MumblingNerd

Just 66 Years

I recently saw a social media post indicating that the two photographs featured here were taken just 66 years apart.

17 December 1903, Orville Wright and the first powered, controlled, sustained airplane flight in history.
(By John T. Daniels – File:Wright_first_flight.tif, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75148383)

20 July 1969, Buzz Aldrin salutes the US flag on the Moon.
(By NASA / Neil A. Armstrong – Apollo 11 Image Library (image link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=137926)

Harold_Manterfield_(c1918) — Harold Manterfield, in flying gear, taken about 1918.

It prompted me to think about my granddad, Harold Manterfield, who was a child at the time of 1903 photograph, showing the first powered, controlled, sustained airplane flight, which occurred on 17 December that year.

Harold enlisted in the armed forces during the First World War and learnt to fly, firstly for the Royal Flying Corps and later for the Royal Air Force. The photograph shown here, of him wearing his flying gear, was taken in about 1918.

Possibly because of that experience, my granddad was very interested in the Soviet and US space flights in the 1960s, but sadly he didn’t get to see the first Moon landing, as he died on 8 February 1968, the year before the Apollo 11 mission.

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1000 Photographs

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These are miscellaneous photos that I have a habit of taking all the time. I thought I’d post them on social media as ‘one of a thousand’ and just see where it goes. I tend to post one every day or so.

There’s no particular reason or subject matter. I take photos continually, almost entirely with my phone now, so they’re not especially high quality, although still brilliant compared to the first digital camera I bought in the 1990s.

I like to capture random items and record moments or personal things, just for my entertainment or satisfaction.

So there you are; these are the first two hundred images:

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Souvenir newspaper cuttings

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Various newspaper cuttings of my comments and mentions, mostly in the Nottingham Post.

Click on a cutting to read it.

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Souvenir newspapers

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I’ve been trawling through some old newspapers that I kept for various reasons.

The first two are from Leeds; this one is my last copy of the Leeds Evening Post before I left Leeds in 1974.

The other is a 1972 Leeds Student article about the sad demise of Bradford trolleybuses.

The next three newspapers were my souvenirs of the Moon landing in July 1969.

This one is the Centenary Souvenir Issue of the Leicester Mercury from 31 January 1974.

These last two are about the assassination of Robert Kennedy in June 1968 and the Sunday Times Magazine review of 1989; the year the Berlin wall came down.

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A tiny time capsule

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A very small family history find today; a tiny time capsule from fifty years ago.

Sue is using some of my Aunt Joyce’s embroidery cotton, from a couple of tins of reels and skeins we inherited after Joyce died in February 2000. We found a receipt dated 27 November 1971, with a note of the skein colour in Joyce’s handwriting and, to also place it fifty years ago, a mere five digit phone number for the store in Hove.

The receipt is in decimal currency as the old imperial £sd was taken out of circulation in the February of that year. We don’t know what Joyce bought the skeins for, but they don’t seem to have been used, well, not until now anyway.

Perception of time

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There’s an odd disconnect with time perception as you age. I recently watched tennis from the Nitto ATP Finals and it was the fifty year anniversary of the competition; 1970 to 2020.

Now fifty years is a fair amount of time, but in 1970 I was at art college and have very vibrant memories of the people, places and events of then, it was a period of huge change in my life.

In 1970 we had people visiting and returning from the Moon, there were enormous jet passenger aircraft, supersonic Concorde, motorways, huge office blocks, colour TVs and most people had access to telephones; in many ways it wasn’t that different.

Therefore fifty years seems, to me, to be a ‘relatively’ short period; something in very clear memory. But if I place my mind back to 1970 and think of a period fifty years before, that would have placed it in 1920.

1920 seems to be an altogether different age. The appalling disaster of the first world war had recently ended and much of the world was still struggling to recover from the deadly influenza pandemic that had infected 500 million people. My mother and father were yet to be born and my grandparents were young people in their twenties, also recovering from war.

There were relatively few motor vehicles on the roads, cities and most larger towns were served by electic trams, and almost the whole country could be accessed by steam powered railways. Assuming of course that you had both the money and the time to do so, which most people didn’t.

