Kicking off Saturday Timewatch for 2023 is a photo of some remaining and still active fishing huts along Pebble Lane, Chiswell, Isle of Portland. Commercial fishing has taken place for centuries off the island with many fishermen operating from Chesil Cove just over the shingle bank seen towards the top left of the photo. It is a hazardous occupation and a hazardous place to live and work. Numerous violent storms have raged in hereabouts over the decades and centuries, so much so that flooding in Chiswell is a fact of life. The last major flood event took place as recently as early 2014.

You can still see aspects of the original construction on the buildings, using the locally available Portland stone.

By the way, "Chesil" is olde Englsih for pebble!

This week's Saturday Timewatch is for everyone but especially Tom and all the other rail enthusiasts. Apologiesfoir the poor quality but it is a photo of a photo on the interpretation board at Maiden Newton station. The station is still open for business on the Heart of Wessex line from Weymouth to Castle Cary and onwards to either Bristol or Bath.

This photo (date unknown) concerns the branch line that ran from Maiden Newton down to West Bay via Bridport. A first section opened in 1857, extending to West Bay by 1884. The line finally closed in 1975. In this photo, the locomotive (4562) has previously pushed the Bridport branch train up an inclined siding and then withdrawn to the branch approach (see post below). Under the control of the guard the train has then rolled back into the platform bay. Once the carriages had come to a stop, the locomotive has rejoined the train for the next service to Bridport.

Like so much 'old' stuff in America, it is quite difficult to find any written history about these huge concrete silos in Katy, Texas, on the edge of Greater Houston, some 25 miles west of downtown. It seems they were built in 1944 both for rice drying and storage, possibly by the American Rice Growers Co-op based in Katy, though I cannot confirm that.

However, it is clear why the complex was built at this location. Each of the four silo buildings had direct access to the railroad. The rail tracks are those of the historic Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, known as "the K-T" and later "the Katy" after which the current city was named. Sadly towards Houston their tracks are no more, having been ripped up less than 20 years ago to facilitate yet another widening of Interstate-10. There seems to be an active line going west towards San Antonio but just how 'active' I do not know.

From the lack of information, it seems no-one is overly interested in preserving such iconic structures. I reckon the only reason they haven't been knocked down for yet another identikit shopping mall is that they are so strongly built of reinforced concrete that they would cost a fortune to demolish!

Taken by an unknown (to me) photographer in 1929, this photo shows the paddle steamer P/S St.Julien boarding at Weymouth Quay, after the arrival of a boat-train service from London Waterloo. The ship would shortly sail for the Channel Islands.

After decades of wrangling, our useless local council finally decided this week to rip up the rails the main Weymouth Station to the old Weymouth Quay Station. As there is the land for a much larger car park very close to Weymouth Station, all sorts of pressure groups have long argued the potential for a heritage tram style service along this short stretch of line. Firstly that would have helped alleviate the traffic jams in town but also no doubt attract rail enthusiasts just to ride and photograph such a service.

Too late now. The council wouldn't even consider tarmacking over the tracks so that they could easily be uncovered should a future council want to reverse that decision. They should bow their heads in shame.

This week's Saturday Timewatch features a superb photo taken in 1898. The Northumberland Fusiliers are marching back to their Verne Citadel barracks after a St. George's Day parade. Compare to the modern photo below and you can see two bridges that carry the road over rail inclines that took stone from Tophill quarries down to Portland Port. You can also see the line of houses middle right of the photos.

Caroline continues....54 years later.

Having today searched without success in my own archives for photos, this is a Wiki Commons Licence photo of Radio Caroline's Ross Revenge taken in the mid 80s in international waters off the east coast of England.

This week's Saturday Timewatch yet again marks August 14th when in 1967 the British government's Marine Broadcasting Offences Act came into force aimed at ending the reign of the UK's offshore radio stations. At the time, Radio Caroline was the only station to carry on broadcasting and what an achievement it is that the station continues on air to this day.

