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Hi Ray, thanks for another great podcast. We have had two very windy days in a row here, which has finally died down this evening. Fortunately, no serious damage here, though some people in the Highlands north of Melbourne lost their homes. We used to have a red telephone box at the end of our street, but it was removed not long after we first came here in 1981. The powers that be are trying to get rid of all the gas here in Victoria. Some group are claiming that gas is gradually destroying the world. Crazy!!! Apparently nuclear bombs are no longer an issue. Yes, lets nuke everything in sight, but cut out all the gas, as that is really dangerous!!!! Maybe they should cut out all the toilet paper, as there is a huge lot of it around these days stored by residents from when we were all locked down!!! Believe it or not, we have post offices, banks in easy access, but there is no pub within five miles of our place in any direction. Apparently, this entire area was originally classified as a dry area and despite that no longer being the case, nothing has ever been successful in starting up. They opened a wine shop some years back, but it soon went broke, due to no one going there. Of course, it is always possible to buy alcoholic drinks at the supermarkets. It is very different to where I lived up in Sydney, where there were not only pubs, but a huge RSL Club building near our local railway station. Incidentally, if you ever visit Lithgow NSW, about 90 miles west of Sydney, there are so many pubs in the main street, that doing a pub crawl could be classified as a death wish!!! LOL. Last time that I was there, I counted at least 30 pubs and that was only one side of the main street. Kalgoorlie WA also apparently has a lot of pubs. Someone told me once that they had visited 164 pubs there. Considering that Kalgoorlie WA is a country town, that is certainly a lot of pubs in one place. Anyway, take care and all the best. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray, your weather description sounds like the storm that we just experienced earlier tonight here. Fortunately, we are all still intact here. We have different bank holidays here in each state. From memory, the bank holidays were only given to certain workers (bank staff and public servants) with other businesses missing out completely. These days the only public holidays given to most businesses seem to be Easter, Christmas and New Year. Most places are open seven days a week and some places are also open 24 hours a day. It may be convenient for some, though I feel sorry for all the workers. My grandfather smoked a pipe, but he didn't have an armchair. I have an armchair, though I am a non-smoker. I remember watching an episode of the Goodies on TV, where to make cheese or butter, they just shook up all the cows before milking. Also, when milked, the shaken cows gave milk, butter and cheese all wrapped in packages. My son recently received a scam email claiming that Donald Trump wanted to send him loads of money!!! We deleted it without responding. We constantly receive scam emails and phone calls. We leave our phone permanently on answering machine and we only respond if the phone number is in our "safe list". I also keep a list of any scam numbers that phone through, which help us recognise them, when we receive a call. Back in the real old days, possibly the 15 and 16 centuries, they used to put plaster in bread to keep it white. It looked great, though not too healthy to actually eat!!! Anyway, all the very best. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Song by Donovan

Hi Ray, thanks for another great podcast. We had heavy rain here yesterday. It is the first decent downpour that we have experienced for sometime. I turned 72 years ancient last Sunday. What happened to all the years??? I know, I put them somewhere!!! The only camping that I ever did was in a tent in our backyard!!! Way back in the early 1900s, my grandfather went away on a camping holiday for three months in the bush at Bellinger River NSW. One night, a poisonous snake actually climbed on his bed, while he was in it. Scary stuff!! He also told me that one day, he climbed up a large hill and from the top, he could see Coffs Harbour NSW way off in the distance. Also, I knew a work colleague years ago who's father and some friends went on a camping and hunting trip in the Northern Territory in the 1930s. they all had guns and shot anything that moved. One of the guys there ran out of bullets and walked out into the river, grabbed a crocodile, dragged it into shore and then kicked it to death. They were certainly tough back in those days! When I am asked if I want to go somewhere, I just say no thanks, if not interested in going (or yes please, if I am interested). Last Monday up in Sydney, they opened another section of the Metro, which is a driver-less train. The Metro is fully auto computer generated, though I often wonder how it would function during a cyber crash. The Sydney Metro runs up to 100kph and without any driver or guard there in case anything goes wrong. Not the best set up in my opinion. Incidentally, I heard that with driver-less cars, they are adding extra white traffic lights to warn other drivers and pedestrians of any driver-less cars in the vicinity, as driver-less cars apparently can't read traffic lights. Hence, everyone else has to give way to them. Now. what happens if there is a four way crossing and there is a driver-less car on every corner?? Now, that could be interesting to watch!!! Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Yes in Cornwall there were coal mines aswell as tin mines. There's a mining museum thing at Poole near redruth in Cornwall. And I think there's one at lands end. I lived in Cornwall for 20 years ☺ beers are expensive in Britain. My partner goes to Lidl or aldis if he wants a beer because they have special offers on of st austell brewery beer, proper job beer, crafty hen beer, Guinness and then ones I've never heard of lol. But I have noticed when he goes to the off licence or beer off, they are expensive unless they have special offers on. In the north west of Britain Guinness can be 3 quid or more a bottle or can in some places. 🤷‍♀️ I've been to places that are meant to be posh and Guinness is a fiver a bottle 🤷‍♀️ and it's the same type of bottle as the aldi and Lidl supermarket ones.

