minertone

I thought I saw one on Telly just now, on Carl Perkins show. Hey, Carl was terrific.

Here's an idea. With the proposed planting of millions of trees how about combining this with natural burials? Less pollution than cremation, body bags made from re-cycled plastic would save on other materials used for coffins, everyone could walk or cycle to the venue and the responsibility for getting the star of the show to the grave side could be handed to Deliveroo with a suitable trailer attached to their bikes. If the planet does survive then a walk in the woods, in 20 years time could take on a whole new meaning.

Things must be getting serious because in some parts of this country the once ubiquitous snowman has not been sighted for many years, the human species was allocated a big brain and N.I. (natural intelligence) but has now become a threat to it's maker (scientific not religious), consequently, nature is attempting to cull the expanding population. Just like we would do if humans created robots with A.I. and they went rogue. Science informs us that nature has extinguished species before so that could be our fate if we keep on defying natures attempts to reduce the numbers, unfortunately this may take down many other species if it involves drastic measures like toxic rainfall. Do sleep soundly.

I like this ,but not much imaginative content and very knowledgeable, how about this, you know how we can syphon petrol (legally of course) from a petrol tank? well maybe the learned amongst you can comment on this idea- say we harness the extreme pressure in the deeper ocean to assist in syphoning sea water up into a raised holding tank, it would be continuously discharged back into the ocean via a turbine . Nerdy idea ?

Here's an idea to help solve one or two problems, i.e. environmental, lack of employment opportunities, cost of gym membership and the desire to use 'phone while at work. ( Greta will like this.) What we do is install thousands of Roman style treadmills and use human power to generate electricity. If successful we could shut down a couple of coal fired power stations. With no need for qualifications, many young people could get a job easily. The prospect of a four hour shift each day for a full wage should attract enough workers to man the machinery 24 hours a day for 7 days each week. Each machine would have a 'phone charger and access to fast broadband so the job would be as easy as taking a walk in the park. We need these kind of suggestions if we are to get on top of Global warming etc so please suggest ideas which will help. You know, many surviving Octogenarians lived for many years in houses with no electricity, gas, running water, car, phone and the toilet was a midden in the garden. They got by but unfortunately had to burn coal for cooking and heat nevertheless they proved we could get by without so many creature comforts.

Does anyone remember the convent in the hills above Oughtibridge? During the war, my sister and myself used to walk about 7 or 8 miles overland from our farm to take communion there. The alternative was to wait for the first bus into Hillsborough and go to The Sacred Heart church adjoining the school we attended, the problem then was we didn't get breakfast until about 1 o clock so as soon as we turned 7 and got confirmed, our Irish grandmother insisted we walk over numerous obstacles like edges of ploughed fields, stiles, farmyards and winding country roads to take communion with the nuns. I visited a few years ago to refresh the memories and after speaking to a nun through a grill we were allowed in for a short while. It was just like 'The Sound Of Music' with the big iron grills set in the walls where I remember the nuns sat in shadow during Mass, chanting prayers and singing.

Herbert Harris was my uncle he had a daughter called Vennie. I lived on East Terrace almost next door to Jack Grace who died last year.

Hi Lyndon, I remember Johnny Haywood, He was a couple of years older than us but we came into regular contact with him on what was known as 'the backs' at WalesBar. Good to get news of Kenny and Bob, seems only like yesterday.

I've looked it up, Sprarsy was cockney rhyming slang 'Sprarsy-Anna' to rhyme with Tanner. The rest of the Ravens were Sheffield boys - Aiden (rhythm guitar),Arthur(Bass guitar) and Mick on drums, plus a vocalist. Norrie Parramore (their recording manager) was used to dealing with his own and other string orchestras so he chose to record the vocalist with strings and ignore the rest of the group. He would select a song he liked from the American top 100 and have an arranger write a score for a studio orchestra and hope it would be high in the American charts before his version hit the shops here. It only worked once and that was wen he was on holiday and left it to his assistant JohnShroeder. Consequently, when on tour, Frank and the boys would have to play soft rock ballads as accompaniment instead of the heavy rock that Frank liked. An early hero of his was Eddie Cochran.

'Sprazy' was written by a young Trevor Peacock, not a particularly catchy tune but back then Britain did not have many songwriters to call on, Trevor could later be seen acting in things like The Vicar of Dibley, he would mutter No- No- No- No- er Yes.

hi Sue, Watson does not seem a familiar name to me ,in 1948 I would have been busy playing football etc and wouldn't have known much grown up stuff although this does sound dramatic.

