Kitbasher: City slicker turned beach bum

[NARSES2]

It's always interesting when visiting the Tower as part of group to see if the same number get out as went in ? 

Decent pubs that part of the World as well, both sides of the River    and if you really want to cheer yourself up check out one of the letting agencies and see just how much some of the old warehouses converted to apartments go for ? 

[Rick Lowe]

It's always interesting when visiting the Tower as part of group to see if the same number get out as went in ? 

I heard that once upon a time, when the 'Alien War' experience was located at the Trocadero, there were one or two 'Ringers' in each tour group that got grabbed by the Aliens...   
I always regretted I didn't know it had relocated there, and exactly when I was touristing in and out of London for a week...   
Still, I got into Comet Miniatures a couple of times, so I was happy. 

[kitbasher]

Quoth the raven "Nevermore".

Round here they just say "FAAAAAARRK".

Ah, the corvus shatnerius

Anyway, this week - scorchio!
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[The Wooksta!]

[kitbasher]

So, up to The Smoke again.  This time for recreational purposes.  Met up with a bunch of ex-workmates for a couple of beers and a cheeky curry.

The Princess Louise (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Louise,_Holborn), she of the Grade II listed urinals:
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And the The Dolphin Tavern (https://camra.org.uk/pubs/dolphin-tavern-london-125491) she of the clock that stopped when a Zeppelin bomb landed on it in 1915.  Clock still there, still stopped.

[NARSES2]

Those loos in the Louise are a darn site cleaner then when I worked up that way and drank in there in the late 60's/70's. Mind you it wasn't a "tourist" pub then. Glad to see it's been refurbished    I'm sure I've been in there for a few pints since as well especiall when going to the theatre. More comfortable drinking that side of Theatre Land/Soho.

Never drank in the Dolphin.

[kitbasher]

Happy Canada Day, Canada.

It's also Memorial Day in Newfoundland.  Commemorates the first day of the Battle of the Somme, when the Newfoundland Regiment was more or less wiped out.

The man who would have been my Great Uncle Henry went over the top with 17 Bn Manchester Regiment, leading edge of the second wave at Montauban.

He survived, only to die of wounds in March 1918.....on the Somme.

[NARSES2]

I've stood on the Somme on the 1st July it's quite a "strange" feeling thinking that you almost certainly had one relative who went "over the top" there 

[kitbasher]

I was in Newfoundland on Memorial Day in 2016.  Princess Anne was in town to lay a wreath at the St John's War Memorial.  There was a fantastic, albeit understandably sombre commemoration of the 1st Day of the Somme in The Rooms (https://therooms.ca/).

And IIRC comedian Lee Mack's great-grandfather was in the first wave at Montauban, served in (again IIRC) the Liverpool Regr.

[NARSES2]

I once talked to a grandad about "going over the top" and what it felt like. He never could explain it to me 

[kitbasher]

I once talked to a grandad about "going over the top" and what it felt like. He never could explain it to me 

I can't even begin to imagine what it was like.

[PR19_Kit]

I can't even begin to imagine what it was like.

Utterly terrifying I'd imagine. 

[Rick Lowe]

I can't even begin to imagine what it was like.

Utterly terrifying I'd imagine. 

Yes. 

I once talked to a grandad about "going over the top" and what it felt like. He never could explain it to me 

Which is why such a lot of the Old Soldiers, of Wars before and since, never talked about it to those that Weren't There...
Understandable, but they would have been very interesting conversations. And a rich addition to Social History.

[NARSES2]

Which is why such a lot of the Old Soldiers, of Wars before and since, never talked about it to those that Weren't There...
Understandable, but they would have been very interesting conversations. And a rich addition to Social History.

Yup. Both my grandfathers and my Dad only ever really talked about their "down time" and some of the laughs they had. Dad did 6 years in the RN in WW II, his brother was conscripted at the end of the War and saw a couple of months in NW Europe. Apart from stories of the early days of the Occupation he only ever talked about the relief of Belsen. It was though he needed to rid himself of the memories and knew I had a guenuine interest in all things historical.

[PR19_Kit]

I was in my 30s before I managed to persuade my Dad to tell me any stories about his real wartime experiences. Under such stressful conditions back then I guess that's understandable.