Timbo

I have to say, Fred, in many ways, is a perfect exemplar of his breed. Oh boy is he stubborn! But, at 10 weeks and four days old, he's already mastered commands such as 'sit', 'down' and 'turn round'. I'm now working on his recall. He will answer to his name...when he feels like it...and we start his lead training this week now that we've found a harness that fits him (don't tell him but we've had to buy a harness for a ferret). House training was relatively easy. As he was hand reared he'd been trained from birth to 'go outside'. We did encounter two problems. The weekend he arrived was the hottest on record so opportunities to actually go outside were reserved for the night. Secondly my most recent operations on my mouth (doctors took notice of comments like 'someone spoiled a really good bum when they put teeth in that hole' and did something about it) have left me with some difficulties with words like 'sit'. Fred doesn't know whether to sit or squat on bad days! In the past I've had beagles, collies, black labs, lakeland/border terriers, Jack Russells (proper ones not what passes for a Jackie these days) but I've never had a dog as tiny as Fred. Feeding him is a real problem. Due to his start in life he was a little under nourished. Fortunately our vet Gordon is a good friend of ours and he and his wife Mandy were instrumental in the rescue of Fred and George. Gordon pronounced Fred as 'boring' which is vet speak for he's healthy just a little bit under weight. So every form of specialist dachshund food has been purchased, every brand and flavour of puppy food and Fred has wolfed the first bowl and subsequently turned his nose up at the remainder. He will however, eat fresh chicken and tinned tuna. After ten years of greedy beagles I am at a bit of a loss! In other news....I've still not had a cigarette since last year!

Every time I wake up he says 'Morning Sausage'. That's not right. I don't keep telling him 'You shall not pass...Uncle Albert you plonker!'. Not once have I mentioned his big belly. The name is Fred Weasley, Fred for short. There will be no 'short jokes'. Unt zer vil not be any Fawlty Towers jokes eizer! I am a mini mini miniature chocolate dapple dachshund. People keep saying I'm a 'rescue'. At no time did he 'rescue me'. There were no ninja moves, no commando hand signals, no jumping into rivers or burning houses involved. I am mini mini because I have been hand reared at the rescue centre with my brother George after my Mum was removed from a farm and was too tired to rear us. His nibs and my new Mum baby sat us while the rescue lady could have a night off hand feeding. I now lives Uncle Albert 2.0 or Albert Light My hobbies include sleeping a lot, swinging off his beard, scragging fluffy lions and running through bits of drain pipe in the garden, giving lip to big dogs jumping through expensive antique maps what smell of moffs an ol' ladies and helping with important research...when I can keep my eyes open! I've now had all my jabs and will be going for my first 'walkies' on Friday. Apparently, because I'm magnetic in some way, this means he needs to go for a hair cut and beard trim? Due to my 'ickle leggies' Mum has bought him a 'doggie sling' for me to ride in when I gets tired. I think its a great idea but he didn't look too happy til all the ladies came to say how cute I looked in his 'man bag'! Yesterday I did an Amber Hurd. No, not that kind...I stood on a bee which stung my leg and I was very poorly, so poorly I was limping and had to have chicken nuggets for my tea to make it better! Right, its nap time...I'm keeping an eye on him though, he was shouting about something Bronze Age and this means extra walks apparently! Fred

I'm popping this post in the lounge and not in the history area as, although its a history question and its does pertain to boats, its not a Norfolk boating history question. I've been resting up over the past few months...plenty of fresh air and all that rubbish...members that know me well may be shocked to discover that I stopped smoking last New Year's Eve! As a consequence I've been out and about more often...practising the walking. One of my favourite haunts is by the river Trent where I enjoy looking for the signs and remnants of the once vibrant port, shipyards, docks, industry and architecture demolished and eradicated between the 1960s and the present. The local council and its planning department have done more damage than the Luftwaffe ever managed. My local heritage association has quite a large repository of photographs of the area in its heyday which I find both fascinating and useful. But...obviously the images are not in colour. The very old photographs that feature a skyline of masts from schooners, keels and sloops I know the colours, but the more modern images from the 1950s onwards I'm stumped as to the colours of the various vessels. Below are two images of Watson's shipyard. The first taken in the 1920s and the second in the late 1950s. The buildings are still there and still in use although the slipway has now gone and the buildings no longer used to build ships and boats. In the foreground of the second image is a vessel. What type of vessel is it and what colour would it have been?

