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The Clerk in the Country
Friday 21st April 2023 Steam v Snow Not every remarkable performance by steam locomotives entered the record books. In the very severe winter of 1947 the Settle to Carlisle line was blocked several times by drifting snow filling the deep …
The Clerk in the Country
Friday 31st March 2023 The Other Famous Steam Train Since my last entry the Flying Scotsman has arrived at the National Railway Museum where for a few weeks visitors will be able to admire it at close quarters. I took …
The Clerk in the Country
Friday 10th March 2023 The Flying Smoke Cloud On February 24th railway enthusiasts celebrated the centenary of the Flying Scotsman beginning its working “life”. Probably the most famous steam engine in the world, those of us with just a general …
Two hundred years ago (approximately) …
Friday 24th February 2023 The continuing adventures of an American in York John James Audubon arrived in York on Sunday April 22nd 1827. The following morning started inauspiciously. After snow, rain, and mist, Audubon set out to deliver his letters …
Two hundred years ago (approximately) …
Friday 10th February 2023 An American in York Audubon’s Birds of America was one of the Society’s most prized possessions: sadly, our copy was sold in 1947 for £2,700 when the Society found itself in straitened circumstances. A copy was …
The Clerk in a (small) city
Friday 27th January 2023 Highlights of a holiday As the knee injury I sustained last September while climbing into a London taxi en route to Chichester slowly improves, I feel able to look back more positively on my holiday and …
The Clerk in the Country
Friday 13th January 2023 Retirement! 2023 begins with news of the departure of another member of the team at the Lodge. During the holidays I bade farewell to the office plant, which has retired and moved to rural Oxfordshire. A …
Two hundred years later …
Friday 16th December 2022 Two hundred years later As regular followers of the blog will know, the Yorkshire Philosophical Society was founded on 7th December 1822 in the home of James Atkinson on Lendal. Exactly two hundred years later, on …
Two hundred years ago …
Friday 9th December 2022 December 1822 – as remembered in 1831 Last week we left the founding members of the Society attending a scientific meeting at York in 1831, during which numerous and lengthy speeches were made. Unfortunately, in one …
Two hundred years ago …
Friday 2nd December 2022 December 1822 Who founded the Yorkshire Philosophical Society? We all know the answer, don’t we? William Salmond, Anthony Thorpe, and James Atkinson: who met in Atkinson’s house in Lendal on 7th December 1822, talked about what …
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