metalman

Personally I'm sad to lose Forces TV, simply because they showed a lot of Space 1999 episodes not long ago. Pick seem to be showing it as well now and again, and we've still got that (though we've lost Pick+1).

Just read: Behind the Yellow Blind by R. A. J. Walling. A curiously structured 1930s detective story that wasn't bad but I felt maybe could have been better. The Caltraps of Time by David I. Masson. SF stories from the 1960s and early 70s, not dated as badly as they might have. Our fathers' lies by Andrew Taylor. A good early effort by an author who's now more famous for his historical mysteries. Death on the boat train by John Rhode. Decent mid-period Rhode, ingenious with some Crofts-like alibi-breaking involved. Now onto: If I were you by P. G. Wodehouse. Can't beat the occasional bit of Wodehouse.

A. Fielding - Murder at The Nook (1930s detective story by an author who was one of the stalwarts of the Collins Crime Club list at the time but has now vanished into obscurity so completely that nobody knows who he (or she) was. Not bad this one, quite Freeman Wills Crofts-like in some ways. A. Fielding - The Upfold Farm mystery. Another one, but not so successful and the writing style seems so different it could almost have been written by a different person. Robert B. Parker - Now and then. A typical Spenser novel but as usual very readable. Now I'm half way through Raymond Postgate's Somebody at the Door, recently reprinted in the British Library crime classics series, and enjoying it a lot.

Obviously I can't tell quality from rubbish then because I went to lunch at the Admiral Rodney in Loxley not long ago and rather enjoyed it.

Some I've read recently: John Scalzi - The end of all things. Four linked novellas rather than a novel, but a decent conclusion to the Old Man's War series (unless he writes some more in the future). Francis Beeding - No fury. Unusually for a 1930s detective, involves a serial killer. Very enjoyable. John Rhode - In face of the verdict. Another 1930s effort with Rhode's usual ingenuity of murder method. Ivan T. Sanderson - Invisible residents. One of about 7 million UFO books published in the late 60s/early 70s. Hokum but quite interesting hokum for all that.

For some reason petrol and diesel are always 3-4p a litre cheaper over towards Crystal Peaks or down on Archer Road than in Hillsborough - we always seem to get a raw deal at our end of town.

Fair enough, but I think the amount of radium paint on the hands and numbers of one watch would be completely negligible compared to the background radiation from natural sources. In any case I still think your best option is to keep it.

I'm still having a bit of an early Ruth Rendell period, having just finished Vanity Dies Hard, The Best Man to Die and A Guilty Thing Surprised in quick succession. All very enjoyable though it's interesting that some phrases of the 1960s have already become completely obsolete and forgotten, such as 'twin-track road'. Strange really when you consider that single track road is still in everyday use. Now back to the 1930s again with Midsummer Murder by Clifford Witting (which is absolutely nothing to do with the differently-spelt TV series).

I'm intrigued to think that the OP is horrified by the thought of putting it into landfill. Where do you think the radium came from in the first place other than out of the ground?

Skinhead by Richard Allen. Recently the 1970s series Public Eye was repeated on Talking Pictures TV and before every episode was a warning that because it was made in the 1970s, it may contain outdated attitudes and language that viewers might find offensive. Anybody who was in the slightest bit offended by Public Eye certainly ought to stay well away from this then because central character Joe Hawkins has outdated attitudes and language aplenty, as he beats up opposing football fans, black people, hippies, coppers and anyone else he can find, as well as having a bit of underage sex. Despite once being found in every school satchel in the country in the early 1970s, this dreadfully written pile of toss now fetches ridiculous prices on eBay. It was, as they say, of its time. See here for a resume of the whole sordid series: https://nostalgiacentral.com/pop-culture/fads/richard-allen-books/ Blotto and Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter by Simon Brett. Simon Brett has written some really enjoyable detective stories, such as the Fethering series, but this isn't one of them. Too daft for words even if it is played for laughs. Bookworm by Lucy Mangan. Now this is more like it - an entertaining nostalgic romp through the books of her childhood. If you're a bookworm too, and especially if you're female, recommended. Now just started Wolf to the Slaughter by Ruth Rendell, another early Inspector Wexford story.