As a historian and archaeologist, sometimes I'm confronted with documents and artifacts that can be both dire and ancient and often on the gooey side. Sometimes I'm confronted with documents that just make me chuckle. Such was this press cutting dated July 1883 dealing with a case of witchcraft in the village of Crostwick. The article is headed "Superstition in Norfolk" and reads as follows. My funny bone was activated by the magistrate rebuking the labourer Holme for his superstition and the woman 'Smith' for her 'foolish pretensions'.

A super colony has nothing to do with the number or rarity of a species, but everything to do with the dispersion of a species within a defined geographic area. With a few exceptions bat species cannot build their own roosts but are dependent upon them for protection against predators and the elements. Social structures in bat species are often complex, however the formation of a super colony would point to something making the bats react in an atypical behaviour. It could be lack of roosts, disturbance of routes or a myriad of influences. Think about it, a species few in numbers nationally, congregating in large numbers locally...one mis-step locally and the national population is decimated. The 'publication' of data in an academic context is an essential part of the research, not to be skipped. This is the part of the process where the research is peer reviewed. The data is checked and double checked by other specialists in the given field against other research projects and in publication refined in detail and concept. Sometimes a second paper is produced which is easily understood by those outside of the speciality. When I publish a paper, having dealt with planning departments and ministries at home and abroad on local and national government level for thirty years, I also write a third report which I refer to as a 'Janet and John'. This is intended for planners whose professional knowledge is limited to, well, planning and politicians whose knowledge is just limited. If they could process the raw data, then they would be working on my team and not in planning. One of the rediscovered pleasures of my new job is up skittling planning departments, it can be cruel...but so much fun! Landscape management is a small world and academia even smaller. I had the pleasure of meeting Lotty at Bristol University where she directed the post doctoral research into the management of bats in churches. She is one of the experts in her field, respected both here in the UK and abroad, a consummate academic and absolutely fascinating to talk to. I asked a lot of Timbo type questions and she was unflappable.

I'm going to break the forum Terms of Service. As Chairman, I've given myself permission to do so. I'm going to paraphrase some of my favourite literary sources as well as the odd movie. I consider myself a good man, and a good man knows his limitations. I've reached mine. Some of you will know that I have been quite poorly for some time. Over this last year I have been stepping back from the majority of my academic duties as well as various committees and posts both foreign and domestic. The post of Chairman of the NBN is the last of those positions. I've reached the point where I need to spend time with my family, and there are 'things' I want to do. Several years ago now, Ian, Polly and I were dropped in at the deep end to keep the forum running. That we have done. All of us took up our positions as Chairman, Treasurer/Owner and secretary on the proviso those appointments were temporary. We didn't ask for those appointments but we did our best in the roles. The forum currently has over 3000 full members and over 125,000 individual regular (human) visitors a year. We have an excellent moderation team and the finances of the organization are secure. It took us longer than we anticipated but all three of us believe it is time we stood aside. The new Owner/Chairman, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary are in position and will announce themselves shortly. I do like to stay several steps ahead. So what does this mean for the forum and members? Absolutely nothing. The forum will continue in its current shape and form. Ian, Polly and I are not going anywhere, we will still be members of the forum and 'help is always given at Hogwarts to those that ask'. Above all, 'friendship' is what I will take away from time with the NBN. To have made so many friends has been a deep joy to me. Over my years as Chairman, I've enjoyed the many discussions on the forum. Some have made me chuckle, some made me angry and some made me laugh out loud. Particularly discussions on historical environment and landscape policy that I had a hand in writing in my former career. A brief return to that former career is one of the 'things' I wanted to do and I have been given the opportunity to do exactly that. As an academic, a last chance to waltz about 'knowing stuff' and 'writing stuff' that keyboard warriors will Google and quote in future online discussions is an opportunity to write 'Timbo woz 'ere' that will keep me chuckling as long as I am able. So what other 'things' do I want to do? I want to finish Royal Tudor and get the chance to spend some time afloat with the grand-kids. I'm saving up for a lathe so I can continue to learn wood turning. Strange as it may seem, as a Roman archaeologist...I've never been to Rome. I need to correct that! I would like to take a moment to thank the various team members, moderators and the membership for their support and encouragement over the years. The regular phone calls, messages, pep talks and assorted questions, daft or otherwise, have meant a great deal to me. Thankyou all. Alas, I've spent too short a time among such excellent and admirable boaters. I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. I regret to announce...this is The End. I am going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell.

