Showing category "General Chitchat" (Show all posts)

Recent Activity

Posted by Col Grum Foss on Friday, May 30, 2014, In : General Chitchat

Well its beeb a long time since I updated the website and I must admit I haven't had the urge to do anything Steamy in quite a while.Well that has now changed after a couple of outings that I have attended in recent weeks. The first was the excellent Wales Comic Con in Wrexham (my home town) I thought that it would be rude not to attend and I really must admit I got such a buzz out of the reception we got from both the general public as well as the celebreties, some of who actually asked to h...
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RDC on Patrol

Posted by Colonel Grum Foss on Monday, June 3, 2013, In : General Chitchat

Well hello my fellow RDC members. It has been a while since my last post, however things have been moving along nicely with a few events being organized and attended.

In the May bank holiday weekend we saw the first full on visit to the Llandudno Victorian extravaganza. We rented a group of wonderful cottages on the outskirts of Conway which we used as our base of operations for the weekend.

Llandudno, is a beautiful Victorian seaside town, with many wonderful period buildings. We all looked sp...
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A lot of updates

Posted by Col. Foss on Tuesday, February 19, 2013, In : General Chitchat

Well I have been tardy in my reports. Since the last post a lot has happened.
The annual visit to Lincoln Steam rally, was attended by several members of the RDC, along with many new friends. It was great to see all of the steam engines in motion. It has been a long time since I have visited a steam rally and I really enjoyed seeing these wonderful machines and to breath deeply in the wonderful smell of steam and hot oil. The steam fun fair, powered and lit by the fairground engines.

The Asyl...
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Claymills and Black Country Museum

Posted by Col Foss on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, In : General Chitchat

Hello one and all,

Well another fun weekend of camping and visits to some brilliant places, namely the wonderful Black country living Museum in Dudley in the West Midlands. The Museum boasts an electric trolley bus, trams, canal boats, a vintage fun fair and a small village setup with a wonderful gentleman's outfitters, where yours truly bought a wonderful night shirt (which was brilliant to wear for bed that evening)

(Above - Bringing the picnic to the Tram shed. A great view of the vintage ...
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Satanic Mills 2 -Queen Street Mill Burnley

Posted by Col Foss on Monday, August 6, 2012, In : General Chitchat

Hello one and all,

It has been a while since my last post, but things have been a little hectic in my real life. Anyhow firstly I would like to talk about the brilliant visit to the Queens Street Mill in Burnley, the home of the wonderful steam engine peace, which powers one of the last textile mills in the UK. The mill was also featured in the film the Kings Speech.

We were blessed with reasonable weather and were able to have one of our fabulous picnics.

(Above a wonderful shot of the remaini...
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The Diamond Jubilee weekend

Posted by Col Foss on Monday, June 25, 2012, In : General Chitchat

Greetings my dear friends.
Well it has been a while since the last entry as The HMD Empress has been on a good will tour of Orlando in Florida, which was fantastic fun. (we will be going again to enjoy the hospitality of Mr M Mouse and his many friends)

On our return we were invited to spend a fun packed weekend with the crew of the HMD Wallenstiein, over in the wild reaches of Yorkshire (Harrogate). The first evening was spent at the wonderful Madam Jo Jo's

Where it was great to catch up wit...
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Leeds Steampunk Market March 1883

Posted by Col Foss on Monday, March 12, 2012, In : General Chitchat

Hello my Fellow RDC members,

Well after a brief visit to the city of Leeds, for the second Steampunk Market, situated in the wonderful surroundings of the west bank near Hedingley. The RDC was asked to attend and to put on a fabulous exhibition of the temporal mind reading device and the fine exhibit of the fine art of Picnicing. The ladies of the RDC Medical detachment were on hand with emergency tea, which was very, welcome.

(Below - Now thats what I call a picnic)

Many of the RDC in the UK we...
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Showzam - Blackpool 1883

Posted by Col Foss on Saturday, February 18, 2012, In : General Chitchat

Hello on and all,

Another addition to the blog with another report of a wonderful time had by members of the RDC. We were invited to attend Showzam (A showman/carnival) which is put on each year by Balckpool council to celebrate the rich entertainment heritage of Blackpool. The Saturday afternoon was taken up by a visit to the Winter Gardens complex, to enjoy various side shows, from "Come see the Man eating fish" to the "Headless woman" There was also a magic show and circus performance and a...
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RDC Mess dinner 14th of January 1883

Posted by Col Foss on Monday, January 16, 2012, In : General Chitchat

Greetings fellow members,
Well after a most fantastic evening of chair swapping, stranger in the messing and general frivoloity I can honestly say, with my hand on my heart that the evening was a truely splendid one. I would like to firstly thank all of the people who have given their time and energy to create a truely enjoyable evening.
When unwinding with a few glasses of wine after the first mess dinner, back in Feb 1882 we were thinking that it would be a great idea to increase the size of ...
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HMD Baden Powell Launches

Posted by Col Grum Foss on Monday, December 12, 2011, In : General Chitchat

I would like to welcome the gallant new crew of the HMD Baden Powell (Capatain Vorpal Blade and Leiutenant Reynard Fffox) to the ranks of the RDC. I wish them all the best and good hunting Huzzah!

