'Elf and Safety

This sign (in a factory washroom) neatly reminds workers to take responsibility for their own safety. Or, at least, it would if somebody hadn't broken the darn mirror!

Old Locomotive Committee A.G.M. 2013

The Museum of Liverpool. I'm still not a fan of the building's architecture (it's sometimes called "the dented shoebox") but it is certainly attracting the public.

The 29th A.G.M. of the Old Locomotive Committee (OLCO) was held in the Museum of Liverpool on Saturday, 18th May 2013. The museum was opened to the public on 19th July 2011, prior to the Official Opening by Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, on Thursday 1st December 2011. There's a report on the Official Opening here. The new museum has been a spectacular success in terms of number of visitors and has become the country's most visited museum outside London. Star museum exhibit 'Lion' received an Engineering Heritage Award in 2012.

Through the courtesy of the Museum's Transport Curator Sharon Brown, this was the second time that the A.G.M. has been held at the Museum. There's a brief report on the A.G.M. in 2012 here.

Once again, we were accommodated in one of the Education Rooms on the first floor with a glazed wall offering a panoramic view of the River Mersey. Sharon had also arranged a supply of tea, coffee, biscuits and cakes for which members were very grateful.

Liverpool may no longer be the 'Great Port' celebrated by the museum gallery where 'Lion' is displayed but there was still considerable activity around Pierhead. The Celebrity 'Infinity' had docked just after 6.00 a.m. that morning from Dublin, giving its passengers a few hours to explore the city before leaving around 8.00 p.m. the same day for Belfast. The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company's futuristic-looking wave-piercing catamaran 'Manannan' has an interesting history outlined in a 'Wikipedia' article.

View of the Mersey from our meeting room. Left to right: Isle of Man ferry 'Manannan' manoeuvres away from the dock, the Mersey Ferry sets course for Seacombe, the Stena Line ferry to Belfast makes its way downstream and the Celebrity Cruises ship 'Infinity' discharges a couple of thousand passengers to explore the city (Click on picture for uncropped image).

The Museum frequently provides talks to visitors about the history of the locomotive 'Lion' and at noon the OLCO Chairman, John Brandrick, delivered an interesting talk next to 'Lion'.


The OLCO Chairman talks about 'Lion'.

There are also audio-visual presentations about 'Lion' both on-demand and automatically every half-hour (see the article here for more information).

'Lion' displayed in the Great Port Gallery. The three low-level screens rather restrict the view of the right hand side of the exhibit. I'm afraid that's Jan on the left hand screen in the short video 'The Old Locomotive Committee discusses Lion'.

The Chairman of OLCO, John Brandrick, opened the formal A.G.M. at 1.30 p.m. and welcomed those attending. The Agenda items were dealt with enthusiastically and the Election of Officers resulted in no changes to those serving in the previous year. There was animated discussion, particularly when 'Any Other Business' was reached. The meeting was closed at 4.00 p.m. Members of the Old Locomotive Committee will receive details of the proceedings in due course.

My photographs taken around the museum on the day are here.
My (expanded) set of pictures around Liverpool are here.
My (expanded) set of pictures of the railways around Liverpool are here.

There are a number of articles in my blog about 'Lion' and her 'supporters club' OLCO - you can find them all here.

A Wolverhampton Butcher's Shop

Wolverhampton is the home of an award-winning butcher's shop, Michael Kirk, which was founded in 1934. There are usually a couple of chalkboards outside the shop with details of special offers. I couldn't resist taking a (rather fuzzy) picture below of the message I saw the other day.



All part of the frenzy surrounding the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, I suppose.