Upgrading our systems

After eight successful years our Macbook (Miriam) has entered semi-retirement and has been replaced by Emily, who is a Mac Mini. We've gone back to a "desktop" style computer after a decade of laptops - one reason being Miriam, and the Macbook before her (Suzy), never actually moved from the desk. You can get more bang for your buck with a desktop computer, and a much bigger screen.

Emily is our first main computer without a traditional hard drive (it has an SSD) and no CD drive. Although Miriam's CD drive was hardly ever used especially in recent years, it will be interesting to see if the lack of a drive on the new computer will end up being a problem or not. Miriam is always available if we need to check a CD-ROM of course...

Oakengates and Wombridge

Today I headed back to Shropshire to visit Oakengates which is now part of Telford (though originally a town in it's own right). I also walked to the Wombridge area to see the parish church, in the churchyard are the remains of a former priory. You can see my photos here.

Churches (66) : St Nicholas, Codsall

The church of St Nicholas in the Staffordshire village of Codsall has Norman origins though only the doorway survives from then. The Western tower dates from the fourteenth century but the rest of the church was built in the 1840s by Edward Banks in the Decorated style.

The church has a five bay nave with aisles. It has a South porch and a vestry to the North.

East Midlands Parkway

Few stations have as imposing a backdrop as this one, the man made mountains of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station's cooling towers.

Model Week : Tramway developments

The tramway will have a short isolated section for stock storage. The tram board was slightly extended to comfortably accommodate the tram in the isolated section. A short siding will also be added to the tramway so the engineering locomotive (the Class 33) can be stored out of the way when the tram is in operation. Once the track is finalised then it can be fixed down and scenery can be developed.