Cautionary Tale No. 4472 [Part V]

If you've been following Cautionary Tale No. 4472 through parts I to IV (which you can read here, here, here, and here) then you might want to head on over to my new blog to read (the probably final) Part V of this fascinating tale.

Quinquennium

I consider myself to be fairly well read and as such have a fairly large vocabulary. It is unusual, therefore, for me to come across not only a word I haven't heard before but one for which I can't even work out a meaning from it's context. The word in question... quinquennium.

As readers of my photography blog will already know we recently had a day out to Helmsley in North Yorkshire. As well as enjoying the fine views of the castle and the wildlife in the walled garden we spent an enjoyable half an hour browsing around an antiquarian and secondhand bookshop, not something I've ever really done before¹. Whilst looking through the Yorkshire History section one book jumped out at me: The Story of A Modern University; A History of the University of Sheffield. Given that between us Bryony and I have graduated three times from the University I decided to buy the book without even looking at it's contents.

In 2005 the University celebrated it's centenary and as part of that celebration published a book, The Steel City Scholars, which documented the first one hundred years of the University. As someone who enjoys history I pre-ordered a copy without even thinking about it, and while I've flicked through it I haven't read it in any detail. The book I bought in Helmsley was published in 1955 to celebrate the first fifty years of the University. It is a very different book.

The Steel City Scholars draws on many first hand accounts to given an accessible and highly interesting account of the University's first century. In contrast the book I found in that secondhand bookshop is a scholarly work. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as dry but I think I'm even less likely to read this one in detail. Nevertheless I'm glad I bought it, if for no other reason than it taught me a new word; quinquennium. The second paragraph of the introduction reads:

The period with which it deals begins with the foundation of the institutions which were later to unite to form the University, and ends with the summer of 1952. This latter date is convenient not only for reasons of publication but particularly because it coincides with the end of an eventful Vice-Chancellorship, and also with the end of a financial quinquennium during which, largely by progressive increases of government grants, the University's activities and resources had been multiplied beyond all the imaginings of earlier times.

So here we have a word which I had never heard before and had no idea of it's meaning. In retrospect I could have worked out that it was related to time but without a classical education involving Latin I think I would have been hard pressed to figure out that it means a period of five years.

I'm actually tempted to keep reading to see if I learn any more new words²!

Footnotes:
¹ As a child I remember spending lots of times in second hand bookshops but we were always looking in vain for one specific book never just browsing for fun. My Dad is an avid fan of Nigel Tranter and I believe now has a copy of every book he has ever written. Whilst I wouldn't describe myself as from a poor background, my parents were always careful with money (my Dad is, after all, a Yorkshireman) and so he would wait until a new novel was published in paperback before buying it. Unfortunately one novel, The Lion Let Loose, was never published in paperback and by the time we realised this we couldn't find a hardback copy anywhere, hence the trips to secondhand bookshops. Eventually he wrote to the publishers who agreed to republish the book in paperback and so our trips to secondhand book shops dried up.

² The last time I came across a new word was again in an old book. In fact it wasn't a new word but a new meaning. I was reading Bryony's Grandmother's favourite book, The Roadmender by Michael Fairless, which starts I have attained my ideal: I am a roadmender some would say stonebreaker. Both titles are correct, but one is more pregnant than the other. Now I know that there are multiple meanings for the word pregnant but I had no idea what the meaning was in this context. Fortunately Bryony's Dad (Scriptor Senex) not only gave me a copy of The Roadmender but also a copy of Barclay's Dictionary which dates to the mid to late 19th century. The dictionary is fantastic, deserves a post of it's own, and defines pregnant as teeming; breeding; big with young. Fruitful; or causing fertility. Full of consequence. Evident; clear. Easy to produce. I'm assuming that the relevant definition is full of consequence which I'd never heard of or used before.

³ I can't believe I wrote a blog post requiring footnotes!

Not Quite Time Team

When we moved in the main accessible area of the garden was just one large square of grass without any borders or interesting features other than a rusty old metal swing. We have quite a few plans for the garden but none of them involve a swing! So one of the first jobs this year was to remove the swing. I'd actually put it off a few times as I thought it was going to be quite a lot of work but on Saturday afternoon I was encouraged into having a go. Removing it was actually a lot easier than I expected.