The station has been jammed. A previous vessel sank. The ship has been blockaded. Storms brought down the massive Ross Revenge tower seen in this photo. Yet go here www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html and there she still is broadcasting live (and legally) as Radio Caroline North from the Ross Revenge now anchored in the Blackwater Estuary, Essex. Shows are broadcast from onboard the ship on a monthly basis and this is a weekend August 14th special fund-raiser also being broadcast courtesy of their friends Manx Radio - Caroline North was moored off Ramsey, Isle of Man during the mis-60s.

These days, Caroline's standard programming is daily via the worldwide internet with a local traditional MW outlet to Essex. Those programmes are mostly from land-based studios but the marine connection is still very much alive.

I should say that my station for the last 15 years and more has been Paradise out of California, commercial free, listener-supported radio. However, there will always be that very soft spot for Caroline!

For American viewers, I reckon the nearest equivalent you had were the border-blasters, from border to border and coast to coast out of Mexico e.g. XERF out of Ciudad Acuna immediately across from Del Rio, TX.

What? Where?

This is a Bronze Age bowl barrow / tumulus / burial ground. There are some 1800 round barrows in Dorset and many are extremely obvious in the landscape. Conversely some are hidden like this, deep in a wooded landscape.

Taken from the official records, this bowl barrow has "a mound composed of earth, sand and turf, with maximum dimensions of 21 metres in diameter and c1.5 metres in height. The mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. The ditch is visible as an earthwork with maximum dimensions of 1.5 metres in width and c0.5 metres in depth.

A Bronze Age barrow such as this dates back some 3500 years.

This week's Saturday Timewatch goes back exactly 13 years to a foul but wonderful morning at Manchester Airport for the departure of the one and only Antonov AN-225.

After a 5 day stay and lots of false rumours, the aircraft finally left for Tripoli, Libya en route to Lagos, Nigeria. The cargo was the stage and sound equipment for a concert that was part of Nigeria's Independence anniversary celebrations on October 7 and 8, 2006. Among those performing were Snoop Dogg, Beyonce, JayZ and numerous African-based artists.

UR-82060 is still airworthy as far as I know but doesn't seem to have had that much business of late. I suspect tension between Russia and the Ukraine may be behind the lack of current work. A second AN-225, remains in Kiev c70% built, but has never flown.

Most people regard redundant gasometers as eyesores that should be demolished as quickly as possible.....and to be honest, I can't honestly put up much of an argument against with this soon to be demolished example from Weymouth. However, they have always been a source of fascination ever since I was a child. As an adult I watched many televised cricket Test Matches from the Oval in London, with the adjacent gas holder looming behind the ground. Get them whilst you can. They are disappearing fast.

This week's Saturday Timewatch is a second item that instantly halted a modicum of spring cleaning when a forgotten box of gems was discovered in the vaults.

I suspect the source of this item was my granny. She served in the shop of Lords Limited, wine and spirit merchants in Walsall. That company's advert is actually hidden under the front cover in the top left corner of the photo so maybe they received a certain number of these to give away to chosen customers?

There is no date on the map. On the internet, I found a very small number of equivalent maps for other towns which variously dated them as either 1920s or 1930s. However, I really can't say when they were published.

If you look on large size, you will find a set of instructions at the centre bottom of the chart. It is clearly a chart for planning rather than navigating. At least you might set off in the right direction!

Rather like gas holders that existed in most British towns and cities, railways turntables are one of those relatively common 20th century sights that seemed to disappear quickly and without much fanfare.

This one, part of the Yeovil Railway Centre across the tracks from Yeovil Junction Station, is still in regular use by the steam locomotives hauling excursions on the mainline. Built for the GWR in 1947, it is operated by the vacuum or air brake system of the locomotive. Being a rare railway turntable that survives in working order, Historic England have designated it as a Grade 11 Listed Building.

In these photos, 35018 British India Line is rotated by 180 degrees.

The ten-mile branch rail line from Wareham to Swanage was opened in 1885. Trains will once again be timetabled to run the whole length as from 2016.

Meanwhile, during Swanage Railway's autumn gala, No.30777 leaves Corfe Castle station for Norden. 777 belongs to the “King Arthur” class of express passenger locomotives introduced by the Southern Railway in 1918. The large driving wheels made high speed running possible up to 90 mph. Sir Lamiel was built in 1925. This class of locomotives mostly ran express services from London's Waterloo terminus to the south west, places like Salisbury and Exeter. As a result, they had names associated with the area and the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Sir Lamiel of Cardiff was a fictional minor knight of the Round Table. He might have been a "minor" knight but apparently he was a “great lover” I just thought you'd like to know that....maybe.

