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Author Topic: My "Treasured Memories"...  (Read 3202 times)

Martin (Admin)

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My "Treasured Memories"...
« on: June 05, 2008, 11:08:02 am »


I received a great PM from nhp651  yesterday, ( in reference to the the favorite Aircraft Topic from: http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=10985.0 ). He's given me permission to re-post it here.
Which got me to thinking we could start this new topic for other such reminisces.

Over to you....

Martin.


Re: The Mosquito WWII fighter / bomber.

It's just about as good a tribute to those beautiful planes that I could give without rambling.
I have been fortunate in life to see them flying a number of times. the first back in 1972 when I was at my first teaching post in a little school in Broadgreen, Liverpool .
I had the class out on the yard when a distinctive roar came low overhead,the kids looked up and I started to explane what it was and how they were made of wood, the kids couldn't believe it, when suddenly the headmaster came rushing out flapping his arms.
I thought I was going to get it in the neck for deviating from my lesson plan..........NO! he sat them all down and promptly gave them a lesson on how he spent his RAF career as a young pilot in the pathfinder squadron.( he'd heard and recognised her sound as she approached.
I couldn't believe it and spent the rest of my time in awe of him.
My attitude towards this rather pompous charactor changed within seconds.
Sadly the last time was seeing the only remaining airworthy one circling Chester, whilst I was sailing my narrowboat through the city, just 3 days before she crashed, killing her crew.
I actually got her on video that day, and although jerky and hazy there is no mistaking her beautiful lines and those magnificent sounding Merlins.
Such beauty in a killing machine.

nhp651
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OMK

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Re: My own "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2008, 12:16:20 am »

Not sure if this should be catagorised as treasure, but it's a memory I don't forget....

I was around fourteen at the the time. I was a Saturday afternoon. Saturday was the day for going into town with my mates and hanging out in the record shop or the music store. I remember it was a nice sunny day. When I got home, I'm walking up the path between our house and our neighbour's house, and suddenly I'm seeing my old man leaping over the fence. By the time I got to the house I heard the screams coming from our neighbour. Ken was his name - Ken Jenkins. For a split second I though that my old man was trying to throttle him or somesuch. Then I seen the flames. Mr. Jenkins was a walking fireball. It turned out he was trying to disconnect a gas pipe in his washhouse. It wasn't properly isolated, so as soon as hit lit his blowtorch the whole place went up. He came flying through the washhouse door, engulfed in flames, screaming for help. That was the exact moment, and explained why, I'd seen my old fellla leaping over the fence.
I hopped over, and there was my old man trying to tear off Mr. J's burning clothes. The both of us, trying to get his clothes off, trying to douse the flames with our hands. All the while Mr. J was just standing there. But by now he had stopped screaming, he just stood there, bolt upright. The nylon shirt he was wearing was sticking to our hands. Our hands on fire by now, so we just kept pulling and pulling trying to get the damn stuff off his skin. My old man was hollering: "Get on the floor! Get on the floor!", but to this day I'm still not sure if Mr. J would have heard because the noise of the flames sounded so LOUD. His wife had heard the screams. I'll never forget the look on her face the moment she eyeballed the scene. His daughter heard it, too. Shirley was older than me by a couple of years - very pretty girl and I fancied her like mad. And there they were, the two of them, hardly believing what they were seeing.
The exact details are a tad fuzzy, I can't remember how or what happened, but by then Mr. J had dropped to the floor. The old man was hollering at Mrs' J to go fetch wet towels, while at the same time trying to yanks Mr. J's trousers away. Poor old Mr's J was too far gone, frozen to the spot. Shirley and all. Funny thing, after all these years, I distinctively remember the cat. Shirl's cat, Snowie. I remember seeing Snowie perched on the coalhouse roof, making this horrid din, crying. On refelection, I reckon old Snowie was probably just as terrified as the rest of us.
Back in those days we didn't have telephones in our houses. We had a phonebox at the other end of the street. I don't know who made the call, but before I knew it the ambulance boys were there. Everything happened so quickly, it all seemed so surreal.

Mr Jenkins hung on for three weeks before the pain finally took him. Mrs. Jenkins ended up moving away. Shirley ended up a heroine addict. My old man ended up losing a few fingers. I ended up with minor skin graft and shitty nightmares of some bloke bursting through the door covered in flames.
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catengineman

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Re: My own "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2008, 12:21:56 am »

Wow PMK
 see what you mean about not really a treasure but that you'll never forget it.

R,

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das boot

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Re: My own "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2008, 08:51:16 am »

Ye gods man, I sympathise with you, that must have been awful to see. And to live with a memory like that...

I have one lasting memory of my old dad sitting up in his hospital bed after being told he could go home the next day after suffering a heart attack...he was all smiles. An hour later he had another one and passed away, never did make it home. The look on his face was magic..."I'm coming home, boy" were the last words I heard him say.

Another memory is of 'er indoors coming to visit me in hospital after I had my heart attack...she came into the ward and found the girlfriend sitting on my bed alongside me.  She was not best pleased.... >>:-( I nearly had another heart attack there and then.

