Category Archives: History

Kids

The high level bridge is my most favourite bridge. Its restoration over a decade ago was remarkable, turning an old blackened monster into a thing of beauty. 

In recent years, though, grafitti has made something of a mess of the structure. Apparently, the estimated cost of a clean-up is around £40,000. Removing the mess would probably be a waste of time, however. The underlying cause would remain and the grafitti would doubtless return. Kids. 

It may have seemed cute in the beginning, but the addition of hundreds of locks has attracted lovesick teenagers. Who, in addition to leaving a token of their undying love, leave the names of their loved ones, friends and words of youthly wisdom. 

Personally, I’d remove them all and throw them into the Tyne. Along with any returning teenagers. 

As an aside, there’s an interesting trick of light in the first picture. I was alone on the bridge. 

A wild and uncultivated waste

I live in what was, in the late 18th Century, described as a wild and uncultivated waste. 

I’ve mentioned previously that our street was originally named Sodhouse Bank. So, a domain name sale led us to purchase www.sodhousebank.com. 

At only £10.80 a year, with a year’s hosting for free, it had to be done. 

I should advise against clicking the link, since there isn’t actually anything there yet. 

Random old stuff

I have a fondness for old things. Furniture mostly. But I do love old brick and stone. 

Some brickwork I found in a bar in Birmingham the other week. 

And some from a bar in Leeds, on Friday. 

And from another bar in Leeds. 

Then one from today, in the garden. Stone this time. 

This one’s going to be a future project; there’s a few more hours of wire brushing first though. 

Made in Scotland

I finally gave in and bought one. A Westclox Baby Ben, which now proudly sits on the mantle. 

I may have been influenced a little by recent scenes from an episode of the Walking Dead. And, of course, by memories of a similar timepiece on the mantle of my childhood. 

I may have also bought a second. 

Extinction

Last year, when a Pterodactyl pooped all over me from a great height in Newcastle, I came to the realisation that dinosaurs were not actually extinct. 

Further evidence of this was discovered yesterday in the Central. When I observed a Tyrannosaurus Rex at the bar. 

Care should be taken when in Newcastle or Gateshead. 

Landfill

A while ago, I dropped down to one desktop PC. With smart TVs and other connected devices, there was no longer the need to have more. 

One old desktop didn’t quite make it to the tip, purely by accident. It hadn’t been used in years, so I was surprised that it booted-up this afternoon. 

I bought it from ebay for around thirty quid over a decade ago, but I think it’s around 17 years old. It’s running Ubuntu 12.04 and, if I remember correctly, couldn’t upgrade to 14.04 a few years ago. It’s something like a Celeron 5 or 600, with a half gig memory and a 60 gig hard drive. 

I may keep it. 

The Queens Head

One of three old pubs in/off our street that’ closed since I moved to Gateshead, the Queens Head was, according to the planning application, to be converted into bedsits. We’d had some concerns that this could result in cut price rentals for local Lambrini drinkers (straight from the bottle, that is). 

However, our fears have now been allayed. 

A/c Ross

My new reading material has arrived. 

It’s a second edition, from 1955, the year the book was released, 20 years after the author’s death. 

It was actually written in the 20s, but wasn’t published in his lifetime, or for a couple of decades later, since it didn’t reflect well on the RAF. 

I’ve only skimmed a few pages, but it’s very well written, with an unusual style.