Hi Ray, thanks for another great podcast. From what I can tell, many things are built with far weaker material. We recently had to replace our freezer, which had stopped working after more that thirty years. I can't imagine our new freezer lasting that long. cabinet drawers are so flimsy these days is they fall apart very easily. The old cabinets used to be a lot more solid. If the neighbours get curious about you talking in the street, just tell them you are conversing with your dead cat!!! That will really get them talking!!! Pavements are called footpaths here in Australia. We have chipboard here in Australia like you. Years ago, I would have a pair of shoes, which would last years, apart from replacing the laces and occasionally having repaired at the shoe repair store. These days, the shoe lases last longer than the shoes, which fall apart and can't even be repaired. My grandparents used to have an old phone that was attached to the wall. These days it would be classified as an antique. Jennifer Juniper was sung by Donovan Leach. Back in the 1960s, our TV cartoons included The Porky Pig Show, The Bugs Bunny Show, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McDraw, Tom and Jerry, Courageous Cat, Calvin and the Colonel, King Leonardo, The Alvin Show, Mr Magoo, Dick Tracy, Roger Ramjet, Beanie and Cecil, Rocky and Bullwinkle and several others. All were excellent. One of our local children's shows on TV was Owly's School, which was hosted by a wise puppet owl wearing glasses. We also had the Magic Circle Club and Comedy Capers. Comedy Capers was hosted by Slippery Sam, who was supposed to be a criminal. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray, thanks for another great podcast and hearing about your visit to he dentist. We are actually due to see our dentist for a checkup next week. Incidentally, have you ever had a CT Scan? I have had a couple of CT Scans in my lifetime and I usually tell people who are about to experience a CT Scan to just relax, close their eyes and think of England!!! LOL. When you were a baby in a pram, did you ever run any pirate radio stations way back then? You could have hidden all the radio equipment in the pram and broadcasted while on the move!!! The station could have been called Radio Ga Ga!!! Hmm!! Come to think of it, I seem to remember a song about Radio Ga Ga. Sorry to hear about the broken drawer. You mentioned it was man-handled. Just thinking about that, how is it that if an item is ever man-handled, it is usually wrecked, but, if the item is woman-handled (or has a woman's touch) it is usually in top grade condition? Interesting hearing the bagpipes there. In a recent Shaun the Sheep episode on TV here, the sheep find some bagpipes and accidentally mistake them for a bird. They then try to teach the bagpipes to fly. Absolutely hilarious!!! Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray. Same weather here in North East PA. I worked in a shop for a while. It's interesting about the way things are priced. We assume a certain level of quality because of the higher price. As long as it isn't too expensive, we go for that one. Gotcha. Happens with so many products. Btw, I didn't pick up the guitar until I was about 28,ish. It's never too late. Keep well, Cheers. Carl. P.S. I'm not great at the guitar,but it's fun to learn.

Hello Ray. I have no Idea in this world why you would tell a story about you destroying a marriage, and you you think it's a funny story? Chinese whispers? I'm amazed that you aren't ashamed of yourself. Unsubbed and goodbye.

Could you tell me what frequency that pirate station at Brighton is using please? I know, there have been some broadcasts heard on around 87.6MHz over there at times. Incidentally, sometime back, I saw a video of a pirate radio broadcaster in the USA, who went up on RUclips and drove around zoning in on his own station, while it was on the air, in his car. He then raided and busted himself!!! Now that has got to be one for the books for sure!!!

