Sunday, November 2, 2025

Margaret Roadknight - The Girls In Our Town (The Other Newcastle Song)

 


An Australian release from September 1975, I came across the track on a recent download, while listening to the record I thought this could apply to almost any town, in the UK I was in the last year that you could leave school at 15 (1967), the children in the year following all most of them wanted to do was leave school, from the school I attended well over half the pupils left at 15 with no qualifications, after the leaving age was raised to16 it was still the same well over half still left with no qualifications, most of the others left with qualifications and a very few went on to further education, the ones who left without qualifications ended up in the local factories or as shop assistants.

Margret RoadKnight – Girls In Our Town - 1975 (Original Stereo)

Sunday, October 26, 2025

Charmers - I've Got To Get A Message To You


Released in 1967, I was given a large number of singles and LP's in the early days of the original blog, in among the singles was a copy of this record, when the blog was closed this was among the records ready to download and post in the next couple of weeks.

Dave Barker I've Got To Get A Message To You

Spoof Notice





 


During the week at the fenced off stepping stones someone put up a spoof notice on both sides, if you are nimble enough you can get round the fences and use the stepping stones.


Sunday, October 19, 2025

Marc Reid - The Magic Book

 

 

Issued in 1966 a year before the Gibson's version, I do not ever recall hearing this record played on the radio.


Stepping Stones

 

At the present the stepping stones on the Hogsmill river are fenced off due to a Health & Safety issue, since the Longmead branch of the Hogsmill river was diverted at Chambers Mede to form the water gardens to try and remove the sewerage that Thames Water so graciously adds to this Chalk Stream, the water is now almost always over the top of the stepping stones, causing them to be slippery, I have slipped twice one getting a wet foot the other time water in my boot, also there is a lot of wear on the far side as the dogs climb up the slope next to the steps, the area behind the steps is starting to erode.

No one owns the river it is manged by the River Wandle and Hogsmill River Trust, Epsom & Ewell Council installed the stepping stones, and apparently the Enviromental Agency is responsible for the river banks. The temporary closure could drag on for some time.

 


Further down the river not too far from the Stepping Stones there is another point where sewerage is discharged into the river.

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Rodney Bewes - Meter Maid

 


Often the 'B' sides of records are never featured on Compilations or Greatest Hits records/CD's, this is one of the exceptions where it is the 'B' side is on the compilations and not the 'A' the only other record I can think of where the 'B' side is on the Compilations and not the 'A' side is A New Generation where the 'B' side 'She's A Soldier Boy' is on a number of compilations, while the 'A' side Smokey Blues Away has only recently appeared on CD.

This is the second single by Rodney Bewes so far the first one has eluded me.

Muddy Paws



Yesterday I had to pick up an emergency prescription for my wife, the chemist had sent me a message that the item was ready, as they allow dogs into the chemist I took  Biscuit with me and took her for her morning walk on the way back, the Hogsmill Country Park starts close to the chemists, for some reason she went into the mill pond and came out with four black legs, the mud was cleaned off when she went into the river later in the walk. 
I also saw one of the Water Voles they introduced recently into the river recently, I only found out when the reintroduced them that the Water Vole was extinct in England.

One of the first tasks I do when I turn on my Laptop in the morning is clear the spam mail, I get a few but not that many on 'lordofthebootsale' almost always about payment for my non existent McAfee account or equally non existent iCloud account, I also have an AOL account I find this one is worse for spam, I only keep it going as one organisation I belong to despite repeated requests to change my email address still sends all the correspondence to my old email account.