I used a small hacksaw to cut the four main posts about a foot above the ground. I then started to cut it up further but my hacksaw blade broke so I resulted to trying to undo the very rusty nuts and bolts holding the rest together. After liberal application of WD40 and the production of a lot of sweat and tears I managed to separate the rest to make it easier to move and dispose of.

I then dug out the four poles which were buried in concrete. Two of them just pulled out (worrying really) but two required more effort and a spade to remove.

The last post I dug out seemed to have been set in a bigger chunk of concrete, but when I got it out it was obvious why -- it had been inscribed. So I now now that the swing was originally put up in 2002 and given that I know the names of the people living here before I even know who AS is. So not quite Time Team but interesting never the less.

So we now have a garden without a swing and can start making borders and putting in plants. Hopefully it will start to look more interesting than it did when we moved in.

Quietly Contemplating History

Berlin contains what has to be the biggest memorial I have ever seen. The Holocaust Memorial covers 19,000 square metres of prime Berlin real-estate and consists of 2711 differently sized concrete blocks and apparently doesn't actually represent anything in particular. I'm guessing if the memorial has any meaning it is that the huge scale of the memorial reflects the scale of the atrocities it remembers. At night wondering among the blocks is quite eerie but it was a good place to stand for a few minutes quietly contemplating history.

East Meets West

Last night a small group of us went on a walk around the centre of Berlin to see some of the more famous sites. It was a really clever idea as one of the complaints with work meetings is that we never really get the chance to see the places we visit as we are working all day long. We started at Potsdamer Platz which is an important public square and traffic intersection.

It's amazing to think that just 20 years ago I would likely have been shot at had I tried to get anywhere near the spot from which I took this photo last night -- standing with my left foot in East Berlin and my right foot in West Berlin.

Until November 9th 1989 the Berlin Wall was the main physical symbol of the Iron Curtain. In Potsdamer Platz (where I took the photo) it wouldn't be until the following weekend that the wall was breached and people could cross the wall at what had originally been a major road junction in Berlin.

As we walked around the centre of Berlin we kept crossing the line of the wall (a double strip of cobble stones to make it obvious where it used to be). Because of the way it moves around it isn't always clear if you are in the old East or West Berlin. We laughed about that at one point and that brought home just how much Europe, and Berlin in particular, started to change for the better 20 years ago.

I Do Know Somethings About Art, Honest!

After admitting my ignorance of the location of Da Vinci's Last Supper in a recent post I thought I should try and show that I'm not totally uncultured and do know something about art.

So here is a piece of art that I do know something about and that I'm sure most of you will have seen before. If you've ever visited an English Heritage shop then you will have probably seen it on sale on a coaster, or possible a plate, cushion or thimble! Or if you have ever watched any of the Harry Potter films then you should recognise it from the countless shots of the Gryffindor common room. So many of you will have seen it before but do you know what it is and where it currently resides?

The image is actually a tapestry called À Mon Seul Désir, or in English to my only desire, and is one of six tapestries in a set known as La Dame à la licorne, or for those of us who don't know any French, The Lady and the Unicorn. These tapestries are often considered one of the greatest works of art to have emerged from Europe during the Middle Ages and were woven in Flanders of wool and silk from designs drawn in Paris during the late fifteenth century.

All six tapestries are housed at the Musée de Cluny, officially known as Musée National du Moyen Âge (National Museum of the Middle Ages in English), in Paris. We weren't allowed to take photos when we visited but someone obviously did as they posted the accompanying photo on Wikipedia. The museum website has a section devoted to describing the tapestries which is worth a read. Having been to the museum and seen the tapestries I can easily state that it is worth a visit if you are ever in Paris. The museum also houses a number of fantastic medieval illustrated manuscripts which I could easily look at for hours on end.

The Last Supper

How could I not know that Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper was in Milan? I knew it was painted on a refectory wall and that it isn't a true fresco (it wasn't painted onto wet plaster) but if I'd been asked where it was I would probably have said Rome.

