HMS Caroline-Titanic Quarter

Just the other day I was reading on-line about the Titanic Quarter a 7 Billion pound project on the Belfast waterfront. This is an amazing project, and I hope I will get a chance to visit in the not too distant future. I was really interested to learn that HMS Caroline is a part of this project. The ship was involved in the Battle of Jutland, and served  in the Far East  China Station for several years. During the 2nd World War she was docked in Belfast at the Alexander dock as headquarters for the Royal Navy N.Ireland Division..  My connection to this old Royal Navy cruiser is that as a Sea Cadet in 1954 I actually trained aboard the Caroline. When the ship was decommissioned in 2011 she was the second oldest warship in the Royal Navy after HMS Victory. The Caroline was built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead in 1914 and was the fastest built warship of any significances, taking just nine months from keel to launch. I made mention of the ship in my first book “Lily & Me” and having walked her decks I’m proud I have recorded a small piece of history within the pages.
I wish here in Canada we would place more importance on our history and save such items of interest for future generations. The Avro Arrow comes to mind, lost forever. In the 2nd World War Canada built and manned some 400 corvettes, The Royal Canadian Navy was the third largest navy in the world during the war. Only the US Navy and the Royal Navy were larger. Today only one RCN Corvette remains, HMCS Sackville. Not a record to be proud of.
Cheers and keep reading.

Go Gunners Go!!!

What a game today! I was sure Arsenal had blown it, by half time they were two nil down. However, in the second half they really started to play like the Old Arsenal, and went on to win 3-2 over Aston Villa. Now they move into the next round of sixteen in the FA Cup. The FA Cup is the oldest football (soccer) competition in the world. On the home front, I managed to walk again today just 35 minutes but that’s a total for the week of 360 minutes, not bad for an old fella!!!
Cheers and keep reading.

Talk About a Gas Bag

I feel good today the storm is over and Canada (Women)beat Mexico 3-1 to qualify for the Olympics. Way to go Girls!!!. The storm didn’t bring much snow, the driveway is good,no need to plow. The photo I have posted is of two British taxis during the war. They are fitted with gas bags replacing petrol. I had to say petrol didn’t I?? if I’d said to replace gas you’d be confused,right!! Fuel was in short supply during the war so running on gas was one of the alternatives in use. In some cases the gas bag was towed behind the car rather than on the roof. Believe it or not those huge bags on the roof when full only gave a range of about twenty miles. I don’t even want to think about the danger they might have posed. I’d be worried about the passing tram, hope no one throws a cigarette or lighted match out of an upper deck window. Boom!!!! I have to go, its Saturday, Soccer Eh!!!
Cheers and keep reading.

Weather Watch

The back fields don’t look like the photo yet, but I’m off on our walk early this morning. We have a storm on the way that is scheduled to start around noon time. Quite a mixed bag if we are to believe the weather office. Snow,freezing rain,ice pellets and rain, some schools have already been cancelled for the day. I’m ready, have lots of wood in, in case we lose power, lots of pellets in for the stove and lots of food in the fridge. Now better get my act together and do my daily walk. I will leave you with this rather funny article.
A senior citizen drove his brand new BMW Z4 convertible out of the West London car sales room with much excitement. Taking off down the motorway, he floored it to 120mph. “Amazing!” he thought as he flew down the M4, enjoying pushing the pedal to the floor even more. Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw a police car behind him, blue lights flashing and siren blaring.

“I can get away from him – no problem!” thought the elderly gent as he floored it to 140mph, then 150. Suddenly, he thought, “What on earth am I doing? I’m too old for this nonsense!” So he pulled over to the side of the road and waited for the police car to catch up with him.

Pulling in behind him, the police officer walked up to the driver’s side of the BMW, looked at his watch and said, “Sir, my shift ends in 10 minutes. Today is Friday and I’m taking off for the weekend. If you can give me a reason why you were speeding that I’ve never heard before, I’ll let you go.”

The old man, looked very seriously at the policeman, thought for a moment and replied, “Years ago my wife ran off with a policeman. I thought you were bringing her back.”

“Have a good day, Sir”, said the policeman.

Cheers and keep reading. (let snow let it snow)

One Man Submarine Car

This strange contraption was claimed to be a submarine/car. It could travel on land and under water,circa 1937. I suppose its possible, I recall in Nelson Hall at HMS Ganges we had on display a one man WW2 German submarine. Its pilot died from the diesel or gas fumes and the vessel washed up on the beach. It did look similar to the one in the posted photo but without wheels or fenders/fins. Having been a professional submariner for several years, I would certainly not venture under water in this particular sub/car. However,there is a serious worry here. With the present government cut backs what if Stephen Harper our Prime Minister sees this? Imagine what he could do to the RCN Submarine Service. Four Victoria class submarines replaced with four one man submarines. The layoffs would cut the deficit dramatically, at the same time creating a large pool of workers available as guards in the new prison system or as Wal Mart greeters or as servers at Tim Hortons. So folks if you happen to bump into Mr Harper please don’t mention that you have seen this blog!!!!A submariner will thank you!
Cheers and keep reading.