Meanwhile the foundations of Corfe Castle in the background date back 1,000 years with the stronghold visible today mostly dating back 700-800 years.

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As far as I can see this is an original and still working wall-mounted post box installed during the reign of Queen Victoria 1837-1901. It was probably put in place during the latter years of her reign. The slit for letters is still open. The collection times information is up-to-date. Maybe only the key looks in less than good working order?

It is located at Bowood Cross on the Bridport to Broadwindsor road in Dorset. Whilst the wall seems to be 'true' the box itself is slightly off vertical.

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This week's Saturday Timewatch is unusual because the subject of attention still exists.......just. Even more, the public phone box and using them will easily be in most peoples' memories.

Judging by the cobwebs, it hasn't been used in a long time but frankly I was amazed to find this classic box still in situ with phone. Most now house defibrillators or book swap libraries. Sadly, I have to report that the BT notice, top left, indicates the end is nigh for this one. The gist of the sign is that it is either available to the community to buy for a token sum of £1 or it can continue to operate as a public phone box if it is subsidised by the local community.

Unfortunately, I can't find any updates as to the box's fate.

Saturday Timewatch returns to the Isle of Portland with a view of warders by the original gateway to Grove convict prison. I'm not sure of the date of this photo but the prison operated from the mid-19th century to just after WW1 when it was converted to a Borstal Institution. That effectively continues today as HM Prison Portland is a male Young Offenders Institution.

In the modern photo below, although it is no longer used, you can still see the original entrance. However, just out of sight in the doorway remains a Victorian post box that IS still in use. The old Victorian houses have been replaced by a rather ugly administration block.

This week's Saturday Timewatch is a surprise find during a rainy day rummage through the archives.

Here is the back story. A couple of years ago, Rob Finch posted a photo of a Caravelle that stirred my memory of flying on board an Air France Caravelle from Manchester to Nice, then onward to Ajaccio, Corsica using the same aircraft. However, at the time I couldn't find any evidence to back my memory up. Indeed, I couldn't find any internet reference to that service ever existing. In fact I still can't!

Nevertheless here is as much proof as I need that my memory isn't completely shot. The photo is massively cleaned up from a very poor copy of a slide made a decade ago, from a very poor original. I can tell from the set of holiday snaps that this was taken right at the end of the trip and is the only aircraft photographed in my Corsica slides. It is an Air France (Sud Aviation) SE-210 Caravelle 111 (F-BJTQ) most likely taken on August 29th 1979. The location is Ajaccio, Corsica. A little further technical information is given for the enthusiasts below.

(No, no need to flag the photo!)

It had become something of a quest to get at least a record shot of this British Airways B747 G-BYGC. It is one of several aircraft painted with retro schemes to celebrate the carrier's centenary.

The weather was foul. It was like trying to photograph something through a waterfall. So the shot above has been titivated to within an inch of its life to become as presentable as possible. The aircraft was on short finals to 09L at London Heathrow, arriving from San Francisco.

So why the quest? It all goes back well over 40 years. A transatlantic return provided a succession of snafus and cock-ups, all of which turned out brilliantly. To begin with I had my first but by no means my last in-flight "emergency". The adventure had only just begun when we went around the Isle of Wight three times dumping fuel and it was announced the nose wheel was stuck in the down position and we would be returning to base.

Following this, second and third snafus provided my first and only flights on both the legendary DC-3 and VC-10. Fantastic! The domino effect of things going awry then topped things out nicely with my first and again unexpected flight on a Jumbo. THAT is why I was so keen to see the aircraft featured in the photo. That first 747 was indeed a BOAC flight from JFK back to Heathrow. I even remember what was playing on the sound system as we were about to leave the stand.....Junior Walker "Walk In The Night"

I was hooked on the Jumbo from that moment and it has been my favourite aircraft to fly in for more decades than I care to remember.

This week's Saturday Timewatch continues a run of photos by various contacts about the Weymouth Tramway, currently being dug up and removed forever.

