Picture Postcard "Harbour Lights"

September is a good month to visit Rye in Sussex. Particularly if you enjoy bird-watching. And I have just booked a holiday at this delightful cottage "Harbour Lights" for late September. The perfect time for Autumn arrivals of so many of our birds that overwinter here.

Harbour Lights is a small, modernised fisherman's cottage, a Grade II listed building dating from the late eighteenth century and situated in the fishing and yachting village of Rye Harbour. It is right on the harbour "front" which consists of half a dozen picturesque cottages and the William The Conqueror pub. It is a stone's throw from the tidal River Rother and the RNLI lifeboat station, and not far from the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve (of particular interest to me for the bird-watching opportunities). The sea is about half a mile away, approached on the Rye Harbour side by a gated road which prevents access by cars. Thus the beach (part shingle, part sand) does not get very crowded. Westward, extensive shingle, grazing land and marsh provide open country walking to Winchelsea. The sands at Camber are five miles away by road.

So, there we have it. Autumnal days strolling the beach, searching rock pools, bird-watching and generally chilling out with a few good books, good food, a wee dram or two and quiet nights....

 

A Priceless Typo

I have to share this because I cannot stop giggling. My brother wrote in his very popular LJ blog:

"....I then looked around Folkestone town centre and got somewhat distracted by the different pubs and ended up doing nothing else. It soon became the early evening so I took a bus back to finish the evening with a mystery shop at The Leading Light pub in Faversham. I had an Aberdeen Anus steak washed down with a glass of the house red and a pint of Wantsum Turbulent Priest...."

The typo missing "g" was soon pointed out in comments from other LJ readers but the helpless laughter had started. I have to try and stop thinking about it to curb the sudden and spontaneous outbursts of body shaking.....!

International Birdfair 2014

I have been spending a lot of time watching the Commonwealth Games on BBC television and have just watched the breathtaking final of the Ladies 4 x 100m Medley Final in which England took the silver medal and then the final final in the pool of the Mens 4 x 100m Medley Final in which England took the gold medal in thrilling style. And then I realised that the Birdfair 2014 is just two weeks away....

I will be attending for the fourth year in a row with my good friend Graeme. We will be driving from Brighton to Uppingham in Rutland on Friday 15th August and staying at one of our favourite Inns anywhere: The Crown Inn an 18th century pub that serves the finest ales, wonderful pub grub and offers fantastic hospitality.

We will visit the Birdfair on Saturday 16th August, no doubt nursing mild hangovers...

Birdfair encompasses the whole spectrum of the birdwatching industry whilst at the same time supporting global bird conservation. This is the event of the year if you’re into birds and wildlife. It is a fabulous event not to be missed.

A Year on Blogger

I cannot let my first anniversary on Blogger pass without a few comments and observations. I reckon my blog is at best, modest. Nevertheless I have published 248 posts that have been viewed 24,456 times. I know that there are bloggers out there who receive far more hits on their sites but I am pleased with this number.

Some interesting statistics (well, interesting to me!):

Of the page reads to date 14,974 have originated from the USA. That's 61% and I am a Brit living in Brighton, England. Thank you American readers for your encouragement. 2,869 page reads come from the United Kingdom, 457 from France, 246 from Russia, 181 from Germany, 153 from China, 149 from Ukraine, 136 from Canada, 115 from Belgium and 64 from the Netherlands, plus sundry others.

Page-views by Browsers is interesting: 74% from surfers using Firefox, 11% using Chrome and only 8% using Internet Explorer and 3% Safari. Many years ago I used Explorer, migrated to Firefox and now use Chrome.

Data on page-views by OS (if you have read this far!) show 82% still using Windows, 11% using Macintosh (I am a Mac user), 2% Linux, 2% Android and 1% iPhone.

So, there you have it. My year on Blogger. Thank you for reading my ramblings; I wouldn't do it without you.

BlogGo for Blogger

I have had numerous problems with this app for iPhone, the main being non recognition of sign-in data. I eventually had to reconfigure Google+ and change password. So now, it appears that I have logged in OK, just want to see if this post appears in my blog. If it does then this is a useful app!

