By the NMMC's Poet Laureate
Our Volunteers are useful -
and multi-tasking too,
they don't sit back
when times are slack,
there's lots of things to do.
Up in Cornwall there's a special place
for an ironing board to stow,
so bring clean washing with you
to be pressed before you go.
The flat top in the Lookout
could be used for kneading dough,
and as the shift progresses,
it will rise, all nice and slow.
Your silver polish could be brought
and all the cutlery.
Take home shining knives and forks,
(that one appeals to me).
Provided you're not busy,
chat to Tourists as you work,
they'll note your dedication -
Volunteers never shirk.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Seeing the Lights - Social Club Christmas 2011
by Sheila Addison
Sunday 18th December at 5pm saw an intrepid band of twenty two set out by coach from the museum. We were aiming for Mousehole, but we went via a selection of villages and country lanes. I know we went through Helston, Porthleven, Breage, Marazion, Penzance and Newlyn. We were lucky to find a prime parking spot in Mousehole, and in order to help us walk around the harbour, the coach driver issued us with 'iron rations' of sherry and mince pies from the coach boot. The Mousehole lights were fantastic. I know they always are, but then there is always that something extra.
Sunday 18th December at 5pm saw an intrepid band of twenty two set out by coach from the museum. We were aiming for Mousehole, but we went via a selection of villages and country lanes. I know we went through Helston, Porthleven, Breage, Marazion, Penzance and Newlyn. We were lucky to find a prime parking spot in Mousehole, and in order to help us walk around the harbour, the coach driver issued us with 'iron rations' of sherry and mince pies from the coach boot. The Mousehole lights were fantastic. I know they always are, but then there is always that something extra.Forty Five minutes later we were on our way again. This time via Long Rock, Hayle and Angarrick – which was amazing. Fish and chips at Trevaskiss Farm came next, a great place to stop, all of, plus the driver, at one long table. The place was packed. None of our crowd could manage one of those fabulous puddings though!
Home finally to Falmouth. I actually got home at nearly 11pm but it was a great trip, everyone enjoyed themselves, and the coach driver was a definite 'one off' with his humorous comments and knowledge.
Many thanks to Tess and Beryl for the idea.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Ho, Ho, Ho
by Mike Pennell
and Red is not your colour –
and the snow’s gone, as you feared.
There’s the problem with the chimneys
(‘cos you’re claustrophobic too);
a runner’s come right off the sledge
and you can’t find the screw.
The Elves have been complaining,
(they think bonuses are due!!)
There’s a Reindeer that is limping
and he needs another shoe.
Must we really have this every year?
It’s getting on my nerves.
Just send the kids to Trago -
Let each get what it deserves!!
It’s rotten being Santa
when you cannot grow a beard,and Red is not your colour –
and the snow’s gone, as you feared.
There’s the problem with the chimneys
(‘cos you’re claustrophobic too);
a runner’s come right off the sledge
and you can’t find the screw.
The Elves have been complaining,
(they think bonuses are due!!)
There’s a Reindeer that is limping
and he needs another shoe.
Must we really have this every year?
It’s getting on my nerves.
Just send the kids to Trago -
Let each get what it deserves!!
Monday, 19 December 2011
Super Size Weekend
by Debbie Rogers
Family activities were VERY busy on Saturday, in-fact, we didn't stop on Quarterdeck, with a constant wave of eager children and parents making their Xmas goodies to take home. There were people who had come in especially to see our wonderful storyteller Douglas Dapper and the 'kids getting in for free' obviously worked as did the fantastic food and craft fair on the square. There was a wonderful buzz inside and out all day... we ran out of the Mission to Seafarer cards so there was some frantic photocopying and the trail was very popular as ever.
