A Spectacular Recovery

An account of the dramatic finish to yesterday’s ODI between England and Sri Lanka, some links and some photographs.

INTRODUCTION

This post is about the closing stages of yesterday’s ODI between England and Sri Lanka, which I listened to once I had got home from work.

A DISTANT PROSPECT

When I switched the commentary on Sri Lanka had made a respectable 286, which by that stage was looking positively mountainous since England were 39-4. When skipper Eoin Morgan was out for 42 to make the score 73-5, and Moeen Ali also fell cheaply to a poor shot the situation looked even grimmer for England, as Chris Woakes walked out to join Jos Buttler…

A GREAT PARTNERSHIP

Buttler and Woakes fared better than had seemd posssible when they came together, and gradually victory moved from the realms of fantasy to a distant but imaginable outcome to a genuine possibility. Two wickets in quick succession, Buttler and then Dvaid Willey seemed to have once again settled things in Sri Lanka’s favour, but Liam Plunkett (surely the most talented batsman ever to be at number 10 by design) played well alongside Woakes who established a record score for a number 8 in an ODI. In the end it came down to…

A SPECTACULAR FINAL OVER

At the start of this final over 14 were needed for England to win. Good bowling restricted England to seven off the first five, meaning that unless a wide or a no-ball was bowled England could no longer win. Neither was forthcoming, but Liam Plunkett did hit that final ball for six to level the scores and earn England a tie after a come-back of epic proportions.

LINKS

My first link, just to tie up the loose ends from the first part of this post is to an official account of yesterday’s ODI, courtesy of cricinfo.

My remaining links are all on the subject of referendums and one referendum in particular. I start with David Hencke’s post about why he will be voting for remain.

My next two links are both to posts from that legal eagle of the blogging world jackofkent, first a detailed analysis of what he sees as the flaws of referendums, and second, acoompanied by a screenshot below and some subsidiary comments of my own afterwards a proposal for banning referendums:

JoK

I would change clause 2 of the above act to read:

2. This Act can only be repealed by a unanimous vote in the house (for the purposes of this Act abstentions and absences count as votes against).

PHOTOS

For anyone who has read all the foregoing text here is your bonus in the form of some recent photographs:

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Although the day rider plus that is my standard bus ticket specifically excludes the coasthopper whose route map is pictured here, coasthopper buses sometimes run other routes, notably the X8 between King’s Lynn and Fakenham.

 

Rapid Progress on the July Auction

An account of today’s imaging, largely told by way of pictures.

INTRODUCTION

James and Sons’ July auction is progressing rapidly. A wide variety of items came my way for imaging.

A BIT OF EVERYTHING

Here are some of the highlights from today’s imaging…

1
Aftewr today there are only a couple of coin lots l;eft top be filled in this auction. This by the way is lot 1.

1-a1-b1-c1-d3131-a31-b

47
A very old coin indeed (cannot make out a date but it is either 12th or 13th century)

47-a47-b

 

49
Not quite so old – dates from Elizabeth I

49-a49-b

136
A parvenu – a sprightly 127 years old

136-a136-b141141-a141-b141-c

255
Two suitcases full of masonic regalia.

255-c262344

351
A complete domino set
352
The red train is damaged, the black not so – the canopy over the cab is supposed to be removable since…
352-a
…the driver and fireman cannot be seen when it is on.

352-b372401

403403-a403-b450

 

COINS, TOYS, MILITARIA AND A FEW LINKS

Some of the highlights from the early lots in the July auction, and a few good links.

INTRODUCTION

Although the links I shall be sharing have nothing in common with the main part of this post, which is about the start of imaging for James and Sons July auction, there are not enough of them to justify a post all to themselves, so I am tacking them on.

THURSDAY: COINS

On Thursday the imaging I was doing was all of coin lots…

60
Lot 60, the lowest numbered lot that I imaged on Thursday (I scanned these lots at high resolution, a number of lots at a time – scan each face, and bolt together to make the main image…
60-a
…while keeping the individual images to enable viewers to see them in closer focus.