I’m not sure what point I’m trying to make; except that living through a period gives you a very different perception of how that time appears when you look back. Personal experience, feeling and living through something, colours your knowledge of it, makes it familiar and brings it back into sharp focus, in a markedly different way to knowledge gained through reading and studying.

Here’s to the next fifty years…

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Every story tells a picture

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We’re moving house sometime in the next few weeks, or months, so I’ve been sorting out all the stuff we’ve (okay, I’ve) collected over the last 32 years, and before that if I’m honest. There’s rather a lot.

Leicester Mercury, dated 26 January 1970

The last few days I’ve been sorting out some old picture frames, keeping some, sending some to a charity shop and dismantling old, damaged and unwanted ones.

When I mounted pictures I used to pad the frames with old newspapers and behind one I found a pre-decimalisation Leicester Mercury, dated 26 January 1970. Fascinating reading, especially the letters page; correspondence from people who were then in the age group that I am now in, wanting the reintroduction of National Service (conscription into the armed forces) to sort out the undisciplined young hooligans of the time.

Nothing changes does it; many in our older generations decrying the actions and attitudes of the youth of today. Perhaps conveniently forgetting that we, the older ones, are the people responsible for whatever dire situation society is presently suffering through, and so leaving to the next generation to sort out or wrestle with. While, as with every generation before, we censure them for being feckless, lazy and entitled. “It wasn’t like this in my day!” No, perhaps it wasn’t, things change, but, for some inter-generational attitudes, probably not so much.

Anyway, returning to picture frames; dismantling another, I discovered the next packing material was a first edition of the Nottingham News, dated 4 February 1979. An interesting read again; there was an article about the splendid actor Don Warrington, appearing at the Nottingham Playhouse as Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar. Sue and I saw that production and thought it was excellent, although I slightly disbelieve that it was really 40 years ago.

A A Milne, his son Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh

There were many other framed pictures and photographs that hadn’t seen the light of day for a long time. I came across a ‘Shirts’ linocut that I made at art college about 1971 and a framed photograph of A A Milne, his son Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh, where I’d written on the back ‘To Pooh and Jurgend, 11th May 1991, Roy Manterfield.’

Something we’re definitely keeping is one of the most special of our wedding presents from 1982; matching reliefs of Sue and I, made by Michael Wright, one of my oldest, dearest and most talented friends.

Sue and Roy Manterfield, by Michael Wright, 1982

There were also two framed collections of public transport tickets from the early to mid 1970s. I did use a lot of buses, trams and trains in quite a few places; I loved travelling around, visiting places that I’d not been to before. There are tickets from all sorts of cities and destinations in Scotland, Wales and England, and many from France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Anyway, that’s enough rambling on about picture frames.

Remembrance Day 2018; remembering my grandfathers and remembering who profits from war

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My grandfathers, Ernest Swinard and Harold Manterfield.

Last weekend, Remembrance Sunday, 11th November 2018, was the 100th anniversary of the armistice and the end of fighting in the First World War, and I spent time thinking about my lovely grandfathers, Ernest Swinard and Harold Manterfield. Both of them, thankfully, and unlike many, returned home after military service in that appalling conflagration.

During the Remembrance ceremonies on the TV and radio, I heard ‘Rule Britannia’ being played, and some of the words stuck in my mind;

“Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves. And Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.”

But we are slaves. We are all slaves, like most of the world, to the vast corporations and the obscenely wealthy and powerful who set the agenda, who promote wars and profit from them, who set us against each other to distract us from their activities, who own and direct the majority of our media to spread lies and misinformation in furtherance of their own greedy, self-serving schemes, schemes that are to the detriment of the majority and that add to the destruction of our environment.

Those of us who are fortunate, through accident of birth, to live in relatively wealthy countries and to have a certain amount of personal freedom, must take more care in choosing who to vote for. We must look carefully at our choices and try to select candidates who are independent of the rich and the corporations, or of those who are stoking the flames of nationalism, xenophobia and false patriotism for their own personal gain.

Remember who profits from war, and remember who suffers from it, because they are not the same people.