Hi Ray, thanks for another excellent podcast. The last two days have been sunny and warm here. I am wondering if we are having an Indian Summer at the moment. A typical day in the 1960s for me was also school and only my work started in 1969. My first job was working for the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper in the stationery department. It was certainly an interesting job and sometimes quite exciting,. In the 1950s, we only had Weet-Bix, Rice Bubbles and I think Corn Flakes for breakfast serials. Coco Pops appeared during the 1960s, along with Sugar Frosties. We still have plenty of cups of tea each day, though these days we use tea bags. I remember as a child having a tea pot and a tea strainer for the tea leaves. One tea spoon full for each person and one extra for the pot. That worked okay for small families. I often wondered how large families got on with that. I suppose they would have a tea party!!! LOL. We used to have some daytime TV back in the 1960s, though most of it was old movies, quiz shows and cooking shows for women. Most of the Sydney TV channels came on air around 11.00am each day. there was no 24 hour TV until at least the 1970s. I always enjoyed seeing the test cards and also the clocks displayed between programmes. Country TV channels usually stayed off air until 5.00pm each day. We still use an analogue TV connected to a digital set top box and it all works excellently. I used to like eating raw frankfurters and sausages, though not these days. Yes, there are moped scooters here in Australia, though never mention wanting a moped in a barber shop here, as it is also a strange type of haircut as well. I knew a friend with a car years ago, who used to bring the car up to top speed, while holding his foot on the brake peddle, waiting for the green light. When the green light finally came up, my friend's car would virtually leap across the intersection, once he removed his foot off the brake peddle. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hello Ray, many Tnx 4 that. Happy days.

Hi Ray, I am listening to this at 10.00pm. The names Chemists and Pharmacies are both used here. Not sure exactly how they differ. I have a lot of old family photos, including myself, but i don't take that many these days of family. I think any modern photos of me would more likely destroy he camera!!! I am not sure about "GB" stickers. I have seen "2GB" stickers. 2GB is actually a Sydney AM radio station. Here is a Sunday Podcast idea "Toys and comics that you had as a child in the good old days". Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

UK sticker since brexit, not sure why it changed. Great Britain is the island. It's Grande Bretagne in french, Big Britain. Small Britain would be Brittany in France.

The "Great" in Great Britain refers to the size of the main island that comprises the British Isles. And that's it really🙂That's why in the current Olympics, Scottish competitors are competing under the GB banner. Not because the country of Scotland is not recognised, but because it's located on the Great Isle of the Britannic Isles. 👍

Exactly the same with me. Growing up in Shrewsbury, Shropshire in the 80s - the taking of a photo was a rare event! Weddings and christenings! It just never happened very much!

Hi Ray, THANKS FOR YOUR EXCELLENT PODCAST!!!! Oops!! Sorry I am getting a bit too loud here. We can tell the commercials from the TV shows here. we have to turn up the volume for the shows and way down for the commercials, of which many are yelled!!! I remember years ago, visiting my uncle and aunt in New Zealand. My uncle always watched the fishing shows, despite what the rest of the family wanted to see. Of course, in those days there, there was only one TV channel, but there may have been other family members wanting to watch white noise!!!! LOL. I remember after visiting New Zealand, after getting back to Australia and telling people about the trip, some said "Oh no, you don't want to go to New Zealand!!!". I replied "Yes, I did want to go and I went too!!!". That finished that conversation. Well done hearing the pirate station. What frequency was it on? Could you do a video tour of your garden? How large is your back yard there? i have done some video tours of the back yard here over he years and they are up on my RUclips channel on my "Local' Playlist. We still have Woolworths here. There is a Woolworths supermarket, within walking distance of here. Some Matchbox Cars and even the catalogues sell for huge prices these days. Also, many comics are worth good money, including even the Sunday newspaper strips. When fixing up the former house in Sydney, we replaced the lino on the floors. Under the lino, we found old newspapers and we eventually sold them. We also sold some old phone books that we found. We didn't get a huge fortune, but the prices were reasonably good at the time. Talking about loud music, have you ever heard some of these so called lullaby songs with the first line very quiet "Go you sleep my baby" then the chorus starts with all the loud screaming? No wonder many kids these days have acute insomnia!!! Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray, thanks for a great podcast. Your temperatures over there sound quite cool for summer. Mid summer here can reach 40C, though a mild summer can often be in the low 30Cs. Despite liking music, I prefer it being on a record, CD, online or on the radio. I find that live shows are far too noisy for me and can often end up causing headaches. I try to avoid most of them. At night, I much prefer to be at home trying for DX on the radio rather than going out. We have both landline and mobile phones here. One thing that I wish I could work out is how to disable the call waiting on our landline. It can be a real pain, especially when talking to someone on the phone and the beeping starts. Also, the other call trying to connect is quite often from a scammer, which can be a real nuisance. Hmm!! I am now appearing to be moaning a bit, so my apologies for that. My dad used to say, all phones should be made only for calling people and not for receiving calls!!! Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

BRO STOP YAPPING

Love your comments about scabies. Isn't that a disease that sea pirates catch?? It's either scabies or scurvy. Just reading the comment below about scabies being tiny insects. So, some sea pirates, who catch scurvy may also collect scabies!!! Amazingly enough, I have never heard of a sea pirate ever catching chicken pox. Incidentally, every time you mention the furry thing on your camera, I think of the Twilight Zone for some unknown reason!!! A windshield sounds like a good name description, though maybe a mini windshield to avoid any confusion with windshields on cars and buses, of which incidentally can occasionally hit stray cats and kill them dead!! Hence, that possibly explains the dead cat name description connected with a windshield!!! Hmm!! I have absolutely no idea of what point that I am trying to make with all this at all!!! LOL.