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The Second Fake Fete - Harrogate

Posted by Col Foss on Tuesday, November 1, 2011, In : General Chitchat

Greetings, fellow RDC members. Firstly
With many stalls from the Tombola of Tat, to the Marcus Island Mermaid, the fete was opened by non other than the world famous photographer Kevin Lockey (Who also gave the prize - A signed photo - for the Dirigible drive) Kevin was also responsible for judging the cake competition (won by Lady Jen Foss) with the winning cake being auctioned off to raise money for the church and combat stress. A total of over £380.00 was raised from all of the stalls.

(Ab...
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First New Zealand Get together

Posted by Col Foss on Tuesday, September 20, 2011, In : General Chitchat

.....NEWS JUST IN.....

Early this month the Crew of the HMD Beowulf II had their first encounter with fellow Steampunks at the Grand Victorian Picnic. It was good to see a good tunrout with a few games being played (Sack races and Tug of war) I am sure the RDC played their part with honour.

(Above : Lt. Sixsmith and crew chat to other attendees during the picnic)

(Above: Lt Sixsmith making friends with this fine Prussian Aviator)

Keep up the good work and I hope you have many more fun Picnics/ga...
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The Asylum Convivial September 1882

Posted by Col Foss on Tuesday, September 13, 2011, In : General Chitchat

Greetings my fellow members of the of the RDC. Firstly I would like to take the opurtunity of thanking everyone who made it to the photoshoot, you all looked splendid and your pictures are already in the gallery and on the home page.

Well the weekend was a brilliant success with with a brilliant night on Friday in the Victoria pub, having drinkies until silly oclock in the morning. Meeting up with the crew of the HMD Wallenstein was also good fun, with cake and tea taken on the castle lawn. We...
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Claymills Pumping Station Visit

Posted by Col Foss on Wednesday, August 31, 2011, In : General Chitchat

Greetings one and all

Onother great mission was had over the August Bank holiday, with members of the RDC arriving at the Claymills Victorian Pumping Station. With its two working beam engines (the second pair awaiting restoration) we were delighted by the very warm welcome we recieved, with even her Majesty Empress of India, Queen Victoria, cutting our cake and congratulating us on a fabulous Punknic. The punknic was delivered by the newly named 'Punknic express' and was enjoyed by all, incl...
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Captain Oxley Seen in Wales

Posted by on Wednesday, August 17, 2011, In : General Chitchat

Captain Oxley of the HMD Wallenstein was spotted in local press attending a gathering at Erddig hall in Wrexham. The gent was seen in 'Civilian' attire.

Embsay Railway July 1882

Posted by Col Grum Foss on Monday, July 4, 2011, In : General Chitchat

Greetings one and all
Firstly I would like to thank all who attended the Embsay railway/campout. With wonderful weather and excellent company a truely fabulous time was had. Not only content with travelling in our wonderful period carriage, pulled by the wonderful Norman, we had the most amazing Punknic at our very own railway station. The huge quantities of baked delights on display caused two of the picnic tables to colapse under their combined weight.

MAny of our valient band went on to enjo...
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Harrogate 7th May 1882

Posted by Col Foss on Monday, May 16, 2011, In : General Chitchat

Hello Again,

well it has been a few weeks since my last entry. We have recently recovered from a wonderful weekend in the company of the HMD Wallenstein, who have arranged a wonderful (fake) fete The Fete was opened by Ms Julie Ellis who had the claim to fame of being a contestant in the award winning childrens program we are the champions. With all the usual attractions, namely the Cake, preserves and Tombola. As well as the wonderful attraction of the Peruvian mummies head brought by Mr Davi...
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Easter time travel Experience

Posted by Col Grum Foss on Tuesday, April 26, 2011, In : General Chitchat

Greetings one and all,
Welcome again to another RDC blog post. It has been a while since the last entry with trips to Whitby and now visits the wonderful Erddig Hall and Chirk Castle in Sunny North Wales being carried out.

The Lightening Visit to the Goth festival at Whitby where there had been reports of a large gathering of pirates of both surface and air variety. The role of the RDC was to give support to the 3rd Foot and Mouth regiment, who were on duty trying to keep order. I would like t...
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RDC Officers attend the 3rd Foot and Mouth Mess Dinner

Posted by Col Grum Foss on Wednesday, March 16, 2011, In : General Chitchat

Welcome one and all,
The Good Lady Wife and myself have returned from the beautiful village of Beddgelert nestled in the mountains od Snowdonia in North Wales, where we were guests of Her Majesties 3rd Foot and Mouth Regiment where we were invited to attend their first mess dinner.

It was a fabulous evening with many toasts to the regiment and to the Fallen.

In the picture above you Can see our host Major Tinker (at the Head of the table) With Lady Elsie to his left and Lady Foss to his right.