The wait is over

Relief. Immeasurable relief. Doesn't one always think the worst? The wait for Oliver's blood results was a long 30 hours. I tried to keep myself occupied but he was constantly in my thoughts and as the hours passed the dread increased.

So, when the call finally came from our veterinarian, the relief felt was palpable. All parameters in the geriatric feline blood profile were normal and this was a comprehensive screen including CBC, which counts not only the total number of white blood cells but also each individual type of white blood cell in the blood sample, the RBCs and Platelets. Abnormalities in any of these can cause malfunction of various organs and disease. The blood chemistry profile and thyroid hormones were all normal. Nothing remotely sinister to report.

What then might be causing the diarrhoea? Possible imbalance of gut flora? We now have Oliver on probiotics to try and sort this out. Mind you, as we have two cats (our other cat is Bertie) we have to put the probiotics on both bowls of food to ensure that Oliver gets his! (There is no harm in giving Bertie probiotics...)

Bertie

Just hope we can get his diarrhoea sorted out now as it must be debilitating for him. 

Preoccupied

I had to take one of our beloved cats to the veterinarians today. Oliver. Our wonderful Oliver. Now in his fourteenth year. A constant companion. A wonderful black and white cat that we homed from a rescue almost thirteen years ago. A gentle soul who loves to 'hide' beneath the jasmine, who 'chatters' at birds in the garden but has never harmed one. He wouldn't. He lies next to me now as I type this post. I will keep him safe as long as it takes.

Oliver has been losing weight. Two weeks ago he weighed just 3.69kg. Today, at the vets, he weighed 3.61kg. A loss of 80gms. "That's less than a sachet of food" I told myself. Our veterinarian, Matt, palpitated Oliver's abdomen, looking for a 'lump' that our other vet, Paul, reckoned he could feel two weeks ago. Matt was not convinced. But Oliver has been suffering with diarrhoea for two weeks, on and off, and I have noticed some blood in his motions....

We steered Matt away from a full CT scan. I didn't want Oliver subjected to the rigours of full anaesthesia. But we agreed to a full geriatric blood screen. Our lad had to have both sides of his neck shaved to obtain sufficient blood for the tests.

This is when, as an animal lover, as someone whose pet is helpless, who relies totally on you, this is when your bottom lip gives way. Ros and I have shared our lives with cats for forty years. We have experienced the heartache of losing treasured family members too often. That feeling of loss never changes.

I look at Oliver now as he lies beside me, on the table... and I well up. I cannot stop thinking about the 'phone call' I will get tomorrow from Matt with the blood test results. I don't want to hear anything sinister...

I just love Oliver too much.

A Turn Up for the Books

And so it was. I visited the Brighton Garden Centre this morning to stock up on wild-bird food to find that they were selling most items at half price. Needless to say the selection was limited but I managed to acquire Fruit & Berry Suet Pellets for £2.99 (usually £5.99), Natures Feast Wild Bird No Grow for £2.49 (usually £4.99), 4 x Finest Suet Balls for £0.99 (usually £1.99) and a pre-filled Feeder with Sunflower Seeds for £1.99 (usually £3.99). This certainly was a turn up for the books as I tend to purchase a considerable amount of wild-bird food during the course of a year.

The Garden Centre appears to be turning over more space to franchises; the company Viners now has a significant presence with a range of their cookware and cutlery and a shoe company (forget the name) has taken up space as well. Not sure how successful this will be as the Edinburgh Wool Mill outlet was here for a while but closed down earlier this year (much to my wife's disappointment!) Is a garden centre an obvious place to look for shoes?

Mind you, I had better not tell my wife.....

The Book Thief

I watched ‘The Book Thief’ last night on Blue-Ray. I had no idea what to expect as I have not read the book (yet) by Markus Zusak. But I will. This is one of the most profound and gentle films I have watched in a long time and I am at a loss to comprehend some of the thumbs-down votes by a number of so-called film critics. The film made me laugh, it unashamedly made me cry and above all it made me feel good.

The film tells the story of a girl, Liesel, (Sophie Nélisse) who transforms the lives of those around her during World War II, Germany. When her mother can no longer care for her Liesel is adopted by a German couple (OSCAR Winner Geoffrey Rush and OSCAR Nominee Emily Watson). Although she arrives illiterate, Liesel is encouraged to learn to read by her adoptive father. When the couple then take in Max (Ben Schnetzer), a Jew hiding from Hitler’s army, Liesel befriends him.