Hi Ray, thanks for another great podcast. I think we are having a typical British summer for our winter here!!! I remember as a child my mum used to buy me a paper bag of jube sweets from the supermarket. These days, those particular jube sweets are kept under armed guards in museums inside huge safes and a bag of them cost millions of dollars and we need to display a personal ID to even just look at them...slight exaggeration!!! Incidentally, have you considered a short cut way to paint a room? Mr Bean just puts dynamite in the can and "BOOM" the walls are all painted in seconds!!! Maybe not that safe, but a lot of fun!!! No, we don't call you lot "Up Over". We just refer to you as being in the Northern Hemisphere. Here is something to think of, we can be early our entire life and soon as our life ends, we are referred to as "The late.....". I was told that the reason for that is that after death, we are late for everything!!! I used to visit my grandparents on a Sunday back in the old days. Your car boot sale is called a garage sale here. Not sure about today, but in the old days, many pubs closed at 6.00pm every evening and there would be a "pub rush" with all the workers running to the pub after work finishing at 5.00pm. Like you, I pick up rubbish and put it in the bin, especially at bus shelters, while waiting for the bus. Apart from cleaning it all up, it fills in the waiting time. Incidentally, it is accepted to blow a car horn, but only from a car. Why can't we do that while walking along the street as pedestrians?? Love the Village recording with you and Trish. How big is Brighton there? We have a suburb called Brighton here in Melbourne. Back in the old days, Brighton here even had trams, though they only have buses there these days. I missed out on getting mumps and later got vaccinated against it, as catching mumps as an adult can be quite serious. Are the bags of crisps full to the brim there? We have half air in the bags here. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray, had to laugh at your remark about "chicken pox turning into what was it scabies or something"! I think you meant shingles. Scabies are tiny insects! Funny how we refer to some diseases as coming from particular countries - Spanish flu, German measles etc.. Surprised actually we're still allowed to say that! Greetings from Kevin

Today is July the 25th.(2024)_. I'm catching up. Cheers

Okay, I will ask, why do you say that every week??? LOL.

Hi Ray, for some unknown reason, I was looking for another of your Sunday podcasts...but it is mid week. I seemed to forget what day it was. Working from home unshaved, unwashed in pyjamas sounds like a nightmare. After all, that is something to look forward to and save for retirement along with sleeping on the keyboard putting zzzzzzzzz over the computer screen!!! Could you do a recorded tour of your old village please? Do you watch "Escape to the Country" on TV there? We have it on here. Love seeing all the English countryside. The quick walking in the old silent films were caused by the manual wind up movie cameras of the day. It was rather difficult to manually get the speed adjusted correctly with the old equipment. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Great stuff, its now 'PloughPersons" though....smh

Hello Ray. I was an avid listener of "Letter From America". (Perhaps that's why I moved to the US when I was 39.) I was about ten years old but what I remember was that if there was something "big" in the news, he would cover that but usually, it was about everyday life and the small details which would be interesting to us Brits. I still remember one episode when he spoke of "Snow Birds". That's a funny name for old folks, (white hair) packing all their winter clothes in plastic bags and hanging them up in closets. Then they would Go somewhere warm and sunny, like Florida, until the weather at home improved. Just a thought about pub prices...in the mid-eighties, every Tuesday we would go to a pub to play pool. Buying a round of four pints of lager and four packets of crisps would cost under a Fiver. Happy days, indeed. Cheers! Regards from Kingston, Pennsylvania. It's 73F, 79% humidity, atm/pressure is 29.94Hg P.S. I always listen until the end. I might miss something important.