60-b75-a9393-a93-b102102-a102-b

108
These ‘cartwheel pennies’ were produced only in 1797, because it was discovered that the amount of copper in them was worth more than the face value of the coin. They were therefore removed from circulation, which had the effect of causing a coin shortage.

108-a108-b

FRIDAY

Yesterday’s imaging was more varied, featuring a few more coin lots, toys and some militaria…

151
This is lot 151, and will start the militaria section – the four sets of medals that I arrnaged around the commemorative plaque were awarded to four brothers who served together.
151-a
The first of five close-ups of parts of the whole.

151-b151-c151-d151-e301303304307308309120120-a120-b132132-a132-b133133-a133-b135135-a135-b

LINKS

First of all, a link to an excellent in=depth piece about the murder of Jo Cox, written by kittysjones.

Then a link to two excellent letters in the Guardian about the Baker Small scandal – the first has among its signatories Mark Lever, chief executive of the National Autistic Society.

My two remaining links are both from weownit, one being to a petition against a plan by the government to ban councils from setting up bus companies to run their own services, and the other to some more detailed information as to why publicly owned buses would be an improvement.

Imaging For a Catalogue Cover

The pick of my recent images for James and Sons.

INTRODUCTION

This post is about today at work. There was a lot of imaging to do for the cover of our March catalogue (auction takes place at Fakenham Racecourse on the 30th and 31st March), also a van to be loaded up with stuff for tomorrow’s auction, and I also got a few other lots imaged.

THE COVER IMAGES

The images for the cover of this catalogue spanned a great range of items, some of which I had already imaged but most of which needed doing today. The early lots to feature are 83, 110, 124 and 135, one a framed photograph and the other three military items…

83
Lot 83
110
Lot 110

110-a

124
Both sides of lot 124

124-a124-b

124-c
The naming on the rim of lot 124
136
Lot 136

136-a

Next we come to a selection of…

SMALL COINS

These coins, the first of which is lot 209 and the last 269, we done using the scanner at high resolution – and for safety I did both faces of each coin and assembled composite images.

209
Lot 209

209-a209-b

217
Lot 217

217-a217-b

220
Lot 220

220-a220-b

225
Lot 225

225-a225-b

227
Lot 227

227-a227-b

231
Lot 231

231-a231-b

241
Lot 241

241-a241-b

242
Lot 242

242-a242-b

243
Lot 243

243-a243-b

246
246

246-a246-b

238
Lot 238

238-a238-b

269
Lot 269

269-a269-b

We next have three items of ephemera, nos 301, 311 and 359:

301301-a

311
311 – five images in total

311-a311-b311-c311-d

359
359

We then come to four images of…

SPEEDWAY MEMORABILIA

420cover
Lot 420
421cover
Lot 421
Ex422(2)
An extract from Lot 422
Ex422
A second image of the extract from 422
Ex423
A single badge from lot 423

The last of the new images needed for the front cover were of…

A TOY, SOME PROOF COINS AND A JAPANESE MEDAL

The toy is lot 562, and I was particularly pleased by this choice for reasons that will be instantly obvious to anyone familiar with this blog! The Japanese medal is lot 686, part of small run of militaria in among the proof coins, of which lots 665 and 728 were also to feature on the cover.

562
I was particularly pleased that this toy (lot 562) was chosen to feature in our catalogue!

562-a

665
The full gallery for lot 665 starts here (six images total)

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686
Lot 686

686-a686-c686-b

728
Lot 728

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A HANDFUL OF GENERAL IMAGES TO END

The non-cover images I did today were less special, but a few are worth sharing:

390
An MCC tobacco pouch? Yes – at one time smokers versus non-smokers was a regular fixture.
437
Lot 442(two images)

437-a

484
Lot 484
442
Lot 485 (two images)

442-a

569
Lot 570

A Sunny Sunday in West Norfolk

An account of a walk yesterday morning, the journeys to and from East Rudham, and Sunday lunch in East Rudham, with a subsection devoted to bees enjoying wild marjoram.

