Croft Quarry

[RED-DOG]

It wasn't OJ Simpson's voice by any chance was it ? 

 

[TightEnd]

Red, do you ever go up to Bradgate Park? fond childhood memories of a obelisk/mermorial at the top of the Park

I see it now when driving past J20/J21 on the M1 and keep meaning to go back again 

[RED-DOG]

Red, do you ever go up to Bradgate Park? fond childhood memories of a obelisk/mermorial at the top of the Park

I see it now when driving past J20/J21 on the M1 and keep meaning to go back again 

Yes, though like you, not for ages. Beautiful walks and stunning wild scenery. (The obelisk is a war memorial)

[tikay]

Great stuff Tom. Whilst I think views like that quarry are awesome, I can't help but think that humans are again leaving great wounds in the planet that won't heal.

Not these days Robert. When quarries or "workings" are exhausted, they use them for Landfill, & then in 20 or 30 years, the land is re-claimed. LBC (London Brick Company) had scores of redundant "holes" in Bedfordshire after extracting the brick clay/marl, then Hanson had the bright idea of buying the company for a song, & using the holes for landfill, so they made a bloody fortune by charging £30 a load for landfill! And from that idea was born Hanson Aggregates, whose sole reason d'etre is to use all their gravel pits & quarries as a means of creating holes by selling the content, then charging to have them filled up via Landfill. Then selling the land. How neat a trick is that? Probably the second best business idea I've ever seen. Running a Car-Park tops the list, of course, especially an Airport Car-Park. Count all those £15 a day cars, & think how little hassle the owners cause. Park, pay, go.

[AndrewT]

Probably the second best business idea I've ever seen. Running a Car-Park tops the list, of course, especially an Airport Car-Park. Count all those £15 a day cars, & think how little hassle the owners cause. Park, pay, go.

Even better are the adhoc carparks in London on otherwise unused blocks of land. One guy gets there early and charges each car as they come in. The car park fills up by 8am and the guy's work is done - off he goes home with a four figure sum in cash in his back pocket.

[tikay]

Probably the second best business idea I've ever seen. Running a Car-Park tops the list, of course, especially an Airport Car-Park. Count all those £15 a day cars, & think how little hassle the owners cause. Park, pay, go.

Even better are the adhoc carparks in London on otherwise unused blocks of land. One guy gets there early and charges each car as they come in. The car park fills up by 8am and the guy's work is done - off he goes home with a four figure sum in cash in his back pocket.

Howard "The Magician" Plant started his Car-Parking business that way, in Manchester. He'd "transform" Office Car Parks near Old Trafford on Match Days into pukka Car Parks, a fiver a car, & took £thousands every match. One day the Office Block owner arrived & Howard asked him to pay for parking in his own office block car park! So after that, they struck a deal, & split the income. Howard went on to eventually own or manage 9 Car-Parks in Blackpool. Very nice! He goes round daily to empty the machines, takes a wheelbarrow for the cash I imagine. He gave - gave - his brother a tow-truck, & told him he'd pay him no wages at all, but instead, he got £50 for towing away, to a compound, every illegally parked car in any of his Car Parks. That kept his Brother up to the mark, & naturally he was very zealous at his job, totally wage-free to Howard. Howard then charged £150 to "release" the car.......Howard is a genius. Tells a tall story or two, as well, so maybe this is a bit embellished, but at least Howard has 6 stories, whereas Mad Marty only has 3. Good ones, mind......the first 27 times.

[RichEO]

Awesome stuff Tom.

You should try & visit Middleton Mine, near Wirksworth, in Derbyshire. (You can google it).

It it essentially a limestone mine, under a hill/mountain. It has 27 miles of underground roads, & huge "galleries" inside. The roads inside are so wide that two tonker trucks can pass in opposite directions with plenty to spare. It's 4 miles, via underground road, from the Middleton Entrance to the Hopton Entrance. It is not a "deep" mine, they are just hollowing out the inside of the hill/mountain really.

Vehicles in the mine are obliged to have exhaust scrubbers fitted. No plant life, animal life or organic matter exists inside the Mine, & it's strictly prohibited to take food into the mine.

The temperature hold steady at 4 degrees C, always, winter & summer, never varies a fraction, & the humidity is almost zero. So the worked-out areas of the mine are rented out to the likes of British Aerospace, who store Aero-Engine Components in there.

You cannot enter the mine without a miners helmet & lamp, & you have to collect a "token". I did Contracting in there for many years, Civil Engineering, & used to spend endless days up there, just in awe of the whole place.

In NE Wales I was told by some cavers that there are loads of underground mining tunnels there. They run from where we were at the time all the way to the coast nr Holywell. Approx 10 miles long. No here is the crux for tikay: There is an underground railway, and the cavers operate their own deisel locomotive down there.

[Snatiramas]

Red, do you ever go up to Bradgate Park? fond childhood memories of a obelisk/mermorial at the top of the Park

I see it now when driving past J20/J21 on the M1 and keep meaning to go back again 

Now as a small boy I found myself walking with my mother who was pushing my two year old sister along in her pushchair along the path that winds itself through the park from one gate to the other. It is a beuatiful walk through the park. At one specific point there is a what I now know to be a small outcrop of volcanic rock.

Being seven it just had to be climbed. Got stuck. A mothers dilemma. Seven year old screaming stuck on rock, two year old stuck in pram.
parental nightmare!!!!

[Acidmouse]

"small obelisk" - aint these called trig points?

[Karabiner]

Being seven it just had to be climbed. Got stuck. A mothers dilemma. Seven year old screaming stuck on rock, two year old stuck in pram.
parental nightmare!!!!

[/quote]

I would guess that your mother made you post the BB every hand until you got down 

[AndrewT]

I would guess that your mother made you post the BB every hand until you got down 

She didn't get him down until he'd taken his 'fashion shoes' off and put on a proper smart pair.

[The_duke]

Was it a real voice, one that I heard in my ears, or did I just hear it in my head?
Just then the sun came out, and the birds started singing again, I started to make my way home, but I thought about this incident all the way.

If you believe that as people we leave a 'footprint' when we shuck our mortal coil. Then why not have certain people who can 'feel' this 'footprint'. As probably a descendant of Tuatha De Danann, trust your mother she knows best......

[ifm]

I was always told meridan was the centre of England in fact there is a monument there saying so and various business with the name "centre of England florists" etc.

[RichEO]

"small obelisk" - aint these called trig points?

Looks like one to me. Does it have a metal circle on top with 3 points off it?

[AndrewT]

I was always told meridan was the centre of England in fact there is a monument there saying so and various business with the name "centre of England florists" etc.

Centre of England is in Leicestershire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_points_of_the_United_Kingdom

Meriden did consider itself the centre for many years, but that was before people could measure things properly.