Hobbies 2015 - 2019

[sospiri]

Or these people are UK based:-

https://www.its.co.uk/Power-Tool-Accessories/Circular-Saw-Blades.htm?pl=2147483647

Maurice

 

[cresser]

Thank You to everyone who replied to this post. I do appreciate peoples efforts, and will certainly look up the suggested companies and forums. Thanks very much all.
cresser.

 

[Eric Gibson]

I have these sitting on my shelf in the workshop, bought in error from Lidl and no use to me, if they're what you want you can have them free gratis, just pay for the postage.

 

[oldMohawk]

Testing an update to the Gimp photo editor I added some colour to part of an image of Court 2 Camden Grove Camden Street even though courts were not very colourful. As colour was added a puzzle emerged ... five youngsters in the pic but only nine legs and feet ...
Colour added pic ... double click it for a closer look.


Before colour


Full pic in post#32 of following thread

Camden Drive And Camden Grove

I would like to see where Kathleen Dayus once lived. I have a map but where exactly off the drive did she live, there is no 4 court marked on my map but 4 on Camden Grove. Thanks

birminghamhistory.co.uk

 

[oldMohawk]

Reference a BBC article in another thread.

In colour, just like OldM!

D-Day landings in colour

Marina Amaral a digital colourist transforms black and white pictures of D-Day into colour.

www.bbc.co.uk

One difference - she probably is paid for her work, OM does it for love.

I had a go at General Eisenhower's head and shoulders just for fun not for love !! ...

The original B&W pic ... see the white banding round the back of his cap and shoulder, under his nose, dark under his chin which are signs of too much unsharp mask on the pic.


The professional colour version (maybe Photoshop) but zooming in there seems to be white colourless areas see his ear lobe etc.


My go with only colour added to the B&W original. I haven't got the white areas, maybe a bit bland and had trouble with the reflection on the peak of his cap. I use the free GNU Image Manipulation Program.


I have a Dell Laptop and Acer Desktop and the colours look slightly different on each of them.

 

[oldMohawk]

I remember driving past these roadworks at the bottom of Snow Hill. The photo is dated 1968 which was the year Apollo 8 was launched to the Moon and home computers had not yet been invented.


51 years later most of us have home computers and using mine I've levelled the old pic, added colour and a new sky.


Google 'streetview' shows that many old buildings are still there and the road layout not much changed. It looks as good as it was in 1968.

 

[Pedrocut]

One from more or less the Google view around 1991...

Former HB Sale factory, Constitution Hill - Old Birmingham

By Pedrocut.

www.ipernity.com

 

[Williamstreeter]

I remember driving past these roadworks at the bottom of Snow Hill. The photo is dated 1968 which was the year Apollo 8 was launched to the Moon and home computers had not yet been invented.
View attachment 135811

51 years later most of us have home computers and using mine I've levelled the old pic, added colour and a new sky.
View attachment 135812

Google 'streetview' shows that many old buildings are still there and the road layout not much changed. It looks as good as it was in 1968.
View attachment 135813

Looking to the right I can see the H B Sale building, to the left you would be making your way to the Surfside Stop , Further up the Cedar Club they were back in the 60's though

 

[oldMohawk]

Looking to the right I can see the H B Sale building, to the left you would be making your way to the Surfside Stop , Further up the Cedar Club they were back in the 60's though

I notice we have an old thread about H B Sale which says their building burnt down in Jan 2007. If I’m looking at the right building Google street view shows it standing although weeds growing on top.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/h-b-sale-summer-lane.4602/

 

[RobT]

Here's a hobby that has been around for 118 years, I have been involved with it for 36 years - it's called Meccano.
There is nothing you can't make with Meccano, see as an example attached photo of my friends Birmingham Standard Double Decker Bus. Also a Midland Red D9.

 

[Vivienne14]

Welcome Rob. That’s impressive! Is Meccano still available ? Viv.

 

[RobT]

Welcome Rob. That’s impressive! Is Meccano still available ? Viv.

Yes still available, but now mainly plastic, made by Spinmaster, a Canadian Toy Maker.
Meccano has thousands of enthusiasts around the world, mainly over 70 years young.
Youngsters today can't be bothered to put nuts & bolts together.
In the 1920's, 1930's, 1950's nearly every house in England had some Meccano in it.
This photo was taken in Skegness a month ago, they come from all over the world to exhibit every year, for the last 36 years.

 

[Astoness]

wow i like that bus rob..i can remember our kid playing for hours with his meccano sets in the 60s

lyn

 

[RobT]

St. Pauls Church and Sarehole Mill

 

[sospiri]

Rob T and anyone else,

Under our Queen size bed at our house here in Crete is a sizeable heavy wooden crate containing what amounts to an original No. 10 Meccano set, which cost over £1,000 in the early 1950s. Jan, my other half, thinks that there may be a couple of pieces missing, but a former husband added loads of bits to it.

I took the lid off the crate before we moved here in 2005 to check that nothing would get damaged in the move, and all the pieces were well oiled, so that there was no danger of rust. Jan also has a stack of original plans. She has now decided that she would she would be prepared to sell it, but there is one problem - it is big and heavy and it is a case of buyer collects from Crete or arranges transportation via Nomad, the main carrier between the UK and Crete these days. She's open to offers, so if you know anyone who might be interested, contact me via the private message system here and I will provide contact details.

To the mods, I am not deliberately using the Forum to sell goods, that wouldn't be right, but seeing Rob's post reminded me of the crate under our bed! Jan has always said she didn't want to sell it, but we're both getting older and I have no interest in it, although played with my mate's Meccano when I was a boy. I'll make a suitable donation should a sale result, but feel free to delete this post if you so wish.