Cheers,

Rich
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yewmount

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Re: My own "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2008, 08:13:47 pm »

Without a shadow of a doubt my treasured memory is of the 4 weeks I spent with my father on his ship

In 1947 I was given only a short time to live [and here's me bragging about my age O0] I was only 12 but somehow he wangled for me to sail with him. He was Chief Engineer on the s/s "Holdernore" [ex "Rudmore"]

Strang how 2 posters to this thread mention memories connected with their father.

Cheers

yewmount.
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geoff p

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Re: My own "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2008, 02:20:23 am »

I have two lovely memories from when they were testing Concord.
I lived in South Cerney, a few miles away from Fairford where Concord was based.

The first time we 'felt' her taking off - the sound was felt rather than heard - then a few minutes later she rumbled overhead.  The old lady next door came out crying because, with the vibrations, all her china had shaken its way to the end of the shelf before falling off.

The most wonderful memory though, was seeing Concord put through her paces for her Certificate of Airworthiness.  She was only a couple of miles away from our house when they put the nose up, and up, and up until she stalled.  We saw her just drop.  Power on and whoosh! she was gone like a rocket.

What a magnificent creation.

Geoff
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farrow

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Re: My own "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2008, 09:44:27 am »

An early memory of mine and still an impressive one, was when in my early years Dad came home early and said come on son we going to see something you probably won't see again. He put in the side chair of his motor combination and off we went to Gillingham coal pier next to the lockgates of Chatham Dockyard.
As I stood there with my Dad looking out onto the Medway thinking well what as a 5/6 year old child does, an old dirty steam tug started to cross my vision very slowly. There was a whisper of smoke hardly any coming from her funnel and all you could hear was a crew chatting and a little hissing of steam from a funnel, she had some wire cowling over a funnel top I believe so that was probably the Perseverance.
Anyway as I looked I saw the crew were looking behind them and there was a rope going from her back towards where they were looking and it was going up all the time. At this time I became intrigued as to where it was going, then a huge grey bow bow of a ship emerged from behind the dockyard wall, it was a bloody great warship close up, moving very slowly but very quietly. The crew including the marines were all at stations in their number ones and no one moved a muscle you could take them for dummies, the paintwork shone as did all the brass and chrome work, the portholes which had brass absolutely shone. It was HMS Birmingham I believe , having just recommissioned after refit and sailing on deployment. The sight and majesty of this specticale was indelibly impressed for ever on my memory, my Dad then was in the Andrew and coming near his time, he was right I have never seen a naval sight yet to impress as this cruiser did.
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Martin (Admin)

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Re: My own "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2008, 11:25:00 am »

For me, just a few moments in time, if I may.....

The times my Dad was pleased / impressed with something I had done for myself.

Nearly drowning in the sea when swimming as a kid.

Passing under an open Tower Bridge Thames pleasure cruise on the way to Greenwich.

Standing next to one of James Watt steam engines in the London Science museum and in
my mind going back in time and 'seeing' the machine as an impossible technical marvel.

Sitting in the actual prototype Mosquito in the De Haviland museum at Salisbury Hall (M25 -J22)

Being told "You have control" in small Cessna.

The first time I heard "stereo" on a pair of headphones.

The first electronic repair I did in my first job.

"I'm arresting you for......",    will always stick with me too.........  :-X

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nhp651

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Re: My "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2008, 12:50:18 pm »

'ELLO, 'ELLO,'ELLO............'AVEN'T WE MET BEFORE SIRRRR?!!!! :police: ;D
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Martin (Admin)

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Re: My "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #9 on: June 26, 2008, 12:52:12 pm »

.....probably!  :embarrassed:
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SteamboatPhil

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Re: My "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #10 on: June 26, 2008, 12:57:12 pm »

Watching my Dad throw his new own designed and built steam engine down the garden because he couldn't get it to work, then fishing it out of the pond before spending a few more weeks on it to get it to work.

Watching my Mum stare in disbelief as my Dad whislt replumbing the house cut through a main water pipe muttering "don't worry I know I have turned this off" then getting soaked and flooding the kitchen (makes me laugh just typing out)

Working on a show which I had to do the lighting for Frank Sinartra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr

Winning the "Spirit Of Mayhem" award this year
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Bunkerbarge

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Re: My "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2008, 01:18:16 pm »

My very first ship, my very first time in the engine room, complete with brand new boiler suit, boots adjustable spanner and as green as you possibly imagine.

I spot a water leak from a vent cock and, sharp as they come, thinks "I'll tighten that up with my nice new adjustable spanner".  I kid you not I only touched the dam thing and it blew off with a couple of bar of sea water pressure behind it.  By the time I had recovered from the shock, realised the brass cock was never going to go back into the hole, I stood there with my finger in the hole, drenched from head to toe, until the Second Engineer walked around the end of the engine and saw me. 