Alternatively dial 119 from any telephone conventional or not and ask for your pass to be posted to you.

The short answer to your question is 'yes', Andrew. Temperature and UV light effects both wooden and fibreglass boats in different ways over both a long period of time and a short period of time. Doug, Dave and Vaughan will be the experts on this. The different materials used to build boats react in different ways to temperature. Wooden boats dry out, gaps can appear between the planks and the sunlight can damage the varnish. With fibreglass its usually the plastic and foam cores used inside the fibreglass for rigidity that gets 'cooked' and eventually warp. Once distorted, the cores cannot be repaired.

It looks like my weekend is fully booked. I'm currently up to the eyeballs designing potion bottles and making magic wands. A Skelegrow bottle to be made tomorrow. On Saturday I will once again don my muggle disguise to attend Gracie's Harry Potter Party. I don't know whether to be pleased that at her last Harry Potter Party simply adding a bow tie to my usual mufti and my granddaughter instantly proclaimed I had come as Professor Slughorne...or annoyed and seek some fashion guidance for the over the fifty something that still has to wear 'robes' to work on occasion? Sunday? I will be watching the quidditch, I mean footballing. A case of Peroni and some of Honeydukes best Crystalized Pineapple by my side!

One of the rare times that I sat and watched the match on television and the whole experience left me feeling...bewildered. For some reason, I don't think the commentators were watching the same match that I was! While studio staff waxed lyrical about England's prowess, I was sat thinking our right side was weak from the midfield up. Saka was out of his depth, Mount was effectively missing in action, our team (that scores most goals from the head) was being out-jumped by the Danes and if not for Walker and Stones we would have been hammered into oblivion. Grealish arrived and departed with little impact. English tactics seemed to consist of a lot of falling over and with the forwards on the floor there was no one to pick up the loose ball at the edge of the area. This morning I've read and heard reports on the quality of 'record breaking' Pickford in goal, where as I thought he was nervous, verging on shambolic. 'Who's our goalie?' Ellie asked as both Matty and I groaned every time he got near the ball. 'Stan Laurel!' the reply. Meanwhile, Ellie was convinced England would win. I have to admit I had predicted an Italy/England final after the first games of the tournament. But extra time saw Ellie join me loitering outside while I had a smoke, the tension was too much. Outside we could hear the roars from the crowd at Gainsborough Trinity in the valley below us as they watched the match on a big screen. An 'ooh' followed by cries of 'shame' had me scuttling inside to watch a replay on TV of the infringement that saw England awarded a penalty. The Trinity crowd was right, the 'shame' of such a soft penalty. 'Can he kick it twice on a penalty? But we won!' said Ellie, the Chelsea supporter...sorry Ian but she is, as the final whistle blew. Matty looked at me. We were both pleased to see England in a final but we both knew that as 'wins' go, that one was inglorious. Best to keep quiet and move right along, nothing to see here! As for the final...I'm torn. Yes, I would like England to win but Italy have played some beautiful football!

Fascinating stuff! Leadenhall Street, where The Trident Magazine was published, was home to the East India Company, Lloyds Shipping as well as the P&O offices.

Watt?

That would be the 'Uncle Albert' Long Service Gong, followed by the Wussername 'Antequam Romam' plaque on the wall!

An opportunity to visit Yugoslavia, dropping in for tea with Clement Atlee to discuss independence for India and Umberto II's plans for an extended holiday in Portugal?

It seems that a metal detectorist has discovered Wussename's allowance in Reepham. He must have done his chores that week! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-57520248