I won’t say more on how the story (fable even) develops save to say that I found it captivating and extremely powerful; a hauntingly beautiful film. Using the literary vehicle of “Death” as the narrator really is a masterstroke and works perfectly. It starts the film and finishes it but is never intrusive.

‘The Book Thief’ certainly joins my Top 10 film list.

Off to the country

We have had weeks of glorious weather, that is until Thursday. Skies became leaden, the air became still and very humid and overnight we experienced thunder and lightning storms of awesome proportions. The same occurred last night. After rain this morning the weather has calmed somewhat although the high cloud cover suggests more rain to come.

This is only to be expected as we are travelling this afternoon to friends in the country for a B-B-Q! It will go ahead no matter how inclement the weather. Would not be the first time we have cooked beneath umbrellas! And we have a large gazebo....

Whatever happens we will enjoy good company, good food, beer and wine and an overnight stay in beautiful surroundings...

Eagles 1972-1999 Selected Works

I found this superb 4CD collection plus 24 page booklet for 7 quid in Sainsbury's. Beautifully boxed in a fold out sleeve that slides into the outer cover.

The four discs 1. The Early Days 2. The Ballads 3. The Fast Lane and 4. The Millennium Concert

I am a confessed Eagles fan, have been for four decades. These guys have certainly gone the distance, sounding as fresh today as they did forty-odd years ago. In the early days the band consisted of Randy Meisner, Bernie Leadon, Don Henley and Glenn Frey; Henley and Frey - the great songwriting duo. Joe Walsh joined the Eagles in 1976 and in 1977 Timothy B. Schmit replaced Randy Meisner on bass.

In 1980 the Eagles partnership was falling apart and the official announcement came in 1981. They were off the scene for fourteen years apart from varying degrees of success in solo careers. And then in 1994 the Eagles made a splendid return for an MTV special followed by the 'Hell Freezes Over' tour that continued until the end of summer 1996. The album went on to sell 15 million copies. Do I have a copy? What do you think!

On New Year's Eve 1999 the Eagles played Staples Center, Los Angeles and this was probably their finest hour. I wish I had been there. And they are still touring; The History of The Eagles tour is presently doing various dates in the USA. Anyone in Lake Tahoe, NV have a spare room for 29th August.......

Great Knot in Norfolk!

A Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris has been seen at Breydon Water in Norfolk and has bird-watchers racing to get there and see it. This is only the fourth recorded occurrence of this mega rarity in Britain. The first Great Knot was found in 1989 in Shetland, the second in 1996 in Cleveland, the third in both County Dublin and Lancashire in 2004.

The Great Knot

This species breeds in the subarctic and montane tundra habitats of north-eastern Siberia. It is migratory and winters along the coast of Southeast Asia and Australia. It has been very rarely observed on the west coast of Alaska during its spring migration and has also been recorded locally in Western Europe.

Quite a turn-up for Norfolk!

Love and War in the Pyrenees

I was introduced to the writing of Rosemary Bailey when I read ‘Life In A Postcard’ the account of her life in the Pyrenees, her experiences of life in a mountain village, the restoration of a ruined monastery where she now lives with her husband Barry Miles, and the history of the monks who once lived there.

This latest book of Bailey’s ‘Love and War in the Pyrenees’ a story of Courage, Fear and Hope, 1939-1944 is a moving account of the region during World War Two. As I read this book I realised that there was much I didn’t know and more that the French did not want Bailey to find out about them during the Occupation, the real role of the Resistance, the Maquis, the level of collaboration, the concentration camps in the Pyrenees and the treatment of Jews and other refugees. Few in Southern France even now are willing to admit the level of outright acceptance of the German occupation, of the fascist ideals of the Vichy government and the degree of collaboration, passive or active, that went on throughout the war years.

