You're right Nerys.
I think I'll call mine `Doug's Münchener Mampf´. (Doug's Munich Munch!😁)
It's delicious😋, but VERY filling 😮 Mächtig, as they say around here.
Used one of my smallest oven dishes, but still reckon I've got enough for the rest of the week!
Cheers, Doug 😎

Wherever it comes from, whatever it's called and wherever you eat it, it's always a good tasty meal.

Cheers, Nerys

It was a regular meal when camping with the red Cross cadets and also with the scouts.
I sometimes prepare one ready and wrap to take beach fishing, just in case the fish don't arrive.
Cheers Colin.

Hi Colin,

Cowboys, Gauchos, Corned Beef comes from the South American Pampas.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Nerys,
Thats an old cow boy recipe, can be cooked in a closed barbie, I've even done it in a campfire. Wrapped the dish in 3 layers of backing foil and Bury it in the embers leave for 30 minutes, tastes great in the open air.
Cheers Colin.

Doug, you may like my recipe for Gaucho Pie. Chopped up corned beef in the bottom of an oven dish, a layer of baked beans, cover with a good layer of potato mashed with milk and butter. grate cheese over the top. Heat in oven until the cheese has melted and started to brown. Hopefully, enjoy.

Cheers, Nerys

Doug, of course I make Great Welsh Oggies, we are having them tonight as it happens.

Cheers, Nerys

I'm starving now, dribbling all down the front of my shirt , no Cornish pasties here have to be a bridie ,aw well away to rake in old mother Hubbards cupboard hopefully it won't be bare🤣
Cheers Marky

Immer zu Dienst Nerys 😉
Do you also make Great Welsh Oggies? 😋😜
😎

Thank you Doug for your research into Tiddy Oggies. Can always rely on you to unearth all sorts of goodies. I particularly like the Oggie Man Song. Beautifully depicts a lost era.


Cheers, Nerys

"The other thing which I'm sure has also disappeared would be the 'tiddy oggi' men all lined up along the road leading to the dockyard gate selling cornish pasties to sailors returning to their ships late at night. (Nerys)"

The Oggie Man song
"The Oggie Man was a man who sold “tiddy oggies” or Cornish Pasty’s as they are commonly known outside the Albert gate at the Naval Port in Plymouth. "

Well the rain’s softly falling and the Oggie Man’s no more;
I can’t hear him calling like I used to before.
I came through the gateway and I heard the sergeant say,
“The big boys are coming, see their stand across the way.”
Yes the rain’s softly falling and the Oggie Man’s no more.

It was there that she told me when she bade me good bye,
“There’s no one will miss you one half as much as I
My love will endure, dear, like a beacon in the squall
Eternal as that Oggie Man beneath the dockyard wall.”
Well the rain’s softly falling and the Oggie Man’s no more.


https://mainlynorfolk.info/cyril.tawney/songs/theoggieman.html
😎

Yum Yum😋😋
"What is a Tiddly Oggie?
In Cornwall, a pasty is often called an “Oggie”, and while it is unclear as to where the word originated, some people have suggested that it is derived from hoggan, a kind of bag in which the miners carried their croust (croust is the Cornish term for lunch).
Whilst you were down in the mines, you worked hard until you got starving hungry. That was croust-time.
"Croust time" was really "lunch time" but the actual time varied. The reason for this was that down in the tin mine, you couldn't see the sun so you didn't know the time at all.
Up top, out of the mine, posh people in Cornwall call it "dinner time" and croust-time for them is in the middle of the morning still."

https://www.fergusonplarre.com.au/tiddly-oggie-history

Giant Welsh Oggie Recipe - One for Nerys?😋 Don't neglect the sausage rolls though!!
https://www.thespruceeats.com/giant-welsh-oggie-recipe-435853

Tiddy Oggi for lunch - in Burra, Australia!
https://www.travelblog.org/Photos/8937805
😎

What a monster, definitely won't win any beauty contests , practicality over looks I suppose.

Cheers Marky

https://www.portlandhistory.co.uk/rdv-01-crystal.html
😎

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your update on Plymouth these days, it's a long time since I went there and I guessed Aggie Westons would no longer be the same. There were of course rival attractions, the Fleet Club and The Salvation Army both provided the same facilities as Aggies. The other thing which I'm sure has also disappeared would be the 'tiddy oggi' men all lined up along the road leading to the dockyard gate selling cornish pasties to sailors returning to their ships late at night.