I still can't work out what that new set of lights are actually going to do - anybody care to enlighten me? Edit: don't just say go green, amber and red.

Have to say I can't remember the last time I drove along this road and didn't encounter a set of temporary lights on it.

Some good ones I've read recently: The crime of the century by Anthony Abbot - one of his Thatcher Colt detective stories from the 1930s, with the set up in this case based on the real-life Hall-Mills murder. I really enjoy these - nice complex plots and they move at a good pace - they deserve to be better known than they are, but they're pretty hard to track down these days, could definitely do with a reprint. Do evil in return by Margaret Millar. Independent-minded woman doctor gradually caught up in a web of extra-marital affairs, extortion and murder. This early Millar owes a bit to the Had-I-But-Known school of Mary Roberts Rinehart and so on, but just when you think she's made the solution too obvious, she pulls it out of a hat. Excellent. The professional by Robert B. Parker. The series of Spenser private eye novels ran for a long time and settling into one of the later ones is a bit like settling into a comfy armchair, but they're all cracking reads if you like his style of telling it mainly with dialogue (which means you can actually whizz through one in a few hours). Now I'm half way through Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death by M. B. Vincent. I want to like it, but so far the writing style is putting me off, it's as though it's aimed at people with ADHD.

As far as I'm concerned the biggest pain with Tramlines is the closure of Dixon Road. If you're heading from Wadsley down towards Hillsborough it's much more convenient to go down Dixon rather than Dykes Hall Road. Fair enough close the little side roads like Dorothy, Wynyard and Lennox and so on but couldn't we have Dixon left open?

I've just read 'Oddities' by Commander R.T. Gould. Gould was a bit of a polymath in his time (he was, for example, chosen to dismantle, clean and reassemble John Harrison's original marine chronometer - the instrument talked about in Longitude by Dava Sobel - and wrote an authoritative book on the subject) and also appeared on the BBC's Brains Trust sometimes. This was a collection of essays about puzzling phenomena of various kinds that had attracted his interest; there was a second volume called Enigmas a few years later. After that I've gone back to the Golden Age detective stories with 'Shot at Dawn' by John Rhode (generally considered one of his better efforts) and now I'm half way through 'The Shop Window Murders' by Vernon Loder which was recently reprinted by Collins.

So the first part of this thread dates from 2015. Is what they're doing now what they were meant to be doing then and it's taken them four years to get round to it, or is what they're doing now something completely different? And if so, what?

Just finished The Human Division by John Scalzi, another instalment in his Old Man's War series. I really like these: there's clever science fiction, bits of comedic interlude, good human interest, and a pacy plot (even though this one was originally a collection of shorter episodes). If it has a fault, it's that all the characters talk in exactly the clever, witty, wisecracking sarcastic way that you expect Scalzi himself to talk. But it's a minor quibble - great fun. Now onto To Challenge Chaos by Brian Stableford, one of his earliest books and one of the first few published under the DAW imprint back in 1972.

Just finished 'Britain by the book' by Oliver Tearle, and I'm now half way through his other book, 'The Secret Library'. Very interesting collections of literary snippets for those of a bookish nature.

Black Sabbath's Electric Funeral.

Thanks!

Is there anywhere (online preferably) that I could find a map of all the footpaths in the Bradfield Parish Council district? They all have numbers and ideally I'd like a map that shows the numbers.

Just finished: Pixel Juice by Jeff Noon - the usual Jeff Noon themes really and if you've read Vurt or Pollen you'll know what they are, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Then I whizzed through Sh*t my Dad Says by Justin Halpern, an amusing enough couple of hours diversion. Now I'm back to the 1930s detective stories again with Anthony Gilbert's The Body on the Beam.

BHF are terribly expensive though. I buy a lot of books and CDs and they're almost all £2 in there, whereas there are still charity shops where you can get 3 for £1 or even 3 for 50p! I don't call £2 for a bog standard paperback realistic pricing, I'm afraid.

Looks very much like it's 10th out of 10 since he says that it breaks the country down into 10 shopper segments.

I saw that Gillan Mr Universe tour, with Bernie Torme, John McCoy, Colin Towns on keyboards and Mick Underwood on drums. Great stuff. I have a vague feeling that NWOBHM-ers Samson were the support.