Hi Ray, when I first saw the title here, Dr Who immediately came to mind. Incidentally, did you ever hear of the time when they discovered a Dalek outside of Number 10? The authorities were contacted and they were interviewing a police officer about it. They suggested that it may have been an enemy threat to the government and the police officer said "oh, that two!!!". Apparently, some people thought it was a real Dalek and they were about to contact David Tennant!!! LOL. Yes, I like the James Bond films, except for Daniel Craig, who is the current James bond. I just can't get used to him being James Bond. Our last hanging execution here in Australia was of Ronald Ryan here in Melbourne back in 1967. I actually look forward to all your podcasts. All very interesting. The London tram system was closed on July 5, 1952. I was born a month later. Darn...missed them by just that much!!! We had only 11C this last Saturday. We also had a cold wind, which made it feel even colder. Do you ever see any dolphins or porpoises out at sea there? Have you ever been to Burgess Hill? I have used an online SDR based in Burgess Hill checking for AM DX. From what I have head, the furring thing on the microphone is actually called a Dead Cat!! Good grief, I just Googled Butlin's on the Internet. It is like a fun park!!! I have3 always thought it was a giant department store. Wow!! Did I get it wrong!!! then again, I used to believe Piccadilly Circus was actually a circus!1 LOL. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hello again. Just as a side note, I'm sure the tradesmens' entrance was for practical reasons. When I was a kid, some builders walked in our front door, from the rain, with big dirty boots, ruined the carpet because my Mum was too nice to ask them to come through the back door. The back door normally goes into your kitchen which is never carpeted. Same thing for "grand" houses. Imagine carrying pots of paint and ladders through the lovely entrance? I don't think they were just being snobby. Just my two-penneth worth. Cheers Ray.

Hi Ray, thanks for the great podcast. It is absolutely freezing here at the moment. They are even expecting a blast of snow in North Queensland. Unbelievable!!! No snow here in Melbourne, but it is certainly cold enough. I wonder if London got its great smog after they closed down their tram system, which happened on July 5, 1952?? I know that Sydney doubled its smog after their trams were taken off. The first James bon book was published in 1953. I thought that was done far earlier, like in the 1800s. I was actually growing up in the 1950s, being born in 1952. Distemper and lino actually taste horrible!!! Not really something to serve the neighbours for lunch in the garden!!! LOL. We have postcodes here, though they are all numerical. I notice some of the UK postcodes use letters of the alphabet. Do you ever hear any FM DX on the radio there during he summer? According to the DX maps online, late June was fairly active for DX coming through over there. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray, thanks for another great podcast. "Back to School" the three worst words ever written in the English language. Fortunately, back in the late 1960s, when I started work, the Year 10 School Certificate was enough. For higher paid jobs, sometimes the Higher School Certificate was needed. In the 1990's, I attended a computer course paid by my workplace, which was interesting. My daughter attended TAFE college after leaving school. On one occasion, she had to temporally attend the college, which had actually been used here in Melbourne years prior for the Harry Potter movies. She said she was almost expecting Dumbledore to walk in there any minute. Here is how you can impersonate a monster. Spray eucalyptus up your nose and put very hot warming ointment on the body's most tender parts...and voila...instant monster!!! We actually have a credit card, but use it as a debit card. I always deposit money into the card prior to ever using it. By doing that, they can't charge any interest. Like you, I can't climb ropes or even rope ladders. We have a Car and Dog Wash place nearby. I often wonder if anyone just shoves their dogs into the car and put them all through the wash together to save money??? I noticed on Shaun the Sheep TV series, the farmer trims hedges using his goat, which eats everything including movie film and house bricks. Now, that is a real goat!!! They avoid using the word "house" these days, as it upsets all the units!!! A lot of things are now made overseas. I think China even makes our "Made in Australia" signs!!! We are having cold and wet weather here this week. I think any sunshine and warmth that we had may have all been moved to the UK. Do you have any driver-less trains over there? They are building a system up in Sydney. There are still drivers in our trains here in Melbourne. We have cleaners clean the bus stop shelters, using soapy water and a bucket, even when it is raining. I can understand in sunny weather, but cleaning the shelter during a downpour just doesn't make sense to me. All the people waiting for the bus, have to stand out in the open, while the shelter is being cleaned, which doesn't work out too well during a thunderstorm!!! Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray. Carl here. Funny to hear my name on a video. I'll write more later. I'm preparing to watch the England match. Nice video. Talk to you later.

I love the questions you get like "Are you mowing the lawn??" Then your answer, "No, I am painting the house". Are you sure that you are in the UK, as that sounds just like life in Sydney Australia?? I only wish that I had thought of your answers when living there years ago!!! LOL.

Ray, regarding beer prices, .. as I've said, I'm in PA and I never buy a "pint" of beer here, mainly because it's weak and/or not very nice. Also, a pint is only 16 ounces here.If you do order a pint of beer, it's $2.75. A decent, European beer, like Stella, costs $5 a bottle. I'm going to my local bar to watch the England match so I'll be taking my 20 oz pint glass, which always impresses my friends,,, a bit. You reminded me that back in the 60s, where I grew up, little vans would come around during the day, when all the housewifes were at home and they sold all kinds of things. Remember Pink Paraffin? There was a gypsy with a stone grinding wheel and he's sharpen everything you had, including my Mums' scissors. We also had an old geezer with a horse and cart that looked exactly like Steptoe. Happy Days, indeed. Thanks for the reminders. Cheers! ( I'm Carl).

