Pigs Might Fly

My charm bracelet is one of my treasured possessions, I have had it since I was about nine and it has lots of charms which remind me of various events and special times in my life. I had previously told my friend about the bracelet and when we went to see her last week I took the bracelet over to show her. She was fascinated by all the charms especially the ones that opened, but the one she likes best was the flying pig. I told her that that was a fairly new charm, I chose it because it reminded me of Robbie. I worked out long ago that there is more chance of me seeing a whole heard of flying pigs than there is of getting Robbie to change. I think he will still be train spotting and listing to loud indie music when he is 90 - but by then I will be too old to care!


On the subject of flying, the other day I told Robbie that I had evidence that a flying train had once visited Northampton. He was convinced that I was trying to trick him and he thought up all sorts of explanations, but he couldn't work it out. He was most impressed when I showed him the photo of a  Thomas the Tank engine balloon flying over the rooftops of Northampton in 1996.

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely - Ogden Nash

When I was looking back through my recent blog posts, I realised that I had forgotten to mention an interesting little incident that happened while we were in Earls Barton on Saturday. While we were in Jeyes shop I was busy looking at recipe books and other bits and bobs when I noticed that Robbie was missing. I thought it was a bit odd because it is quite hard to lose him - I know because I've tried! I called his name and at first there was no reply, then a rather distant and reluctant voice announced that he was 'here'. Guided by his voice I headed in the direction of 'here' and found him in a quiet corner of the toy department. He was kneeling down at a little wooden table with a wooden railway track layout on it. He was guiding a wooden Thomas the Tank Engine around the track with his hand while making a selection of engine noises! I asked him if was about to be 4 or 40 and I was answered with a shrug, he told me that it was just too tempting.

Robbie continued to play trains while I loitered in the toy department grateful that this part of the store was relatively quiet. Then after what seemed like hours Robbie stood up, he had spotted some diecast versions of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. At first Robbie seemed preoccupied by changes in the design of the packaging, but then he spotted one called Spencer that he would quite like to buy. Thankfully it didn't come to that, we couldn't possibly accommodate another collection of engines, the house is bursting at the seams as it is. He left the shop with a big smile and big plans to build a new layout for his model trains - that should keep him out of trouble for a while!

The Apothocoffee Shop

Last Monday when I told Robbie that it would be nice to drive to the nearby village of Earls Barton to visit the chemist he looked at me as if I was mad. After all there are plenty of chemists nearer to our home, but this chemist is rather like the costume shop in  Mr Benn, it contains secrets and transports you to different worlds. So on Monday we took a drive through the Northamptonshire countryside to Earls Barton, as I parked the car Robbie spotted Jeyes the Chemist and commented that it looked  very ordinary and very small from the outside. We walked in through a very ordinary chemist shop but after just a few steps it was clear that this was no ordinary chemist. To our right was the book department and Robbie was spellbound, there were so many interesting books to look at and the shelves and cabinets around the room were packed with keepsakes of every kind, it was like an Aladdin's cave. I thought we would be stuck there all day! Another doorway led on to a room containing china and kitchen items, Robbie was instantly drawn to a very attractive Hornby mug and a couple of mugs in beautiful boxes with designs from the Ladybird books of 1960s. 


A narrow corridor led us past a display of jigsaws and other items that caught Robbie's eye, he kept touching my arm and telling me to "look" as he pointed out his latest find. Some very steep stair led us up to a different world. The first room contained all the fun of the fair, a model funfair with working models, lights and fairground music. There was so much detail and so much to see, each time I looked I spotted something that I hadn't noticed before. Robbie loved it, he walked around the room looking closely at every detail. 


The next room was the Dolly Lodge selling everything a dolls house enthusiast could ever wish for. I didn't think Robbie would be very interested but he was fascinated, it was hard to drag him away. The next room gave a fascinating insight into village history and the lives of the people who lived and worked in the village in Victorian times. Next there was a display of chemist items from the past which I found very interesting. Every display cabinet told a different story and prompted so many memories. Then we came to a huge selection of Sylvanian Families products, my daughters used to love Sylvanian Families so lots of happy memories came flooding back. It was interesting to look at the displays and see the information they have about Sylvanians through the years.


By the time we went downstairs again Robbie was in a lot of pain and I was tired so it was time to follow our noses through the shop to the Apothocoffee Shop for a nice pot of tea (and coffee for Robbie) and hot buttered toasted teacakes. It may not take the pain away but it makes life seem a whole lot better! Robbie was very interested in the displays of preserves etc he looked longingly at a jar of real ale mustard. After a nice sit down and a snack we felt refreshed and ready to explore the rest of the shop. They had a lovely selection of cards, then there was the toy department to explore. Robbie's inner child was very much in evidence especially when he found a whole section devoted to Thomas the Tank Engine in the next room! After a last look at the books we made our purchases and left, it had been a really good experience and Robbie said that he hoped we could go there again very soon.