INTRODUCTION

This post concerns yesterday, and us set part in King’s Lynn and part in my parents village, East Rudham. A running theme is nature. I hope you will enjoy it and that some at least of you will choose to share it.

PART 1: KING’S LYNN, MORNING

It was a beautiful sunny morning, so I decided to take a long walk from my flat, planned to finish at the bus station in time to catch the 11:55 bus to arrive in East Rudham for Sunday lunch. Right at the start, the upper Purfleet yielded these pictures…

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South Quay then yielded a few more good pictures…

A gull swimming in the Great Ouse
A gull swimming in the Great Ouse

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A few minutes later came one of the regular highlights –

CORMORANT PLATFORM

The set of pictures I have this time indicate precisely why I have given this structure which sits at the meeting point of the Nar and the Great Ouse the name I have…

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Before leaving the river there was just time for a couple of shots looking back at the town…

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On leaving the river I headed through Harding’s Pits, which at this time of year means…

BUTTERFLIES

It is difficult to capture butterflies on camera, but I got a few pics…

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After this, the next pictures worth sharing came from near the end of the walk, along a stretch of river near Morrison’s…

My photographic comment on Australia's recent batting performances!
My photographic comment on Australia’s recent batting performances!

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A VARIATION ON THE USUAL BUS JOURNEY

A combination of a spectacular day and herd mentality increased the journey time to Hunstanton and the sea to two hours and rendered the Knight’s Hill junction with the A148 effectively unusable for buses, so the X8 towards Fakenham went by way of Leziate, Ashwicken and Roydon joining the A148 just short of Hillington and its first out of town stop. Thanks to this intelligent alteration of the route the bus was only a couple of minutes late arriving at East Rudham.

PART TWO: EAST RUDHAM

Following a delicious lunch of roast beef the afternoon was spent sitting out in the courtyard outside my parents house, until it was time for me to get the bus home. I was reading the book by Robert Bakker that I mentioned in a previous post – keep an eye for a review in the near future – and also endeavouring to do photographic justice to…

THBEES

As well as being useful for bringing out the full flavour of lamb, the wild marjoram that grows in abundance just outside my parents door is much appreciated by bees. Bees are a vitally important part of the ecosystem and are under ever increasing threat from the combination of the insensate greed of pesticide companies and the cravenness of governments (the latter do not have the guts to stand up to the former). Their activities so close to where I was sitting were an irresistable opportunity for the only sort of shooting I am interested in – that done with my trusty Nikon Coolpix P530!

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THE RETURN JOURNEY

The bus turned up precisely when it was scheduled to, and until it hit the now customary traffic jam on Gaywood Road (at which point I decided to get out and walk the rest of the way) it ran exactly to schedule all the way.

PART THREE: KING’S LYNN AGAIN

In this last section I am going to share some pictures from yesterday evening and also the pictures I got of the bus station immediately before setting out…

The new London Connections map, one of the many things that can be obtained from the visitor's centre at King's Lynn Bus Station.
The new London Connections map, one of the many things that can be obtained from the visitor’s centre at King’s Lynn Bus Station.
On the reverse side the whole of the South East.
On the reverse side the whole of the South East.

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The front of the vistor's centre and the Lynn museum
The front of the vistor’s centre and the Lynn museum

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Focus on the visitor's centre
Focus on the visitor’s centre
The clock, courtesy of King's Lynn Civic Society.
The clock, courtesy of King’s Lynn Civic Society.
The barrier at stand C - interleaving Captain Vancouver and the Custom House.
The barrier at stand C – interleaving Captain Vancouver and the Custom House.