Trying to take advantage of the late light, this highlights the three tracks running into the old and now redundant Weymouth Quay station. This view is looking back along the quayside towards the current mainline Weymouth rail terminus.

Thanks to Dave for researching on old maps that by 1933, the previously single track had doubled into two - the left side two shown here. By the 1973 map, a third had been added, where I am standing for the photo.

Thanks to Neil for explaining that the boat trains always used the quayside track on the far left. The middle road was used for the locos to run around the train for their return journey. The third track was used for stabling tanks or freight vans.

You can see this on Neil's photo linked below. In my recent photo, I am stood approximately where the last tank is looking back towards where Neil had taken his photo in 1982.

.....and ford!

Barely a mile north from the county town of Dorchester, an ancient public right-of-way crosses the water meadows of the River Frome towards the small farm settlement of Frome Whitfield. I doubt the route would be easily passable at many times of the year. However, during a dry summer it provides a delightful walk.

This week's Saturday Timewatch features a classic retro livery that harks back to a paint scheme that came into use in 1947 before I was even born.

The aircraft is now under the United flag, B737-900 (N75436). By some near miracle it has retained the original Continental Airlines "The Blue Skyway" livery in which it was delivered 10 years ago to celebrate the 75th anniversary of that airline now merged with United.

On this occasion, the quality of the photo is just about the best I could get at George Bush Intercontinental, IAH, Houston. Firstly there was an overnight change not just of gate but terminal. That meant that by bad luck the aircraft was on stand totally out of view from any of the car park roofs. Then there were two outbound runways in use and it was impossible to second guess which would be used. So it was a matter of being eagle-eyed to spot which way it was going to go and getting to that taxiway viewpoint pronto. As can be seen the photo ended up being taken totally against the light. Nevertheless I was mighty pleased to get to see this classic retro.

This is the real thing.

This week's Saturday Timewatch features a grey day 'record shot' of Tiger Moth G-AOBX, originally built in 1940. Apparently owned by six ex-Concorde pilots, the aircraft is part of the display team Tiger 9. With one aircraft out of frame, seven of the others can be seen in the background during their performance at Weymouth Carnival.

This week's Saturday Timewatch is a special request from Thomas Harper. It is a photo of the old Portland Town Council Offices. Tom is particularly interested in the architecture of the building. You can read all about this building's history here

www.portlandhistory.co.uk/portland-town-council-offices.html

Yesterday we explored the lost short railway branch line that ran for approximately 6 miles from Upwey near Weymouth to Abbotsbury, Dorset. It was opened in 1885 and finally closed in 1952. Primarily aimed at freight traffic (shale oil, stone and iron ore) it was never a success for any of the above as none of the products proved to be as plentiful as anticipated. However, the railway did provide a reasonably successful passenger service as Abbotsbury village is an attractive tourist destination. You can find out more than you'll ever need to know about the railway from this great article that also has lots of photos www.disused-stations.org.uk/a/abbotsbury/

The section between Portesham and Abbotsbury is now a public bridleway right-of-way. In this photo an old lineman's hut can still be seen, complete with coal fireplace inside! Below are two other photos. I'd be delighted if one of our railway experts can explain exactly what the first subsidiary photo shows. The second subsidiary photo shows the goods shed just to the east of where Abbotsbury station was sited. It is now used as an agricultural storage building.

It was great to meet long-time flickr contact Dave G. B. at this weekend's Swanage Railway Gala. He does NOT feature in this photo. I suspect quite a few of you remember the 'good old days' of slam door trains?

Thanks for your visit Dave. Very enjoyable!

This week's Saturday Timewatch features the delightful Staverton Station on the South Devon Railway. Contact David Hayes recently posted a photo and commented how this particular heritage railway made extra efforts to look and feel as much as possible as it would have done in the heyday of Great Western.

The tiny level crossing signal box is the original. The railway's website comments that when the line was preserved in the late 1960s, a local Vicar had purchased it and had the box in his garden as a green house. A suitable replacement was supplied and the 'box returned to its original task!

Being brought up in England after World War 2, I have a reasonable memory of what rationing life was like even many years after VE Day 1945. However, I am far less familiar with typical urban life in America during the war.