Thanks for the photo of Crystal, but I don't think I'll be building a model!

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Nerys.
Now we’re going back a bit talking about Aggie Weston’s.
The building is still there but used as some form of other office block these days.
I remember it well.You had a fantastic view all over the yard and in particular St Levan’s gate.
The yard is not like it used to be,as indeed are all the remaining Royal Yards.
I can remember when ships would tie up four/five abrest alongside each other and the inner basin was full of ships.
I also remember watching the launch of what I seem to remember was the last Devonport built vessel called RDV Crystal.That was in 1971.
She wasn’t classed as a ship as she had no engines or steering but was a Research and Development vessel that after fitting out went to Portland as a sonar and torpedo development floating test station.
She was towed everywhere and only came back to Devonport for refits.
(I attach a picture of Crystal)
If you go across the Torpoint Ferry these days you are very lucky if you see more than two or three Frigates alongside.☹️.
Regards Bill.

Thank you Scratchbuilder for telling Doug that Guz is a slang, lower deck name for Devonport. In that context, theRoyal Naval Barracks, HMS Drake was known as Jagos because the catering there was at one time outsourced to a firm of that name. Speaking from experience, I always thought the food in RNB Devonport was superior to the other two, Chatham and Portsmouth. Another name to conjure with in Devonport was Aggie Westons. Dame Agnes was a philanthropist who tried to help the ordinary sailors and established a rest home where sailors could obtain a decent meal at a reasonable price and hire a bedroom for the night, again cheaply.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Doug ,thanks felling a bit more chipper old chap as the old saying goes (to many Biggles books) , not made much progress on Bustler ordered some (lots)of filler .
Will post some pictures of paddle tug.
Cheers Marky👍

Excellent video Martin, good find.👍
So sad to see such a beautiful ship torn apart for money, why couldn't she have been turned into a museum ship, like many have been in the USA, just like the British, pull it down break it up.☹️


Cheers, Pete

"Saw Bustler in the film have to get back into that build as well"
Thought that name rang a bell somewhere Marky.
Looking forward to new pics of your build.
Very glad to read that you are back in harness👍
BTW How's your paddle-wheeler getting on?
All the best, Doug 😎

"Never thought the wanderings of my mind were going to result in an increase in your fleet Doug. "
That's the dangerous thing about thinking Nerys.
We never know where, or who, it is going to lead😉
But that's no excuse to stop👍😊

I just hope that this kit arrives as promised.
If not I'm covered by Am Ex insurance😁
Cheers, Doug 😎

Hi Martin.
Great video.
I saw the same but was unable to load for some reason.
I am a great fan of the big gun ships.
Grew up within sight of Devonport Dockyard and sailed in there so many times in my career.
Have a good weekend one and all.
Regards Bill

Thanks Martin, I really enjoyed it, but a sad end to a great piece of engineering history.
Thanks for the memories, cheers Colin.

Very Good video Martin ,a sad ending but I suppose you can't keep them all or there would be hundreds of floating museums .
Saw Bustler in the film have to get back into that build as well.
Need a fair oxygen pressure to burn through those guns.
Cheers Mark

Hi Guys,
Just a little something to watch.

This is a big shame.



Martin555.

Your right, not the prettiest ship I've ever seen but very impressive looking ,like look of Edda Fonn In the 1st picture .
Cheers Marky

A bit of light reading and vids : Just received our new $500m Navy support vessel HMNZS AOTEAROA Friday. She arrived to crappy weather but luckily got in before the big downpours later in the afternoon. She's a bit ugly but sounds to be full of fancy stuff, should be a vid and info here for warship lovers😁
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/121951327/hmnzs-aotearoa-captain-ecstactic-after-huge-navy-ship-finally-arrives-in-nz
Shi is longer than the Archilles and Royalist (link) our last cruiser (decom 1966)
http://navymuseum.co.nz/hmnzs-royalist-dido-class-cruiser/

Also last year we got the Dive/Hydro Support Vessel HMNZS Manuanui (ex Norway,- re-fitted in Denmark) https://www.facebook.com/NZNavy/videos/273880860730234/


At least the sun was out for you guys today,- we are having a nice storm with high winds and torrential rain, but we do need the rain to fill the dams in Auckland, which are at 45% due to the long summer drought.) We're on water restrictions at the moment and it's winter!- 1/100yr event
JB

Never thought the wanderings of my mind were going to result in an increase in your fleet Doug. I didn't do it deliberately but I hope you enjoy building Vanguard and it will be interesting to see the outcome.