This is a story of love and deprivation. Rosemary and her husband bought the abbey at Corbiac in the Pyrénées-Orientales many years ago. Fifty years before them the dwelling was lived in by Pierre and Amélie, a newly married couple who lived there at the start of the Second World War. The daughter of P and A heard about Bailey and her husband’s story in renovating the abbey and gave them a faded blue folder of love letters between her parents. These letters form the backdrop of this extraordinary book, a thorough and thought-provoking and at times deeply disturbing account of the impact of the 2nd World War on the villages and towns of the Pyrenees. The book is a triumph of historical reconstruction and leaves me profoundly disturbed about the lack of understanding I had about this virtually hidden past of the Vichy government in unoccupied France.

I urge you to read this.

Defra Minister Owen Paterson Sacked

Owen Paterson, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has been sacked from David Cameron's cabinet, much to the delight of environmental campaigners and particularly those opposed to the badger cull.

In the cabinet reshuffle Paterson will be replaced by Liz Truss, parliamentary under-secretary of state for education and childcare since September 2012. Truss was elected MP for South Norfolk in the 2010 general election.

The Countryside Alliance supported Paterson in his limited time at DEFRA but then they have always had their own agenda. In some respects I feel sorry for Liz Truss as no matter who is environment minister, fundamental issues within the department make this an almost impossible role. What knowledge Truss has of farming issues and rural affairs is unclear. I hope she is strong willed enough to face the landowners and large scale farmers who may well become her bête-noire....

 

Merchant Navy Class Locomotive - Ellerman Lines

Hornby released their model of the rebuilt Merchant Navy class locomotive 'Ellerman Lines' in 2002. The model was released for one year only; the original locomotive is on display at the National Railway Museum.

Hornby 4-6-2 'Ellerman Lines'

The rebuilt Merchant Navy locomotives epitomise for me the age of steam. These heavy-weight Pacific locomotives, designed for Top Link passenger services on the Southern Railway, were conceived during hostilities of World War 2. The Merchant Navy class locos were nicknamed “Spam Cans” (as other light pacifics of the West Country and Battle of Britain classes) due to their unorthodox appearance. A total of 30 locomotives were constructed, all named after steam ship lines operating out of Southampton Docks. In accordance with their powerful stature the Merchant Navy locos were entrusted premiere passenger trains, such as the all Pullman Bournemouth Belle and Golden Arrow.

Between 1956 and 1960 the entire class was rebuilt (appearance as per photograph, with smoke deflectors added) with lessons learned being applied to many Battle of Britain / West Country cousins. Liveries carried include the original Malachite Green, affectionately known as “Sunshine Green” with yellow lining that was employed by the Southern Railway. The Merchant Navy’s also were one of the few classes to carry the experimental blue livery proposed by British Railways for express passenger locomotives. Ultimately, all members were painted British Railways Brunswick Green with orange and black lining.

Wanting to add this particular model to my collection (not available from Hornby for 11 years) I have been fortunate enough to track one down in pristine condition at Olivia's Trains. I am waiting for delivery with great anticipation....
 

Germany World Cup Champions 2014

So that's it. A very, very good World Cup. A worthy winner: a young, exciting team who play with skill, pace, teamwork and drive. Congratulations to Germany. And congratulations to Brazil, who put on a superb tournament. Obviously they won't want to talk about The Bad Thing that happened against Germany in the semis, but given that there were genuine pre-tournament fears of major civil unrest, well...

So, it's medals all round for the Mannschaft on beating Argentina. A really excellent team, they've come through the ranks together, they play with pace and heart and they've got some cracking attacking players. They've got the best domestic league, as well. All things considered, very worthy champions and well done to them.

Ten in Two

So, there we have it. A game of two halves in which Holland were by far the better team. Brazil let in ten goals in just two matches...

Robin van Persie thumps in a penalty just 3 minutes into the game and Daley Blind adds a second in the 17th minute. We then had to wait until 90+1 minutes for Georginio Wijnaldum to make it 3-0 with a fantastic goal.

So, Holland take the bronze medal and Brazil take the wooden spoon....

The Wooden Spoon

Not sure whether or not I can be bothered to watch the play-off for third place tonight in the Football World Cup. Brazil are to play Holland. Brazil who were humiliated mid week with a 7-1 thrashing by Germany and Holland who played out the big yawn against Argentina, resulting in a 0-0 score line after 120 minutes. Holland then lost the penalty shoot-out 2-4. Frankly I find the 3rd place play-off for the wooden spoon rather pointless. But come 9:00pm with nothing much else to watch.....

