What are you reading? Page 2

Started by Aaron way back in the year yonks (how apt, books on London) and finished then it seems those 11 years ago!!

Surely people on here read books, or am I on the wrong thread? Oh well, here's my 2019 pennyworth...................

Reading Brian Johnstone's book on his many (condensed of course!) travels on the Down Your Way radio programme (1946 to 1992 - with Johnstone for 15 of those years) and in the London chapter he mentions the day in 1952 a bus jumped the gap on Tower Bridge! There are varying reports of this (especially regarding injuries), but it seems the traffic lights were not changed to red as the two sections started to raise with the bus on it.

The driver, one Albert Gunter, now well across the north section of the bridge had a quick decision to make and opted for putting his foot down to jump the now 3-foot gap. Fortunately, the south side was slower in raising than the north, which Albert's bus was on and this gave it the height advantage to land safely on the other side AND upright!

This IS heart-warming, and I quote from one report:-

"However for me the most heart-warming story is how after seven months of being incapable of travelling on public transport alone due to the incident, a Miss May Walshaw finally conquered her fears by taking the same route with the same driver across the same bridge. And two weeks later she was married with Albert Gunter as her best man!"

Ain't that sweet! Oh, and by the way, Albert became a local hero and was not only awarded £10 from London Transport and £35 from the City of London he was also given a day off work, and later was chosen to judge a driving competition at an event called 'Better Roadmanship' on the Serpentine Road in Hyde Park on July 25th 1953.

Oh look, I've turned it into a page thread

I'm reading 'The Smugglers' - Lord Teignmouth & Charles G Harper - Vol II.

The reason being, I live in an area where smuggling was rife, way back (Cinque Ports). Also, a couple of years ago, my daughter studied it at school for a term. I bought one of the oldest books I could on the subject. I don't get on really well with newer accounts of events and much prefer to read authors who were alive nearer the time and, thankfully, use the kind of punctuation that makes it easier for me to understand what's being said. Maybe it's just me, but my English teachers seemed to teach punctuation very differently in those days. I rely on commas a little too much, I guess.

Anyway, I skimmed through it to help my daughter with information about local smugglers, but have come back to it now, because there is such a lot of information about all aspects of smuggling. Not just the smugglers themselves, but the ever-evolving coast guard systems. The book gives very good insight into the woes of the soldiers who, not only had to fight wars against people from other countries, but also had to guard the coasts against people from their own country. Imagine surviving the Napoleonic wars, then coming home to be shot at by your own people.

The injuries inflicted to both sides were awful. Accounts of blunderbusses blowing people apart and soldiers being patched up, only to be returned to their posts at a later date are just incredible.

So...yes...this is what I'm reading through, but, as much as I love old books, the dryness of the pages REALLY desiccates my fingers and makes the skin dry and cracked, if I'm not careful. The print is nice and big, though. Win!

Im still working my way through my Christmas and birthday (December) books - the family give me loads and I still have book tokens to use. At the moment I'm reading 'The Accidental Further Adventures of The Hundred-Year-Old Man'. Writer Jonas Jonasson. Very funny though not in a laugh out loud way.

Still on the gift books. 'The Ghost Tree' - Barbara Erskine. This woman always writes a good creepy, witchy story.

All that remains (a life in death)

Pathologist, Sue Black explains the process of death and how there is nothing to fear.
She deals with death and dead bodies every day.

Well you are wrong lass, It creeped me out more than anything I have ever read (or part read - as I gave up)
I thought it might be comforting to know that as we (all) pass from this life, nothing bad happens.
Geez, my skin crawled and hairs stood on end with every chapter.

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 1st April 2019, 9:30 AM

Sue Black explains the process of death and how there is nothing to fear.

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Oh, that's OK then.

But as I'm nearest to the exit door in God's waiting room, can I persuade you to have a quick peek to see what she says about embalming? Many years ago, there was a behind the scenes doc. on a funeral parlour and I was intrigued as to how they did this by pumping the fluid in one end and extracting the now very dark blood from another part of the body.

NOW, am I right in thinking that this makes sure absolutely 100% no doubt about it that with no blood in your body you cannot possibly be conscious of what it going on around you? You can see where I am going with this, as I have seen far too many films on people being buried or burnt alive.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 1st April 2019, 11:09 AM

NOW, am I right in thinking that this makes sure absolutely 100% no doubt about it that with no blood in your body you cannot possibly be conscious of what is going on around you?

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You are right to think that.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 1st April 2019, 2:10 PM

You are right to think that.

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Thank you Doctor, but much time do I have left now?

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 1st April 2019, 3:40 PM

Thank you Doctor, but much time do I have left now?

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There is no reliable evidence to suggest that any man has ever survived to see his 118th birthday.

It would, therefore, be more than a little optimistic were you to make plans to celebrate that occasion.

Other than that, you're in the lap of the gods.

Oh great! I've got years ahead of me!!

Actually, seeing as you asked; the chapter on embalming was particularly gruesome.
But they only do that if you have left your body to science.

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 1st April 2019, 6:09 PM

Actually, seeing as you asked; the chapter on embalming was particularly gruesome.

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How?

"But they only do that if you have left your body to science."

But you can pay for it surely as I am sure my mother in law was embalmed when she died last year.

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 1st April 2019, 6:09 PM

they only do that if you have left your body to science.

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That's certainly not true.

Embalming is a very normal procedure and is carried out whenever a deceased person's body is, for whatever reason, going to be on view at any date significantly later than the date of death.

In fact, if the deceased person's body is going to be on view at all, it is common practice to have it embalmed simply because the person's appearance can be improved dramatically by embalming. A person who looked very ill indeed prior to death will almost always look a picture of health when embalmed. The result, of course, is that they appear as they did in life and, more importantly, at peace. This gives considerable comfort to relatives.

Basically, if the funeral is going to be a closed coffin affair, embalming is something that might reasonably be dispensed with. However, at an open coffin funeral, it's very usual indeed.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 1st April 2019, 11:27 PM

That's certainly not true.

Embalming is a very normal procedure and is carried out whenever a deceased person's body is, for whatever reason, going to be on view at any date significantly later than the date of death.

In fact, if the deceased person's body is going to be on view at all, it is common practice to have it embalmed simply because the person's appearance can be improved dramatically by embalming. A person who looked very ill indeed prior to death will almost always look a picture of health when embalmed. The result, of course, is that they appear as they did in life and, more importantly, at peace. This gives considerable comfort to relatives.

Basically, if the funeral is going to be a closed coffin affair, embalming is something that might reasonably be dispensed with. However, at an open coffin funeral, it's very usual indeed.

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That's what I thought and it's some small comfort to know it is normal - I'm still going to stipulate it with a note added to my will just to be sure.

Ok then, when I wrote that I thought there are probably other reasons.
It was just that in the case of the book - she was disecting a body to find the cause of death.

I don't run to google...like some