He couldn't help for laughing for about five minutes.
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Roger in France

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Re: My "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2008, 06:12:16 pm »

Here are mine:

1. The first hug my Dad gave me when he came home after the War. That khaki was sure rough!

2. Having my appendix removed and waking up with a patch over my eye! (They had spilt the cleaning up fluid!)

3. My aunt emerging from the sea in her hand knitted swim suit (say no more!).

4. Being so eager to see my wife after her first delivery that I forgot to look at the baby.

5. In my final exams, telling the oral examiner he did not know what he was talking about..... but still passing!

6. Looking down into the Grand Canyon by moonlight.

7. Sailing out of Pompey on the Queen Elizabeth as the band played "Abide with me".

8. My first flight in a glider.

9. Being told I needed heart surgery as I had lost 80%capacity in one artery and 60% in another.

10. Feeling like a new man after recovering from heart surgery.


.....and, of course, joining Mayhem. Ahhhh!

Roger in France.
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Martin (Admin)

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Re: My "Treasured Memories"...
« Reply #13 on: July 25, 2008, 06:26:17 pm »



When I was a kid, we lived in London. For one reason or another we visited Heathrow airport on numerous occasions.
I vaguely remember that once dad drove us, ( Bedford 'B' type van with sliding "suicide" front doors" ) in a tunnel, under the
runways and we popped out on the other side of the airport near the A30. My dad always said 'I dreamed it .... '

BUT! As it's boring Friday afternoon at work I was wondering through MSN  Live Maps and found this!


http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=skb769gyw004&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=12473068&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=sk8zk4gyvjgg&style=b&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=15630092&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

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Martin (Admin)

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The "Brass Strip Man" - Brain Turner
« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2008, 01:18:50 pm »

Not sure where to put this, so here's a good a place as any.
Via email to Mayhem....


Dear Martin,

I have a tale of Brass Strip and Modelling that might interest you and your members.

Around 21 years ago down at the old Steve Webb Model shop – not long after we had firth opened -  a
customer came in and was very pleased to see a K&S stand. I remember being pleased because John McLeod
the Ripmax Representative had sold me the whole stand and at the time it was a bit beyond the budget of
the new shop. Most of my own money had gone on the Lease and the Rent and the shop fittings. I’d bought
as much stock as I could and now I needed to sell some to get more!

I remember this moment because about 3 months open I’d yet to sell anything off the brass stand. The customer
didn’t buy any on that occasion and for the next few years he’d come in on a weekly basis and price up the brass
and occasionally buy a few strips. He became the regular strip brass customer. He usually bought just a few pounds
worth and to this day – he continues to call in and price Brass up or buy brass. Never a load, just a  few bits. He’s
said many times how pleased he is that the shop is ‘here’ as without it he’d not have been able to do his modelling.

Skip to this months Model Boats magazine ( Go slow boats as I call it).The September 2008 edition, page 64 and
Karen Foy describes how her Uncle BRIAN TURNER created the ripple effect in brass on his model HMS Superb. I
read this article with interest, thinking it must have took this modeller YEARS to make this model. I didn’t ‘twig’ it
at first, then I realised BRAIN TURNER was my brass customer – it had took him some time. I thought about 17
to 18years! According to the article the model is now finished and is Twenty years old. That’s about the time span
of the weekly visits to the shop buying brass strips from the K&S stand.

Of course he isn’t the only customer that buys of that stand now a days and yes the Ripmax Rep was right – it was
a stand we ‘needed’. Brian must have the prize for the most regular weekly customer!

You have to see the model to believe it. It’s the most amazing scale model I have seen.

And thanks to my shop – he perfected the ‘starved dog effect’ and it only took Twenty Years.

It’s hard to explain the feeling when a customer achieves something like this, especially when for the first 12 years
we knew him only as the ‘brass strip man’ and that’s a title he carries in the shop until this day. Especially when brass
strip needs ordering – we always make sure we have enough for the ‘brass strip man’

There’s a pic of the article at this link. http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k361/servoboy/turner.jpg

It feels a bit like the end of an era.

Last week I met Brian in the shop. I am not in the shop often now a days and he has a ‘natter’ with me. He said
that if the shop wasn’t ‘here’, his boat project would never have happened. He’d started it off while he was still
working and could only spare 2 hours per night and then more recently he retired and put more time in on the
project. A project he put at taking over 2,000 hours in building time. Now that is not a READY to GO model by any
standards. I felt quite emotional talking too him, there’s a connection between me and the Brass Strip man I would
find hard to explain. I just thought I’d share it with you as I think it’s an amazing story and that’s a story of just one
model! Imagine if there had been no Steve Webb Models, there would be a lot less modelling stories like this one.

I have been asked how much money in brass strip. In truth I don’t know. I could take a guess at £1500 to £2000 –
it would take a few pounds per week to achieve this over 20 years!

Brain the brass strip man is not one for shouting out about his talent. It was many years knowing him – before I knew
he was making a ship model, so you may not know about his model. I tried to find better pics

Hope you are well Martin. I just thought I’d share that with you! I don’t know if you have seen his model – it’s awesome.


Best Regards
Steve Webb - www.stevewebb.co.uk - www.servoshop.co.uk

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