At this point you might well be asking yourself why my ignorance is at all important or relevant. Well I'll tell you why -- I'm going to be in Milan next week attending a project meeting. I only found out where the Last Supper was when flicking through the guidebook I bought on Thursday evening. I would have liked to have gone and seen such a well known work of art but unfortunately you have to book tickets weeks if not months in advance (the next date you can get a ticket for is the 7th of July).

Due to a change in the agenda for the meeting I have actually ended up with almost a full day in Milan without any work to do so will try and see some of the other main sites including the Duomo. If you have been to Milan before and have suggestions for things I should definitely make the time to see then leave me a comment.

Thornton Abbey

I've already shown you the gatehouse (from both the inside and outside) at Thornton Abbey but here is a photo of the remains of the abbey.

In comparison to the gatehouse there is very little of the abbey still remaining other then the foundation walls. In fact all that is left is a couple of sides of the chapter house.

Thornton Abbey: The Gatehouse seen from Inside

Continuing on from yesterday's post here is a view of the gatehouse at Thornton Abbey as seen from inside the monastic enclosure.

Definitely not as ornate as the outside. There are quite a few archways in the wall, apparently these were not meant to be functionally but are included simply to reduce the amount of brick needed to build the curtain wall.

Thornton Abbey: The Gatehouse

On Monday we drove the short distance from the Reeds Hotel to the nearby Thornton Abbey. I'll probably do a few posts on the abbey and it's grounds but I'll start with the gatehouse.

According to English Heritage:

The enormous and ornate fortified gatehouse of Thornton Abbey is the largest and among the finest of all English monastic gatehouses. An early example of brick building in England, it proclaimed the wool trade based prosperity of one of the wealthiest English Augustinian monasteries, for centuries a focus of spiritual and economic influence. Begun in the 1360s, the gatehouse was enlarged and fortified with battlements after the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, presumably as insurance against further trouble. Standing some 21 metres (69 feet) high and resembling a castle keep gatehouse, it may have protected the abbey's treasures, as well as providing spacious lodgings for the abbot and his guests.

The photo is a large panorama so you can get a feel of just how ornate sections of the gatehouse really are by clicking on it and then zooming in and having a really close look.

HC SVNT DRACONES

I always thought that the phrase HC SVNT DRACONES (or Here Be Dragons for those of us who don't speak Latin) had traditionally been used on maps to denote the edge of the known world. It turns out that this isn't true. The only historical map to use the phrase is the Lenox Globe which dates to around 1510 and has the phrase inscribed near the eastern coast of Asia.

While lots of old maps did have sea serpents and other mythical creatures around the edge, the use of the phrase Here Be Dragons is quite recent. You can find a long list of modern cultural references on Wikipedia.

Sheffield isn't really the edge of the world (some people may dispute this) but I still think marking the train station with the words HC SVNT DRACONES would be allowed given this stonework above the entrance door.

St. Andrews: A Blood Thirsty Town

I never realised quite how much history had taken place in St Andrews (golf doesn't count) or quite how blood thirsty a place it has been until we visited it back in September.

First by the castle we find

At the University Chapel we find

Unfortunately I couldn't find the initials anywhere.

Finally out at the main bay we find

More Small Change

In a previous post I showed you a 1797 George III copper "cartwheel" penny. Unfortunately the specimen I have is so badly worn that seeing any detail on the real thing is almost impossible but on the photo I'd be surprised if you could even tell it was a coin!

So today I can show you a 1797 George III solid copper "cartwheel" two pence piece. To get an idea of it's size you can see it in relation to the most recently issued two pence coin. As mentioned before the coin, when issued, was worth it's weight in copper and hence weighs a whopping 2oz. Whilst it is therefore twice as heavy as the penny it isn't twice the diameter. It is only a little bigger with most of the additional copper being used to make the coin exceptionally thick.

I alluded last time to the remarkable detail of the coins when seen on a good specimen. The intricate detail made it almost impossible for forgers to copy the coins. To show you what I mean have a look at the detail on the ship seen to the left of Britannia on the coin. Given that this coin is now 211 years old the fact that on such a small part of the coin you can clearly see the sails, rigging and gun ports is amazing.

