Engine Punk

Credit where credit is due - the staff at Liskeard and Plymouth railway stations did a great job of dealing with weather related problems last Friday. This is not a scene of uproar and crowds at Plymouth railway station - it is one of quiet efficiency with passengers already on the replacement coaches laid on in lieu of the cancelled trains due to weather. I had tickets from Liskeard to Andover with return tickets from Exeter to Liskeard as part of my travel plan to start in and return home from the 2014 Exeter Trial. But it wasn't to be. Lightning strikes knocked out the signalling in Cornwall during the morning so nothing was moving in Cornwall at all. At Liskeard, Jo and Sonya organised buses for us and as I was travelling beyond Plymouth I was on the first minibus. But at Plymouth it became apparent that further lightning strikes in Devon and flooding beyond Exeter meant that plans to stop services at Plymouth and redirect them eastwards wouldn't work. A...

I've just about got my voice back after a week. I'm still typing this in, though - my voice recognition software is a but "mazed" as we say round here. Stiff Little Fingers delivered the goods again at The Hippo last Friday (March 27th) and although I was succumbing to the snots I was determined to see them - that's SLF, not The Snots. It probably wasn't a very wise thing to do but when did common sense come into rock'n'roll. I wouldn't have missed it. Our party numbered about thirty in the end and we all met up beforehand in The Union Rooms on Union Street in Plymouth. As we approached The Hippo we could see groups of people being turned away. Many of them asked us if we had tickets. Fortunately, we did although my mate Martin, who came down from Exeter, must have got one of the last ones. He picked it up on the door and drew many envious glances. The Hippo has recently been refurbished but, to those who new it, it looked just the same. I...

Today I featured in a Little Interview in The Herald, The Voice of Plymouth. I only just qualified for inclusion as I live in Liskeard but when I pointed out that I work in the dockyard Features Editor Martin Freeman relented and sent me his questions. What was particularly instructive for me was that only one of my publicity photographs was of a suitable size and quality for reproduction in the paper. So no scary pictures of me blowing up oil refineries like there are on my blogs. I'm pleased with the result, though, and had to restrain myself from showing everybody on the train this evening my picture in the paper. I might one day manage to be blase about this kind of thing but even if I could I doubt if I will. I still think it's something to be excited about. Click on the adjacent pictures to see larger images.