Marxism 2015 4: Saturday Morning – Getting There and the First Meeting

An account of getting from my accommodation to the event on the Saturday morning and of the first meeting I attended that day – on the subject of Education.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this, the fourth of a series of posts I shall be producing about Marxism 2015, the five-day political festival in Central London organised by the Socialist Workers Party. The three posts that I was able to put out during the event are available here. I hope I am able to strike a good balance between not running this series until too long after the event has finished and not overwhelming people with vast numbers of blog posts all at once.

THE JOURNEY IN

Having arrived late for the first meeting on Friday I was not going to make the same mistake twice and left the house where I was staying considerably earlier. By good fortune having walked to the end of the road on which I was staying I stepped almost straight on to a 123 bus heading in the direction of Blackhorse Road Station. On the journey I was able to snap this picture of an interesting tribute to William Morris…

DSCN8970At Blackhorse Road the good fortune continued as I also stepped pretty well straight on to a southbound Victoria line train (in spite of having declined to join the stampede of those who heard the sound of a train arriving and were apparently unable to control themselves). I was now so far ahead of schedule that I decided to alight at King’s Cross rather than Euston and take a longer but slightly more scenic walk. Although I could not get the whole vast edifice in one shot, I got some good pictures of that most amazing of central London buildings, St Pancras Station…

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There were two more photo-worthy sights in this short space of time, a pub named in honour of the world’s first steam locomotive, Stephenson’s “Rocket” (Heron of Alexandria devised a primitive steam engine which he used to remotely open temple doors in the first century CE)…

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…And this building bearing the another famous name…

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THE FIRST MEETING OF THE DAY

A PERFECT CHOICE OF VENUE

I chose to attend a meeting on education, which was to take place in the Nunn Hall, a particularly appropriate venue as this wall painting makes clear…

The feature image for this post.
The feature image for this post.
The plaque telling us about the painting
The plaque telling us about the painting
Ms Branson's own signature
Ms Branson’s own signature

THE MEETING ITSELF

The meeting started with a statistic that is a devastating indictment of current education, as these pictures show…

Although Jacqui Freeman, giving her opening speech made the mistake of standing directly in front of the slide you can still see enough.
Although Jacqui Freeman, giving her opening speech made the mistake of standing directly in front of the slide you can still see enough.
A close up of the really important bit of the slide - a truly horrifying stat.
A close up of the really important bit of the slide – a truly horrifying stat.

The ever increasing and ever narrowing focus on exams has led to some very unpleasant consequences…

  • 200% increase in children calling childline re exam stress in 2013-14
  • Children as young as eight taking up smoking for stress relief

The speaker referred to the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM – given the unpleasant effects of this movement not an inappropriate acronym!)

The drive for uniformity and conformity that is so rigorously enforced in schools for children of ordinary people is signally absent from one type of school – the speaker cited Bancrofts, which is near the crumbling state school in which she teaches. Bancrofts proclaims itself “diverse and inclusive”, makes clear the although they focus on academic results these are not the be all and end all etc. Unfortunately there is one aspect where it fails on inclusivity – to attend this establishment one’s parents need to be able to afford £15,576 per annum.

Before displaying a few more pictures, I will conclude with a couple more quotes from the meeting:

The first quote is attributed to someone involved in running Ofsted and tells you all you need to know about their despicable attitude: “If morale in the staff room is low, headteachers can be assured they are doing something right.”

The other quote that I picked up on was from a would be music teacher who was being assessed and in responding to a question about how they would teach a particular thing expanded their answer to include a supplementary explanation of what they would do differently for a disabled pupil. One might think that extra credit would be given for providing such a full explanation, but the “assessor’s” response to hearing about allowances being made for a disabled person was laughter.

One final vignette, a schoolgirl who spoke from the floor talked about her school trying to funnel people towards Oxford and Cambridge, so that the school would gain kudos – she was the subject of some apparently prolonged efforts to get her to switch from Paleontology which she wanted to study to Archaeology solely because she could do the latter at one of these two universities.