Family activities were VERY busy on Saturday, in-fact, we didn't stop on Quarterdeck, with a constant wave of eager children and parents making their Xmas goodies to take home. There were people who had come in especially to see our wonderful storyteller Douglas Dapper and the 'kids getting in for free' obviously worked as did the fantastic food and craft fair on the square. There was a wonderful buzz inside and out all day... we ran out of the Mission to Seafarer cards so there was some frantic photocopying and the trail was very popular as ever. It has been the busiest Xmas weekend for the education department and hopefully the shop and café too. It's so lovely as previously we have felt very deflated having come up with lovely activities but just a handful of children would come and enjoy them. The Quarterdeck dressing has been a huge success, children and parents have loved Santa's workshop and sleigh (thanks to John Beale and Derryth's creativity) but the poor Trago reindeer have taken a battering!
Thank you to Norma and Barbara for your hard work, very much appreciated.
What a shock for my rested holiday brain!
Thursday, 15 December 2011
The Bailey Bristol Bash
by John Pritchard
On 16 November a team of 17 from the boat squad managed to escape on a mission to Bristol. The mission was to visit the Bailey Caravan factory and take the opportunity to visit the new MShed Museum at the Bristol docks. Head of escape committee and organiser of this excellent day out was Mike Selwood. Transport for the day was minibus. Lack of GPS on board meant chartwork and Dead Reckoning. Navigating to the Bailey factory in the centre of Bristol proved to be quite interesting. The up-side was we had excellent views of the underside of Clifton Suspension Bridge, from all directions, many times ... many many times!
Our Grand Host at Bailey was Patrick Howard. Pat is a boat restoration volunteer and when not bailing the bilges of some museum exhibit he manages to find time to be Chairman of Bailey Caravans of Bristol. Patrick and his team gave us a full morning which included a presentation on the company, a detailed guided tour of the facilities and working lunch with his management team. The factory is in the heart of Bristol and employs around 400 people, mostly living locally, making Bailey an important part of the community.
Bailey have manufactured caravans in Bristol since 1948 but don’t get the impression that this is an old style company. This is a state of the art organisation and facility, a leader in their field and producer of some very impressive caravans and motorhomes. In recent years they have developed and patented new lightweight, high strength body panels and body construction methods. This, together with highly efficient, high quality production lines and support systems has given them a major product advantage in the market. They have also recently started a new business by developing motorhomes and successfully bringing these to the market achieving major sales at this year’s product launch at the NEC.
During the tour of the facility we saw :-
• Modern methods of handling and control of material into and throughout the factory
• The manufacture and machining of body panels using CAD/CAM and the latest machine tools
• The rolling assembly line where discrete teams assembled the chassis and body panels and the various equipment assemblies - testing the work as the line rolled on. (They had some clever, effective methods of maintaining the optimum production line speed).
• The finished caravans and motorhomes rolling off the production line. (The line can produce a caravan every ten minutes!)
As we went around Bailey, we were all impressed with the equipment and facilities but, without doubt, most impressive was the energy and motivation of the workforce at all levels and the way they were working as a team. There are not many companies of this size where the Chairman and MD are on first name terms with the lads on the production line. It was obviously a great working relationship. Patrick is quite rightly extremely proud of the people and their achievements at Bailey and we thank him and Nick Howard (MD) and the Bailey team for giving us their valuable time and wish them every success in the future.
In the afternoon we visited MShed. This new museum is part of Bristol Museums Galleries and Archives, run and funded by the city. It is in a great strategic location, right on the old dockside which has had major investment/development over the years. MShed is just down the wharf from the 'SS Great Britain' and the 'Matthew'.
The focus of our visit was to see how the volunteers and staff managed the various equipment and exhibits to support the museum and we were given an excellent tour led by their Curator Andy King. The main museum is a modern structure built around the M shed (an old transit shed). The storage and workshop areas are mainly in the adjoining L shed.
The stores hold a large wide variety of artefacts from Bristol’s industrial past. There were a lot of transport related items from horse-drawn carriages, bikes, motorbikes, bits of cars, buses, trucks, a vintage Bailey caravan, bits of planes. They had loads of beautiful models including the Concorde wind tunnel test model. They had engines and bits of engines from all types of transport (including marine). They had parts of cranes and various engineering structures including some Brunel bits. We could have spent hours! It is not surprising that the museum puts on successful regular guided tours of their stores for the public.
