Christmas presents

[Bill DawesParticipant @billdawes]

For my birthday a week or so before Christmas and for Christmas itself I had the two Rivet Lad books.

Read a bit of both so far and loving them, what fascinating stories.

In my career of some 67 years (still going) in the industrial fan industry and selling to the combustion market I have got to know of quite a few boiler makers, past and present (not many) but I was amazed at the amount of boiler makers in just the north of England ‘Back in the day’ as they say.

Thoroughly recommend these books. My brief encounter so far with the writer shows that he has almost a pedantic attention to small detail of what he is repairing, lighting up his torch not with a match but with a Swan Vesta match for instance.

Bill D.

 

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

Why does a  Swan Vesta match matter?

[Bill DawesParticipant @billdawes]

It was just one of many descriptions in his writing that were noticeably precise. I’m not complaining, just a comment on his writing style and I am loving it so far.

Bill D.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

When smoking particularly pipe smoking Swan Vesta matches were regarded as the crème de la crème

One Christmas present I received from my good lady was Apple ear buds

H

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Had my eye on a new PC for a while. Just for banking and Ebay sales & purchases. As the one I use for that at the minute is getting very long in the tooth.  Put one on my Amazon wish list and the wife bought it for me.  Tiny PC fits in the palm of my hand. Very fast & runs absolutely silent although it does have a fan in it. Can run 2 monitors on HDMI which is handy.  Very pleased with it so far. Also got 2 x 1Tb SSD usb memory sticks. Great for backing up my large music & video collection.

regards

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

The ‘Swan Vesta’ match is not a “safety match” that will only work if rubbed on the appropriate match-box, but the only one made that will light on any suitably rough but dry surface – such as boiler foundation brickwork. Which could be very useful if you are working in rough and possibly humid conditions!

Thank you for the review – keep promising myself these ‘Rivet Lad’ books.

I did have two books for Christmas; one by an American cave-diver recounting her experiences in that activity, the other, the first of Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, yes the Swan Vesta’s were also popular with cigarette smokers too in work places, by the very fact that they could be struck on just about anything, so one could give a few to a workmate if they had forgotten or run out of their own. This was before cheap disposable lighters became popular.

Regards Nick.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, my daughter gave me a locomotive to construct for Christmas, which she though I would like, it is a bit wooden, and is from this collection that can be found on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=rokr+models+uk&adgrpid=90235613268&hvadid=578425450981&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1006886&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2617818684695909749&hvtargid=kwd-846543140102&hydadcr=4175_2155506&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_17otn9yey2_e

It came in a flat pack, with all the pieces laser cut, but the most difficult bit was removing some of the most delicate pieces, without breaking them. It was a bit of a challenge, as some of it was very fiddley and small, however, it was rewarding to do.

Regards Nick.

P.S. you may wish to open the above link in a new tab/window.

[Bill DawesParticipant @billdawes]

Finished reading my second Rivet Lad book (More battles with old steam boilers)

Brilliant read, great characters as well although I don’t know how much they were based on real people, it does say they are ‘fictious’

The stories of his boiler repairs at various piggeries is fascinating and I believe that such piggeries did exist in some areas of the North West.

Bill D.

[Author]

Posts