I'd completely forgotten I picked this up. 31/01/08

I was rummaging through my camera bag today, having a bit of a clear out of all that random shit that tends to wind up stuffed in a forgotten pocket. And so it was that I found the card pictured above, The Premier Moor System - Thought Control - Substitution.

What with all my recent woe and bad luck, I considered it a rather serendipitous find, and it came at just the right time too, the day after my gran's funeral.

Although the language of the card is somewhat dated, I'm guessing 1920s/30s, the message is fairly clear, 'stop moping and start thinking positively'. And that is what I fully intend to do, it can't hurt to try can it?

The card reads as follows.

It is absolutely essential that you dwell upon the positive side of life, and for that reason you must never allow yourself to become discouraged or pessimistic, for example, If when you are about to go out it commences to rain, then you must not mentally say 'How unfortunate I am, it always rains when I go out' but rather you must substitute this thought with 'How fortunate I am to have an umbrella and rainproof,' further what a blessing rain is for it is impossible to live without water.

By this method of 'substitution' you will gradually change yourself into a positive optimistic, cheerful and happy individual, to whom friends are naturally attracted.

TnM :->

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Albion Mill, Macclesfield - 13/01/08

Spotted this place a while back when we we're checking out another potential target nearby. Didn't take much more than a cursory glance at it as we drove by though, it 'looked' pretty well boarded up.

So, two months later I find myself in Macclesfield with local explorer Ike, staring down a tunnel that was gushing water out at quite a rate, 'think we need to wait for some dry weather, mate' was the order of the day. So, we headed up London Road and stopped by.

Wandering round the outside and back, the place WAS boarded to hell, although we thought we had spotted a possible access, and the only way to check it out was across the river. This would involve a BOAT, or a wade. We opted for the wade. Shoes and socks off, trousers rolled up and I headed in first. Don't think young Ike expected this on a chilly Sunday afternoon in January, but, come to think of it, I don't think I expected it.

Anyway, once across the river we found an access, wasn't easy, but we managed it, with a bit of help from a makeshift ladder. And once inside, it was a little dissapointing, the place was virtually stripped bare of 'stuff' that you normally hope to find in a mill dating from 1843.

Seems the place was split up into various business units during the latter years of its life and finally closed its doors in 2003 and has stood empty ever since. Although the place is surprisingly HUGE, and deceptively getlosteasyable (hey, I just made up that word!), we had a good mooch around for a couple of hours before the light started to fade and my camera batteries gave up the ghost, due to the cold.

So, despite trying to find an easier and drier access out, we couldn't, we headed back the way we came and waded across the river once more. I'd have kicked myself if we hadn't done it, but it's one of those that you think to yourself, was it really worth it?

Thinking about it now though, I reckon so, it was a daft adventure if nothing else, and also good to meet a new face. Cheers Ike, there are worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon.

TnM ;->

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Google Analytics are for the WINNER in you! 10/01/08

I'm not normally one for geeky tech stuff but I am so impressed with Google analytics I feel I have to share. Essentially it's like one of those page counters you used to see on websites a few years back, but without the actual need to have an ugly box on the page informing the viewer they are visitor number one hundred and four. It's like that, and then some.

A simple copy and paste of some Google code into your website/blog footer and a quick sign up over here and within 24 hours you can stalk all of the people that visit your site! ACE.

It gives you so much info such as where people are from, what browser/operating system they're using, how long they spend onsite, which pages they've looked at, whether they've washed behind their ears and allsorts.

Ok, it doesn't tell you if people have washed behind their ears, but it probably will do in the future!! I can't believe I waited this long to start using it.

So, why the picture of Brunner Mond up top? Well, it seems somebody using their network was catching up on a bit Mendoza Midnight Madness, recently...

It makes you WIN.

TnM ;->

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I want to live with common people...Sheffield 05/01/08

I hadn't been to Sheffield for years, I saw it from a distance a while back and the one thing that stuck in my head were the sheer amount of tower blocks the city contained. Travelling over to the other side of the Pennines is never an unpleasant experience, so the chance to have a guided tour of one of the most iconic blocks of flats in the country wasn't to be sniffed at.

A number of us met just north of the massive Park Hill council estate around 11am on a bright and breezy winter's morning. Currently most of the estate is undergoing a huge facelift by the UrbanSplash development group, so all the skagheads have been tipped out to find somewhere else to spend their unfortunate lives. Result!



The following three paragraphs are taken from this website.

Completed in 1961, Park Hill was intended to provide local authority housing for thousands of people. A largely working-class industrial city, whose best days were behind it, the city fathers of Sheffield hoped that Park Hill would signal the rejuvenation of the town and provide quality homes in a deprived area.

Park Hill is one of the most spectacular examples of new approaches to communal living in post-war Britain. Consisting of 995 dwellings, and housing over two thousand people, it occupies an entire hill overlooking Sheffield city centre, and is built on a slope, so increases in height as the hill slopes away. The estate consists of huge snake-like blocks which contain the duplex apartments and the estate's famous 'streets in the sky'.

Park Hill was awarded a Grade 2* listing in 1998. Although an important milestone in the development of Modernist housing theory in post-war Britain, the public incredulity which greeted the award spoke volumes about the success of Park Hill and its 'streets in the sky'.

Whatever the public thought of them, whether resident or onlooker, I thought flats were stunning, they are huge, brutal, in your face concrete and here to stay. And the views from all levels, over Sheffield, including the roof, are second to none. Maybe it was because the sun was shining, maybe it wasn't, but there is no arguing that the city landscape is something to behold.

From the flats of Park Hill we then headed convoy style to the relative misery of Loxley College, a pikied mess of a school, the place was trashed. Still, I enjoyed clambering about in the rafters to get roof access, which proved our downfall. I might add at this point it wasn't me on the roof that was spotted by security making their rounds. Still nevermind, I was quite amused at the look on the cops faces as eleven of us (versus their four) traipsed upstairs (convoy style) and were told to line up.

Being face to face with four baton wielding coppers is never good, but given the fact we had an age range from teens to over fifty, once we'd explained what we were up to they seemed OK. In the end it was all smiles, and they even tried to help gain acces to Volvo's van 'cos he'd locked his keys in it. A big hats off to the Sheffield police, they could have been real t***s, but were a sound bunch of guys.

From the college we headed over to Doncaster to check out a couple of leads before heading for the cooling towers at the old Thorpe Marsh power station. To say I was impressed by the hugeness of them is an understatement, they are ACE! Sadly, by this point in the day the Relentless was wearing off and the cold was kicking in, so I only took a couple of pics, one to return too another time I reckon.

All in we had a great day, aside from some navigational errors courtesy of the Bungle phone sexyvoicesatnav, and certainly an area that we will be returning to before long.

Big thanks to Private Piles and the rest of the Sheffield guys for showing us round, it was a rare day, with even rarer geese!!

Visited with Bungle666, Havoc, Dodge, Jaff Fox, Tarboat, dcg, Private Piles, Tominator, Volvo, Nincocytus and others...

TnM :->

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