Churches (271) : Great Malvern Priory Church of St Mary and St Michael

As the name implies. this church used to be a Benedictine monastery from 1075 until 1540. After the Dissolution of the monastery, the local residents of Great Malvern bought the building to replace their own parish church which had fallen into disrepair. The Priory itself was in a bad condition by the late 18th century but was restored in the early 19th.

The oldest parts of the church date from 1085 though much of the current church is 15th century. The original Norman church was extended in the Perpendicular style in the second half of the 15th century. The large square tower is similar to the one at Gloucester cathedral (and indeed was built by the same masons).

Codsall and Bilbrook

At the weekend i made a short trip up to Bilbrook, which is just over the Staffordshire border from Wolverhampton. From there i walked to Codsall, seeing the church and the local village, which is very nice. Then i took the train home from Codsall. You can see my photos here.

GPO Dialphones (4) : 722 Trimphone

The Trimphone was introduced by the General Post Office in the 1960s as an alternative to standard telephones such as the 706. The Trimphone had a number of features that made it stand out from the standard telephones, and hence customers had to pay extra for one!

The Trimphone had a more fashionable, slimmer design compared to the likes of the 706 and 746, and was much lighter. However, the lighter weight did end up causing issues with customers with the telephone sliding about when being used, especially when dialing.

The most notable change though was the sound, the Trimphone had a distinctive warble for it's ringer using electronics rather than the bell on earlier telephones. The Trimphone also has an illuminated dial (thanks to some mildly radioactive substance in the dial!) The Trim in Trimphone is in fact an acronym for Tone Ring Illuminator Model. The Trimphone was released as the 712 and 712L (with a lettered dial) in the mid-1960s in limited areas, and nationwide in 1968.

Production switched to the 722 and 722L models which had a number of improvements and refinements. Production of the Trimphone continued until 1982. We have two Trimphones, a grey 722 and a green 722L with a two colour dial.

Heading through Codsall

This one is not stopping, hopefully the next one is!

Churches (270) : St Martin, Alfreton

The parish church of St Martin in Alfreton, Derbyshire dates to the 13th century with additions and changes in the following two centuries and also the 19th century when the chancel was expanded. The church has a five bay nave with a clerestory on the southern side of the church. The church has north and south aisles and a vestry. The tower is 15th century and has three stages. The church was restored in the mid-19th century. A hall was added to the church in 1930.

The church is built from ashlar stone with a lead, slate and tile roof.

Both sides of Aylesbury

At the weekend i headed back down to Buckinghamshire, and the Princes Risborough area again (well it is one of my favourite parts of the world so i am not complaining!) I wanted to visit the two stations either side of Aylesbury which took the number of new stations i stopped at in 2025 up to 50, my target.

Firstly, i went to Aylesbury Vale Parkway then two stops down the line to Stoke Mandeville, where i also had a look around the village. You can see my photos here.

GPO Dialphones (3) : 741

The wall-mounted counterpart to the 706 was the 711. Naturally, when the General Post Office switched to the updated 746 telephone there followed a wall-mounted version of this updated telephone.

This was the 741, which was introduced in 1968 and replaced the 711. It had a similar case to the earlier wall-mounted telephone but had the internals of the 746 including the built-in regulator.

Compared to the 746, the 741 had a quite different case (see below for side-by-side comparison). The 746 is designed for desk use so needs to present the dial at an angle to aid dialing, the 741 needs to present it's dial "flat" to the user for the same reason.

The 741 has an integral bracket for mounting securely on the wall. The handset rests atop the modified case. Our 741 has "KS" scratched on the case, perhaps these were the initals of a previous owner, presumably not Keir Starmer!

Departing Stoke Mandeville

Heading to London.

Churches (269) : Old St Chad, Shrewsbury

The original church of St Chad in Shrewsbury (known as Old St Chad's), Shropshire was probably founded by King Offa in the second half of the 8th century. However, it may have been part of a royal palace of the Kingdom of Powys in the 500s. This church remained in use until 1792 when a new church dedicated to St Chad was built nearby and this church is still in use.

