Things that are utterly bloody fascinating

This thread is fascinating, I love it! I’ve saved all the podcast recommendations - if anyone else has any good ones please share :)

Considering they were probably built quickly for railway workers they have lasted really well.

Ours is a 1900 town house (terrace) and mostly quite sturdy. The last one was an 1880 mine administrator's house, again, fairly sturdy. We didn't do any internal modifications - apart from stripping off loads of Artex....

@ifIwerenotanandroid I sent you a pm about the author you found on Amazon re WW2 books. Could you share with me.

Also bump about the guy on YouTube you looks at storm drains and underground railways it’s for my son who has an interest.

My flat is Victorian, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's some original pipework (water rather than gas, mine was the first flat to have central heating). Considering they were probably built quickly for railway workers they have lasted really well.

I've taken two stud walls out, in our house. Downstairs, it was between the hall and the back room and in the cavity, there were some lead pipes. I got a plumber out and they were original 1900 gas pipes. There was also a tin conduit, with rubberised electrical wires.

We had the bathroom done a few weeks ago and there was old electric wiring, which has a lead sheath and the wires wrapped in oiled fabric and a bare Earth wire.

Our first flat, a purpose-built Edwardian maisonette, had originally been lit by gas. A lot of the pipes and outlets where the lamps would have been were still set into the walls (but fortunately no longer connected to gas).

@YaWeeSkitter yes that's the one. Thank you. I might have to have a re read of her book if I can track down a copy.

We own a three unit rental building and when we were renovating we found a record of 1919 and a drawing (not rude!) left by the original plasterers.

wow the hosrders church

MrsDanversGlidesAgain

Our last house had several layers of wallpaper and on the plaster, graffiti from the 50s. Quite rude graffiti!

@Needmorelego .
Across time and death by Jenny Cockell

In 1954 my grandfather bought an Edwardian semi in S London. It was still lit by gas and DM said that when they stripped layers and layers of wallpaper off to decorate it reeked of the gas that had soaked in. The room at the top of the house had been the maid's and at the end of the hall was a step down to the kitchen and scullery that was her domain - there was still a door there to stop the noise and smell from the kitchen penetrating to the rest of the house. All the rooms - even the maids - had lovely cast iron tiled fireplaces.

That was an amazing scroll! I felt weirdly claustrophobic and anxious as I went deeper...

Kucinghitam · Today 08:09

I'm always awestruck by the sheer size of the solar system and of space.

We had one bookmarked, showing the relative sizes of asteroids, moons, planets & stars etc, but OH seems to have deleted it; I hope our daughter doesn't twig on...

But this one is still bookmarked:

neal.fun/deep-sea/?fbclid=IwAR2J_fvXkbW3X8kaghZQIMtv4u1DcEturzidEec01K79kTHU7YFFkDD_5U0

@Ineke yes!! Vivian Maier's story is so interesting and could so easily have never been discovered. I'd love to buy some of her prints, but I can't find any. I also love the story of Lee Miller (model, war photographer and cook) and Charlotte Salomon (painted in hiding during WW2).

Everything is so interesting.

I worry about the future with everything so easy to find on the internet and see, will it be to easy to find out about things that the interest is gone?

Is the film WALL-E the future.

Or will it make it easy for people to find out and generate interest.

I like to think that in the future the internet will be used as a huge reference about the worlds history.

Alien lifeforms taping into any wifi before they visit haha!

Yes! That's her. She could categorise reams of information - especially relating to nature - and her childhood diary was published and serialised. She was hailed as a child prodigy and enjoyed a sort of celebrity status (as much as you could in the early 1900s). This was all backed up by teachers and adults that knew her (although she was estranged from her family eventually due to physical abuse).

However at some point, someone decided that the diaries were too sophisticated to be the work of a child and claimed she must have been 'at least 20' when she wrote them - even though that was clearly impossible due to dates - and she fell from grace. She entered an asylum in 1948 and spent the rest of her days there, pretty much forgotten.

@Verv Your photos are very good. What on earth is Gaviscon farm?!?! You have a great set of unusual images. What’s the story behind those particular abandoned homes? There is no evidence anyone packed anything up at all…

The ‘Rose’ picture thing- I remember seeing oldies hanging these odd wall picture/ornaments in their homes in the 80s.

I liked the abandoned train. The ring box … just left there like that?? I’d love to know who these people were!

in case anyone else wants to look: the link again.
www.flickr.com/photos/120082695@N07/

@SlightlyJaded - are you thinking about Opal Whiteley?

I'm giving a brief overview of the contents of the podcast. Not a personal opinion.

I'm always awestruck by the sheer size of the solar system and of space. If you have a long time, try scrolling on this webpage (If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel):

joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html

Should Adele have paid her ex?

Adele has revealed that her ex-boyfriend chased her for royalties after she first enjoyed success with debut album '19'. The 'Someone Like You' star said that her former lover - who she has refused to name - repeatedly called her claiming she owed him money for the songs she wrote about their failed romance.

Fair enough on the ick (big style), but why should she get any money from the song? She didn't write or perform it? She apparently is on the cover, did she get paid for that?

When Doug Fieger was 25 years old, he met 17-year-old Sharona Alperin, who inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting, as well as eventually becoming his girlfriend for the next four years.