Once again a sunny start to the day – let’s see if it lasts.

And this morning’s music was ‘Carnival of the Animals’ by Saint-Saens.

I started a new book over the weekend ‘Special Topics in Calamity Physics’ by Marisha Pessl, although I haven’t really had the opportunity to read it, too many customers and I am writing another article for the website.

Dogs and walkers out again to day, I must have seen a whole range of dogs over the last week and a bit, all colours, sizes and breeds.

Book of the Day

THE WELSH KINGS
Maund, Kari. No illustrator listed. Stock no. 824409
Tempus. 1st ed . 2000. Fine condition in a very good dustwrapper. The untold history of independent native rulers of Wales from the Dark Ages to the Middle Ages. Black cloth, gilt title to spine. B/w photos. A fine copy in a white pictorial wrapper which is price-cut and lightly edge-creased. 0752417886.
Price: £14.00

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I had to disappoint some railway enthusiasts today, although they loved the books, they thought they might find that the signal box still had its original lever frame – unfortunately it doesn’t.

See you all tomorrow

I put up some new signs in the windows of the Signal Box to encourage more people to come in – seemed to work, as there were quite a few people in today, a veritable United Nations – australians, new zealanders, dutch, austrians.

The friends of Tintern Old Station were out today tidying the flowerbeds, watering the hanging baskets, they do a really good job.

As  the sun was out, so were the walkers, all having tea and cake, not sure at what stage they were at in their walk,but they all seemed to be in good humour,laughter rising on the breeze as they donned their rucksacks to start their walk again.

‘Hardly a country station was without its milk churns in the days when fresh milk  sent to the nearest largest town might fetch half as much again as that turned laboriously into butter or cheese.’ (The  Country Railway by David St. John Thomas)

I had a customer come in today who was looking for the book ‘Struwwelpeter‘, he was quite impressed when I had heard of it and even more impressed to learn that we had it in stock.

Book of the Day

Railway Printed Ephemera

RAILWAY PRINTED EPHEMERA
Fenton, William. No illustrator listed. Stock no. 823043
Antique Collectors Club. 1st ed . 1992. Fine condition in a nearly fine dustwrapper. Being a tragi-comic picture of the rise and fall of the railways in Great Britain deduced from some bits and pieces of paper they left behind. Large format. Brown cloth boards, gilt titles. Colour pictorial endpapers. A lovely copy in a pictorial wrapper which is slightly unevenly faded. 1851491376.
Price: £12.00

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This book contains all manner of paperwork from tickets and posters to invoices and labels. These are two of my favourites

Although the day started sunny unfortunately it finished with a hail storm!

Anyway this morning back to the Signal Box and although it wasn’t sunny, it was quite warm and people were out for a morning stroll, and  there were also serious walkers with backpacks nearly as big as themselves.

I saw  cyclists today outrageous in their luminosity, like a flock of exotic birds – human parakeets?

A nice trickle of customers all day, which was good.

Book of the Day

Railway Stations – Masterpieces of Architecture

RAILWAY STATIONS -  MASTERPIECES OF ARCHITECTURE
Sheppard, Charles. No illustrator listed. Stock no. 814125
Smithmark. 1996. ‘As new’ condition in an ‘as new’ dustwrapper. Large format. Colour and b/w photos. 0765199416.
Price: £10.00

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I especially like Lyon Airport Station!

On Saturday I met a great niece of Dorita Fairlie Bruce. She had never met Dorita but did have another connection to her. Many of Dorita’s books were published by Oxford University Press and her great niece now works there!

Today one of my customers bought an Edward Ardizzone illustrated book and whilst chatting I discovered that her first husband had been Ardizzone’s youngest son Nicholas. She has a collection of Ardizzone work, some of which was exhibited in Hereford earlier this year.  Earlier today I had a phone conversation with an Ardizzone collector who lives near to where Edward Ardizzone lived in Rodmersham Green!

It’s a small world!

In Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, what is the object that Stiffy Byng wants Bertie Wooster to steal?

a)  A policeman’s helmet
b)  A statuette
c)  A silver cow creamer
d)  A manuscript

Answer to the last Teaser…

The novel by Frederick Forsyth that reaches a climax in Paris is… The Day of the Jackal.

Amazingly it wasn’t raining today, so I decided to treat myself to a bacon roll from the cafe, the smells from which have been tempting me all week – delicious!

Finally I remembered to bring the bino’s, to see what was out on the river – swans mainly, such elegant birds – on the water at least.

A book caught my eye this morning as I was tidying the shelves:

Marigolds Grow Wild on Platforms – An Anthology of Poetry edited by Peggy Poole, which contains one of my favourite Railway poems, ‘Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat’ by T.S.Eliot

As the day progressed the sun came out and there was more blue in the sky than I had seen all week, birds started to take advantage of the warm thermals and bees and insects were buzzing around and more importantly customers came in to look at our lovely books.

One customer, a retired gentleman, told me how he remembered the sheer excitement of going on holiday by train to Newquay and as the train got nearer, willing it to go quicker.

