Castles (21) : Tonbridge

A castle was built in Tonbridge in Kent not long after the Norman Conquest, a motte and bailey castle was built by Richard Fitz Gilbert, the wooden keep later being replaced by a stone one. Fitz Gilbert's descendants rebelled against King William II who besiged the castle and eventually had both the castle and town burnt down!

The castle was rebuilt and expanded in the 13th century including a stone wall around the town. The castle has a large two towered gatehouse which took thirty years to construct and is one of the major remaining parts of the castle, which fell out of use in the 16th century. A mansion was built next to the gatehouse in 1793.

Guildford 2024 Day 2

Day 2 of this year's trip to Guildford soon took me into the complicated network of lines east of the city, deeper into Surrey. I had a morning travelling around these culminating in Dorking. Following lunch in Guildford i then headed gradually back to Reading and my final train back home. I stopped off in Crowthorne and Wokingham in Berkshire and gave each town a closer look. You can see my photos here.

Guildford 2024 Day 1

At the weekend i headed down to Guildford for my yearly trip, it really is my second home. I think this is my sixth visit. On day 1 i travelled from Reading into Surrey and even the edge of London (Surbiton) before finally arriving in Guildford. You can see my photos here.

Departing Longcross

In Surrey.

Tube Ends (1) : Northern Line Bank Branch (High Barnet to Morden)

In this new series we will take a look at the various lines on the London Underground, from terminus to terminus!

The Northern Line consists of the Bank and Charing Cross branches which are linked together at Camden Town. The Bank branch stretches from High Barnet in north London down to Morden in south west London, passing through the City of London. The Northern Line has a complicated history which includes the earliest deep level tube railway on the Underground.

Two separate railways were combined in the 1920s to form the Northern Line. The City & South London Railway was opened in 1890. It was London's first deep level underground electric railway and ran from Stockwell to King William Street (a station which has the distinction of not only being one of the first tube stations to open but also to close in 1900!) The CSLR was later extended to form what is now the city core of the Bank branch. The Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway was opened in 1907 running from Charing Cross to Golders Green. This now forms the city core of the Charing Cross branch.

Starting at High Barnet the line heads south through Finchley (with a branch line to Mill Hill East) and Camden. The Bank branch serves Euston, Kings Cross and St Pancras mainline termini before heading into the city serving Bank and London Bridge. Heading south of the river the Bank branch meets up with the other branch again at Kennington before heading south west to it's terminus at Morden.

Despite the name the Northern Line does not include the most northern tube stations on the Underground, however it does include the most southern!

High Barnet

Finchley Central

Clapham North

Morden

Churches (225) : St Mary, Nantwich

The parish church of St Mary in Nantwich, Cheshire dates from the 14th century. There were changes made to the church in subsequent centuries and a major restoration in the 19th century. Work began on the church in 1340 and it is built in the Decorated style. The south transept was endowed as a chantry chapel. The tower is octagonal.

Amongst the changes made the church was to raise it's floor due to flooding. The nave roof was also raised and a south porch added. North and south galleries were added in the 18th century. The church is built from red sandstone.

Through the races

A GWR service passes through Newbury Racecourse.

Calculators (20) : Silver-Reed 1250PD

The most important calculator in the calculator, not least because it was the first one i bought in the early 2000s. It is also a joyfully large mains powered heavy duty calculation machine with a printer. The calculator is powered by a Hitachi HD385138 system and has the basic arithmetic functions though [add] has a large key and [subtract] also a larger (though slightly smaller than add) key in red. This is the sort of machine used for a small company's payroll, accounts or someone's expenses. There is also a lozenge marked key for sub-totals.

The calculator also has a memory function and a few other keys marked with letters, the functions of which remain unclear. Maybe a manual is around somewhere. The printer works great, i replaced the ribbon a short while ago.

SVR Diesel Gala

On Friday i attended the Severn Valley Railway diesel gala, something i always look forward to. This year the locomotive line-up wasn't quite as exciting as usual but i still had a good time and travelled behind Classes 40, 46 and 50. You can see my photos here.