British Transport Film Archive

British Transport Films was formed in May 1949 with Edgar Anstey as its first Producer in Charge. Anstey was a protégé of John Grierson the principle documentary film maker in the 1930s and the founder of the British Documentary Movement.The nationalisation of Britain's four major privately owned railway companies, along with other transport undertakings including road motor transport and canals, took place in 1948. Two of the major railway companies maintained film units which were amalgamated into the new BTF and carried on the work of the previously privately run units. Their purpose was the making of travelogue films that promoted destinations in town, country and seaside resorts throughout the British Isles and promoted rail or associated transport as the best means for people to travel to the destinations represented on screen. Another successful vein was the production of films that represented the nationalised transport workforce and the part they had to play in rebuilding the country. Of more direct concern to staff were the films made to explain complicated operational aspects of the transport undertakings and were used in training schools.

Much of this library has been published in DVD format, ten volumes so far each containing two DVDs. I own volumes 1, 2 and 9 so far and they are a joy to watch. In the general output of BTF the view is taken of Britain slowly coming out of the ravages of war into the 1950s. This is an important legacy that Anstey and BTF has left for future generations. Furthermore BTF went onto to reflect the ‘swinging sixties’ and then change again to reflect the mood of the seventies. Although BTF was a sponsored unit, Anstey and his team of resident and freelance filmmakers have managed not only to capture the transport of the time but moreover the period it operated in. As BTF was indirectly publicly funded through subsidies to the B.T.C. and B.R.B. from 1954, the unit has provided another service to the public in recording three diverse and interesting decades of British way of life and transport.

There is available an 18-disc box set bringing together nine volumes of the BFI’s celebrated British Transport Films.

This impressive 18-disc box set collects nine volumes of the BFI’s celebrated British Transport Films DVD series and fully illustrates the wide range of subjects the BTF Unit covered for over three decades. Released in a beautifully illustrated box containing slimline cases and a fully illustrated booklet, with extensive notes and credits to each film, this remarkable collection provides a unique insight into the changing social history of Britain from the 1950s to the 1980s.

A real treasure trove for anyone interested in the history of post-war Britain.

The Honourable Woman Part 2

Oh my goodness. Did you watch it? Don't blink for a second, don't lose concentration for a minute. Remain totally focused as this drama unfolds with its web of intrigue and the darkness that dogs Nessa Stein and the shadows in her soul. "Easy with your body, but dead behind the eyes', says a sexual conquest.

Why does Nessa live a life constantly under siege from her own fears? Why does her brother seem detached and remote? Sir Hugh Hayden-Doyle (played magnificently by Stephen Rea) does what he does over at MI6 and quietly dismantles the story of a female FBI agent. And now he is investigating Nessa's past. Something very traumatic occurred eight years ago....

I am recording the series and I already plan to watch again the first four episodes back-to-back, when I have them. I already have theories about the child Nasim, who has been kidnapped, but I could of course be completely wrong.

It's frustrating to have to wait another week for episode 3 to air...

Bulleid Spam Cans

The Bulleid Light Pacific locomotives were introduced in 1945 by the Southern Railway to a design by Oliver Bulleid. They were designed as a smaller version of the Merchant Navy Class. Their 18 ton axle loading and 8 foot 6 inch wide cabs enabled the class to be used almost anywhere on the Southern Region. Later members, 34071 onwards, were built with wider 9 foot cabs. These locomotives were attached to wider 5,500 gallon tenders. They were often referred to as 'Spam-Cans' because of their unconventional streamlined appearance.

They incorporated the same novel features as the Merchant Navy Class including an all-steel welded boiler, chain-driven valve-gear, inside motion enclosed in an oil bath and 'air-smoothed' casing.