Book of the Day

THE RAILWAY DICTIONARY
Jackson, Alan A.. No illustrator listed. Stock no. 823163
Alan Sutton. 1996. Fine condition in a nearly fine dustwrapper. 2nd edition. Fully revised and updated. An A-Z of Railway Terminology. 0750911379.
Price: £8.00

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Catfish – A 19 ton hopper ballast wagon used by engineers.

Greenball – A train solely composed of fruit and vegetable vans

Up the Madhouse – London

Well I managed to finish my book this week, not sure what to start next week.

There’ll be no blog over the weekend as I am handing over to the weekend guys, so see you all Monday.

Keep those train songs coming

‘They dined on mince and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon.’

THE COMPLETE NONSENSE BOOK
Lear, Edward. Illustrated by Lear, Edward. Stock no. 820259
Castle Books. 1st ed USA . 1994. Fine condition in a fine dustwrapper. Containing all the original pictures and verses, together with new material. Edited by Lady Strachey. Red boards, gilt title to spine. B/w illustrations. 0785801685.
Price: £22.00

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I was quite touched by such a personal insight into one of my favourite children’s authors.

At the moment we have some William Books on Special Offer including this copy of William the Lawless

WILLIAM THE LAWLESS
Crompton, Richmal. Illustrated by Ford, Henry. Stock no. 381901
George Newnes. 1st. 1970. Very good condition in a very good dustwrapper. Red boards, black title to spine. 156 pages. B/w illustrations. Spine and corners slightly bumped. Some light foxing to endpapers and a tiny piece torn from bottom of front free-endpaper. Original dustwrapper is worn at spine and corners, edge rubbed with a small closed tear to lower edge of front panel. A nice copy of this very scarce William title. SPECIAL OFFER: REDUCED FROM £1100! [R] 0600392112.
Price: £820.00 Check availability

‘One day we shall endow chariots with incredible speed without the aid of any animal’ Roger Bacon 1214 – 1294

The last thing I wanted to do this morning was forget the binoculars – and that is exactly what I did, hopefully I will remember to take them tomorrow!

This morning I sat with a cup of tea,eating chocolate biscuits and looked out over the countryside, watching the wind ruffling the surface of the river.

John, the site manager at Tintern popped in to say hello and took a picture of some of our Thomas books to put on their Facebook page – thanks John.

Sonia and Onyx (Sonia’s hearing dog) popped in this morning to see if all was well and whether I  needed anything, I am sure they didn’t just come for the bacon rolls they sell in the Old Station Cafe.

I think train travel still holds some of the romance from the heyday of train travel – I am very excited by my holiday this year to the Pyrennees, we are travelling all the way to Toulouse by train!

A few customers in today braving the weather, especially a couple from Sussex who had family who worked on the Railways, one as a signalman, who said that pushing buttons on a computerised track layout was not quite the same as pulling the levers  and looking out the signalbox window at the trains going past.

Book of the Day

I brought a few non railway books as well, and I have chosen one of those today.

THE ANIMALS’ WAR
Gardiner, Juliet. No illustrator listed. Stock no. 1801073
Portrait. 1st. 2006. Fine condition in a nearly fine dustwrapper. Animals in wartime from the first world war to the present day. From glow worms that allegedly helped soldiers read maps in the trenches, the thousands of horses slaughtered on the Western Front, the canaries used to detect gas, the pigeons that carried vital messages, the dogs employed to search and rescue in the Blitz, the camels, elephants, mules, donkeys and oxen who carried supplies and munitions, to the dolphins and rats that are utilised in mine detection today. Large square format. Green cloth boards, gilt title to spine. Colour & b/w illustrations and photos. 192 pages including index. A super copy. [S] 0749951036.
Price: £12.00

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They even used goldfish!

As I have no wi-fi at the signal box, I have decided to put my time to good use and write an article for the website (between customers of course) so at some stage you will be able to see the fruits of my labours.

The songbirds that are outside the signal box are in full song every day, so I am going to take my binoculars with me tomorrow to see if I can identify what they are.

The weather today has  ranged from miserable to abysmal, although there were still hardy walkers wrapped up against the rain, dogs taking people for walks and playing fetch with them! Small children playing in the rain – they don’t mind what sort of weather it is, they can always have fun – I love their sheer exuberance.

As you know I have been listening to my ipod and came up with a great idea – songs about Railways either in the title or in the song itself, so here are three to start you off:

Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight and the Pips

Does This train Stop on Merseyside by Christy Moore

Poor Paddy by the Pogues

Book of the Day

LOCOMOTIVES
Garratt, Colin D. & Wade-Matthews, Max. No illustrator listed. Stock no. 812886
Lorenz Books. 2006. ‘As new’ condition in an ‘as new’ dustwrapper. A Complete History of the World’s Great Locomotives and Fabulous Train Journeys. 512 pages. Colour photos. 9780754816577.
Price: £10.00

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Now the reason I chose this book was because it contained the  Cape Town to Victoria Falls journey on the Pride of Africa – stunning!

I was also missing the sun!