It...
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HMD Wallenstein Mess Dinner February 5th 1882

Posted by Grum Foss on Tuesday, February 8, 2011, In : General Chitchat

Well hello fellow Corp members.

Well home again after a wonderful weekend hosted by the crew of the HMD Wallenstein. (Special thanks to Adrian and Paula for putting up members of the HMD Empress crew in their billet)
We arrived a little later than anticipated, due to strong winds and even stronger spirits the night before, we were greeted by a flurry of activity which mainly involved trying to fit a vast number of chairs into a small land conveyance. (WOW they all fitted, I knew my many years ...
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New page to the Site

Posted by Grum Foss on Monday, December 20, 2010, In : General Chitchat

Hello my fellow RDC crews, as you have already noticed I have added a new page to the site 'Alternative Victorian History' . Some of the history in the page is correct with some taken from Space 1889 and the remainder from my imagination.

The page is far from being complete and I will be adding more pieces of information as time and imagination allows and if anyone has any ideas please get in touch.

Christmas is coming so I would like to wish all members a very merry Christmas and a really happ...
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Visit to Embsay Steam railway

Posted by Squdaron Commander Grum Foss on Wednesday, October 27, 2010, In : General Chitchat

Well another great day was had at our latest outing at the Emsbay steam railway. Located a few miles from Skipton in beautiful Yorkshire.What the railway lacked in track length they certainly made up for in the warmth of their welcome. Unfortunately the vintage Victorian carriages were not being run that day, however we were given a rare treat and allowed to have a look at several specimens brought out specially for us. Thank you very much and I can only speak for myself but I am looking forw...
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Hanbury Steam Rally September 2010

Posted by Squadron Commander Grum Foss on Tuesday, September 21, 2010, In : General Chitchat

Greetings one and all, After returning early from the Asylum (sounds a bit strange that) it was off to Hanbury to attend another Shakspear rally. The weather forcast was indicating sunshine and showers so it was with crossed fingers that the Family foss set off on the journey.

It was great to meet up with some many old fiends as well as making a few new ones. Even the pirate Bellows was in attendance (but after a conversation the evening before on the interweb, a truce was agreed upon as he ha...
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Asylum 2010 - the convivial

Posted by Grum Foss on Wednesday, September 15, 2010, In : General Chitchat

Greetings one and all,
For anyone who doesn't know, the Asylum is the no.1 event for Steampunkery in the UK. Based in the Steampunk quarter of the fair city of Lincoln. HMD Empress tied up to ther moorings at the Lincoln hotel early on Friday Morning (After first dropping the Coglings off with Grandma) Civilian attire was donned and we wandered into town. Several antique shops were raided for goodies (A wonderful Victorian hat box and a couple of coglings waistcoats purchased) After a hard mor...
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Lincoln Steam Rally

Posted by Squadron Commander Grum Foss on Thursday, August 26, 2010, In : General Chitchat

The Lincoln Steam rally was as good as it was last year, so many fantastic engines on display. With the smell of hot lubrication oil and coal fires the engines purred away creating electricity for the wonderful travelling fair. (The gallopers entirely run by steam... fantastic) we were so lucky with the weather as the previous days the weather had been really bad with torrential rain, for us the sun shone and the sky was blue.

The stalls didn't disappoint as many a shiny object was on display ...
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Hanbury Vintage rally

Posted by Grum Foss on Tuesday, August 17, 2010, In : General Chitchat

Greetings one and all.
After a great weekend. A great barbecue was had by all on Friday night, followed by several hours of rain. A few of our fellow campers had tentage malfunctions resulting in wet bedding. Saturday didn't look much better with intermitent rain followed by sunny spells.

In the evening we had a Punkfeast where the good ship HMD Empress sheltered the attendees from the worst of the weather. (even pirates were welcomed aboard in the name of charity ;) )

Sunday saw a much better ...
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Llandudno meet.

Posted by Grum Foss on Monday, July 26, 2010, In : General Chitchat

Hello on and all

On Sunday the 25th of July a valiant band of Steampunks decended on the beautiful Victorian seaside town of Llandudno in North Wales.
With Very little oposition (and a lot of Smiles and Photographs) our valiant band swooped in to discourage the local pirate bands from hastling the local populous. With fantastic clothes and excellent good humour, promenades were undertaken, Cable cars, cable hauled trams were travelled in and Cream teas were consumed.
Some of the Ladies even went...
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First recruit

Posted by Grum Foss on Friday, July 9, 2010, In : General Chitchat

Hello, I would like to welcome Baron Von Redberry and his loyal crew to the RDC.

Thanks to him I have found that the link to the email was wrong (DOH!! - a real Homer moment) I hope there hasn't been anyone else who has been trying to contact me if so I do apologise and please try again.

With regards to badges and such, I have had a couple of quotes in and they are working out to be pretty expensive. However I am hopefully, with the help of my sister, getting some made by a local home embroide...
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The Royal Dirigible Corps