Speaker Jacqui and chair Phil before the meeting
Speaker Jacqui and chair Phil before the meeting
The Hogwarts like Bancrofts School - diverse and inclusive so long as you come from a rich family.
The Hogwarts like Bancrofts School – diverse and inclusive so long as you come from a rich family.
.Jacqui starting her talk.
.Jacqui starting her talk.

Travel and Other Stuff

INTRODUCTION

As well as my title piece I have some links, and few photographs to share. I am producing a post specifically about travel because I have always enjoyed travelling and also because in honour of a forthcoming visit to the UK one of my favourite bloggers, Autism Mom

THOMAS ON TRAVEL

PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND SUTCLIFFE’S FIRST LAW

Not only do I not drive, I knew long before I was of an age to drive that I would never do so, so all travelling that i do under my own steam is done on public transport. Since I am now 40, my experience of public transport is long, and because I am British it is also not entirely happy!

The second part of my title refers to a law I have coined for travelling by public transport which reads as follows:

Sutcliffe’s First Law of Travelling by Public Transport – If you allow time for things to go wrong they won’t but if you don’t they will.

The practical application of this somewhat cynical ‘law’ is that when planning a journey where you need to be at your destination by a certain time you should work out the particular bus or train you need to catch and then aim for the one before to allow for mishaps.

These pictures of an RAF rescue helicopter were taken through the window of an X8 bus on the way home from work…

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IN TRANSIT

When in transit I either seek to enjoy the scenery (if I am not familiar with the route) or to read a book (if I am)

Another reason that travel is much on my mind at the moment is that my local bus station, which I use frequently is in the process of being refurbished. Here are a couple of pictures…

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LINKS

My first link comes courtesy of Autism Daily Newscast and features some advice from Jamie Lee Curtis.

Next, we have a little gem of a post from my friends at Faraday’s Candle.

Now, a new discovery for me, seabirdwatchireland

Next two items concerned with the 50:50 campaign for gender equality in parliament:

1)A blog post on Huffington Post

2)A link to a petition related to the above blog post.

My final link, to end this section on an upbeat note is to news of a victory of a campaign in Hackney.

CONCLUSION

I hope you have enjoyed this post and will be encouraged to share it.

A Visit to the Autism Research Centre

INTRODUCTION

I have a good haul of photographs from today, and some interesting links to share with you, as well as the main story…

ELECTRODES AND FLICKERING IMAGES

Being signed up to the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge’s email alerts I get a lot of details of studies into Autistic Spectrum Conditions for which they need volunteers and being passionate about reducing the ignorance about Autistic Spectrum Conditions that continues to bedevil our world I nearly always agree to take part.

This particular project was to do with responses to visual stimulation and required me to visit Cambridge. My appointment had been arranged for 11AM today, carefully avoiding any clash with work commitments…

GETTING THERE

The train journey from King’s Lynn to Cambridge takes almost exactly an hour, which given that they leave King’s Lynn just before the hour strikes meant that I had to be on the 8:57AM. Arriving at the station in King’s Lynn in very good time, and purchasing my ticket without undue difficulty I was able to take some photos at the recently restored station…

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This blackbird clearly isn't conversant with passenger safety advice!
This blackbird clearly isn’t conversant with passenger safety advice!

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The train approaching.
The train approaching.
This map is inside the train doors - I took the pic en route to finding a seat.
This map is inside the train doors – I took the pic en route to finding a seat.

The train journey was uneventful and (mirabile dictu) ran exactly according to schedule. Although it is far from straightforward to get good photos through a train window one or two of my attempts are worth sharing…

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Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Boats at Ely
Boats at Ely
At Cambridge, witnessing a service run by Abellio arriving (almost certainly late given their reputation)
At Cambridge, witnessing a service run by Abellio arriving (almost certainly late given their reputation)
The operating company that runs service between London and King's Lynn - no connection to the Great Northern Railway of old which ran services out of London Euston.
The operating company that runs service between London and King’s Lynn – no connection to the Great Northern Railway of old which ran services out of London Euston.

