Exiled Townie

Sylvia Syms, 89, starred in Ice Cold in Alex and dozens more British films.

On all the tv news channels this morning, 'We're running out of tomato's, cucumbers and peppers, rush out and panic buy, we have photos of empty shelves, panic, panic, panic.' Went to Morrisons with the wife a little later, no empty shelves, no shortages of any veggies as far as I could see. Mentioned it to the girl putting vegetables on to the shelves and she said they are getting the same amount of fruit and veg delivered as they always do and there is not a problem - other than some people putting five cucumbers and half a dozen lettuces in their trolleys.

If I had been told it was a retro shirt & seen it without a badge I would have guessed Dewsbury or Bradford. Good looking shirt, nice one Salford.

Roland the Farter (known in contemporary records as Roland Le Fartere and Roland Le Petour) was a medieval flatulist who lived in twelfth-century England. Roland the Farter's given name was George, but he changed it as Roland sounded more regal. He was given Hemingstone Manor in Suffolk and 30 acres of land in return for his services as 'Royal Farter' for King Henry ll. His 'piece de resistance' that he was obliged to perform each year at the kings Christmas feast was "Unum saltum et siffletum et unum bumbulum", a dance that ended with “one jump, one whistle, and one fart” executed simultaneously.

In the 1st century AD, the Romans used to buy bottles of Portuguese urine and use it as a mouthwash. Importing bottled urine became so popular that the emperor Nero taxed the trade. The ammonia in urine was thought to disinfect mouths and whiten teeth, and urine remained a popular mouthwash ingredient until the 18 th century.

He was a great hero in Victorian times, but as time passed and attitudes changed, he has been largely forgotten. I think I read that he has three statues in Northern Ireland, an obelisk to his memory in Pakistan and his grave in Delhi is classed as a protected monument by the Indian government.

Been reading about John Nicholson, a legendary Anglo/Irish British army officer during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Described by some as the man who saved British India and by others as an imperial psychopath, some of the tales are astounding - One famous story recounted in Soldier Sahibs is of a night during the Rebellion when Nicholson strode into the British mess tent at Jullundar, coughed to attract the attention of the officers, then said, "I am sorry, gentlemen, to have kept you waiting for your dinner, it will be a little late as I have just been hanging your cooks." (He had been told that the regimental chefs had poisoned the soup. When they refused to taste it for him, he fed it to a monkey – and when it expired on the spot, he proceeded to hang the cooks from a nearby tree without a trial.) When appointed a district commissioner, Nicholson was ruthless in bringing peace and order to the region with a zero tolerance attitude on crime or any perceived disrespect shown towards the colonial government, often using flogging to both punish and humiliate any who dared infringe the law. He often dispensed justice with the head of an infamous outlaw pickled in a jar on his desk beside him. At first he was feared, but Nicholson soon gained the respect of the Afghan and North Punjabi tribes in the area for his fair treatment to all, as well as the almost complete elimination of crime. The respect that Nicholson gained from the Sikh people and then the Punjabi tribes turned into an almost religious worship as the "Nikal Seyn" cult developed, which worshiped Nicholson as a saint who brought justice to the oppressed by punishing the strong. Amazingly, this cult survived into the 20th century. Rather than be flattered by this religious devotion, Nicholson found his Christian beliefs offended by the worship of himself, and would promptly whip any of the devotees who publicly practiced this cult in his presence. Unfortunately this only expanded the cult. Reading about it, I couldn't help but think it led to scenes like in the 'Life of Brian', I'm not the Messiah Will you please listen, I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.

A little know fact that is glossed over in the majority of history books I read about the battle of Agincourt. From Juliet Barker's book 'Agincourt: The King, the Campaign, the Battle' :- Many of the English and Welsh archers were suffering from dysentry, and were reduced to removing their soiled breeches and undergarments in an attempt to allow nature to take its course more easily ie not wearing anything from the waist down — an option not available to the men-at-arms, encased in their padded steel plate suits, they just had to 'go' in their armour. Grim though the sight of them must have been, the smell was probably worse. Imagine being a French knight,being attacked by naked from the waist down archers, followed by men at arms with poo squelching out of their armour - they don't teach that in history class.

I am embarrassed to say I am watching this as well, it's car crash tv. . I never watch reality tv, and came across this by accident. I had to laugh when one of the players described a group as made up of the alpha males and macho men - this was just before two of them burst into tears after being suspected as 'traitors', and the third ran out of the room after suffering a case of 'the vapours'. There's a few strong women in there, but not a great advert for the great British male.

The graphic does look a bit off white but on the club video, it does look a bit brighter.

Not sure if this has been on the original thread (think I would have remembered it if it had) The Jameaters (Whitehaven) Away strip for 2023

As the original thread is now closed, wasn't quite sure where to put this, so started this one. Workington Town

Son has an electric works car, Mercedes EQC, and he cannot fault it - its priced at over £70K so it should be good for that price. Been in it a few times and it is a great car. Very economical and fast and reliable over long distances. (300 miles on full battery and 40 min recharge). However I also know a few people with 'standard' electric vehicles and the three things they always talk about is how much it cost to buy, the distance they can travel, and how long it takes to charge. Not sure I'd buy electric yet.

RIP Leslie. I posted this on another thread several months ago - Many (many) years ago my mate and I pulled into a petrol station in West Hampstead to fill up. Mate got out and was at the pump when a sports car pulled up at the other side of the pump, and out got Leslie Phillips. I was trying to do my 'I'm looking at him but trying not to let him notice' thing when he came over to the car and said something along the lines of " I say chaps, just picked up this car and I can't find the petrol cap, I don't suppose one of you would know where it is?" Out we got and after a while my mate found it (behind the rear number plate), cue lots of thanks in true Carry On mode, and off we went. He seemed a very nice chap.

Wasn't there a Hainault Bulldogs playing out of Dagenham in the London League. If it's the club I am thinking about, it was started by a lad from Batley who moved darn sarf.

The new German made version of All Quiet On The Western Front is on Netflix from this weekend. Received some great reviews.

Seem to remember Portsmouth Navy Seahawks playing in the London League, are they still about?

When David upset the caption writer -

An the daft bloody woman took a selfie and posted it as well - CLICK HERE for article (and photo).

One of the best historical dramas I have seen. She certainly could weave a story.

Have you have ever wondered why the tax year in Britain starts on the unlikely date of 6th April, rather than 1st January?The official start of the year on the Julian calendar used to be Lady Day (25th March), and this was also the official start of the tax year. However the introduction of the new calendar and the loss of the eleven days in 1752 meant this date was changed to 5th April in 1753, to avoid losing 11 days of tax revenue. Another change was made to the date in 1800, as this would have been a leap year in the Julian calendar but not in the new Gregorian calendar. So again the tax year was extended and the date changed to 6th April where it remains to this day.