Not much of the original St Chad's church survives. The tower collapsed in 1788 during an attempt to expand the crypt. The decision was made to build a new church and not repair the old. The remains of the church today are a 15th century lady chapel, the chancel's south wall and an exposed crypt.

Crewe views

Yesterday i headed up to Crewe to take some photographs of trains. There was nothing that unusual running but plenty of interesting workings to see, and the good sunlight always seems to make Crewe, and it's faded glory, much more welcoming. You can see my photos here.

Down the Tame Valley cut for old times sake

I'm not at work this week, on Monday i had my car serviced. As the garage to near to where i used to work in Perry Barr i decided to go home via the Tame Valley Canal. I used to walk along this canal most lunchtimes when i worked nearby. It's what gave me my interest in canals and this is why i created my waterways blog... and probably why the others followed.

A nice walk before it got too hot, you can see my photos here.

A tale of two Risboroughs

At the weekend i headed back down to Buckinghamshire to revisit a couple of my favourite places, Monks and Princes Risborough. I took the train to Monks Risborough then walked back to Princes Risborough, going via the fine medieval church of St Dunstan's which was open. Unlike last year when i did this trip, the weather was dry and fine.

You can see my Monks Risborough photos here and Princes Risborough here.

GPO Dialphones (2) : 746

The General Post Office introduced the 746 telephone in 1967, replacing the 706. The 746 was a refinement of the earlier model, the biggest external change was to the cradle for the receiver which could double as a handle to carry the telephone. So, you could walk around while on a call and try and look cool.

Internally, the 746 had the regulator, which had been optional on the 706, built into the circuit board. The regulator could be used to vary the current flowing into the receiver and transmitter of the telephone as telephone lines too close to an exchange sometimes had trouble with the current on the line being too high.

The 746 remained in production for a long time, some were later modified to use the BT New Plan plug (the type still used today). These were known as the 8746 telephone and can still be used now with a supported line (though this will soon change).

I have three 746s in my collection: red, brown and topaz yellow.

Red phone

Topaz yellow phone

Black 706 (left) and 746 (right), showing the external difference

Brown telephone

Churches (268) : St Lawrence, Little Stanmore

The parish church of St Lawrence in Little Stanmore, Harrow (now in north London) dates from about 1360 though only the tower remains from this original church. The church was rebuilt in the Baroque style in the early 1700s in a commission by the 1st Duke of Chandos. A mausoleum dedicated to the Duke was later added to the east of the church.

The tower is built from flint and dressed stone. The reconstructed parts of the church from brick. The nave had a gallery on the west end built from the Duke. 

Last screening

Way back in 2017 i began a movie review blog. It was restricted to reviews of films from the 20th century because reasons, and has stuck to that mostly (there have been a couple of reviews of films from the late 1890s!) Now, after eight years and 1,999 reviews i have finally decided to call it a day. Why 1,999? Well the blog is for films between 1900 and 1999 so i thought it was an amusing number to end on...

The blog has tended to review more obscure and lesser known films, especially B-movies from the 1930s to 1950s, rather than famous blockbusters though i did end on Star Wars, my favourite film of all. It will be strange to no longer be seeking out films and reviewing them but it is quite a drain on my time and i think it is better to end now than to struggle on and fizzle out after review 2,217 or something.

The blog is not going anywhere, the reviews will all be available to view for ever more (or until Google kill my Blogger account).

Freight action at Stafford

Coming through.

The Greatest Gathering

The railway industry is celebrating 200 years since the opening of the first (maybe) passenger railway - the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The main event was a three day exhibition at the Litchurch Lane Works in Derby, and i attended last Friday. What an incredible event too, it was called the Greatest Gathering (of rolling stock) and it would be hard to argue with that. Everything from some of the oldest steam locomotives to modern locomotives so new they haven't entered service yet!

You can see my photos here. I saw so much, but missed a few locomotives too. I'll just have to wait for the next big event in fifty years time.