Churches (224) : Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury

A monastery has existed in the town since 715CE but the abbey's origins are from the 10th century. The current abbey church was begun in 1102 with construction lasting several centuries (and surviving a serious fire in 1178). After the Dissolution, the abbey church was saved by the townsfolk who wanted to continue using it as their parish church. One part of the church that has not survived is a free standing bell tower which was demolished in the 18th century.

The church is large, the same size as many cathedrals in the country. The church has a cruciform plan with one of the largest Romanesque crossing towers in Europe. The tower was once topped with a wooden spire but this collapsed in 1559 and was not replaced. The church has an eight bay nave with aisles and a north porch. The church is mostly built from limestone ashlar.

Polesworth at last

I have been to Polesworth railway station before, though on that occaision i drove to it and was only able to look through the locked gates. Polesworth is what is known as a "difficult" station. It has one train a day, and that arrives at the station before 7am! In order to arrive at Polesworth by train i had to travel from Birmingham New Street before 6am and then get the one train a day to Polesworth from Nuneaton. 

It was worth it though, and i was the station's only user that day as no one else boarded or alighted! Afterwards i had a look around the village and then took a bus back to Nuneaton. You can see my photos here.

Model week : Some testing

The ballasting has been done, not perfect but seems good enough. I have now laid the track on top though await some nails to properly fix the track down. A little light gluing was done to allow some test runs using my Class 33 and Class 28, both ran fine. I was surprised how little issues there were. 

Now, laying track onto ballast is unorthodox but i am trialing a new method which hopefully means less mess and makes it easier to move track afterwards. Later on i'll paint the track so it blends in with the ballast below better. Well, we will have to see how it pans out anyway!

South Liverpool

At the weekend i went up to Liverpool, this time not charging about hunting for new stations for a change. Instead i wanted to visit some places in the south of the city that i had only had a fleeting time at on previous Liverpool trips, this included a walk along the Overpool promenade of the Mersey. I also visited the ruins of St Luke's church in the centre. You can see my photos here.

Calculators (19) : National Semiconductor Novus 750

This addition to the calculator collection was manufactured in about 1976 and has a very pleasing 1970s beige and brown look. The calculator supports the four arithmetic functions only though displays numbers with a lovely red LED display.

The calculator does turn on though operation is pretty flakey. The slightest movement can clear the display. Like many calculators of this vintage the logic of the CPU seems to have suffered bit rot. It can display entered numbers but not really do anything with them.

Maritsa 30 is 32

I have added a new typewriter to my collection, the fourth so far this year. The rather nice Maritsa 30 is number 32 in the collection. I should have bought it earlier in the year so the name would have been more apt! The Maritsa is a fine late 1980s machine, the last wave of typewriters before the onslaught of the microcomputer. It comes with a rather nice, microcomputer-esque case.

Churches (223) : St Peter, Berkhamsted

The parish church of St Peter in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire was founded in around 1222CE though most of the current church dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. The church was altered during a Victorian restoration.

The church is in a cruciform layout with a nave and transepts, the tower atop the crossing. The chancel is the oldest part of the church which dates from the 13th century. The south transept has a lady chapel. During the restoration in the 1870s the exterior was refaced with flint flushwork.

Passing through Winnersh Triangle

A GWR service.

Wood End to Danzey

On Saturday i walked from Wood End to Danzey railway stations in Warwickshire, going via Tanworth-in-Arden. This is a journey i have done before a few years ago but the weather was much better this time. The fine parish church of St Mary Magdalene was also open so i was able to take some photos inside. You can see those and all of my other photographs here.

Calculators (18) : Samsung Secal 800N

The Samsung Secal 800N is a mid-1970s model, probably built around 1975 or 1976. The calculator has a dedicated calculation chip. it supports the four main arithmetric functions plus percentages and square roots. It also supports negative numbers.

Despite externally looking in good nick, the calculator did not turn on when batteries were fitted. This is a shame as i'm sure the Vacuum Fluorescent Display would have looked superb.