Ray, at twenty minutes to eleven, the pubs used to ring the bell once and call out "Last orders",, meaning you can get one more round of drinks... and at ten to eleven, ring the bell twice, which meant drinking up time. I'm sure you knew this, but I thought others might be interested. P. S. I've been to the IOW a few times. It's very nice. Cheers! P.S, I'm in Pennsylvania and it's was 92F yesterday. Not unusual for the summers here. It's taken me years to get used to the heat.

Hi Ray, I have heard about the UK weather, while using an online radio. It sounds like our winter here at the moment, though our rain has only be short lived here in Melbourne. There has been more wet weather up in NSW north of us. I like the "or what' saying. In New Zealand many locals put the word "Eh" or "Ay" behind their statements. "I was going down the road...eh". Podcast suggestion: "Some old people's strange antics and adventures!!!" Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray, thanks for another excellent podcast. Your weather description sounds like the winter that maybe should be occurring here. However, we are having sunshine here, though the temperature feels icy cold. Pulborough Brooks Reserve sounds like a really nice peaceful place. Love your audio0 recordings at locations. My dad used to do that back in the late 1960's using a cassette tape recorder. He even interviewed local residents of places we visited asking them about TV and radio reception. how can we pick berries from trees and eat them while at home??? The only way we could do that here would be to grow berry trees in our back yard!!! We do have a reserve not far from our house, which is quite peaceful. If you want to put up a sign, use "Trespasses Will Be Eaten"!!! That will keep others away for sure!!! From your description of the unreliable weather there, I can understand how British can feel at home here in Melbourne. We can have four seasons in one day here at times. Here is a question, has there ever been any pub Quiz Question asked in the 1800s has still not been answered? I remember the record shops well. Do you remember the weekly Top 40 radio station sound survey charts? Your new prime minister looks almost identical to our prime minister. They even wear similar glasses. It will be interesting when they meet. I think they will be hard to tell apart. If you ever need to keep money in the tea caddy, it is best to then bury it with tea leaves. Burying money in the garden sounds interesting. Back in our former house, we had a spare key in a bottle buried in the garden. The problem was finding it when needed. Have you ever noticed the birds chirping in foreign countries? They all seem to chirp in English. Many of them sound just the same as the birds here!!! Dogs and cats sound the same also!!! LOL. Do you still have comics in your newspapers? We used to have them, but they are all gone now. we have been down to 11C over the last few days. Early in the mornin g and late at night, it gets well below 0C. Very cold!!! Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Still using EC to this day on the 45m band. The calling frequency is 6670 lsb. Best 73s.

Hi Ray, we should call your chiming clock "Little Ben". i think I have just nicked named your clock!!! LOL. When my dad was a school, he knew a school friend, who was known as "Stovepipe", because he was very tall and also wore a very high hat. One day, the school bell fell on him and after that he was known as "Shorty"!!! We should all now celebrate Independence Day, especially after winning that world war against those horrible alien invaders....er...oh, wait a minute, that was a movie wasn't it??? I still have plenty of cassette tapes, which mostly contain all my radio DX recordings. I have been recording radio DX since the 1960s. Here is an idea for Sunday's podcast. What is the furthest distant location that you have ever traveled to, measuring the distance from your home? Also, have you ever become lost while traveling? Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi, Ray. Just seen this podcast. I still have nightmares about the Great storm of October 16th 1987. It's the day I got married at Lewisham registry office. What an omen that was! No power, nothing but candlelight during the ceremony. That was back when people had their stag night the day before the wedding. I stayed at my best man's house, and he woke me up at 5 am declaring that hurricane Henry has been. I told him to ask him in for a cup of tea! Love these podcasts, Ray. Keep 'em coming.

Hi Ray good podcast as usual , loved the fact that the Seagulls all became silent LOL . Back in the day we called my brother egg , most people do not call him that now but a mate of mine still does . At work in the late 80s there was a lad who we used to call mutley . Back then anything went , pranks , tricks etc . When I moved store to manage a bigger department there was a guy in the store who used to love playing tricks , he once put long screws in somebodies cup of tea , he once glued the chair legs to the carpet in the managers office and I went in to phone my order through to the fruit and veg depot and I lifted the chair to move it to the desk and half of the mangers carpet came up LOL . I remember back in the late 70s having and carrying a small sheaf knife when out and about from memory I sometimes had a small compass . We used to vanish on our bikes into the wood and common land for the whole day and all we would have were a few coins for a drink and to make a phone call if need be . I slept right through the great storm . I have a friend in the Philippines and a few weeks ago they had a powerful typhon and it took his corrugated metal roof off .