The Old Soldier by Harry Fellows 1987

‘The Old Soldier’, shown above, is a moving poem by Harry Fellows that I posted on social media for Remembrance Day. The poem was written in 1987 by Harry Fellows about his friend Walter Smith; they were both living at the Willows Elderly Persons Home where my wife Sue worked at the time.

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A selection of jokes and one-liners from the last ten years of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Humour

“Whenever I see a man with a beard, moustache and glasses, I think, ‘There’s a man who has taken every precaution to avoid people doodling on photographs of him’.”

Carey Marx (2008)

“The anti-ageing advert that I would like to see is a baby covered in cream saying, ‘Aah, I’ve used too much’.”

Andrew Bird (2008)

“I like Jesus, but he loves me, so it’s awkward.”

Tom Stade (2008)

“My granny was recently beaten to death by my grandad. Not as in, with a stick – he just died first”

Alex Horne (2008)

“Hedgehogs – why can’t they just share the hedge?”

Dan Antolpolski (2009)

“I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought: ‘This could be interesting’.”

Paddy Lennox (2009)

“I’m sure wherever my Dad is, he’s looking down on us. He’s not dead, just very condescending.”

Jack Whitehall (2009)

“As a kid I was made to walk the plank. We couldn’t afford a dog.”

Gary Delaney (2010)

“I was playing chess with my friend and he said, ‘Let’s make this interesting’. So we stopped playing chess.”

Matt Kirshen (2011)

“I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”

Nick Helm (2011)

“I was very naive sexually. My first boyfriend asked me to do missionary and I buggered off to Africa for six months.”

Hayley Ellis (2012)

“My husband’s penis is like a semi colon. I can’t remember what it’s for and I never use it anyway.”

Mary Bourke (2012)

“I was raised as an only child, which really annoyed my sister.”

Will Marsh (2012)

“You know you’re working class when your TV is bigger than your book case.”

Rob Beckett (2012)

“I saw a documentary on how ships are kept together. Riveting!”

Stewart Francis (2012)

“I used to be addicted to swimming but I’m very proud to say I’ve been dry for six years.”

Alfie Moore (2013)

“I heard a rumour that Cadbury is bringing out an oriental chocolate bar. Could be a Chinese Wispa.”

Rob Auton (2013)

“I bought myself some glasses. My observational comedy improved.”

Sara Pascoe (2014)

“Most of my life is spent avoiding conflict. I hardly ever visit Syria.”

Alex Horne (2014)

“Life is like a box of chocolates. It doesn’t last long if you’re fat.”

Joe Lycett (2014)

“You can’t lose a homing pigeon. If your homing pigeon doesn’t come back, then what you’ve lost is a pigeon.”

Sara Pascoe (2014)

“My Dad said, always leave them wanting more. Ironically, that’s how he lost his job in disaster relief.”

Mark Watson (2014)

“Money can’t buy you happiness? Well, check this out; I bought myself a Happy Meal.”

Paul F Taylor (2014)

“I wanted to do a show about feminism. But my husband wouldn’t let me.”

Ria Lina (2014)

“One thing you’ll never hear a Hindu say… ‘Ah well, you only live once’.”

Hardeep Singh Kohli (2014)

“I’m learning the hokey cokey. Not all of it. But – I’ve got the ins and outs.”

Iain Stirling (2014)

“People say I’ve got no willpower but I’ve quit smoking loads of times.”

Kai Humphries (2014)

“My friend got a personal trainer a year before his wedding. I thought: ‘Bloody hell, how long’s the aisle going to be’.”

Paul McCaffrey (2014)

“Feminism is not a fad. It’s not like Angry Birds. Although it does involve a lot of Angry Birds. Bad example.”

Bridget Christie (2014)

“Miley Cyrus. You know when she was born? 1992. I’ve got condiments in my cupboard older than that.”

Lucy Beaumont (2014)

“Red sky at night: shepherd’s delight. Blue sky at night: day.”

Tom Parry (2015)

“My Dad told me to invest my money in bonds. So I bought 100 copies of Goldfinger.”

Nick Hall (2015)

“The first time I met my wife, I knew she was a keeper. She was wearing massive gloves.”

Alun Cochrane (2015)

“My cat is recovering from a massive stroke.”