So I was fascinated by this exhibit at the small Commemorative Airforce Museum at West Houston Airport. Unfortunately I don't know either its date or the artist. You can click on the image for large size. However, I'll highlight a couple of things. In the bottom left corner, mostly clipped off the photo, is a Victory Garden, very reminiscent of the highly successful British "Dig For Victory" campaign in which huge numbers of open spaces were transformed into allotments to grow fresh food in a time of severe rationing.

I was puzzled by the rationing of petrol / gas. Apparently the reason had nothing to do with a shortage of fuel in itself. It was an attempt, that eventually spread across all states, to limit driving because of a drastic shortage of rubber. This was due to the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies that cut off the U.S. supply.

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BITHBOX # 045

Jerry Garcia "The Wheel"

Static but beautifully displayed, National Railway Company of Belgium's 12004 is back home to where she was assigned for most of her working life - Schaerbeek, near Brussels.

Designed for the fast Brussels - Ostend boat train service, six Type 12 4-4-2 steam locomotives were built between 1938-39. They were capable of 75–87 mph (120–140 km/h) though on June 12th 1939 a Type 12 locomotive completed the 65 miles (105 km) from Brussels to Ostend in 57 minutes at a maximum speed of 103mph (165 km/h). The current journey time on the route is around 1 hour 10 minutes!

Used on other services later in their life, they were finally withdrawn in 1962. One locomotive, 12004 shown above, was preserved by SNCB and actually brought back to running order for the 150th anniversary of railways in Belgium in 1985. Tragically it was then left exposed to the elements, with rescue finally arriving when the "Train World" railway museum at Schaerbeek opened in 2015. So this locomotive is back home!

bithbox # 217

Willie Nelson "Heaven is Closed"

A musical Saturday Timewatch wishes Texas legend Willie Nelson a great 90th birthday.

Willie has had a remarkable career, not just for the longevity but for the vast numbers of collaborations over the decades. Although there are obvious ones like Merle Haggard, Kacey Musgraves and Johnny Cash, there are even more that show his wide-ranging interests and influence. Carole King, Ray Charles, Julio Iglesias, Toots and the Maytals, Snoop Dog all come into that category.

Thanks to Kim for the collage of photos taken at various times, including the one top left that adorns a street corner just down from her house in TX.

A real timewatch of a photo for this Saturday with a classic 20th century local cafe in Fortuneswell, Isle of Portland. Sadly, it finally bit the dust sometime during the pandemic and is now permanently closed.

I never had cause to go in. I wish I had now as it always seemed busy when going passed. The location meant it was never likely to have become a twee tourist trap, being more conveniently situated for locals to walk to from home. I suspect it had regulars who had probably been visiting for many, many years. That would probably include staff from the nearby old Portland Town Council offices that were featured last week flic.kr/p/2m7RFz8

So who still has a tea cosy??

Just to the north of Dorchester, is a landscape much less well known than Maiden Castle that is just to the south. Known as "Poundbury Camp" there are layers of history etched into the landscape.

To the left, but out of sight in this photo, is a prominent Bronze Age burial mound, probably between 2500 - 4000 years old. More recent, but still well over 2000 years old are the ramparts and ditch of a major Iron Age hill fort. This is the area where a white chalk path can be seen middle left of the photo.

Next come the Romans! Probably around AD50, the Romans constructed an aqueduct that ran for approximately 15kms bringing water to the town that was then known as "Durnovaria", modern day Dorchester. The line of the aqueduct is difficult to pick out, but follows the groove in the hillside that runs roughly from the centre of the photo towards the top right corner. I have added a note to help orientation.

Next we jump hundreds of years to Victorian times when railway building was at its peak. The line from Dorchester to Yeovil runs (out of view) inside the line of trees to the right of the photo. Notice the adjacent brick wall? That was a firing range used by the military during WW2.

Coming up to date but out of view to the right is the main road from Dorchester to Yeovil and also, scandalously in my opinion, is an area of land where it is proposed to build 3500 new homes.

I love old photos, especially of places that are still recognisable today. I don't know who the original photographer was but this is on display at Swanage Railway's interesting little museum at Corfe Castle, just 5 miles up the line from Swanage.