Good luck, Nerys

Wow you wanted to buy a model not a ups service.
Rick

Ho Hum!
The US buy fell through.
Order was cancelled about an hour after the confirmation☹️
Had a nice chat with Bryan Howle of Bandit's Hobbies about it, turns out it's due to Covid screwing up the US Postal Service and Customs causing excessive delays.
So he's not exporting until things return to some kind of normal.
He asked for quotes from UPS and DHL for me and fainted when they quoted from $160 DHL to $229 UPS😮 So that was that!
Back on the WWWasher; found a later (2011 rebox) kit on Amazon.de for €99 + €10 shipping.😊
Delivery window 29/7 to 11/8. Much better😁
'Seek and ye shall find'!
G'night all, Doug 😎😴😴

Our memories tend to become sort of telescopic Nerys 😉
Sometimes we get the 'scope the wrong way round😮
Just spent the last two hours tracking down one of probably the only decent size kits of Vanguard ever made. A Hasegawa 1/450 kit from the '70s. Probably based on the former Frog moulds.
So the detailing ain't so great🙄 But with a little 'kit bashing' and some judicious use of RN photo-etch maybe I can make something of it.🤞 Comes out at about 57cm (~22.5") so a candidate for Plastic Magic RC😊
Any way; just ordered it, from the States, should be here in 1 to 3 weeks🤞 and my stash count will increase to about 66😮 AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!😁
Cheers, Doug 😎

Yes Doug, I must admit I wasn't thinking about the American actions in the Pacific war probably because there was little or no involvement by British forces. Also, I'd forgotten about Belfast in Korea, though I had a friend on Theseus and she was there though staying well off shore I believe. That's me being insular again.

Cheers, Nerys

"a naval bombardment was very useful for D day and that really was the last hurrah for the capital ship and major bombardments."
Not quite Nerys! Apart from Okinawa, 'Mighty Mo' was in action in Korea bombarding the east coast of N Korea to support the Incheon action. Even HMS Belfast had a bash there!
The Iowas (or one of 'em anyway) were back in action in the gulf wars - but firing Harpoons and cruise missiles by then.
Cheers, Doug 😎

Yes Doug, nowadays, a cruise missile or a serious bomber attack would be far more effective, but a naval bombardment was very useful for D day and that really was the last hurrah for the capital ship and major bombardments. I agree Vanguard was planned when that sort of thing was still considered necessary, but things rapidly changed soon after that. She wasn't a bad looking ship though and a Battleship or two always looked impressive.

Cheers, Nerys

Morning All.
Doug....Guz is the slang name for Devonport Dockyard.
Wonderful ships the big gun leviathans.
Symbols of power,but yes outdated.
Regards Bill.

" wonderful for bombarding an enemy shore"
Hmm! One salvo and then taken out by bombers or a cruise. If not before!
Her time had passed before she was completed I'm afraid Nerys🤔
Already obsolete as she was laid down.
Agree with Colin though, would make a fine model.
Must be some kits around!?
Mo is still around, museum ship in Pearl Harbour.😉
Guz!??
Cheers, Doug 😎
Thinks! I've got some photos somewhere of a massive model of an Iowa class BB, which I was astounded to find occupying the whole of one wall in the UAE Navy conference room in Abu Dhabi several years ago! Built out of expanded polystyrene by officer cadets apparently. Must rake through my archive.

I'm not sure it is really nostalgia Doug, it's just a general interest in the days when we had a large navy. Vanguard represented the end of an era, the capital ship with immense fire power, wonderful for bombarding an enemy shore , but as you say, Jutland was the end really. Incidentally, around that time, 1954ish I remember seeing the Mighty Mo, but that may have been in Guz, not Pompey.