Full Marks For Effort

Robbie is still unable to to explain who Brenda is, but I have to admire him for trying (he was calling out Brenda in his sleep at the weekend). First he told me that the only Brenda he knew was an elderly lady, the daughter of his late grandmother's best friend. Next he suggested that he must have been watching Dinner Ladies - I doubt it! By then Alice had also cropped up in the conversation, I am sure I just misheard and he didn't say Alice at all, but he did grudgingly admit that Alice was Brenda's mother! His latest suggestion is that they were both characters from Thomas the Tank Engine, as far as I know there isn't an engine or a carriage called Brenda, but I had great fun trying to imagine what sort of engine would be called Brenda. I decided it would be a Class 33, but I will not dwell on that in case I offend anyone unfortunate enough to be 'blessed' with that name. Anyway you have to admire Robbie for trying, if he ever gives up the railways I am sure he would have a very bright future as a fiction writer!

A New Toy

Robbie managed to get it right this year, I was delighted with my present from him (apparently the girls kept him on the right track). He bought me a usb thingy to scan photo negatives on to my computer and I have spent the last couple of evenings revisiting old photos and remembering old times. I now have photographic proof that Robbie is not the only member of the family with an obsession with trains!

I hope this photo doesn't give Robbie any ideas, I couldn't cope with him dressing like a deltic! I am guessing that the photo was taken about 12 years ago but I am not allowed to identify the person in the picture because at 15 he is too cool to admit to being a Thomas fan when he was younger. I think the photo below was taken at Peterborough, but after all this time my memory is a bit dodgy and it could be Pitsford. I do remember a very excited three year old running up to a somewhat rotund member of staff and asking if he was the Fat Controller!

Mission Impossible (Shopping with Robbie)

Robbie and I went shopping at Toys R Us on Friday evening. Robbie came straight from work so he was still dressed in his suit, bit as soon as he walked through the door his 'inner child' took over and he was almost bursting with enthusiasm. I wanted to look for Christmas presents for my niece and nephews, Oliver is only 6 months old and Jack likes cars and diggers more than trains so despite Robbie pleading with me there was nobody to buy trains for. It didn't stop him trying, first we went to look at the brio and all the wooden Thomas series engines, he really wanted to buy one. Then we went to look at the die-cast Thomas models, I remember when Sam used to collect those, I think we still have them packed away somewhere. Robbie was rather taken with a carry case in the shape of Thomas that could store a selection of trains inside. I finally enticed him away from that section, but my problems had only just begun because he made a dash for the Hornby section. He described every single item in detail and I thought we would still be there at closing time. Thankfully Emily met us and we finally dragged him away to concentrate on the Christmas shopping. We bought Oliver's present, but we also bought a rather nice wooden train set for when he is old enough – guess whose idea that was!

I hate going to town especially on a Saturday, but Robbie pestered me until I gave in, so we spent this afternoon trailing around the shops in Northampton with Sam. When we finally sat down to have a drink and a snack Robbie told me that a parcel should be delivered on Monday. He had that guilty smile and it was clear he didn't want me to ask any questions. It is my birthday soon so I thought it may be something for me but clearly he had other things on his mind he finally revealed that he has bought a lump of deltic (to add to all his other junk) and I have to alter my whole routine on Monday to wait in for it to be delivered!

Do You Ever Wonder How Your Mind Works?

Do you ever wonder how your mind works, or whether you think in the same way that other people do. I'm absolutely certain that Robbie's brain works differently - goodness knows what goes on in his head! I used to read the Beezer when I was younger and they had cartoon characters called the Numbskulls who managed the various departments in their man's head. Their antics were always very funny and they often got their human into very embarrassing predicaments. Now that could explain a lot, maybe Robbie has little men in his head!

Anyway, back to the point. Yesterday I was busy working when suddenly I found myself thinking that Rev Awdry (creator of Thomas The Tank Engine) was extremely sexist. Why were all the engines male? Why were the subservient characters and carriages female? and why did he choose such dreadful female names? I wondered what train of thought could possibly have caused those particular thoughts to pop into my head, and I tried hard to think backwards. I had written my blog article much earlier in the day and I had included a photo of the Class 20 from Robbie's trip. I'd noticed that it had a 'face', somehow it reminded me of a character I had seen before, but I couldn't remember who or where. Even when I closed my eyes tightly I couldn't quite make the link so I moved on to other things, but my brain must have continued to work away at the problem. I wrote my other blog about the books I have read and I made a mental note that I still needed to write about the railway history book that I bought last week. After that I got on with my real work and didn't give another conscious thought to trains or books. At lunchtime I was working on something completely unrelated when up popped my thoughts about Rev Awdry and his engine characters. I presume my earlier observation of a 'train with a face' had combined with my thoughts about books and my brain had wandered off at a tangent.

I guess the answer is that the Railway Stories of Rev Awdry are sexist because they reflect the time that they were written when matters of gender, class and even race were treated very differently. I don't know why he chose such dreadful female names, but perhaps it was his revenge on the world for lumbering him with a name like Wilbert! I loved those stories when I was a child and my own children loved Thomas too. I am so glad that times have changed and I it is nice that Thomas has adapted to the modern world.

Eventually I remembered who the Class 20 looked like, it was Rodney Copperbottom from the film Robots. See what you think.