All of this engineering detail meant nothing to me as a kid when I would spend hours during summer school holidays in the 50s train-spotting on the Southern mainline that ran from Victoria to Dover. My favoured location was just downline from Teynham station, which provided good views over a considerable length of the track. The most memorable times were to see a Bulleid Light Pacific from the 'West Country' or 'Battle of Britain' class emblazoned with golden arrows to casing sides and one angled on the front of the boiler housing as it thundered by hauling the Golden Arrow express - suitably named the Flèche D'Or on the run from Calais to Paris. Young heads were filled with romantic ideas of travelling to Paris in one of the Pullman carriages that formed the train....

Battle of Britain class No. 34072 '257 Squadron'

Many years later in October 2003 I attended a steam festival at The Bluebell Line in Sussex. This big kid at heart was thrilled to enjoy a train journey steam hauled by West Country Pacific no. 21C123 'Blackmore Vale' double-headed with visiting LNER V2 2-6-2 no. 60800 'Green Arrow'.

'Green Arrow'

The sheer grace of these magnificent locomotives from a bygone era is breathtaking and fortunately many of them have been preserved by Heritage Lines throughout the UK. I look forward to the day when I can enjoy one of the excursions that run on mainline routes and experience the thrill of being steam hauled at speed....

Perfect Pair of Acronyms...

On a fairly regular basis The Daily Telegraph receives correspondence from readers about the railways. Some of these letters are very funny.

In August 2011 one such reader wrote:
"SIR - it is a surprise to me that while rail companies call their passengers 'customers' and trains 'services' they still use the outmoded 'stations' and 'platforms'. Perhaps customers of this newspaper can suggest modern alternatives."

Two days later the following response was published:

"SIR - How about ' Customer Regional Assembly Point' and 'Customer Rallying And Migration Pier'? In the interests of brevity, acronyms could be substituted."

Absolutely priceless.....

A Haunting Mystery

My interest in railways and my research into the great days of steam and the 'Big Four' rail companies pre-nationalisation sometimes unearths some disquieting tales. This is no exception.

At 5:20am on 13th October 1928 a train crash occurred in Charfield, Gloucestershire. A goods train was being shunted off the main line to make way for an oncoming Leeds-Bristol mail express. However, the manoeuvre was not quite completed before the express train arrived, going at speed, and collided with the goods train. The momentum of the engine carried it under the bridge, but the passenger carriages piled up against it. The situation was made worse by the fact that the carriages were gas-lit, and the accident caused the gas cylinders to rupture and the gas to ignite. The four wooden carriages rapidly became an inferno, and the heat from the blaze impeded rescue efforts. 16 people were killed. All were identified expect for a boy aged around 12 and a girl of about 6, both badly burned.

The ticket collector who survived the crash remembered seeing two children board the train alone at Gloucester. He said that they were wearing school hats and described them as young persons of "reasonable means". Part of a breast pocket of a school blazer was found bearing a school motto, Luce Magistra, as well as two 9-inch-long shoes and part of a sock with the initials CSSS. Tailors and shoemakers over a large area were canvassed without result. Schools, churches and advertisements yielded not a single clue.

Surely someone was waiting for them at the first and only stop? No result there. No relative, friend, teacher or neighbour reported or knew them. Ultimately they were buried, the railway company taking responsibility for the formalities.

Of some curiosity was the fact that an unknown lady dressed in black used to visit the memorial to the crash victims in St James’s Church, Charfield (also the site of the children’s graves) for many years.

There are numerous theories about these children: one of these that they were illegitimate children of a royal dynasty whose existence (and deaths) had to be hushed up. Unlikely? There has never been a definitive answer and this haunting mystery remains.....

More on Steam

Bachmann has produced an accurate OO gauge model of the B1 Class locomotive. The B1 was Thompson's first design for the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER). These 4-6-0 mixed traffic engines replaced a large variety of older designs. It was the LNER's equivalent to the highly successful GWR Hall Class and the LMS Stanier Black Five. They proved to be capable and versatile machines able to perform well on any type of train. Several examples were fitted with electric lighting.

B1 Class No. 1306 "Mayflower" later renumbered 61379

Introduced in 1942 the first locomotive no. 8301 was named "Springbok" in honour of a visit by Jan Smuts, the South African Prime Minister. The B1s became know as the 'Antelope' class as the first 40 were named after breeds of antelope and unofficially as 'Bongos' after no. 8306 'Bongo'. The remaining engines were un-named except for 18 that carried names of LNER directors and no. 61379 'Mayflower', named in 1951 (see photo). A total of 410 engines were built.