We then saw some of the workshop activities: A team were renovating a bus chassis to go on the road as a driving exhibit, various pumps and engines were being renovated. Quite a lot of work was being carried on switchgear motors and other electrical equipment. These workshops are supporting operating exhibits which include dockside cranes, steam locomotives (dockside trains), buses, steam and diesel tugs (afloat), fire tenders (ashore and afloat). These exhibits are accessed by the public in the form of rides and trips. To keep this lot operational demands skill and knowledge on old technology, e.g. they have to know how to strip down, repair and get operating an electrical switch made in 1950s.
They have to manufacture a lot of their own spare parts and have the knowledge of how parts can be safely repaired. Their team of volunteers therefore includes experienced mechanical, electrical, instrument engineers/technicians/craftsmen in addition to the traditional train drivers, crane drivers, firemen and boatmen to operate the exhibits.
MShed allowed us a trip around the docks on the 1930s fire boat ‘Pyronaught’(blasting her fire hoses across the docks) plus a trip up one of the 1950s dockside cranes. This crane is fully rated, tested, certified and operational today. Very impressive. A credit to the MShed support team. We thank Andy King and his team of volunteers for this special behind-the-scenes look at MShed.
Return to Life/ Falmouth Having been given varied advice on the best pub on the way home, we ended up taking pot luck by diving into the village of Sticklepath and the Taw River Inn. An excellent end to a great day. We had good food and ale, good service and the landlady’s prices were very reasonable. Highly recommended.
Many thanks for being let out.
[NMMC Management please find attached capital requisition for one off Bailey Approach SE760 Motorhome. Urgently required for all future visits]
On 16 November a team of 17 from the boat squad managed to escape on a mission to Bristol. The mission was to visit the Bailey Caravan factory and take the opportunity to visit the new MShed Museum at the Bristol docks. Head of escape committee and organiser of this excellent day out was Mike Selwood. Transport for the day was minibus. Lack of GPS on board meant chartwork and Dead Reckoning. Navigating to the Bailey factory in the centre of Bristol proved to be quite interesting. The up-side was we had excellent views of the underside of Clifton Suspension Bridge, from all directions, many times ... many many times!
Our Grand Host at Bailey was Patrick Howard. Pat is a boat restoration volunteer and when not bailing the bilges of some museum exhibit he manages to find time to be Chairman of Bailey Caravans of Bristol. Patrick and his team gave us a full morning which included a presentation on the company, a detailed guided tour of the facilities and working lunch with his management team. The factory is in the heart of Bristol and employs around 400 people, mostly living locally, making Bailey an important part of the community.
Bailey have manufactured caravans in Bristol since 1948 but don’t get the impression that this is an old style company. This is a state of the art organisation and facility, a leader in their field and producer of some very impressive caravans and motorhomes. In recent years they have developed and patented new lightweight, high strength body panels and body construction methods. This, together with highly efficient, high quality production lines and support systems has given them a major product advantage in the market. They have also recently started a new business by developing motorhomes and successfully bringing these to the market achieving major sales at this year’s product launch at the NEC.
During the tour of the facility we saw :-
• Modern methods of handling and control of material into and throughout the factory
• The manufacture and machining of body panels using CAD/CAM and the latest machine tools
• The rolling assembly line where discrete teams assembled the chassis and body panels and the various equipment assemblies - testing the work as the line rolled on. (They had some clever, effective methods of maintaining the optimum production line speed).
• The finished caravans and motorhomes rolling off the production line. (The line can produce a caravan every ten minutes!)
As we went around Bailey, we were all impressed with the equipment and facilities but, without doubt, most impressive was the energy and motivation of the workforce at all levels and the way they were working as a team. There are not many companies of this size where the Chairman and MD are on first name terms with the lads on the production line. It was obviously a great working relationship. Patrick is quite rightly extremely proud of the people and their achievements at Bailey and we thank him and Nick Howard (MD) and the Bailey team for giving us their valuable time and wish them every success in the future.
