The 1940s was a decade of much change for the Berwick’s of Attingham, and also in the outside world with the ongoing impact of World War II until 1945, and in the years after.

The Christmases of the 1940s, celebrated at Attingham were not opulent. The impact of World War II nationally and locally in this quiet area of Shropshire was being felt. Despite this, Thomas (until his death in 1947) and Teresa always tried to ensure there were celebrations to look forward to for estate workers, tenants and friends.

Each ground floor room was decorated with an individual theme and music from the 1940s was playing in the background. From a music theme in the Drawing Room, to photographs and papers from the 1940s in the Octagon Room, Attingham’s stories and the way Christmas was celebrated more widely in the 1940s came to life within the Mansion rooms.

Click on the links below to view the uncropped full size photographs:

1. Peace on Earth, 2. Entrance Hall, 3. Music Room, 4. Traditional, 5. Crystal Delight, 6. Memories, 7. Instructions, 8. Home Made, 9. Cosy Fireplace, 10. Time for Tea, 11. Tea Time Spread, 12. Kitchen Table, 13. Kitchen Decorations

This afternoon we nipped into Birmingham to obtain a few essentials prior to the next episode of ‘Cherry on her Travels’.  We had a surprisingly successful afternoon, our purchase list was all ticked off apart from a Birthday Card. I normally make birthday cards rather than buy them and on looking at the selection available I think that is a wise choice.  The selection of ’special’ birthday cards was limited and the supposed humour section was ermm… not funny! I suppose humour is a personal thing and the selection just wasn’t working for me (or Mr C).  Back to the drawing board on that elusive card

All shopped out we made our way back to the car park and paid at the machine that stamps your card allowing you to exit the car park. We then got in our car and made our way to the exit. We joined one of the two exit lanes and observed that the car in the other lane wasn’t moving even though the barrier was up.

We then noticed the lady in the car in front of us put her ticket in the machine. She then got out of her car, bent down and picked the ticket up of the floor. She then ended up putting the ticket in the waste bin behind the barrier rather than in the ticket machine.  After a moment of confusion she turned round and mouthed sorry and made her way to the nearby booth where the car park staff were situated. A couple of minutes later a male passenger got out of the passenger seat of the car. He smiled at us, raised his eyes and his arms skyward and followed her into the booth.

The car behind us reversed and exited through the other lane, giving us the opportunity to do likewise. The barrier on the other lane was up and did not require the input of a ticket to exit. This left us wondering why the original car in that lane waited and paused there for so long…

PS: The photo has nothing to do with today’s adventures. It is one that I inadvertently captured whilst sitting on my patio last weekend.

The internet is useful for connecting to the world. It allows you to keep in contact with friends near and far, share information, provides endless sources of information and even opportunities to meet new people and make friends.

Of course it does have it’s faults but on the whole I wouldn’t be without it and I am pleased to say that my desktop PC is now back in touch with the world thanks to a new network adapter. I think the old one must have been on it’s way out for a while because the new device is much quicker even when it has a low signal.

So look out world, here I come

There have been even more technology problems this week. One computer failed big time and took out the wireless network adapter with it and the jury is out on some of the other equipment and the re-installation of Outlook files is proving difficult. Then today the wireless adapter for my main computer mysteriously packed up for no apparent reason and whilst I was checking to see if it was a loose wire the computer switched itself off, then for several minutes it refused to turn back on again…

Also I unexpectedly had to have the morning off work to wait for the house alarm to be serviced and a parcel to be picked up.  The courier who was picking up the parcel arrived later than I expected so I had to call the office to let them know that I wouldn’t be able to make it to work in the afternoon either.  All the phones were engaged.  I eventually got someone in the building on their mobile number and was told that they were currently experiencing a power cut!

I have had a bit of a hassely day with my brother who was trying to set up some new technology for me.  It should have been fairly simple but there was a need to call customer services and those call centres don’t work very well when the person calling them (my brother) knows more than they do! Anyway the new technology seems terminally ill and will have to be returned. Why is nothing ever simple?

My brother visiting also led to a meal out and another weight loss challenge. I decided to go back to The Gate which I visited recently.  This time I was able to choose a very healthy option; chicken breast with spring onion mash accompanied by seasonal vegetables, it was delicious.

Once that was sorted I was able to print out my two T-Mobile accounts to take into the T-Mobile shop so that I could change them to more suitable options.  I thought this would be easier than trying to sort it out over the phone.  Unfortunately after waiting for about 10 minutes because all the staff were busy I got Mr Disinterested.  In answer to my first query he told me that I would need to phone customer services (they usually do that for you in the shop).  My second query involved changing a pay as you go phone to a sim only contract.  I was told I couldn’t keep my phone number unless I transferred it to a different network and back, which sounded absolutely ludicrous to me.  I did query his remarks but he remained unhelpful.