The class survived almost to the end of steam on BR after working extensively over BR's Eastern and Scottish Regions, with the last working example being withdrawn in September 1967. Two locomotives have been preserved.

The Nation's Favourite Motown Song

So, didi you watch it last night? The Nation’s Favourite Motown Song told the story behind 20 of Motown’s best-loved songs. It explored the label which became the American soundtrack of the Sixties and beyond, creating a one-stop factory of hit songs and a sophisticated style which set the agenda for generations of pop stars to come. The documentary special featured new interviews with Motown stars alongside footage of the greatest hits from the label’s iconic artists. The Motown label was founded by Berry Gordy II who was the victim of an Internet death hoax earlier this month. He is happily alive and well.

Mark Robinson, Creative Director, Shiver (ITV Studios' factual division) said: “Motown is ideally suited to the The Nation’s Favourite… format, which celebrates the greatest popular music acts of our lifetimes. This special explores the fascinating background to some of the best-loved Motown songs and will ultimately reveal The Nation’s Favourite Motown Song.”

Richard Klein, Director of Factual for ITV said: "If you don't like Motown you don't like pop music - or dancing. Motown is the distilled essence of 60s urban pop music, and no label has ever quite matched it. The Nation's Favourite Motown Song is a brilliant and delicious way to celebrate 20 three-minute slices of musical genius."

I recall some great times in the Swinging Sixties when the hits just kept coming from the likes of The Supremes, Four Tops, the Temptations, Jackson Five, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and solo stars such as Stevie Wonder, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye (my particular favourite, everyone should have a copy of his album 'What's Goin' On') and Jimmy Ruffin. So many songs often written by Holland, Dozier and Holland, helped provide the soundtrack for an era and are still highly regarded.

This wonderful TV programme told the stories behind 20 of the label's greatest hits, told by those who helped to make pop history. And the voting public got the number one exactly right: Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine'.

A most enjoyable 90 minutes of TV.

The Honourable Woman

I have watched more TV over the past two weeks than I probably have since the beginning of the year. Heady days of World Cup football, Wimbledon tennis and F1 Grand Prix racing have kept me entertained amidst a calendar containing no 'soap' episodes, much to my wife's chagrin.

Beside my love for sport I do enjoy a good drama series. The Scandinavians are particularly good at producing these; The Killing and The Bridge are two typical examples. Occasionally we British come up with the goods and my interest was aroused in a new BBC2 drama entitled 'The Honourable Woman' - the first of eight episodes aired on Thursday. Written by Hugo Blick (that alone is usually a good recommendation) and starring Maggie Gyllenhaal as businesswoman Nessa Stein, this first episode had me gripped from the start.

Maggie Gyllenhaal

This could turn out to be the 'spook' drama to eclipse all predecessors. Scene stealing Stephen Rae (did you see him in 'The Crying Game' - brilliant) portrays sceptical MI6 agent Hugh Hayden-Doyle, a terrific performance that put me in mind of George Smiley. I will watch this first episode again today (series set to record on the Virgin box) with my wife who has yet to see it.

The momentum, richness and complexity of this drama are maintained throughout. If the remaining seven episodes are equal to this, The Honourable Woman will win every award going (yes, it's that good) and when it ends in the final days of summer its fans will be legion and messianic in its cause. Nothing on telly is going to be this good for some time to come.

Steam Train: 6024 King Edward I, Valentine's Cathedrals Express, 12 Feb ...

As a committed 'gricer' I have always had a passion for steam locomotives. I have a collection of OO gauge models proudly displayed in cabinets and a modest N gauge layout to run these smaller trains, to recall the great days of steam. It is a passion that it is still possible to follow at the various Heritage lines throughout the UK where steam locomotives have been restored and continue to run. Some of these Heritage lines have direct links to mainline tracks and excursions of some duration are often available for the enthusiast.

I have just added a Hornby model of the GWR locomotive 'King Edward 1' to my collection but there is nothing more nostalgic than seeing the original, restored engine hauling thirteen carriages on a mainline run. Take a look: