at the Rose and since Zak was planning to practice and Nick had a game from the singles competition at the pub, this felt the ideal time to try it.
Before Nick’s match, we had time for one game, and it transpired that neither of us had ever played at the table. He won, but not by many.
I did have a couple of victories in the evening and here’s Nick after beating his opponent 3-0. He now gets to play Oscar, who annoyingly beat me a few days ago…. Sub-optimal, I could have beaten Nick and I might have mentioned that to him 🙂
This was the second singles tournament game I’ve refereed in a week, I’m hoping that some of the talent will come to me via some form of osmosis.
Anyway, back to the table, it’s a robust arrangement and it’s quite fast off the back cushion. The pockets aren’t very forgiving, it requires some accuracy to get them in. It feels like a relatively low scoring table, I think it’s hard to build big breaks, but it’s nicely looked after. It’s the only table that’s £1 a play in the league, although I suspect the others will catch up at some point.
And, the Rose is a really lovely pub, a suitable range of cask and keg beers, friendly staff and it was also good to see my friend Emma over there, now back brewing Boudicca again.
