Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[RED-DOG]

Tom must be psychic, for he's explained how "coke" is made, which I was intending to do, after he told me yesterday about the impending coke crisis in the McCready homestead, being a fascinating......product, of which I am highly-versed.

I suppose I'd be the only one to be even slightly amused at this exchange - which Tom will vouch is true.

Me - "so where do you have to go to buy Coke, Tom?"

Red - "Coalville".

You can still tell them about how the air is excluded, and about the by-products which are produced.

BTW- The "Coke from Coalville" quip completely whooshed me at the time, but I'm laughing now,

[tikay]

Tom must be psychic, for he's explained how "coke" is made, which I was intending to do, after he told me yesterday about the impending coke crisis in the McCready homestead, being a fascinating......product, of which I am highly-versed.

I suppose I'd be the only one to be even slightly amused at this exchange - which Tom will vouch is true.

Me - "so where do you have to go to buy Coke, Tom?"

Red - "Coalville".

You can still tell them about how the air is excluded, and about the by-products which are produced.

BTW- The "Coke from Coalville" quip completely whooshed me at the time, but I'm laughing now,

The by-products which asrise when coke is manufactured?

Try standing in the vicinity of the Monkton Coke & Chemical Works, near Wombwell, Barnsley, (& I'm sure you are familiar with the Wonders of Wombwell) & you'll be aware of the pungent aroma of sulpher - similar to rotten eggs.

The coke factory is, in fact, like something from hell. Leaking pipes, hissing steam, puddles of toxic spill everyehere, just awful. I imagine it's been closed down now.

[RED-DOG]

I was thinking more along the lines of coal oil, coal gas, ammonia, sulpur, coal tar, etc.

BTW- do you remember Wrights Coal Tar Soap?

[tikay]

I was thinking more along the lines of coal oil, coal gas, ammonia, sulpur, coal tar, etc.

BTW- do you remember Wrights Coal Tar Soap?

Of course!

It's still available, too. It's antibiotic soap.

It no longer contains Coal Tar though, the EC banned it as a soap ingredient. It now derives from something - I jest not - called tea-tree oil. Which brings us nicely back to trees. And I hope the punsters take the hint.

[TightEnd]

tree cheers for natural products in soap!

[RED-DOG]

Which brings us nicely back to trees. And I hope the punsters take the hint.

Nice try, but I don't think you'll get rid of them that easy.

[tikay]

tree cheers for natural products in soap!

Top Man Tighty. They invaded my Diary, now they'd better invade Red's.

A good start, now keep them coming.

From all levels of blonde, from top to bottom. Or, as the Unions might say, root & branch.

[RED-DOG]

I have three caravans. One is a 22 ft living trailer that the girls use as a bedroom; one is a 15-foot that we use for travelling to horse fairs etc and also as a spare bedroom come storeroom, and one is the 36ft mobile home that we live in. We have had the mobile home for quite a long time, and now that we are to be here for at least another 3 years, we have decided to replace it with a more modern one. So, a few days ago, I sold it. The buyer will take delivery sometime within the next couple of weeks. I will miss it when it goes; it’s been a good home. Most of all I will miss its solid fuel stove. Modern caravans don’t have solid fuel stoves. No longer will I be fetching coke; no more will I light the fire. It may seem silly to you, gentle reader, but these are things I have been doing all my life, and I will miss them a great deal.

Fetching coke is a something I’ve done hundreds of times. When I was a boy it was a weekly task. We didn’t buy more than a weeks worth at a time. For one thing it would be a nuisance to carry too much if we moved, and for another we couldn’t afford it.

If the coke yard was more than 3 or 4 miles away, my dad would try to call in with the lorry, probably on a Saturday morning after we had been to the scrap yard to weigh in the ferrous and non ferrous metals, rags and woollens that we had collected during the week.

If we went with the lorry, we were always on the lookout for the chance to get a little extra coke for free. This might be as simple as giving the employee in the yard half a crown to give us a heavy bag. We used to buy a hundredweight, (about 50 kilos) but we used to take a bag that would hold 2 hundredweight just in case. Sometimes, if we were buying more than usual, we would buy our coke loose and just shovel it on to the back of the truck. This would mean weighing the lorry before and after loading. In this case I would make sure I was hiding in the cab for the first weigh, but before the second weigh I would slip out and meet my dad somewhere further down the street, thus saving us the cost of 5 or 6 stones. Technically, I suppose it was stealing, but we had a big family to feed, and money was in very short supply.

If we the coke yard was within 3 or 4 miles, my granddad Sam and I would often fetch the coke on our bikes. We would each get a large sack and some string, then we would ride to the yard, fill the sacks, tie the tops and then drape them over our crossbar ready for the long push home. Against granddad’s advice, I was always tempted to ride my heavily laden bike on the downhill sections, as often as not, my sack would slip off and spread its contents far and wide, then I would have to stop and painstakingly pick it all up piece by piece.

I just couldn’t understand why my granddad found it so amusing every time the sack fell off. In fact the more often it fell off and the more I scowled, the harder he laughed.

Now that life has come full circle, and I have grandsons of my own to laugh at, I find myself smiling at the memory.


Can you indulge me a little longer? I just want to talk for a while about fire lighting, then I promise I’m done with the subject.

[bobby1]

Please go on.

[taximan007]

Yes, please do Tom, Fantastic stuff. (as always)

[taximan007]

The hot water that fills the radiators and hisses gleefully down the drain as my daughter chats on the phone would cease to flow,

 

[boldie]

Please go on.

what he said. Anyone else thinking of the first time they read "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn" when they read Red's posts?

[tikay]

If you don't mind, Tom, I'm gonna post my "fire-lighting" memories too, I did it every single day from the age of 5 until my late twenties. And it taught me a great many of life's excellent lessons. But I don't want to steal your thunder, so I'll await your epic & eagerly-awaited tome first.

[Laxie]

Great read Tom    

When do we get to read the next bit?! 

Can you indulge me a little longer? I just want to talk for a while about fire lighting,

We're waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[taximan007]

If you don't mind, Tom, I'm gonna post my "fire-lighting" memories too, I did it every single day from the age of 5 until my late twenties. And it taught me a great many of life's excellent lessons. But I don't want to steal your thunder, so I'll await your epic & eagerly-awaited tome first.

Pyromaniac?