From the station, it was a walk through past the bus stops and on to Brooklands Avenue, which goes straight through to Trumpington Road, picking up some more photos en route…

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Cambridge and its environs are served by an excellent local bus system.
Cambridge and its environs are served by an excellent local bus system.

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AT THE AUTISM RESEARCH CENTRE

Having dallied sufficiently that I would not be crazily early I rang on the doorbell of Douglas House 15 minutes in advance of my appointment time, signed in as requested and waited. It turned out the researcher who should have been conducting the experiments was not around that day, so someone else took charge of me. The preliminaries (paperwork) attended to, it was time to set me up for the tests. This involved me donning an electrode cap (effectively a swimming hat with points for attaching electrodes), each electrode point being filled with a conducting gel before the electrodes could be attached, and then the electrodes being attached. A second set of electrodes were attached around the eyes . The purpose of this get up was to monitor electrical activity in my brain while I responded to various visual stimuli.

Everything, be it lines or proper pictures, was flickering so that I only got fleeting glimpses. There was one set of exercises that involved proper pictures, one that involved viewing arrows and then clicking a button as soon as white box appeared on the screen, and several involving flickering lines.

At the end I was quite relieved when the wires were all detached and I was able to wash the gel (which is water soluble) out of my hair and take my leave.

Although the gel feels cold when it first makes contact with you, and when all the electrodes are fitted to it the cap weighs quite a bit I feel that this set of experiments are no great imposition. If you are 18 or over, have an Autistic Spectrum Condition, feel that you could undergo this and are able to get to Cambridge you could send an email to: Sarah Kaarina Crockford” <skc48@medschl.cam.ac.uk>

GETTING BACK

A combination of the fact that I finished at the Autism Research Centre at 12:15 and that I wasted no time getting back to the station meant that I was able to catch the 12:35 train back to King’s Lynn, and was sat down to a late lunch at 2PM. A last couple of photos…

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LINKS

Just a handful of links for you this time. Firstly, Jayne Linney on the possibility of a National Disability Union. Next Cosmos Up, a reliable source of good stuff on “exiled stars”. My final two links both concern the Great Barrier Reef (surely would feature prominently on anyone’s list of seven natural wonders of the world), one a petition that I urge you to sign and share and one page giving some extra information.

SHARING

i hope that you all enjoyed this post and that you will share it widely. Many thanks.

Running an Auction and a few Other Bits

The December auction of James and Sons took place at the Maids Head Hotel, Norwich yesterday. As the person running the company database it was a particularly full-on day for me, and I have decided to take you through it in chronological order:

5:45AM: Left the flat to be sure of being at bus station in time for 6:00 bus to Norwich (although the sale does not being until 10, with my responsibilities it is mandatory that I be at the auction venue by 8 at the latest and this is the last bus that will enable me to do that)

7:35AM: Bus arrives at Norwich bus station bang on schedule (not even a British bus company can contrive to be running late at this stage of the morning) and I head straight but unhurriedly for the Maids Head Hotel.

7:45AM: Arrive at the hotel and find my way to the Erpingham Room where I will be based for the next few hours.

8:30AM: By this stage the setup and layout are complete and viewers are starting to arrive. My computer is set up in a location that ensures that no punters will have access to confidential information and the internet connection is working, although it will still be necessary to phone the shop in Fakenham every time someone wants to pay by card as the connection does not extend to our portable card reader. Before attending to my own specific tasks I print out a listing of commssion bids that have been registered online via http://www.the-saleroom.com. Between the information on the registrants page of http://www.the-saleroom.com and the written and printed records of bids received in advance I am able to ensure that my database is as up to date as it can be before the auction starts.