Small Change

As I mentioned in a previous post our coins are changing. At the moment only the reverse designs are being altered and not the size, weight or composition of the coins. Over the last decade or so we have, however, seen the 5p, 10p and 50p coins reduced in size. To put our current coins in perspective though I thought I'd show you the oldest coin I own -- a 1797 George III "cartwheel" copper penny.

In 1797, England was not yet ready for the modern system of token coinage in which coins made out of non-precious metals, such as copper, nickel, zinc, aluminum, etc., circulate based on their face value, rather than their bullion backed value. So when in 1797 Matthew Bolton was granted a contract to mint copper pennies and twopenny pieces they had to be worth their face value. Given the price of copper in 1797 this meant that the penny piece was minted from 1oz of copper and the twopeeny from 2oz of copper. To give you an idea of how heavy these coins are they weigh roughly the same as eight modern 1p coins.

These coins were the first to be minted by steam power (Bolton had collaborated with James Watt when establishing his Soho foundry near Birmingham) and they were so precisely struck that forgery was almost impossible. Unfortunately my specimen isn't in very good condition so it is difficult to appreciate the workmanship of the original coins. Fortunately you can see pictures of a much better specimen on the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery website.

The coins didn't last in circulation for very long, partly because of their sheer size and weight and partly due to the rising price of copper. Many of them were taken out of circulation and melted down. Bolton's next issue was lighter and without the distinctive raised rim. Today because of their age and collectable value they are worth a lot more than their material value, which given they are made from 1oz of copper is approximately 11p.

Debugging Software

I was out for Christmas lunch on Wednesday with work (we are so disorganised that we always end up having a Christmas meal after Christmas), and we were talking about memories of being at University.

One of the people I was sat with was describing the bar at the Uni he had attended and said it was a great place to go to grab a pint while stepping through printed code to debug a problem. I had trouble remembering the last time I did this (debug code on paper, not grab a pint).

It used to be very common to debug code by printing out the program and then stepping through it in your head to spot where the problem lay. I don't know if it is just that programs have become more complex or if it is that computer languages have changed so much that this method of debugging is no longer feasible. While I was always happy to step through BASIC code on paper I can't imagine doing the same with any Object-Orientated language such as Java.

How I Got My Start In Computing

The news that one of the designers of the BBC Micro Computer had been given a CBE in the New Years Honours list got me reminiscing about how I got started with computers.

I had my first computer, a Dragon (I've no idea if it was the 32 or 64 kilobyte version) for about a week. It wasn't actually mine but rather it belonged to my cousin Andrew. My Dad borrowed a bunch of Queen LP's from him (including the rather fantastic Flash Gordon) and in the box with the records was the Dragon. I honestly don't remember much about this computer other that it came with a version of BASIC and I remember writing my first "Hello World" program and being intrigued by the fact that I could control the computer, albeit in a limited way.

The first computer I actually owned was an Acorn Electron that was a Christmas present (shared with my brother). The Electron was a fantastic computer and had some brilliant games given it's rather limited 16K of RAM. The Electron was the computer on which I learnt to program. There was a brilliant magazine "Acorn User" (other Sheffield University graduates might find the contents page from Issue 12 interesting) that had program listings for you to type in (usually for small games) which gave me lots of examples to work from. One of the most interesting pages was the "10 Liners" -- programs that were at most 10 lines long, which often included really useful tricks to keep the length of the program down and hence fit more into memory. I have no idea what the first useful thing I coded was but I do remember the first time I altered someone else program.

With some games you could actually get at the source code which opened up all sorts of interesting possibilities. Over the years I made a number of modifications but the first one that was successful was changing the speed of thr evil gorilla in Killer Gorilla. Killer Gorilla was a version of Donkey Kong for the Electron and I simply found and changed the value of the variable that controlled the speed of the gorilla. In fact I was so successful that the gorilla hardly moved at all, although when I got to somewhere around level 30 I reached the stack level of the electron and the game crashed with (I think) a GOSUB error!