Cheers, Nerys

To a certain extent I can appreciate your nostalgia for Vanguard Nerys.
But Jutland / Skagerrak signalled the end of the battleship era.
Bismarck, Barham, Repulse , Prince of Wales, Yamato etc underlined it in the second world schemozzle🤔 Not to mention Pearl Harbour!
The money spent on Vanguard might have been better used to upgrade and crew the carriers.
Cheers, Doug 😎

Nerys, it must have been about 1959 or 1960 as I was about 10 or 11 at the time, allowed to wear long trousers for the occasion.
It's funny but I'd forgot about the Vanguard till now, it would be a great model but beyond my limited skills.
Thanks for the memory jog, cheers Colin.

Hi Colin,

That's very interesting that you and your parents should have been in Pompey to see Vanguard off. I used to see her dejectedly moored to the quayside when coming ashore for shore leave or on trips into the dockyard when stationed in RNB.


Cheers, Nerys

Hi Nerys, I remember the Vanguard, I was watching it leaving Portsmouth for the last time, the skipper decided to take her out without a tug, clipped a jetty but nobody complained.
I was only a kid but remember it as both my parents were in dress uniform for the big send off, I'll have to ask mum if she has any photos.
Cheers Colin.

It was interesting that the RN had to lay up a couple of frigates in order to find enough crew for the QE aircraft carrier and I'm not sure how long it was before we scrounged some aircraft from the Yanks to fly from her.

I remember when we had two carriers, the 'Implacable' and the 'Indefatigable' making up the training squadron, overloaded with new recruits they were too. But, I also remember the multitude of ships of all shapes and sizes laid up in mothballs in the River Medway and it's creeks. We also had a real live battleship the 'Vanguard' in those days. Never saw any action and scrapped after a few years.

Cheers, Nerys

Oh woe is you JB☹️
The Royal Navy ain't much better off these days.
On the other hand; what would we want with over a 100 destroyers and several dozen aircraft carriers these days? Never mind where would we get the crews, and be able to pay them!🙄

Apropos light Cruisers: don't forget the valiant efforts of HMNZS Achilles!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMNZS_Achilles_(70)
Cheers, Doug 😎

No apology necessary,- I'm used to disappointment Doug😭😭😁😂 We only have rear Admirables here as we don't have a fleet to have an admirable of (unless you count 2 frigates, a 'fleet' oiler/ logistics support vessel, (new, -made by Hyundai), an amphibious support vessel, 6 patrol vessels, and a dive support/hydrographic vessel (ex Norwegian survey/light construction vessel Edda Fonn) as a fleet. We used to have a fleet with destroyers, frigates, light cruisers (Royalist,- family friend was the surgeon on her, was the last), cruisers etc. We even gave you guys a battle cruiser in 1911 (HMS New Zealand) We can barely afford a row boat these days.☹️
JB

JB the fancy one is the shoulder flash (or epaulette) worn on uniform shirts without a jacket and battle dress type uniform. Or on white uniform jackets.

The stripy one is the usual sleeve insignia.
I think we forgot to send you yours on reaching Rear Admiral, sorry. Logistic SNAFU😔
So here they are.😁
You are entitled to fly your 'Command Flag' on the foremast when embarked.
But NOT on a 'swamp boat' 😠😁
Cheers, FLEET// 😎

Hopefully all present and correct now your sirness😁 Am I correct in thinking that one can only wear one version at a time (one ceremonial)?
JB

Ooops! You've demoted Martin back to plain Admiral JB!😮

Martin (FLEET2):
Herewith your new insignia😊
Admiral of the Fleet, NATO OF-10.
IF you accept command of our SW & W flotillas you will be entitled to fly the Union Flag as your Command Flag.
Cheers, FLEET//😎

Hi Jb,

Thank you that is very kind of you.

I must admit i am steadily working my way through some Ice Cream just incase another little project springs to mind.LOL!!

Martin555.

Well done Martin - Sir, I'm sure you'll be keeping us amused and amazed (albeit on a higher level now) and will be giving us the royal wave from the flag ship as you steam past😁. I have just finished a tub of ice cream which just happened to be in a GOLD container, so I have created a small congratulatory tribute-pic (complete with obligatory official re-cycling stamp) in honour of you receiving your new 'spaghetti' boards😊
JB (Southern Pacific Colonial Flotilla)

Hi Mark, very sorry to hear that you have medication problems. Being in a condition where I too am completely dependant on hospital treatment, I really feel for you though I know your requirements are far more serious than mine. Best of luck, hope things improve for you very soon.

With every sympathy, Nerys