Romance on Wheels

Oh My!!the photo of the little Bond Mini-car really took me back in time. In 1958 I was home on leave and madly in love. My brother-in-law Cookie owned a little Bond Mini-car and he loaned it to me to date my girl friend. Now you may laugh!! to think a three wheeler is not that impressive. To me it was as good as the Latest red convertible Cadillac. It was a wonderful boost in my attempts to impress my girl friend , I opened her door and helped her in or out with great ado, I might say it was comparable to Sir Walter Raleigh! Alas my leave ended and so did the romance,so sad. Strangely my next romance also began on three wheels, my motorcycle and sidecar. It then went to two wheels on a Lambretta scooter and finally to four wheels on my 1936 Hillman Minx. However, it seemed no matter how many wheels were under me, the romances didn’t last. I guess you could say the wheels kept coming off whether three, two or four. Even stranger, when I first met Linda (my wife of 40 years) I was wheel-less. But Linda had a 1964 Rambler with a seat that folded down into a bed, Wow why hadn’t thought of that in the Bond??? Sorry but the rest of the Rambler story is classified. Nevertheless I have to think there might be a moral in the story all of these wheel romances??What do you think?
Cheers and keep reading.

Living in a Double Decker Bus

I came across a very interesting blog about a project to refit a double decker bus out as a home. Quite a daunting task but also a very adventurous one. Living in a bus,single or double is not a new idea though. Directly after the second world war there was a huge housing shortage in Britian caused by six years of the blitz. I can recall seeing more than one bus parked in a field and a family living in it. I was just a young boy and thought living in a bus,railway carriage or even a tram would be very exciting. On High Street in Belfast a tram was being used as insurance offices, it was set up on a cleared bomb site across the street from Woolworth Stores. None of the bus/homes I saw were mobile nor were ever intended to be, in that the Sharpsbus is different ,they intend to travel. Have a look at their web site, its very interesting and ongoing work in progress. My view! well, I have always favoured trams as my transport vehicle of choice. Can’t say I have ever considered one as my home though. You can Google sharpsbus

PS The photo is of a Belfast tram and a McWatters electric bread van. My father worked for McWatters for 50 years

Cheers and keep reading.

A Busy Guy!!!!

Oh Boy! I guess we don’t appreciate what others do until its left for us to do. The us in this case is me, Linda is in Halifax babysitting our grandchildren and have I been busy. Its 11 am and here are the things I have done so far. Dogs got me up at 6.40am, made coffee and a bowl of corn flakes, fed the dogs and the cats. Put medication in Bella’s eyes, cleaned out the two litter bowls. Stripped my bed and did a laundry. Had a shower and dressed, ironed the clothes (always do ironing, Navy Trg) washed the dishes, prepared the wood stove ready to light. Turn off pellet stove for cleaning, while it cooled took the dogs for a 50 minute walk back through the fields. I ‘m home now and writing this blog before I get to the pellet stove. Better get moving the temperature is dropping in here down to 60 degrees. Its a busy day, but hey! an old salt like me can handle it.
Cheers and keep reading. Oh! nearly forgot,took out the garbage too.

Another Loss

Its a sad Sunday!!! Arsenal were defeated for a second time this season by Man U 2-1. It was a close game,certainly much better than the last one when they were beaten 8-2. Nevertheless a loss is still a loss. Hopefully things will get better soon????Time to take the dogs for a walk.
Cheers and keep reading.

First Anniverary

On Saturday morning 22nd January 2011, I got up at the usual time and put the coffee on. However it wasn’t my usual routine that morning. I didn’t make myself a bowl of cereal, didn’t take my usual shower and dress, didn’t even turn on the computer. I wasn’t feeling great and just slumped into my chair,I wasn’t in any pain just out of sorts. When Linda got up she asked me what was wrong? nothing just a bit tired I said. I didn’t mention that I’d had a sort of bubble feeling in my chest, I knew she would fuss and I’d end up in emergency at the hospital. I didn’t want to miss the Arsenal game that was about to begin on TV.  While watching the game the bubbles came back and I guess I put my hand to my chest, Linda noticed!! That’s it she said your going to the hospital, I refused to go until game ended. Fortunately Arsenal won or I might have had my heart attack right there and then. Linda said get dressed,I’ll get the car out. I dressed and heading for the door I picked up the garbage to take out to the bin. When she saw me coming with the garbage she was stunned, would you just drop that and get in the car. Heading in, I was convinced I’d spend four or five hours in the waiting room then be sent home with a prescription. I was wrong, I was rushed right into the trauma centre and within minutes was hooked up to monitors, nurses taking blood etc. I was having a heart attack (maybe)the doctor wasn’t sure? but something in my blood wasn’t right. I was admitted to the PC Unit, put on blood thinners and re hooked to another monitor. Wednesday,I was told I was going to Halifax for the dye test, they would probably find a blockage and put in a stint, I’d be home the next day. Thursday morning it stormed so I was delayed until Friday. I told Linda not to bother coming over ,I’d be back Saturday morning. I was wrong again, the dye test showed I had four blockages three serious, my main artery was over 90% blocked two others at 80% and one at 40%. The doctor said I could have dropped dead at any moment, just a tiny piece of plaque and it was lights out!! It was a shock, I was frightened and grateful at the same time. Linda ‘God Bless Her” had saved my life. The scariest part of this was, on the proceeding Thursday and Friday I had been out snow shoeing both days convinced I was out of shape. I had found it hard going, I had to keep stopping to catch my breath.
I was released from the Halifax hospital on the 16th February with four bypasses and approx 75 staples in two incisions,chest and leg.
Its exactly one year today since the heart attack, I consider myself very lucky and happy to be alive. I owe my life to Linda and her caring. I thank God, he must have been watching over me while I was on my snow shoes???
Cheers and keep reading.