L&SWR = London and South Western Railway.

Pervez's recent reference to a 747 Jumbo masquerading as a hostel in Sweden prompted this week's Saturday Timewatch post.

Photographed in 2007, this is El Avion Restaurant in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. The proprietors bought the aircraft seven years earlier for $3,000. As far as I know it still houses a successful business today. However, that is barely half the story!

The aircraft, registration N62781, is a Fairchild C-123 Provider. Her sister ship was shot down in 1986 over Nicaragua. The fallout from that incident developed into one of the biggest scandals in American political history known as the Iran-Contra Affair. Anyone remember Oliver North?

Anyways, the C-123 in the above photo was the second of two purchased by the CIA. After the successful Sandinista strike, this surviving aircraft was simply abandoned at San Jose International Airport, Costa Rica. Following the purchase by the restaurant company, the plane was disassembled and shipped in pieces to where it currently stands. However, the fuselage was too wide for the local railroad bridges so had to be delivered by an ocean ferry. The last part of the route meant hauling seven sections up a Manuel Antonio hill to the final cliff-side resting-place!

This week's Saturday Timewatch features Riverside Swinging Bridge, the last remaining railroad swing bridge in Texas.

It was built across Trinity River in 1904 for the International & Great Northern Railroad Company. Manufactured by the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company, based in Milwaukee, the parts were shipped via rail to Texas.

The oddity is that it only ever swung twice, once during its inauguration ceremony, then during a 1926 flood to accommodate large logs and driftwood. It seems nobody realised that barges and riverboats rarely if ever came this far up river! In 1955, the Missouri Pacific Railroad absorbed the line and the Riverside Swinging Bridge was welded into a fixed bridge. It remains so today having been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

In early January 1901, "The Lucas Gusher" on Spindletop Hill, just south of Beaumont, TX, changed the economy of Texas for a century and more. For better or worse, it helped to usher in the petroleum age. During 9 days it spewed forth more oil than that produced in the entire state during the previous year. A boomtown was born, almost literally overnight.

Above is a detail from a 1973 painting "Old Spindletop and Gladys City" by local artist Holmes Ed Jones. Below is a photo of a 1903 photo, just two years after the initial discovery.

NOTE : VISITS MAY BE IRREGULAR FOR THE NEXT WEEK OR SO AS WE WILL BE ON TOUR. IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE AVAILABILITY OF WI-FI.

Taken from one of the public right-of-ways on the north side of Portland, this is looking north / northwest back towards the mainland of Dorset.

I tried putting marker location notes on the photo but flickr's system went doolally. Instead there are descriptions below.

The 18 mile / 29kms long pebble beach to the left is Chesil Beach.

The lagoon just behind the beach is The Fleet. During WW2 it was one of the sites used for testing the Bouncing Bomb.

The short runway and associated buildings, middle left, is now the home of HeliOperations. The company provides training and helicopter services. Until 1999, it was the home of RNAS Portland aka HMS Osprey.

In the centre of the photo is Portland Marina, home of the sailing events in 2012 Olympics.

In the foreground, the two large blocks of flats were built in Castletown for naval personnel. After the Royal Navy left Portland Harbour at the turn of the century, one has been converted into modern day flats.

To the right you can see Mulberry Harbour Phoenix Units. These are two reinforced concrete caissons, built as part of the artificial Mulberry harbours that were assembled as part of the follow-up to the Normandy landings during World War II.

Across the harbour is Wyke Regis, effectively a suburb of Weymouth.

The main Portland Harbour is off the photo to the right.

No, I had never heard of the species either. This is also known as a Sunda flying lemur (Galeopterus variegatus). However, it is not in any way related to lemurs with their closest evolutionary relatives being primates. Colugos are nocturnal, tree-dwelling mammals that can glide over some distance between trees, upto 70 metres / 230 feet and maybe further.

We found this individual at night on a week-long side trip to Langkawi. We were in Malaysia for 5 weeks to visit K's daughter who lived in Kuala Lumpur at the time.

It was on this day 51 years ago, November 24 1973, that I was lucky to attend Mr. Bob's gig at Manchester Polytechnic. The next generation down has now somewhat unexpectedly become a real fan, witnessed here by her playing the Legend Vinyl Gold edition released in the US in 2018.

