Many thanks, I had sent a whole load of stuff to be exchanged to my normal dealer. They will either offer me cash or an enhanced trade in.
The gear that is going , was rather heavy to carry around all day when I was in my early sixties or duplicated , now five years on, I am paring down
best wishes
Ian
I grew up in Dorset and these were offered up occasionally. For those who don’t know- think- hard stale white rolls- they are delicious!
It must be at least 30 years since I last had them. They are so tasty.
My mother’s family was from Symondsbury with links to both Palmers and Eldridge Pope breweries. That explains my love of ale.
That’s a blast from the past- I loved Eldridge pope Royal Oak bitter- a memory from my teens. We lived near Dorchester (home of the brewery- and now a cool area with shops and cafes etc) and then Abbotsbury.
We have friends who live there and have gone back a few times in the last 3-4 years.
I went to the anniversary bathing of cousins a few years ago - a memorable day; first because the head brewery was also a master whisky blender, and second I split the trousers of my dinner jacket before the evening meal.
I’ve just the read the Wikipedia entry, a sad story, and I regret selling my shares all those years ago. But perhaps I got a better return for other investments, say perhaps it was all for the best.
Montblanc 146 Fountain Pen
Perfect.
Over the years so many of my Montblancs were slow to start (meaning, when first starting to write there was a second or so of no ink) or they would stall (exhibit this mid-composition) that I soured on them. But that was ~20 yrs ago.
Mine is +23 years old and still operating as it was back then. I have had no problems with ink flow, only with leakages when the gasket in the ink pump failed.
I bought a second one recently, whilst my old was was being repaired (<100€ all in from Martinique 
), and it writes slightly differently with a more full on ink flow (the only way I can describe it), so they may have modified the way they work in the meantime.
The old one came back working perfectly.
Mmmmmm. Needs some bacon.
Willy.
I haven’t had one of their cars yet, but the pepper mills are a joy to use. Not really cheap, but affordable.
The only thing that’s missing is a couple of fresh king prawns. 
