Giants and Ogres

 Good evening and here I am back after my adventures way up north in the country. More of that next week, but first a little about a trip we made over to the far reaches of Sussex a few days before we headed off. You know you've gone a long way east when the road signs are directing you towards Folkstone! On this occasion we were in pursuit of giants and an ogre.

Now I rarely pass up the chance to see old machines being put through their paces whether that be cars, traction engines. planes or in this case some whopping great beam engines. Originally these behemoths were installed as part of the Hastings water works to pump water along a six mile pipe into the town. The water works were set up in 1904 with two Tangye engines [one has been destroyed]. 

In 1940 another engine made by Worthington Simpson joined their ranks. It had only been manufactured the year before and was the last one made in the country. It and its fellow engines continued operating until 1964 when they were mothballed.

By 1994 when the decision was taken to restore the engines they were in poor condition. However, the Brede Steam Giants society got the bit between their teeth and many thousands of voluntary hours later they have been beautifully restored [along with many pieces of machinery on display] and they now have them running on the first Saturday of the month with free entry. They are magnificent beasts to behold, but are not the only giants that the small village of Brede can lay claim to.

In the nearby parish church is this rather unremarkable tomb with the recumbent figure of Sir Goddard Oxenbridge depicted upon it.

In life this gentleman was a pious chap who was deeply religious and held various offices including the Sherriff of Sussex and Surrey yet even during this time the rumours swirled that he was a giant of a man who measured 7' in height and could only be killed by a wooden [not a metal] weapon. It was even claimed that he ate a child every day for his supper. The calling of his good name into disrepute seem to have started either with the smugglers or the Catholics. The legend was that in the end he was caught by a gang of children one night when he was drunk and they sawed him in half with a wooden sword on the nearby Groaning Bridge. Henceforth he has been known as the Brede Giant or worst still the Sussex Ogre. All very undeserved poor fellow.

Nowadays the Brede Giants are run on compressed air rather than steam which means that they can't run both at once...that gave us as a natural break and a chance to do a bit more nosing about over lunchtime. More on that next time.

Arilx

Spiky

"I told you I was ill"

When the church refused to let Spike Milligan have those words upon his grave he had the last laugh and had them put on in Irish instead. Witty to the end.

 Have a great weekend folks. I shall be conspicuous by my absence next week, so will catch up with everyone in a few days time.

Arilx

A half day

 During the difficult months back in the Spring David and I had one of those 'what the hell moments' and booked ourselves tickets to see Professor Alice Roberts over in Guildford. Time has flown by and before we knew it there we were on the day itself. TYM lives over that way and with a shedload of leave to use or lose [he's been working very long hours over the summer] he took a well earned half day. Challenging weather ie heavy rain and Mondays can be a tricky combination, but we sussed it in the end and headed down to the National Trust's Dapdune Wharf.

The river Wey was made navigable between Guildford and the Thames in London way back in the 1650s. Quite a feat of engineering with 12 locks along the 15 mile route and all a good 100 years before the canals were dug in the Midlands. This particular stretch of water took flat bottomed barges which traded up until 1958 and would have been used to transport all sorts up into the city. There was a huge spike in demand for timber following the Great Fire in 1666. By the later 19th century Dapdune wharf was in the ownership of the Stevens family. They had 11 barges built for them between 1909 and 1940 of which Reliance pictured below is the sole remaining example.

These barges could carry 80-85 tonnes per trip and were pulled by horses. Sadly Reliance met a rather ignominious when she hit a bridge on the Thames and sank. Eventually she ended up rotting on the mudflats at Leigh-On-Sea from where she was rescued and restored by the NT back at her original Dapdune home where she'd been constructed back in 1931-2. Nowadays you can go round inside, but the ceilings are low so you need to duck down and living conditions were cramped. The bulk of the boat space was needed for its cargo.

Looking at those blue skies it seems hard to believe that it had been bucketing down only a few minutes before and we'd arrived on site looking like drowned rats! Nothing that a quick visit to the cafe and a restorative coffee couldn't sort out. Thankfully the weather held for the rest of our time there.

It's only a small place, but interesting nevertheless. TYM is not a member of the NT, but, as it's alongside the river with public access, there's no charge [except parking]. 

TYM really enjoyed his little break, but he did say it felt a bit like he was playing truant😄. We had a marvellous time with Prof Roberts later too. We don't go out that often together as a family, but it's always a good time when we do.

Arilx

Dragons

Someone somewhere has decided that I'm going to be encountering dragons on my two wanderings this week.🐉🐲 Fortunately the baby one is too little to breathe fire yet so I escaped unscorched from my encounter with it.😂

 Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Arilx

Get Your Gladrags On.

Almost inevitably last weekend featured yet more dancing from moi. This time we were at a very local quirky show which we have performed at for several years and it marks the end of our summer season. It changes year on year as to what's there and the best way to describe it is to expect the unexpected. This time it was the costumes and clothes on display which really caught my attention. Those wonderful jackets are made by a company which refashions old unloved garments. Their particular speciality is making new things from old curtains. I would have loved to have been parading around in something beautiful and colourful....alas my colour of the day [and technically not even a colour] was a nice and jolly funereal black❤😎

It was glorious to catch these spots of brightness in between the squally showers.

Arilx