Posted by Jock on December 07, 2005 at 13:30:56 from 84.64.131.122 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: Lydia Eva - was Re: Silting of the Yare posted by Laurence Monkhouse on December 07, 2005 at 12:59:04:
we are drifting (no pun intended) away from AR
AR's life overlapped with the industrial heritage preservation movement which is usually regarded as starting with the Talyllyn Railway in 1950. However, most of the SA series was written much earier, so we don't know what AR would have made of it, or do we?
First, AR was mechanically inclined and he built a small stationary steam engine while at school at Rugby. Roger's love of engines is no coincidence. There is a drawing of part of a steam locomotive in PP.
Secondly, the SA books show an affectionate interest in the past, the days when Wroxham Great Broad was unchained (CC), when Breydon Water was full of racing yachts and when copper was mined in the Fells (PP).
Even Beckfoot seems caught in some kind of time warp with neglected croquet lawns and tennis courts, and a car of ancient and uncertain vintage.
So if a couple of AR enthusiasts drift on to the subject of steam herring drifters, somehow I'm not persuaded that it's really off topic. What do other Tarboarders think?