The Electron was eventually replaced by a BBC Model B with a double sided 80 track 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive. Only when you have loaded programs from audio cassettes can you truly appreciate how much of a step forward floppy disks actually were. The Model B and Electron were mostly compatible with each other and so I continued to play the same games and tinker with the same programming ideas for a number of years until the PC became more popular in schools and homes.

Why not take a stroll down memory lane, grab a BBC emulator and then have a look for your favourite games of yesteryear.

Cartesian Geometry

I'm currently reading one of the books I was bought for Christmas, specifically A History of Pi by Peter Beckmann. It is a really interesting book and I've learnt all sorts of weird things.

One of the stranger things I learnt this morning was that Cartesian geometry is actually named after René Descartes. I was baffled by this statement until I read the next sentence that points out that he latinized his name to Renatus Cartesius. Well that explains everything then!

Early Memories

Scriptor Senex (my soon to be father-in-law) just blogged about his earliest memory of an event of national or international importance and it got me thinking about what I could remember.

My earliest memory of a national event was the raising of the wreck of the Mary Rose on October 11 1982, when I was just over three years old.

Honestly I don't remember too much, other than getting up early and sitting watching the television with my Dad. If you want to know more than I can remember, I'd suggest this informative (if rather technical) description.

Cautionary Tale No. 4472 [Part IV]

While the previous part of this tale was clearly painful, not everything associated with the Flying Scotsman has required me to visit a hospital! About five months after the last part of the tale I saw the engine in steam for the first time.

The Cumbrian Mountain Express ran from Carnforth (I think) to Hellifield in the Yorkshire Dales. I assume they rotated through the engines stored at Steamtown as almost every time we went to Hellifield we saw a different steam engine pulling the train. On the 25th of February 1984 the Cumbrian Mountain Express was being pulled by the Flying Scotsman. This time my Dad had a bit more room for taking a photo and so you finally get to see what the Flying Scotsman looks like in real life rather than relying on the Hornby model. Having seen the Flying Scotsman twice in close succession it would be a further 20 years before I would see it again.

In 2004, Flying Scotsman was put up for sale. At this time there was a real worry that it might be sold abroad and the National Railway Museum in York started an appeal to raise money to buy the engine. Unfortunately at the time I was still a penniless student and was unable to donate anything. Fortunately though the country rallied around and combined with a significant donation from Richard Branson, 4472 was purchased for the nation.

During the summer of 2004, Flying Scotsman ran regularly from York to Scarborough pulling the Scarborough Spa Express train. The last run of the summer was scheduled for the 31st of August and given how close that is to my birthday I was treated to tickets so that I could finally experience being on a train pulled by the Flying Scotsman. We had bought the more expensive tickets so we ate lunch on the train, had a nice walk around Scarborough and then the return trip to York. It was all over far too quickly but I wouldn't have changed any of it.

You might have noticed that the photo from York in 2004 shows changes to the engine -- specifically the smoke deflectors attached to the front sides of the boiler. Personally I prefer the engine without these smoke deflectors and for accuracy given the apple green LNER livery it shouldn't have them as they were a 1960's addition when it was painted in the dark green livery of British Rail. For those who prefer this configuration though Hornby have produced a new model depicting the Flying Scotsman as it currently is.

Flying Scotsman is not currently running as it is undergoing a full maintenance and service at York before being re-certified for use on the mainline network. Hopefully this should be finished sometime in 2008, and Flying Scotsman will once again be seen belching steam over the Yorkshire countryside. If you can't wait that long though have a look at this short movie which I borrowed from the National Railway Museum's Flying Scotsman website.

Cautionary Tale No. 4472 [Part III]

In the previous parts of this tale I've introduced my first train set and given a very brief history of the Flying Scotsman up to September 1983 when it was housed and maintained at Steamtown in Carnforth, where this exciting episode of Cautionary Tale No. 4472 continues the story.

I'd just had my fourth birthday and we had gone on holiday, renting a self catering house in Arnside just north of Carnforth in Cumbria. There was me, my younger brother (who spent much off the time crying while cutting teeth), my parents and my Grandma. I'm not sure how long the holiday was, probably a week, or how long we had been there but on the 18th of September 1983 we all visited Steamtown in nearby Carnforth.