I returned home and phoned customer services which wasn’t easy either.  On my first attempt I ended up in one of those automated call loops so I hung up and started again.  Eventually I got through and although I had to speak to two different departments, everyone was extremely helpfull and explained all the options to me.  I am still however awaiting the sim update that was supposed to arrive within a few minutes…

Then on top of that just before the evening meal one of Mum’s friends phoned in a bit of a flap because Mum’s phone had been engaged all day.  So I had to go and investigate much to Mum’s surprise.  The phone was obviously having one of it’s quirky moments.

Now I am relaxing with a glass of wine and before you ask, yes it is allowed

It was fixed quite quickly after the engineers had gone back to work, the engineer explained that it was a switch in the exchange that had become faulty.

Fast forward to today, those of you who read this post from yesterday will have noticed that that I mentioned that my central heating system had gone faulty over the weekend.  When the engineers arrived this morning they asked why no one had answered the phone when they rang to say they were coming.  What phone call?  I thought nothing more of it and they went on to change the part that they thought was causing the problem with the heating.  The engineer will check back tomorrow and in a couple of days time to make sure that the problem has been fixed satisfactorily.  If it hasn’t he will be back to check out a few more things that could be causing the problem.  I can’t complain at that, well done British Gas

A bit later in the day, my Mum rang to tell me that my Dad had been rushed into hospital and she needed a lift home.  I did a bit of rescheduling to make sure I was able to see my Dad before visiting hours were over.  When I got there, my Mum asked me where I had been for the day.  Apparently she had rung me at 2pm on the home phone…  It definitely didn’t ring because I was sitting right next to it!!!  Now I am feeling rather miffed with BT because I am paying them for a service which they don’t seem to be able to provide properly.  I am especially miffed because the call was an emergency and I should really have been with my Dad this afternoon.  Get your act together BT

Scientists drew this conclusion after observing a slime mould as it grew into a network that was almost identical to the Tokyo rail system.

The scientists describe their ideas for “biologically inspired networks” in the journal Science.

They have incorporated the slime mould’s efficient strategy into a mathematical formula.

This “slime formula” could help engineers develop better, more efficient designs.
The single amoeboid cells of slime moulds fuse and spread into a network as they feed and grow.

“These biological networks have been honed by many cycles of evolutionary selection pressure,” wrote the researchers in their article.

The research team, led by Dr Atsushi Tero from Hokkaido University, Japan, wanted to capture this evolved efficiency, which they say could be used to inform human engineering decisions.

The scientists put the slime to the test by allowing it to grow on a wet surface on which they placed oat flakes in locations that corresponded to the cities surrounding Tokyo.

They placed the slime mould, Physarum polycephalum, in the centre.

As it grew outwards, it organised itself into a network around the food that closely resembled the train network connecting Tokyo to its surrounding cities.

The researchers then converted this growth “strategy” into a mathematical formula.

The researchers say that this model could provide a starting point for improving the efficiency and even decreasing the cost of “self-organised networks”, such as computer and mobile communication networks that are not centrally controlled.

The idea for using slime moulds in this ways inspired by Toshiyuki Nakagaki, who was responsible for showing that the slime could find the most efficient way through a maze.

There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed.

For some reason the server where my blog is hosted decided to stop working on Friday for the second time in 6 weeks!  My service provider advise that they provide 24/7 customer support, but I have noticed a pattern.  Everything goes quiet at the weekend, so it is really only 24/5 support.

Well fingers crossed, they sorted it this morning and I seem to be up and running again now…

Sorry to everyone (including me) who had the irritation of seeing this message over and over again.

My delayed weekend posts can be seen below.

Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain Project says it is not impossible to build a human brain and that it can be done within the next 10 years.

They are hoping the project will help them understand brain diseases and disorders which may lead to new treatments.

The Blue Brain project at Swizerland’s EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) was launched in 2005 and aims to reverse engineer the mammalian brain from laboratory data.

In particular, his team has focused on the neocortical column – repetitive units of the mammalian brain known as the neocortex.

“It’s a new brain,” he explained. “The mammals needed it because they had to cope with parenthood, social interactions complex cognitive functions.

“It was so successful an evolution from mouse to man it expanded about a thousand fold in terms of the numbers of units to produce this almost frightening organ.”

And that evolution continues, he said. “It is evolving at an enormous speed.”