Ghosts, a coal mine and 'Out Again'.

28 January 2013

I had a bad night last night.  My arm and wrist were really hurting and I can only put it down to being shaken about and vibrations from using the scooter on Saturday.  It's still hurting fairly badly now but I suppose I shall to put up with it. 

Yesterday I managed to get around 1,000 words written for my latest effort at writing.  This time it's a ghostly crime story with a dash of photography thrown in for good measure.  The ghostly line is based around Arley Colliery as was about five miles outside of Dorktown.  The pit closed in 1968 throwing around 1,200 men out of work.  Take not of that figure; have you noticed that it says nothing about the number of women who also lost their jobs.  Women who worked in the pit canteen and those working in the offices were not counted.   

The initial effect of the closure didn't affect me at all seeing as in 1968 I was in BAOR doing my bit for Queen and country.  My dad had already left the pit having had an industrial injury which left him unable to work underground and there wasn't any jobs on the surface.  Dad said that the rest of the village was devastated by it.  The pit head area is now covered by a small industrial estate.  Anyway, that's part of it.

Coventry was once a car makers city.  Standard Triumph; Jaguar; Daimler; Humber/Roots; BMC; Alvis.  They are all gone now.  The only one left is the London Taxi maker LTI - and they are in trouble.  Industrial relations at all these factories were pretty dire to say the least.  Strikes were regular.  One factory would come out and a lot of the men would walk to the pit and then go back to the factory when the strike was over.  And so on it went.  One day in 1967 I was home on weekend leave and went out to the Jampot (the local working men's club), and while we sat there we overheard three Jag workers planning a strike.  I thought it was a bit of joke but dad said not to keep an eye on the news.  Sure enough later that week it was reported in the papers that the Jag were out on strike yet again.  No wonder they are all gone.

Here's a story from dad ... Our GP at Arley was based on Spring Hill. about a mile and half walk from home.  Dad went off to see him one afternoon and by the time he was finished it was very dark along Spring Hill.  Street lighting was there but it was very sparse, just one small bulb every hundred yards or so.  Well a bulb if the vandals hadn't smashed them!  Anyway, there was dad walking along the road when in between two lamp posts he saw a white triangle shape on the other side of the road; it was moving from side to side.  It spooked him so he started run.  After a few yards he thought, "Come on John, you don't believe in ghosts.  Go back and have a look."  So he did.  Making his way across the road slowly he got fairly close before he heard a really loud 'moooooo'.  It made him jump out of skin but then he saw that what he had seen was an almost all black cow with a white face rubbing its neck against the low trimmed hedge.  Ah well ...

No photos of ghost but I do have this ... 

a big black cow ;-)))

And for today's funny ...
 

A  guy is driving around the back woods of Montana and he sees a  sign in
front of a broken down shanty-style house: 'Talking Dog  For Sale ' He rings
the bell and the owner appears and tells him  the dog is in the backyard.
The  guy goes into the backyard and sees a nice looking Labrador retriever
sitting there.
'You  talk?' he asks.
'Yep,'  the Lab replies.
After  the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk, he says 'So,
what's your story?'
The  Lab looks up and says, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk  when I
was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I  told the CIA. In no
time at all they had me jetting from country  to country, sitting in rooms
with spies and world leaders,  because no one figured a dog would be
eavesdropping.'
'I  was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running.  But the
jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't  getting any younger
so I decided to settle down. I signed up for  a job at the airport to do
some undercover security, wandering  near suspicious characters and
listening in. I uncovered some  incredible dealings and was awarded a batch
of medals.' 'I got married, had a  mess of puppies, and now I'm just
retired.'
The  guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants  for
the dog.
'Ten  dollars,' the guy says.
'Ten  dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him  so
cheap?'
'Because he's a liar. He never did any of that s**t.