Reporter’s diary

Press, 1 September 1986, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Looking back

HISTORY is such a passion for one Christchurch man that he is compiling a diary of mainly military anniversaries of events that interest him. So today is noted as being a victory by Montrose for Charles I at Tippermuir in 1644, and the invasion of Poland in 1939 by the Germans. Tomorrow is unusual in that it was on September 2, 1898, that the last full-scale cavalry charge in British history was made by the 21st Lancers, one of whom was a young man called Winston Churchill. It took place at Omdurman, when Kitchener with a force of 23,000 was attacked by 50,000 Dervishes. Today is

also, for those with a penchant for things Roman, the battle of Actium in 31 B.C.

Tunnel vision

CHRISTCHURCH people curious to see what the inside of a railway tunnel looks like will have a chance next Sunday. The Ferrymead Railway organisation has permission from the Railways Corporation for a public walk through the tunnel, which is unlined and cut through volcanic rock. The charge of $2 for adults and $1 for children will cover the cost of transporting walkers back from Lyttelton to the starting point at Heathcote. Any surplus money will be used for

restoration work on equipment at Ferrymead. Walkers should carry a torch and wear good walking shoes. Access to the tunnel will be from 1 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. Saving face IN ENGLAND, the Nene Valley railway is having problems with Thomas the Tank Engine, one of the characters from the Rev. W. Awdry’s books. About 12 years ago the railway painted an . old loco in blue and decorated the front with the familiar smiling face from the books that have become popular again in the last few years. But the firm which holds the co-, pyright to the engine’s

design has ordered that the smile be wiped off the loco. The railway has been swamped with emotional letters — not all from children — pleading that the face should remain. This will make a curious brief for the solicitors now handling the case. Wotknots

TELEVISION documentaries produce some quaint fields of interest and expertise, but perhaps few more intriguing than one that a reader noticed recently. Lo and behold, a genuine expert in knottying was interviewed. Better still, he belonged to

nothing less than an international society of knottiers. Apart from musing about what kinds of activities would be included in an annual conference (or what excuses could be sent for not attending, like “Cannot come — am all tied up”), our man would like to know more about the group and if there is a New Zealand, or even Christchurch, branch.

Bloomin' tropical THERE IS no fooling some people. A Lincolnshire farmer was warned not to sell boughtin produce at his farm shop. The “Farmers’ Weekly” reported that “officials were tipped off when they were told he was selling bananas, which it was suspected were not grown on the farm.”

—Jenny Clark