10:00AM: Kick off, and the auction starts with a bang as lot 1 sells for £130 against an estimate of £50. This is the occasion for the first of various live tweets I manage to post in between doing the work I am paid for.

The lots come and go very fast, and it is significantly before 11 that the first lot I am interested in, number 171, two postcards of East Rudham and West Raynham churches goes under the hammer. I stick in a bid but then realise I am up against the proprietor of Lynn Gold and recognising that he has much greater financial firepower decide not to bother contesting further.

After 250 lots the auctioneer takes a brief break and I have my first problem of the day, when instead of printing out an invoice as I require my computer wants to print out the entire Auction Form record (fortunately I am able to cancel the job before a single page has been wasted). I resolve the problem by the tried and tested if unscientific method of closing the database down and reopening, and as it happens there will be no further technical malfunctions that day.

Approx 12:30PM: We have now been through 500 lots, and are about to move on to coins and banknotes, with militaria, ephemera and some misecllaneous items still to come. This is a sensible point at which to take a 15 minute break, as planned by the auctioneer. Lot 441 in the meantime had been knocked down to me for £12.

A combination of the speed at which auctioneer David is getting through the lots and the frequency with which I have to produce invoices causes me to fall behind, but with only two room bidders other than myself still left this is not actually as serious an issue as it feels at the time.

14:18PM: Lot 786, the last item in the sale goes under the hammer.

14:40PM: The clear-up is complete and I take my leave. A call at the Glasshouse just down the road for some liquid refreshment and a visit to the library (which I regard as a must when I am in Norwich) mean that I end up on the 16:40 bus back to King’s Lynn. The front of the bus provides a sight I have not previously been treated to: although we are in Norwich and the bus is terminating at King’s Lynn the intermediate destinations listed are those between Peterborough and King’s Lynn! This causes a degree of confusion among my fellow passengers, especially those travelling to intermediate destinations, as you might imagine.

It is just a shade under thirteen hours after setting off in the morning that I finally arrive back at the flat. Come Dine With Me via 4OD followed by Strictly on iplayer complete the day. It was semi-finals week on the latter, meaning that each couple had two dances to perform. The best was saved till last as Caroline Flack and Pasha Kovalev produced the routine that finally persuaded Craig to flourish the 10 paddle.

I have a few pictures for you…

This is the Dereham Christmas tree.
This is the Dereham Christmas tree.
Part of the sale as laid out before the start.
Part of the sale as laid out before the start.
More of the sale.
More of the sale.
The Christmas tree in the Erpingham Room at the Maids head Hotel
The Christmas tree in the Erpingham Room at the Maids head Hotel
The last four images are of my purchase, taken this morning, this full picture and three close ups.
The last four images are of my purchase, taken this morning, this full picture and three close ups.

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Imaging a Military Aeroplane from a Moving Bus

This concerns my journey home last night. Having secured my preferred position on a double decker (front, top deck, non-driver side) I was most gratified to see a very low flying military plane directly out of my window. The Nikon P520 Coolpix was in its usual travelling place (around my neck), so I got the photo, and another good one of a crescent moon in an early evening sky.

Editing it this morning I came up with three different versions, one of which is going on the @great_auction twitter feed (as anticipated/ hoped we gained our 200th follower yesterday). See what you make of my efforts to get a good image from a moving bus…

This is the original picture, reduced in size but otherwise unedited
This is the original picture, reduced in size but otherwise unedited
The crescent moon was take before the  bus started moving, and this image is the result of serious editing work.
The crescent moon was take before the bus started moving, and this image is the result of serious editing work.
This crop keeps the moon and the plane, but was edited slightly differently
This crop keeps the moon and the plane, but was edited slightly differently
This crop keeps the moon and the plane
This crop keeps the moon and the plane
This one loses the moon but instead shows some very diaphanous clouds behind the plane
This one loses the moon but instead shows some very diaphanous clouds behind the plane