Hi Ray, we are currently experiencing a Polar Blast according to the news. Cold air is apparently hitting us from the Antarctic. With that guy calling his wife Bucket, I am wondering if his wife would correct him saying "No, Bouquet!!!". I was named after my Uncle Bob, who's real name was Albert. So that was quite confusing. Incidentally, when people get married here, the lady takes the man's surname and loses their original surname. However, I believe in the USA, they add the man's name on as an extra to their original name. Not sure what they do in the UK. I have seen a RUclips video about the 1987 storm in the UK. It was certainly a huge storm. Talking about storms, do you remember Cyclone Tracy in Darwin back in 1974? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Tracy I think wolf whistling has been banned here also. I remember seeing young women being wolf whistled back in the 1960s and 1970s. I remember seeing Z Cars on TV here many years ago. It sounds like your seagulls must sleep in shifts. The last pirate radio stations that I heard here would have been in the 199os. One pirate station even ran at high power, though they eventually were caught and closed down. I wonder how calamine lotion would work on windows? It may work quite well, like how air freshener spray can kill moths. When the moths are sprayed with air freshener, they instantly dive bomb to the floor. Incidentally, on a late quiet night there in Worthing, can you hear Big Ben chiming way in the distance from London? I have often been curious about that. When digging up a road, they always need to allow time for workers to lean on their shovels!!! I keep a compass with me when traveling, as it can be handy when checking for distant radio stations. When growing up in Sydney, I was about 14 years old before seeing sheep in fields. I hadn't traveled far enough out of Sydney prior to see anything like that. Incidentally, our idea of security back in the old days was a bit misguided. We would go swimming at the beach and place a towel over our bags on the sand to protect them from thieves. Apparently, all thieves at beaches are absolutely terrified of towels!!! Whenever anyone ever tries to bring me down, I find a way to reverse it and make them feel worse than I do!!! LOL. I don't think I would like to spend three hours alone with any Prime Minister or President. I can't even imagine what the conversation would be like. How would you feel about spending time in the woods with a parliamentary leader?? Now there's a thought to ponder on!!! Anyway, take care and all the best. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray, great podcast. Do you actually have a chiming clock or is it a recording? My grandparents chiming clock, just on 108 years old, recently stopped ticking just a month or so back. I am hoping to eventually try to get it repaired and get it working again. My dad used to go by his first name with friends, but used his second name with anyone he contacted overseas. Do you remember "Love Thy Neighbour"? Eddie Booth and Bill Reynolds used to regularly attend official meetings in the local pub and even read out the minutes. My question is what exactly were they meeting about?? Incidentally, what times did your TV channels come on air for the day during the 1950s? Back then, you would have only had BBC 1 and the ITV, as I think BBC 2 was not on until later. In the 1960's most of our TV channels in the major cities commenced programmes around 11.00am each day, except for coming on very late around 5.00pm on Good Friday and Christmas Day. Before the programmes commenced, the TV channels ran test patterns with great songs like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and other memorable tunes!!! Many of our country rural TV channels would be off the air until late afternoon. Back then, most of our commercial TV channels were individually owned and ran their own programmes. The only networked TV channels were our government owned non-commercial ABC TV channels, which served the entire country. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray . I really did laugh out loud when you mentioned the pram full of junk . When I was a kid I used to go to jumble sales nearly every Saturday and would buy and then stagger back to my grans or home with piles of old junk which seemed like amazing treasure back then . Nowdays as part of my job I go buying at car boot sales and often sellers will say o you can take that as well and I usually refuse saying it will only have to be put in my bin . My brother lives in Exmouth Devon and when I chat to him on the phone I can hear the gulls .

Hi Ray , enjoyed the podcast . back in the 1980s to early 1990s I was greengrocer firstly for a supermarket chain and then on my own and you are right about the taste . Nowdays strawberries have next to no taste and I rarely even buy them , grapes are not the same varieties and not as good , Jersey Royal potatoes used to be amazing and the first of the crop were really expensive and coveted , tomatoes are more miss than hit . My gran never had any type of washing machine but used to have a spin dryer so she would wash the items by hand and then put them in the spin dryer . I never liked clowns never made me laugh .

We had two memorable games in our school playground. It would start with a boy yelling "Operation 26" and the game would begin. "Operation 26" was a violent form of Releasing's, where boys would be randomly grabbed in the playground, then taken off to a place in the corner and beaten up. Other boys would then get together to try to rescue the "prisoners", without getting caught and beaten up themselves. Operation 26 was actually the milder base version of the game. When the operation numbers went higher, all the beatings become stronger. One day, a boy randomly yelled "Operation 99" and we all dashed into the classrooms in utter terror. The teachers all thought that we came in because we were all extra keen to learn more lessons. The other game we had was "Nerves", where the boys would run high speed from one end of the playground to the other, running deliberately head on into a brick wall at the end. I remember when one boy in our class came in with crutches after running into a brick wall and said "Now do you believe I've got guts??" I replied, "Yes definitely, after you hit that wall, I saw them spread all over the playground!!!" Our area of the school was all boys. The girls had a separate school building and area, which meant that no girls were involved in our "fun". Also, when any of the boys had a birthday, they would be taken by force to the boys restroom area, shoved head first into a toilet bowl and flushed. Just to note, our school was known to be the safer of the two schools in our suburb. I shudder to think what may have happened at the other school. Happy days!!!