Hi Vic, good to hear from you, sorry I can't be of any help with jogging your memory. It seems I am half a dozen years ahead of your time so people's names don't correlate .Nevertheless it is good to hear about the old places, whenever we had a night out in Sheffield,(Locarno, Cutlers Hall etc) we would have to catch a bus as far as Swallownest and walk the rest of the way home because our last bus was 9.30 from Pond St. We sometimes went to Dances in Swallownest, I think it was a community Hall and when we got kicked out of the pub in Wales (Skiffle/rock group), we tried to transfer our clientele to the same dance hall in Swallownest. It didn't catch on then but Dave Berry had the same idea just a little while later. The guy I know who went to Woodhouse Grammar would be 88 now so he would have been before you. I made my way to the West Country (UK) due to my interest in Rock and Roll and stayed.My pal from the group eventually built a lovely bungalow down here overlooking the ocean so turning our back on traditional mining jobs (almost an obligation to follow your predecessors down the pit) didn't do us any harm in the long run. Good to talk stay safe.

Worthy Cope rings a bell, and the one name I know definitely went to Woodhouse Grammar was Ron Grace, he became a Draughtman at Davy United. The Lord Conyers became a venue for Folk music and Ron's brother Jack was influential there. The other pub in Wales was a venue for our skiffle group The Harlequins. Hope you are safe and well over there.

In (about) 1960,Frank was one of the 'Ravens'. Although they were the backing group, EMI decided to record them with an instrumental, because the Shadows were having success as an instrumental group and even then Frank stood out as a guitarist. Unfortunatly No1 studio which they used, was a massive recording studio designed for large orchestras and bands. The acoustics were built in for normal instruments and they could not cope with electric guitars. Attempts were made to isolate the instruments so that they could be mixed, even creating four individual small sound booths inside the studio, this was not how a rock group operated so the results were disappointing to say the least. The record entitled 'SPRAZY' died a death . (Sprazy was an old slang name for a sixpence as well as Tanner) And so Frank lost his first opportunity to be noticed very early on in his career. So long Frank.

I am one of the old Pharts who remember deprivation and rationing, and I am thankful to the new generation who are co-operating to keep us all healthy. So far I have avoided nature's latest cull of our generation and I wonder how many of my playmates from the postwar period are surviving. I remember Les Moseley (RAF,) Harry (snowy) Allen (soccer),Jack Grace (Dec), Kenny Bonsall, Bobby Coxon, brother of Cynthia Coxon (maiden name) also Dot Askew, Vennie Harris, Avis Shaw and the principal 'boy' from Wales church panto Doreen Hale.

maybe we SHOULD embrace our European counterparts rather than reject them, for two millenia they have influenced our Roads,Language.culture and finesse.food wine and of course Sport. A strong Union could be just what's needed to offset the emerging, unpredictable economies of Asia, Russia and now Trumpton. As a small impoverished Island we will have about as much clout as Tuvalu. O.K. there may be healthy competition for the sun beds at idyllic holiday spots on the continent but that is preferable to the conflicts which took place in the recent centuries.

from the Romans, Angles,Saxons,Vikings, then the French (under William, the horse-chestnutter), our destiny has been shaped by Europe.

Oh Dear, the value of Sterling is dropping like a stone, do the negotiators not realise that Britain is a spent force. with no Empire to prop us up the E.U. rescued this nation from becoming a third world country. Remember "the poor man of Europe" ? Brought down in the 70's and 80's by nefarious industrial activity, we needed a saviour. No Deal would leave us exposed and so many nations still have an axe to grind from our occupation, offers of cooperation will be subject to reparations for past misrule. The expression 'Kick him while he's down' springs to mind and the special relationship with a certain nation would not be enough to avoid insult as demonstrated at the Women's World Football Cup-of-tea gesture. Promises of spending sprees would have to be broken if and when the money runs out, no one would offer loans in those circumstances and we really would hit rock bottom. We could lose Scotland and Scottish oil and this situation in NI could be ungovernable. On the other hand we could soar.

I have no faith so I am puzzled, who created the dinasoaurs? did the same entity then allow a space object to destroy them? thus making room for mankind (eventually), First Man then from him Woman and now through interbreeding, six or seven billion of us. The interbreeding would explain things like Brexit, the Wall, Global warming, de-forestation, Putin etc but why Earth? It clearly isn't big enough and there are alternative planets out there which would have taken longer to destroy. Maybe the religiosos have a view on this.

Now that this year's Woman of the year and ,of course, Mother's day have passed we are hearing a little less of Me-Too and Time's-up. Come on ladies there is an awful lot to do. We have had 2000 years of Indoctrination from the Monotheist religions,(even the pagan Greeks and Romans had Goddesses and Heroines), whereas the patriarchal nature of religious content stems from the time it was first recorded. Our bedtime stories consist of vulnerable ladies being rescued from Dragons ,witches and wicked stepmothers by heroes and princes. Well-if the shoe fits! No wonder our kids grow up thinking humans obey the laws of nature and the Alpha male rules. There is a solution but it is a bit "Bah Humbug", religious texts etc should be age certified so that children could be taught them from,say,16, to avoid them being exposed or groomed with unsuitable gender bias. Fairy stories should be banned unless they are gender neutral and princess dresses should be destroyed. It will take about 100 years to accomplish but the result should be everything we want.

there may not be an answer to this-yet. What angle, from a vertical surface could a human body control in the event of evolution of sucker-boots that would allow us to walk up walls. I'm sure perpendicular to the wall would be out of the question given earth's gravity, to date it is immaterial to speculate about other planets.