I readily admit that all these years later I have no detailed recollection of the gig.....can't think why! What I do know is that I was incredibly lucky to have been there on just his second tour of Britain for my one an only live show by the legend. I reckon I was one of about 200 people who were there. He had played Manchester University earlier in the year but I missed that. I suspect that it was during the summer of '73 that his music landed in my house. His first Island Records album, Catch a Fire, had been released in April of that year closely followed by Burnin' in mid-October. This tour of largely university venues was to promote the album.

This 11th Bob Marley track to make the jukeboxes was recorded just the night before at Leeds Polytechnic. Note the compare quite correctly, given the album title of that time, introduced the band as 'The Wailers' though the poster says 'Bob Marley and the Wailers'

bithbox # 246

Bob Marley "Duppy Conqueror"

Many stations have had and some still do have a "Railway Hotel" in close proximity. This example is from Wareham, Dorset. Fortunately the sign still exists because for many years now the establishment has traded as the Monsoon Indian restaurant.

I think the locomotive is a depiction of King Arthur, 453, that belonged to the London and South Western Railway. Any correction or further information on that is welcome.

Taken last summer, this week's look back into history spans a thousand years. In the foreground, running on Swanage Railway, 34028 Eddystone is about to leave Corfe Castle Station for Norden. She is a "Bullied Pacific" built in 1946 and eventually saved from the scrapheap after she was originally consigned to the breakers in 1964. Owned by Southern Locomotives Ltd, she is currently stored awaiting overhaul after her 10-year boiler certificate ran out shortly after this photo was taken.

In the background are the remains of Corfe Castle. The oldest part still standing is the Norman Old Hall from a thousand years ago, though this may have been built over an even earlier Saxon hall.

There are more famous locations along Dorset's Jurassic Coast for fossils. However, after heavy rain and therefore minor landslips last week, there were some decent finds yesterday at Ringstead Bay.

The oyster (Deltoideum delta) is by far the most common at the site and you can find similar on any visit to Ringstead Bay. Looking clockwise, there is a segment from quite a large ammonite. Top left is the best find of the day. It is an echinoid (sea urchin) and is probably one of the micraster species. Next there is a bivalve of some sort. Finally a small piece of belemnite sits on top of some sort of what I think is a fossil tube worm. All of these are from approximately 150 million years ago.

Even experts cannot always be precise concerning fossil finds, so I should repeat what I wrote on my other fossil posts that I am very, very, very far from an expert so rely heavily on information posted by e.g. Southampton University. If any of the above is hopelessly incorrect, i apologise!

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Built in the eighteen century, this barn stands close to the church where William Barnes preached in the hamlet of Whitcombe flic.kr/p/2p64hQP Thanks to the current owner, it is still in very good condition, including the thatched roof seen here from the inside.

Running at speed down the mainline between Wool and Moreton, Dorset, 35018 British India Line takes the curve at Winfrith. Having left London, she is hauling a Saturday seaside special bound for Weymouth.

Built in 1945, 35018 was withdrawn from service in 1964. Although rescued from the scrapheap in 1979, it wasn't until 2012 that serious restoration began and it is only in the last couple of years that once again British India Line began work on the national rail network.

Aside : Can you see a few buildings mostly hidden behind the pine trees to the top right? Out of view but adjacent to those buildings are the remains of the Winfrith Atomic Energy Establishment. Only ever designed as a test facility, it housed several small reactors between 1959 and 1995. Several decades of decommissioning will not finish until 2021.

Yet steam lives on!!!

The S&D exploration (Somerset and & Dorset Railway) continues. This is a set of level crossing gates at Corfe Mullen. You can also just make out remnants of track.

This week's Saturday Timewatch features NS 248 "Sik" based at the Dutch heritage railway ZLSM. There seem to be quite a number of similar machines preserved around the Netherlands country but this one is a runner. Built in 1935 by Werkspoor, the class NS 200 diesel locomotive was mainly used for shunting duties.

What is most interesting - and can be seen in the photo - is that the locomotive was designed to be operated from a running board on the outside of the engine.

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