Hi Ray, thanks for sharing another great podcast. We had black clouds appear here yesterday, though very little rain. Some things that have disappeared here include TV and radio stations running individual programming, analogue TV, decent working pocket radios and TV receivers that ran on standard batteries, nine to five work work hours from Monday to Friday and not forcing weekend work, a lot more rural train lines, tram systems in all capital cities, video recorders, video tapes, audio cassette tape recorders, cassette tapes, solid steel scooters, billy carts, swings, money bars and slippery dips (slides) in parks, many public swimming pools, corner shops, fireworks, pea shooters, bows and arrows with plungers, cap-guns, restaurants with simple home coked meals, barber shops - we have a shortage of them here, washing machines with ringers or even twin tubs, simple vacuum cleaners that don't require a scientist degree to use, carpet sweepers, steam engines, Matchbox Cars, Disney comics, individual newspapers, Sunday newspaper comics, Top 40 Survey Charts, TV test Patterns and clocks. Even pirate radio and TV seems to have now disappeared. Incidentally, many of the food items that are coloured red or even pink (raspberries, strawberries) the flavouring includes 120 Carmine, which is actually made of crushed bugs. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine iawpwellnesscoach.com/what-is-carmine/ I actually saw something on RUclips about the 1987 storm over there. It was certainly big enough. Our worst event were the Victoria bush-fires in 2009. Two rural towns were completely wiped out. In the fire areas, the temperature reached around 1000C and cars in the area actually melted into the road. Like you, I am also not into clowns. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi, Ray. This is a good video. You're absolutely right about growing your own fruit & veg. When I was growing up in the early 60's our back garden had a lawn one side, path in the middle, and a veg plot on the right. My parents grew all their own stuff, and we never had shop bought produce at all. Later in life, I worked as a Potato buyer & salesman, and the vast majority of potatoes in supermarkets are force grown, and have very little flavour. Jersey Royals used to be a fabulous potato, but what you see in the supermarkets now are a pale imitation of the real thing. I live in Bognor Regis now, and buy all of my meat from a farm shop in Runcton, and the difference in quality is, as you say, phenomenal. The problem is that people want fresh strawberries in December, so they import highly forced fruit that is tasteless, as they do with all out of season fruit & veg. Best wishes to you & your family, Ray.

Hi Ray, thanks for another interesting podcast. I can hear seagulls behind you in the garden there. We are getting freezing weather here at the moment. There was a huge lot of frost here yesterday morning. This morning it was only 1C here. Brrr!!! One thing that is gradually disappearing here is the small individual shops on streets. Many of the small shops that are left have moved into giant shopping mall complexes. We have one very large shopping complex at Chadstone, which has almost grown into a city in itself. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

Hi Ray, we got down to 7C here, which means we are having a warmer winter that your summer. If I can, I will try and send you a recording of our birds here. We have a huge assortment of birds here in the mornings. It is just a matter of getting up early enough. We went on a pensioner coach trip last year from Warrnambool to Port Fairy and it was quite exciting. We were all like a bunch of unruly kids!!! LOL. I have heard of "Toad in the Hole" as an English meal. I have just looked it up. I have eaten most of the ingredients, but not all together. Have you ever heard of Bomb Alaska? This meal included pancakes, banana, ice cream and who knows what else!!! Very tasty and filling. My aunt used to make it in New Zealand. I am actually a non drinker, though as far as I know, XXXX beer is produced in Queensland. NSW has Reschs and Tooheys. Victoria has Fosters. I know most of this from the various commercials I have heard over the years. I am not sure of the prices. We don't have a dishwasher here, though we have everything else (Fridge, Washing Machine). Some people use irons on their hair to keep it straight. Our taxis used to use VHF radio, but now have digital transmissions via satellite. Interesting hearing all of Trish's food recipes.I think here is a lot to be said in favour of home cooking. I always prefer it to to eating out any day. In the old days, we had the bakers cart, milkman, paper boy, ice cream van. All have since become extinct. The Salvation Army people used to come to random streets and start playing the band and all the residents would come out of their houses with their donations. that has all gone also. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.