Ron Lindsay took time off work to play the 2 I's coffee bar in Soho. Spotted by London managers he was whisked off to their offices and came back to Sheffield with a stage name made up from his real names. The Coasters became the Ravens to avoid any conflict,the reason that his records only had his name was because EMI wanted to record the singer seperately from an amplified rock group because they hadn't invested in suitable studios,their facilities were still geared to 80 pce orchestras and large dance bands. No one in the music industry was prepared to bank on R & R lasting more than a couple of years.Yes there was a first record made with the ravens but this was to enable him to get introduced to a major label and was made in a small Soho studio and presented to EMI by his London managers. EMI then cleaned up the Acetate and released it as his first single.Follow up records were then made with a large orchestra, which was something they knew how to do. His recording manager(Norrie Parramore) would study the American charts and then get scores written for a British version of a song he thought would rise up the USA charts,this meant that his act became' Middle Of The Road' through no fault of his own. Eventually the studios obtained suitable recording facilities but for early artists like Ron it was too late,their three year contracts were up and he was out of time - no more records. His London managers had an advertising contract with Radio Luxembourg and he got some airtime on there as it was the big thing at the time, the BBC was reluctant to play the discredited R & R for the first couple of years.

Round about 1957 the youth of this nation began to be aware of Elvis and others in the USA who were succeeding with new music suited to a younger generation,unfortunately British music was in the iron grip of the Establishment. Spearheaded by the musicians Union, Proper musicians were accepted provided they could pass tests in music reading,modulating and proficiency in playing. Amateurs were not allowed to encroach on the territory of MU Members.Britain had no infrastructure to present,record or indeed provide backing music for untrained upstarts trying to muscle-in.The USA had long been familiar with Country music, Blues, etc and had developed a whole range of support facilities to back them up.The money men,impresarios etc didn't want strutting youngsters upsetting their regular customers who were breadwinners and family folk. When Cliff made inroads into entertainment territory they quickly shunted him off into films with lacklustre music because they just didn't know what to do with him.(Elvis eventually suffered the same fate).It took the sudden impact of the Beatles in 1962 to knock them off their perch and let in the real rockers. Our band played as support to the Beatles at Liverpool Empire just after their first real successful record, the theatre held about 2500 but outside there were 100,000 young people who would have paid to get in if they could.No one had put on a stadium tour or a festival so a lot of head scratching was done. The Establishment came crashing down and eventually we got the likes of Bowie, Mercury etc. The industry was still controlled from London and without London representation Groups from the provinces got left behind so it meant giving up the day job get down to London where the work was being dished out and you could get decent musical equipment that was unavailable elsewhere.

"three score and ten", a quote from long ago (when calendars were very different) but how appropriate today.Parenting,done,grandparenting,done.'bye',make room for others to go forth and multiply.STR ---------- Post added 30-11-2017 at 22:28 ---------- Today's 80 y.o. are resilient because of their upbringing.Apart from the danger of bombs (when they were kids) they were also exposed to lead piping and paint, asbestos insulation, long-drop dunnies (especially evacuees). They played with mercury from broken thermometers and on dangerous bomb sites, many had no running water,electricity or gas. No parental comfort or love and no opportunity for respite with seaside holidays etc. Victorian values meant corporal punishment and hard work, carrying coal and water for the 'Copper' ie a large cauldron that was used for laundry,chopping sticks and even lighting fires in the hearth,(many a draw sheet or newspaper caught fire this way and had to be bundled up the chimney) still the practice went on.No one had cars so everywhere meant a walk to get there. Electrical safety was unheard of and light switches has brass covers which were prone to go LIVE if a wire touched resulting in a almighty shock for anyone tall enough to reach them. Today's parents would go spare if their children were exposed to anyone of these dangers. Happy Days.

I feel like I should apologise for the generation that is clogging up the NHS and draining the nation's finances. Children who were 4 or 5 when the 2nd world war started had it tough.They were exposed to shortages,rationing,poverty(dad away for 6 years),overcrowding,poor sanitation and fatal diseases plus of course the risk of bombs. No treats,(just a meagre ration of sweets) no fizzy drinks or takeaway's(except fish and chips if you could afford them).Doctors were too expensive so medications were foraged from the hedgerow or bread poultices were a cure-all.Their parents were influenced by Victorian values so corporal punishment was rife,you ate what you were given (try tripe boiled in milk),and you were expected to earn your keep. If you survived all these trauma's and took the supplements supplied at school,Malt,fish oil capsules,milk and "state orange juice" you emerged with strong constitution and,once the Welfare state kicked in you had a good chance of a long life. Sorry guys but we can't go back and change it, maybe things will ease off as the less healthy generations approach old age? STR? surplus to requirements.