Maurice

 

[LOZELLIAN]

Rob T and anyone else,

Under our Queen size bed at our house here in Crete is a sizeable heavy wooden crate containing what amounts to an original No. 10 Meccano set, which cost over £1,000 in the early 1950s. Jan, my other half, thinks that there may be a couple of pieces missing, but a former husband added loads of bits to it.

I took the lid off the crate before we moved here in 2005 to check that nothing would get damaged in the move, and all the pieces were well oiled, so that there was no danger of rust. Jan also has a stack of original plans. She has now decided that she would she would be prepared to sell it, but there is one problem - it is big and heavy and it is a case of buyer collects from Crete or arranges transportation via Nomad, the main carrier between the UK and Crete these days. She's open to offers, so if you know anyone who might be interested, contact me via the private message system here and I will provide contact details.

To the mods, I am not deliberately using the Forum to sell goods, that wouldn't be right, but seeing Rob's post reminded me of the crate under our bed! Jan has always said she didn't want to sell it, but we're both getting older and I have no interest in it, although played with my mate's Meccano when I was a boy. I'll make a suitable donation should a sale result, but feel free to delete this post if you so wish.

Maurice

Hi Maurice,

Just to say I fully support the last sentence in your post re: the mods! I wish you the best of luck with it.

Lozellian.

 

[Astoness]

hi maurice no chance of deleting your post re selling the meccano set you have tucked away... you are a long and trusted member of this forum who over the years has helped so many of us and we know would not take advantage...

if anyone is interested in buying it please contact maurice via our private message system

lyn

 

[mikejee]

Anyway the thread is on Hobbies

 

[sospiri]

Thanks, Lyn, Jan originally had no intention of selling it at all and then I showed her the pics of the Meccano buses and she said it had sat there for nearly 15 years and if someone did make an offer, she thought it was about time to dispose of it. As you know, I am more interested in jazz, genealogy and photography, in roughly that order.

Maurice

 

[Rosary_Boy]

One from more or less the Google view around 1991...

Former HB Sale factory, Constitution Hill - Old Birmingham

By Pedrocut.

www.ipernity.com

love see inside this building

 

[RobT]

Rob T and anyone else,

Under our Queen size bed at our house here in Crete is a sizeable heavy wooden crate containing what amounts to an original No. 10 Meccano set, which cost over £1,000 in the early 1950s. Jan, my other half, thinks that there may be a couple of pieces missing, but a former husband added loads of bits to it.

Maurice

Just to clarify one statement, the No 10 set in 4 draw chest or cabinet in 1959 dearer than early 50's cost less than £45.00 see attached - saying this Meccano has always been expensive. I was still at school in 1959, and £45.00 would have been easily a months wage in mid 60's.

 

[sospiri]

Rob,

Maybe I misunderstood what she said - maybe that was at today's value as my month's pension is over 1,000 and that is not particularly good one. As I said, I am not conversant with the prices or value of Meccano.

Maurice

 

[Williamstreeter]

Here's a hobby that has been around for 118 years, I have been involved with it for 36 years - it's called Meccano.
There is nothing you can't make with Meccano, see as an example attached photo of my friends Birmingham Standard Double Decker Bus. Also a Midland Red D9.

Good for you RobT , I have to admit I had a cheap copy of Meccano when I was a nipper it was called Palikit , if memory serves the straight bits were metal the angles were plastic . I really felt hard done by with my version

 

[Morturn]

It's a tricky one this, prices vary widely on the online auction site. A couple of the listing look a bits suspect too.

 

[Bob Davis]

I wanted Meccano, but my parents found a cheaper sort called Trix, which I had to be content with. I believe that they also made model trains.

Bob

 

[RobT]

Good for you RobT , I have to admit I had a cheap copy of Meccano when I was a nipper it was called Palikit , if memory serves the straight bits were metal the angles were plastic . I really felt hard done by with my version

How right you are Williamstreeter, Palikit was made in Leicester between 1950s and 1964, it was also similar to Vogue and Pioneer. The parts 13, 15 & 18 are made of plastic (marked P in attached photo), the rest metal.
The system was inferior to Meccano, mainly because it didn't have a large range of parts, but had smaller holes than Meccano and a Meccano axle would not go into the holes.

 

[RobT]

I wanted Meccano, but my parents found a cheaper sort called Trix, which I had to be content with. I believe that they also made model trains.

Bob

Hello Bob, You are right Trix started in the 1930's I think to compete with Meccano's X-series, these two systems are often confused, unless shown side by side (see attached photo).
At some time Trix was manufactured at 310 Summer Lane, Birmingham 19.
Yes you are right they also made model trains, and I have references that they were part of W.J. Bassett-Lowke model train makers.
Another photo shows Locomotive built using Trix, to show that large complicated models could still be made with enough parts & skill to put them together.

 

[mikejee]

RobT.
when were parts made in summer Lane?. From at least 1932 till it's demise , that was the home of the coronet camera company. did not realise they had a sideline

 

[Astoness]

RobT.
when were parts made in summer Lane?. From at least 1932 till it's demise , that was the home of the coronet camera company. did not realise they had a sideline

same here mike i had no idea that trix were working from 310 summer lane

lyn

 

[RobT]

RobT.
when were parts made in summer Lane?. From at least 1932 till it's demise , that was the home of the coronet camera company. did not realise they had a sideline

I think Trix made between 1961-65 at Summer Lane, but you have brought out some other interesting information.
See photo below shows my mother Pauline (died 1988) working at the Coronet Camera Factory, Summer Lane on 1st December 1957.
Coronet closed in 1967 I believe.