Darren Walsh (2015)

“I went to Waterstones and asked the woman for a book about turtles, she said ‘hardback?’ and I was like, ‘yeah and little heads’.”

Mark Simmons (2015)

“If you don’t know what introspection is, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself.”

Ian Smith (2015)

“I learned about method acting at drama school, when all my classmates stayed in character as posh, patronising twats for the entire three years I was there.”

Bridget Christie (2015)

“I usually meet my girlfriend at 12:59 because I like that one-to-one time.”

Tom Ward (2015)

“‘Son, I don’t think you’re cut out to be a mime.’ ‘Was it something I said?’ asks the son. ‘Yes’.”

Damien Slash (2015)

“One in four frogs is a leap frog.”

Chris Turner (2016)

“Is it possible to mistake schizophrenia for telepathy? I hear you ask.”

Jordan Brookes (2016)

“I was thinking of running a marathon, but I think it might be too difficult getting all the roads closed and providing enough water for everyone.”

Jordan Brookes (2016)

“Golf is not just a good walk ruined, it’s also the act of hitting things violently with a stick ruined.”

John Luke-Roberts (2016)

“It all starts innocently, mixing chocolate and Rice Krispies, but before you know it you’re adding raisins and marshmallows – it’s a rocky road.”

Olaf Falafel (2016)

“I have the woman-flu. Which is like the man-flu, but worse, because I also regularly have periods and I get paid less.”

Sofie Hagen (2016)

“I think the bravest thing I’ve ever done is misjudge how much shopping I want to buy and still not go back to get a basket.”

Stuart Laws (2016)

“Drug use gets an unfair reputation considering all the beautiful things in life it has given us like rock ‘n’ roll and sporting achievement.”

Jason John Whitehead (2016)

“I’m not a very muscular man; the strongest thing about me is my password.”

Rory O’Keeffe (2016)

“I don’t have the Protestant work ethic, I have the Catholic work ethic; in that I don’t work, but I do feel very guilty about that.”

Rory O’Keeffe (2016)

“I love Snapchat. I could talk about classic card games all day.”

Aatif Nawaz (2016)

“People who use selfie sticks really need to have a good, long look at themselves.”

Abi Roberts (2016)

“I think children are like Marmite. You either love them or you keep them at the back of the cupboard next to the piccalilli.”

Abi Roberts (2016)

“Jokes about white sugar are rare. Jokes about brown sugar, Demerara.”

Olaf Falafel (2016)

“A rescue cat is like recycled toilet paper. Good for the planet, but scratchy.”

Chris Turner (2016)

“I bumped into my French teacher the other day who asked me what I’m up to now. I told her I go to the cinema and play football with my brother.”

Adam Hess (2016)

“Hey, if anyone knows how to fix some broken hinges, my door’s always open.”

Paul F. Taylor (2016)

“I’m very conflicted by eye tests. I want to get the answers right but I really want to win the glasses.”

Caroline Mabey (2017)

“Insomnia is awful. But on the plus side – only three more sleeps till Christmas.”

Robert Garnham (2017)

For other stuff in this blog, click on these links:

Humour

Puns and word-play

Quotations

Resistance Persistence

Uncategorized

Resistance Persistence
“Requesting unnecessary antibiotics will not only be of no benefit to you, but could also endanger those that really need them.”

Published by Alice Manterfield, MSci Student at the University of Nottingham.

Snailtergeist

If you live in the UK like me, you will probably come across advertisements from the ‘Keep Antibiotics Working’ campaign by Public Health England. The campaign has featured billboards, TV, radio and online adverts including the following infographic:

taken from http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/wellbeing/news/a29096/phe-antibiotics-campaign/

Antibiotic resistance occurs over time as bacteria adapt and reproduce. For example, if there is a population of bacteria in a human body, some of which have developed a mechanism of resistance to a certain antibiotic, these bacteria will survive and be able to reproduce inside someone treated with this antibiotic. While this process will happen naturally it is greatly accelerated by the overuse of antibiotics when they are not needed. A large contribution to overuse in the UK is the insistence of patients to request antibiotics from their GPs when they experience flu-like symptoms. According to this review from Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety, most infections that antibiotics…

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