Steamtown was original a British Rail engine shed, but had by this time become one of the primary steam engine preservation sheds. Many, if not most, of the steam engines certified to run on the mainline network were stored and maintained at Steamtown and as such it was a great place to visit. While this is still it's primary function, under it's current owners West Coast Railways, it is unfortunately no longer open to the public (for more details see this brief history page). Back in 1983 though it was a fantastic place to visit, especially for a 4 year old with a fascination for steam engines.

For me the highlight of the day was going to be seeing Flying Scotsman for the first time. It was amazing, and huge. Steam trains still seem large but to a four year old it really was unbelievably big. Unfortunately, it wasn't steaming on the day we visited but it was on display in one of the sheds. Of course given the limited room in the sheds this meant getting photos of it was difficult, but my Dad did his best, and at least managed a photo of the name plate.

We spent quite a bit of time wondering around Steamtown having a wonderful day. At the time there was quite a lot to see both in the sheds and out by the water tower and turntable. To get a feel for what it was like I'd recommend visiting this gallery of photos which covers the period I visited in. It really was a glorious day and all too soon it came time to leave. Of course I didn't want to leave without just one more look at the Flying Scotsman, so we headed back towards the sheds for one final look.

Now I don't know how many of you will have ever wondered around an engine yard but as you can guess there are train tracks everywhere. We were following one set of tracks back to the sheds and I was holding onto my Grandma's hand. I don't know why but I decided it would be fun to jump from one railway sleeper to the next rather than simply walking. Now this was relatively safe at the sedate pace of my Grandma, but disaster was bound to strike as soon as I decided to go a little faster and let go of her hand.

I don't know how far apart railway sleepers are spaced but for a four year old they are probably too far apart to be jumping from one to the next at speed -- or maybe I just had short legs. Anyway I hadn't got far before I missed placed my footing and fell. Now falling in a railway yard would always have ended with a cut, even if only a nasty knee graze, but with my unsurpassed aiming skills I managed to land head first on one of the bolts that holds the metal track to the wood sleeper.

Quite surprisingly, I don't remember it being painful. I do, however, remember there being a lot of blood. People always say that head wounds bleed heavily and as an expert in the field (since this incident I've used at least a coffee table, metal window frame and a car boot lock to draw blood from my head) I can confirm that they do. I assume my parents were in a bit of a panic by this point but for some reason my memory of the events following me falling are a little on the fuzzy side! The next thing I remember clearly is reading a book.

My parents had managed to get me back towards the entrance and attract the attention of a member of staff. For some reason rather than phoning for an ambulance I was driven to the nearby hospital. I think we went in the car of a member of staff who knew the way to the hospital. My mum, brother and grandmother certainly went straight back to where we were staying while my Dad went with me to hospital. To keep me occupied in the car I was given the Ladybird Leaders book of trains from the shop. I don't know how much of it I read or looked at in the car as I was worried about dripping blood onto it. As you can see from the picture even 24 years later it is still in relatively good condition. Ignoring christening presents and the train set this is probably the earliest gift that I still have and cherish in a weird way.

And now for a useful tip for anyone who ever finds themselves having a child who falls over cutting his head on a railway bolt and needs stitches in the middle of his forehead. The child will find the stitching equipment quite scary especially when it is so close to his eyes and so can see exactly what is going to happen next. Trying to find enough hospital staff to fully restrain a screaming four year old is a big challenge. What you need to find is a small towel (you should always know where your towel is at). Simply place the towel across the child's eyes so they can't see what is going on and they will lie perfectly still while their forehead is stitched up. Thanks to the matron at the hospital for that very useful parenting tip!

Fortunately I wasn't left with any permanent damage other than a lovely X shaped scare in the middle of my forehead. It is no longer very visible unless I tan, but as you can see from this school photo it used to be a lot more visible.

So the main point of Cautionary Tale No.4472 is that if at four years old you find yourself wondering around a railway yard try not to run along the sleepers. I speak from a position of experience when I tell you it won't end well!

And in the next, and final, exciting instalment I'll bring you up to date on my experiences of seeing Flying Scotsman, with the additional promise that there will be no further mention of blood!