In the afternoon we visited MShed. This new museum is part of Bristol Museums Galleries and Archives, run and funded by the city. It is in a great strategic location, right on the old dockside which has had major investment/development over the years. MShed is just down the wharf from the 'SS Great Britain' and the 'Matthew'.
The focus of our visit was to see how the volunteers and staff managed the various equipment and exhibits to support the museum and we were given an excellent tour led by their Curator Andy King. The main museum is a modern structure built around the M shed (an old transit shed). The storage and workshop areas are mainly in the adjoining L shed.
The stores hold a large wide variety of artefacts from Bristol’s industrial past. There were a lot of transport related items from horse-drawn carriages, bikes, motorbikes, bits of cars, buses, trucks, a vintage Bailey caravan, bits of planes. They had loads of beautiful models including the Concorde wind tunnel test model. They had engines and bits of engines from all types of transport (including marine). They had parts of cranes and various engineering structures including some Brunel bits. We could have spent hours! It is not surprising that the museum puts on successful regular guided tours of their stores for the public.
We then saw some of the workshop activities: A team were renovating a bus chassis to go on the road as a driving exhibit, various pumps and engines were being renovated. Quite a lot of work was being carried on switchgear motors and other electrical equipment. These workshops are supporting operating exhibits which include dockside cranes, steam locomotives (dockside trains), buses, steam and diesel tugs (afloat), fire tenders (ashore and afloat). These exhibits are accessed by the public in the form of rides and trips. To keep this lot operational demands skill and knowledge on old technology, e.g. they have to know how to strip down, repair and get operating an electrical switch made in 1950s.
They have to manufacture a lot of their own spare parts and have the knowledge of how parts can be safely repaired. Their team of volunteers therefore includes experienced mechanical, electrical, instrument engineers/technicians/craftsmen in addition to the traditional train drivers, crane drivers, firemen and boatmen to operate the exhibits.MShed allowed us a trip around the docks on the 1930s fire boat ‘Pyronaught’(blasting her fire hoses across the docks) plus a trip up one of the 1950s dockside cranes. This crane is fully rated, tested, certified and operational today. Very impressive. A credit to the MShed support team. We thank Andy King and his team of volunteers for this special behind-the-scenes look at MShed.
Return to Life/ Falmouth Having been given varied advice on the best pub on the way home, we ended up taking pot luck by diving into the village of Sticklepath and the Taw River Inn. An excellent end to a great day. We had good food and ale, good service and the landlady’s prices were very reasonable. Highly recommended.
Many thanks for being let out.
[NMMC Management please find attached capital requisition for one off Bailey Approach SE760 Motorhome. Urgently required for all future visits]
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Customer care
The Director seems to think that our standards of customer care have dropped recently. He was spotted early one morning reviewing other organisations' training videos. Here is one he seemed to think suitable for us. Apparently tests will be instituted in the new year.
Monday, 12 December 2011
It's a PC world
by Mike Pennell
So no more 'Grumpies' anymore,
(My paper says, today,)
We’re 'Golden Agers' now it seems,
keeping Father Time at bay!!
They used to call us 'Wrinklies'
even 'Crinklies' I have heard;
(These PC boffins should be named)
I’ve thought of just one word!!!
A rose by any other name,
is just as sweet – (they say) -
we may be rather prickly,
so keep out of our way!!
So no more 'Grumpies' anymore,
(My paper says, today,)
We’re 'Golden Agers' now it seems,
keeping Father Time at bay!!
They used to call us 'Wrinklies'
even 'Crinklies' I have heard;
(These PC boffins should be named)
I’ve thought of just one word!!!
A rose by any other name,
is just as sweet – (they say) -
we may be rather prickly,
so keep out of our way!!
New yacht anyone?
News reaches us that the MV Windsor Castle is for sale and a snip at around £150,000. Familiar to anyone who has sailed up to Tolverne or sat having a cream tea in the Smuggler's Cottage, the Windsor Castle was originally built to serve the Scottish Islands and has a rather classic look for her age (1964). Those that know say that the price is a fraction of the scrap value. Come on team: time for a new runabout. See more
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